Introduction to Organizational Politics Essay

This piece consists heavily of quotations from and adaptations of material from several sources (see references at the end). There still may be some unreferenced quotations because I dupe lost track of their genesis over many years of travel content finished various nones. I dont exact originality, other than the choice and organizing of material Rex Mitchell. Pfeffer (1992, p. 30) delineate regime as the processes, the actions, the behaviors through which potential power is utilized and realized.Another author (Dubrin, 2001 , p. 92) defined organizational politics as informal approaches to gaining power through heart and soul other than merit or luck. It could be argued that politics ar used primarily to achieve power, either directly or indirectly, e. g. , by being promoted, receiving a larger budget or other resources, or gaining desirable assignments. Many population regard organizational politics as something negative (e. g. , pursuing selflnterests at the expense of others) and something to be minimized.Consequently, although most people know that organizational politics are common, they avoid saying so when it concerns one=s own ehavior. It is more common to talk about politics when complaining about a loss to a champion than it is in the context of ones own policy-making maneuvering. When we pull round on an issue, we call it leadership when we lose, we call it politics. In many organizations, politics is a taboo subject, which makes it difficult for individuals to deal with this crucially important looking at of organizational reality.I believe a leader must skillfully use organizational politics to acquire and retain power and to extend to major goals. Therefore, it would be a mistake to pretend that politics does not exist or to antasize that a leader can be strong without appropriate (and ethical, I would add) use of politics. As Pericles wrote over 2500 years ago, moreover because you do not take an interest in politics doesnt me an politics wont take an interest in you. I regard organizational politics as neither smashing nor bad, per se, although it is important for us to distinguish between ethical and unethical political behavior.