Analysis of the Dynacorp Case Through Political Lens
Analysis of the Dynacorp Case through political lens
Dynacorp is a worldwide information systems and communications business. In 1990 the company started to have fewer earnings than in the past, so the CEO tried to change the design of the company to run better. In this paper, I analyze this organization though the political lenses to better understand how changing the structure can help improve revenue and quality. As discussed in the book, the political lens sees the organization in terms of conflicts of interests, power, and goals among individuals and groups within the organization. The way to understand the dynamics of political conflict is to understand who has power, from where that power comes, the basis of the power and how much power the different parties in the organization have. “In the political perspective, the roots of conflict lie in different and competing interests, and disagreements require political action, including negotiation, coalition building, and the exercise of power and influence.” The key concerns of players in the political perspective of the organization revolve around who defines the problems and the agenda, and where they get the power to do so; who the parties advocating solutions are, and why they are advocating such solutions; how a particular group is to procure an outcome or outcomes that are favorable to its own interests (Ancona et al., 2009: M-2, 33).
Stakeholder, Power, Interests
At the very top of the organizational hierarchy there is the CEO and the functional heads, who are executive vice presidents representing marketing, manufacturing, and engineering. These constitute, individually, four different sets of stakeholders, each with their own interests, as well as power. The CEO has his interests in making Dynacorp more competitive and profitable, as reflected in his listed challenges: costs that are high, product development cycles that were slow, and value creation for customers that needed to be elevated. These
Dynacorp is a worldwide information systems and communications business. In 1990 the company started to have fewer earnings than in the past, so the CEO tried to change the design of the company to run better. In this paper, I analyze this organization though the political lenses to better understand how changing the structure can help improve revenue and quality. As discussed in the book, the political lens sees the organization in terms of conflicts of interests, power, and goals among individuals and groups within the organization. The way to understand the dynamics of political conflict is to understand who has power, from where that power comes, the basis of the power and how much power the different parties in the organization have. “In the political perspective, the roots of conflict lie in different and competing interests, and disagreements require political action, including negotiation, coalition building, and the exercise of power and influence.” The key concerns of players in the political perspective of the organization revolve around who defines the problems and the agenda, and where they get the power to do so; who the parties advocating solutions are, and why they are advocating such solutions; how a particular group is to procure an outcome or outcomes that are favorable to its own interests (Ancona et al., 2009: M-2, 33).
Stakeholder, Power, Interests
At the very top of the organizational hierarchy there is the CEO and the functional heads, who are executive vice presidents representing marketing, manufacturing, and engineering. These constitute, individually, four different sets of stakeholders, each with their own interests, as well as power. The CEO has his interests in making Dynacorp more competitive and profitable, as reflected in his listed challenges: costs that are high, product development cycles that were slow, and value creation for customers that needed to be elevated. These
References: Ancona, D., Kochan, T., Scully, M., Van Maanen, J. & Westney, D.E. 2009. Managing for the future: Organizational behavior and processes (3rd ed.). Cincinnati: South-Western College Publishing. Dynacorp Case. 2009. In D. Ancona et al. Managing for the future: M-2, 97-102. Cincinnati: South-Western College Publishing