Preview

Organization and Political Power

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
994 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Organization and Political Power
Discussion Questions Week 4

1. Why do organizational structures differ? What is the difference between a mechanistic structure and an organic structure? Which structure would be most appropriate for an innovative organization like Apple or 3M? What about an organization that focuses on cost-minimization like Wal-Mart? Organizational structures differ because of the different strategies, organizational size, technology, and environment. Consider the mechanistic model and the organic model. The mechanistic model is characterized by extensive departmentalization, high formalization, a limited information network, and centralization. The organic model is flat, uses cross-hierarchical and cross-functional teams, has low formalization, possesses a comprehensive information network, and relies on participative decision making. The structure that would be most appropriate for an innovative organization like Apple or 3M would be organic structure. The organization that would focus on cost-minimization like Wal-Mart is a mechanistic structure. 2. What is the difference between the position a person holds in a company and their political power? Is the top executive in an organization always the person who holds the most political power? Explain your answer. In business communities, there is no difference. There is always somebody who has the control of all the resources in an organization, both human and nonhuman resources. This person holds a position in the company above the others. He has a managerial position which exercises control over his subordinates. He has the say and the rest follow. There are of course some limitations as far as his political power is concerned in as much as there are also regulations to abide by. Political power is the ability to control the behavior of others to attain the objectives of the organization. Political power and the person who has it are just one and the same. Political power is the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    BUSI690 Rothaermel Ex 3

    • 1270 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The relationship between an organization’s strategy and structure are extremely important because it “directly impacts a firm’s performance” (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 309). Also, as an organization grows, it should reevaluate the current strategy and structure to ensure that it remains the optimal choice for the organization (Rothaermel, 2013). The four types of organizational structures, listed in order of least to most complex according to Rothaermel (2013), are: (1) simple, (2) functional, (3) multidivisional, and (4) matrix.…

    • 1270 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Organizations are set up in specific ways to accomplish different goals, and the structure of an organization can help or hinder its progress toward accomplishing these goals. Organizations large and small can achieve higher sales and other profit by properly matching their needs with the structure they use to operate. The three main types of organizational structures are functional, divisional, and matrix structure. Organizations have to pick the structure that will work well with their company. These things do not come all at once overnight, companies have to try and see what works for them.…

    • 1190 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Weekly Notes

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages

    According to Yukl (2010), how can leaders acquire and lose power within their organization? How is position and personal power defined within your current or past employment environment? Is it possible to possess a high position without personal power? Why or why not?…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Organizations respond differently with complexity and with instability. Organization structure that deals with complexity can be mechanistic or organic in nature. But the organization structure that deals with instability has to be always organic and cannot be mechanistic. They are “organic structure, [with] teamwork, participative, decentralized”. This is because to deal with instability effectively, the organization has to respond quickly. For example, take the case of W.L. Gore and Associates which has an organic structure. W.L. Gore and Associates has a lattice organization and there are no fixed or assigned authority4a. When the company had a crisis in 1978 when customers discovered that the Gore-Tex material was leaking, the company’s fabric and research divisions were able to offer a solution to wash the material to restore its waterproof quality. But when a mountain guide complained that his Gore-Tex parka was leaking while he is hiking in the mountains, the company realized the failure of the initial solution they offered and quickly recalled and bought back all their Gore-Tex products. They then produced a second generation Gore-Tex that did not leak and became the solution to their crisis.…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A manager needs to understand the interdependency of departments, internal partnerships, and the influence of power and politics to effectively manage across the organization. Effective managers use various political tactics to increase their power within the organization to coordinate and support the work of their peers and subordinates to meet company objectives. Managers regularly acquire and use power. Power-oriented behavior has an impact on managerial career progress, on job performance, on organizational effectiveness, and on the personal lives of employees (Obholzer, 1995). It involves the combined topics of power, influence, authority, and organizational politics. When running an organization, all these factors should be taken into consideration.…

    • 767 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sept - Dec Notes

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages

    power is held by a wide variety of groups. conservative values dominate politics. power is concentrated in a…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    . Political power is that power, which every man having in the state of nature, has given up into the hands of the society, and therein to the governors, whom the society hath set over itself, with this express or tacit trust, that it shall be employed for their good and preservation of their property……

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Study Guide Bnc1

    • 1732 Words
    • 7 Pages

    While leadership focuses on the downward influence of one's followers, power also deals with lateral and upward influence.…

    • 1732 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mechanistic structures are mainly for organizations in a stable environment. They are hierarchical in nature with well-defined tasks and central authority. This type of structure works well in an environment where an organization does not need to respond rapidly to changes in the marketplace.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    * Women on the news give the appearance that they work as a cocktail waitress instead of a news anchor.…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Power in Business

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Power in a business situation can be described as having “the ability to influence people toward organisational objectives.” (US Navy, n.d.) There are many different forms of power that an individual may have within the workplace. Some examples of the various forms of power that an individual may exert are legitimate, referent, coercive, and informational. Each power source identified is used differently in managerial settings and subordinates react differently to each power type. These different forms of power help management in getting the required company objectives achieved. As each source of power is different the level of impact that it will have within the politics of business organisations will also differ.…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The word power has many meanings, “...rich in both political and personal associations.” [ (Manke, 1997, p. 3) ] Wrong (1995) claims where you are in the social order (your status) will influence your understanding of power. Geelan (2001) writes about Michel Foucault, one of the most influential thinkers about power of our time. He uses an analogy that a central argument of Foucault’s was that power is like mass energy in physics; it can “... be neither created nor destroyed, but only transformed and transferred.” (p.6) While there may not be a common understanding of what power is, Fadon (1985 cited in Manke, 1997) states that power can never really be seen, when some people are doing what others want, despite their own wishes, he said that power is at work.…

    • 1996 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Political Power

    • 1642 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Many political philosophers would argue that political science is nothing more than the study of political decision-making and how it affects the daily lives of the populous. Politically, having the ability to influence others is a very strong power that beckons responsibility. In order to obtain this, one must be able to convince others that what is being requested or instructed is being done in the best interest of the person and populous, in the name of the common good. Political power creates a foundation in our lives, through persuasion, manipulation, and our own morality, by which we are instructed about what we "ought to do."…

    • 1642 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is no agreement over the question of what people mean by social power. Different understandings of this term, different concepts, have a major impact upon subsequent research and consequently produce different theories about the distribution of power. The study of social power has always been central to the sociological perspective. Different sociological theories advance different arguments about both the way in which particular forms of social power – political, economic, cultural, technological – shape the distinctive characteristics of modern societies and the consequent changes in previous forms of such power. We usually talk that some people have power while others do not. Power is talked of as if it is something inherent in people! For example, teachers have power over pupils, parents over children and so on. Yet as we shall see power is many things to many people. Once we have come to some understanding of what power is, or what Marxists believe it to be, we will look at the more important question of how power is distributed and the mechanisms of power. Before we go any further some features of the common sense definition of power must be taken to task. We are apt to think of power as something that some people have, just like some people have physical strength or a bad temper. This is not the most useful way to think of power. Power should be thought of as existing in social relationships, that is, within the realm of social interaction. To put it simply, Robinson Crusoe did not have power until he met Friday, then he became a powerful man, at least with regard to his newly found "friend". Therefore, power exists within social relationships not outside of them. Power does not reside within people nor does it float about landing on the unsuspecting. Thus, when we speak of people or classes having power what we mean is power within a social relationship. A question about whether…

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    TOC \o "1-2" \h \z \u EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PAGEREF _Toc354331056 \h 2 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc354331057" POLITICAL PROCESS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS PAGEREF _Toc354331057 \h 3…

    • 10556 Words
    • 35 Pages
    Powerful Essays