Power and Politics

Essay by dawnybabyCollege, UndergraduateA-, December 2007

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The capacity to control someone else and getting them to do what is in ones interest, is known as power. Managers in large and small organizations can make excellent use of a variety of tactics to implement their personal power and get the results they want from subordinates. One tactic well known and highly utilize is reward power. What this means is that managers reward their subordinates by ether increasing salaries, giving them good job assignments or better tools to perform their jobs. Another potential reward can be the recognition of a job well done in front of peers or simply a complement and praise for a past behavior.

Additionally, if an employee has respect for his or her manager they will be more willing to perform a job to the best of their ability is another effective tactic. The response from employees to this type of power can be positive when all work together to get carried orders, requests and directions done efficiently.

Using this power, building it and keeping it, is consider as organizational politics in today business world. Politics involve the use of power and managers must remember that power is very slippery. This has to be taken into consideration especially if one is engage in competition for power. Competition between departments in an organization is common and can be healthy if the reason for competition relates to the progress of obtaining common goals.

Consequently, internal competition in an organization can create friction between managers. The power of reward becomes useful in this situation. The more popular the manager is and the bigger his or her network gets the longer they will be able keep the power.

Referent PowerReferent Power is based on the employee's perception that the supervisor possesses positive personality characteristics which results in...