Entry
Entries A-Z
Subject index
Organizational Politics
The mention of organizational politics is frequently met with harsh words and disparaging glances. Society, as a whole, has grown to view anything political with chagrin. Much of this disdain comes from the awareness that politicking, when successful, is associated with manipulation, and in some cases, verbal or physical intimidation. Moreover, the general public has been inundated with stories of abuses of political authority including misappropriation of funds and dubious financial transactions of government and industry officials. These personal transgressions have done little to remove the dark cloud that has developed over anything construed as political.
Unfortunately, politics pervades virtually every work environment and no public/private enterprise, service/manufacturing industry, or blue-collar/white-collar occupation is immune from its influence. Simply put, as long as there are employees with diverse personalities, needs, and wants, workplace politics are to be expected. Politicking is viewed unfavorably because it often blurs the relationship between what one contributes at work and what one receives in return. Instead of raises and promotions coming to those who work the hardest and contribute the most to company profitability, rewards are given to those who are most successful at manipulating the reward allocations of decision makers.
What are Political Behaviors?
Politicking represents deliberate, self-serving behaviors (although frequently indirect) that are often inconsistent with the goals of the organization. Behaviors can be very subtle or extremely caustic, and directed toward multiple constituents both internal and external to the organization. The only requirement for politicking to surface is for the work environment to possess finite resources or a limit on available rewards. Resources can take the form of equipment, personnel, mentors, and/or social support. Rewards include status enhancements, promotions, pay increases, and development opportunities.
| Table 4. Attributes and Examples of Political Behavior | |
|---|---|
| Attribute: | Example: |
| 1. Purposeful effort to maximize returns. | “There are three of us up for the next promotion and I better make sure that I get it.” |
| 2. Behavior is self-serving, although benefits do not always go directly to the politician, per se. | “I'm going to do whatever I can to see that my subordinate, Smith, is promoted to sales manager instead of Johnson's subordinate.” |
| 3. Goals are often inconsistent with the objectives of the organization. | “I could care less about the company share price; I just need to find a way to make vice-president by the end of the year.” |
| 4. Specific tactics can be very innocuous or extremely destructive. | “I could either tell the boss how much effort I put into my report, or I could destroy Garrett's report that I found on the copy machine.” |
| 5. Influence attempts can be directed upward, downward, horizontally, or externally—often simultaneously. | “If I want this promotion, I better get my subordinates to tell upper management that I am a good manager, sabotage the efforts of my peers, start having lunch with those choosing the next director of promotions, and getting my best customers to call my supervisor.” |
| 6. Often undertaken to secure outcomes unable to be achieved under more accepted means. | “Johnson has outsold me every quarter for the last 10 years, but I've been here longer. I need to make management understand that longevity is more important than performance.” |
| 7. Most likely to be used when environments possess limited resources. | “I've heard that there is only enough money in the budget for one new computer. I need to convince management that my computer is outdated although it really isn't compared to others.” |
| 8. Politicking is not a tactic used for poor performers exclusively. | I'm the best performer in my department, but I keep getting passed over for promotions. It's clear that I need to advertise my successes since it is apparent that nobody will notice otherwise.” |
...
- Loading...
Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL
-
Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life -
Read modern, diverse business cases
-
Explore hundreds of books and reference titles
Read next
More like this
Sage Recommends
We found other relevant content for you on other Sage platforms.
Have you created a personal profile? Login or create a profile so that you can save clips, playlists and searches