Introduction
This paper is presented in partial completion of unit:12 Organisational Behaviour and will be used to analyse how an organization's culture, politics, and power influence individual and team behavior and performance. There is an old saying: "It's not what you know; it's who you know." Business politics one would say is getting ahead by being noticed and liked by the right circle of people (Rawes, n.d.). Culture, power, and politics play a critical function in business, it influences how decisions are made and how staff interacts with each other. In any type and size of organization the impact of culture, power, and politics reflects whether employees influence others in the organization negatively or positively. Politics can
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Positive power in an organization results in executive level position growing in power through the respect and communication of employees. While negative power is when executive level position lacks the respect of employee needed to uphold their status. This was evident in the merger of Costco and BJ's case, where the vice president of BJ's resigned as his weaker power base could not propel his ambition and responsibility (Zeiger, n.d.).
Politics played a key factor in the Costco and BJ'S merger case. According to Omisore and Nweke (2014, p.8) "Organizational politics relates to behaviours that are outside those in which the organization has taken a specific position for or against, the behaviors are intended to obtain selfish and individual ends that are opposed to the ends of others in the organization. " This kind of political behaviour was observed when the organization was divided, staff vied for the vice president they wish to see come out on top (Omisore and Nweke, 2014).
i) Individual behavior and
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It also establishes a standard in regards to what employees should say and do." An organization culture is a form power, it is seen as a control mechanism used to influence the external and internal conception. However, power may also present itself in an organization as one party influence over another. In such context, power an individual or group has in an organization can alter the existing culture of the organization. For example, in the case of Costco and BJ's the rivalry between the two vice president as a result of the merger change the dynamic of the organization culture. There was no clear structure, and the organization's culture was in a chaotic state as there was a division among staff (123helpme.com, n.d.).
The competition in the organization fostered political behavior among employees. Politics lead to employees in the organization to put personal interest and favoritism ahead of rational protocols. In this context, employee may find it difficult to focus on their assigned work and productivity level may decrease. The culture of the organization may be ignored by a number of employees until a competitor is eliminated and procedures return to a set structure (Managementstudyguide.com,
The definition of organizational (corporate) culture is a pattern of basic assumptions that are considered valid and that are taught to new members as the way to perceive, think, and feel in the organization. In both American and Northwest airlines, their cultures provide a sense of identity to the members and increase their commitment to the organization. American and Northwest airlines have both been in operation since the early 1900’s. Both company’s employees seem to internalize the values of the company. They find their work rewarding and they identify with their fellow workers.
Every small or large business requires a structure to grow successfully and in return be profitable. This structure is what defines the way a company and its employees work together to support their common vision. There are different types of organizational structures depending on the type of business (Burke & Litwin, 2002). The main ones that are related to this study are hierarchy, cross-functional and matrix. Costco Wholesale Corporation is the main focus of this research paper. It was founded in Seattle, WA in 1983 but has the headquarters in Issaquah, WA. It was founded by James Sinegal and Jeffery Brotman. Costco operates 698 warehouses in ten countries, Puerto Rico been the recent one. The company also operates an online website as well as receiving revenue from the membership fees. It earns about 3% of its revenue from the e-commerce website, about 2% through membership fees and generates approximately 95% from their in-store sales. It employees about 200,000 full time and part-time staff worldwide. The recent figure of annual revenues $116.2 billion
While the overwhelming, narrowed control of power is very apparent within the organization, there was, at one point, a sense of partisanship within the departments at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Employees generally work together to best achieve the goals, missions and objectives of the institution. Lately, however, low morale is forcing the employees to work to rule. Employees are not exercising autonomy or taking initiative anymore because there is a sense that upper management will make the final decisions to do what they feel might be best without regard for partisan
Tost, L., Gino, F., & Larrick, R. P. (2013). When power makes others speechless: the negative impact of leader power on team performance. Academy Of Management Journal, 56(5), 1465-1486. doi:10.5465/amj.2011.0180
Organizational culture is the system of shared beliefs and values that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members, while organizational structure is an expression of social and economic principles of hierarchy and specialization (Kinicki, 2015). Both the culture and the structure of an organization are important things for management to understand in order to successfully set and achieve an organization’s goals. Companies who excel in highly competitive fields can attribute their successful economic performance to a cohesive corporate culture that increases competitiveness and profitability. This culture is best utilized in an organization that has the necessary structure to allow its employees to coordinate their actions to achieve its goals.
In different industries, there are companies that operate for a purpose, but the bottom line is the management style between supervisors and subordinate can break or make an organization. Organizations and businesses have to run their management a certain way in order to motivate their employees. The main type of organization management is the Classical Theory which contains Theory X. There are five key employee conflict management styles. Building relationships between employees and managers is crucial for an organization to function and execute their purpose whether it is to provide a service or product. Both theories and conflict strategies were present in the film “Office Space” to demonstrate the negatives of corrupt management and ongoing conflicts which were not resolved that led to destruction.
In another study done by Emmanuel Mutambara, he stated that there is direct impact of politics on organization. His research investigates the effects of organizational politics. The research took a slightly different angle of organizational politics, one that included traditional conceptualizations of politics as typically having a negative effect to the organization and the other view of politics as a positive event within the contemporary organization. Statistical analysis was done to identify common factors on the effects of organizational politics. The research revealed that, organizational motivators, organizational de-motivators, and labor turnover were common factors of organizational politics (Mutambara, Botha, & Bisschoff, 2014). The research recommended that managers and employees must be proactive in dealing with organizational politics. The re-activeness must be encored in democratic decision making in which all parties demonstrate the “will” to work with and through organizational politics notwithstanding consolidation of the positive side of
The political frame relies on the assumption that organizations are alliances of unique people and interest groups. The people are unique due to their different views of the world, their morals, faith and activities and the information they have given these characteristics. The political frame also assumes that all key decisions arise from the need to allocate scarce resources such as time, money and information. These scarce resources and differences amongst people are what make conflict the core of organizational dynamics and make power such a crucial asset. Finally, the political frame assumes that all objectives and conclusions are e...
Schmidt, K. D.,Wilkinson, S. (1990). Intraorganizational influence tactics:exploration in getting one’s way. Journal of Applied Psychology 58(4):440-452.
As far back as history can be told mankind has struggled between balancing culture, power and politics. Many wars have been fought and many people have placed their lives on the line in order to stand up for what they believe in. The combinations of culture, power and politics have spilled over into the workplace. In today’s business environment individuals have much more to worry about than just completing their assigned tasks. Organizational culture, power and office politics influence day to day operations as well as govern the atmosphere within the organization. The amount of impact that power and politics have in the workplace, directly reflect the organization’s culture formally as well as informally.
Corporate culture is the shared values and meanings that members hold in common and that are practiced by an organization’s leaders. Corporate culture is a powerful force that affects individuals in very real ways. In this paper I will explain the concept of corporate culture, apply the concept towards my employer, and analyze the validity of this concept. Research As Sackmann's Iceberg model demonstrates, culture is a series of visible and invisible characteristics that influence the behavior of members of organizations. Organizational and corporate cultures are formal and informal. They can be studied by observation, by listening and interacting with people in the culture, by reading what the company says about its own culture, by understanding career path progressions, and by observing stories about the company. As R. Solomon stated, “Corporate culture is related to ethics through the values and leadership styles that the leaders practice; the company model, the rituals and symbols that organizations value, and the way organizational executives and members communicate among themselves and with stakeholders. As a culture, the corporation defines not only jobs and roles; it also sets goals and establishes what counts as success” (Solomon, 1997, p.138). Corporate values are used to define corporate culture and drive operations found in “strong” corporate cultures. Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, and Bonar Group, the engineering firm I work for, all exemplify “strong” cultures. They all have a shared philosophy, they value the importance of people, they all have heroes that symbolize the success of the company, and they celebrate rituals, which provide opportunities for caring and sharing, for developing a spiri...
Can the effects of cultural misunderstandings can be painful for the individuals, but also for the organization as a whole. Embarrassing situations and inadvertently insults, offenses and failure to achieve individual and organizational goals are among the consequences of the joint. Experience of many managers and researchers in the field of strategy, organization, and the development of the theory of the organization suggests all this ", the study of cultural issues at the organizational level is absolutely essential to a basic understanding of what goes on in organizations, and how it works, and how to improve" (Shin 1990).
Organisational culture is one of the most valuable assets of an organization. Many studies states that the culture is one of the key elements that benefits the performance and affects the success of the company (Kerr & Slocum 2005). This can be measured by income of the company, and market share. Also, an appropriate culture within the society can bring advantages to the company which helps to perform with the de...
This study aims to increase understanding of factors that influence employees’ reactions in the workplace. The relationship between conflict among employees, the perception of organizational politics, conflict or ambiguity of workplace roles and several other work outcomes was explored by studying 11 research articles to investigate individual and organizational effects of workplace attitudes and behaviors. Employees need to work together toward common goals in order for an organization to function well but there are many roadblocks hindering the process. Results demonstrated a clear relationship between stressors and behaviors.
There are some benefits from office politics that can help organizational to grow and this positive outcome of office politics should be fully utilized. When organization developed positive office politics as part of their culture, it will reduce chances for employee voluntary turnover and it will also affect employee job satisfaction. In contrary, to overcome negative outcome of office politics, every individual in an organization should work together as a team and respect each other. Office politics can happen to anybody so every individual needs to prepare themselves to face this challenging situation. In doing so, individual should strongly hold their values and face office politics with positive attitude. Ways individual deal with office politics will impact their own self positively or