Writing Assignment help on : Power and Politics in an Organisation
Introduction
Power has a dominant role to play in all situations of conflicts. In an organisation conflict arises in different forms and various levels of the business. The main reason behind these conflicts is because of different attitudes and beliefs, which the people hold towards the work. In situations of conflicts efficiency of work is negatively influenced and as a result, the pressure on the business managers and executives will increase. Conflict is witnessed in situations where there is high incompatibility of the goals, which arises from the opposing behaviours of the individuals who are working in a group. Organisations can easily be considered as the arena for production of conflicts, and it reflects the essence of the organisation (Michael and Andrew 2012). Thus, it makes it clear that conflict is not a by-product of the routine operations of an organisation rather this determines the way the organisation can make a choice for its future actions and make it flexible and adaptive in working. The major reason for arising conflict in an organisation is when an influence by an authority is resisted which is a result of different parties being involved.
Power is a capacity of an individual to influence the attitudes and behaviours of others. This is a relationship that is build between two parties, which aim to serve to define the interactions of the parties. There are five types of power, which can be asserted by the managers on their employees which include coercive power, expert power, positional power, referent power and rewards power. Since, power is the capacity of an individual to make an influence over the others the bases of power is dynamic in nature. These types of power are expected to change to over time and depend on the perceptions of the parties that are involved in the relationship (Jon and Nicole 2010). The basic role of management of an organisation is to help in conflict resolution, in an organisation. If there is no conflict than the management of an organisation, has no role to play. Management plays a pivotal role in resolving conflicts, in the areas of resources, time, money, etc.
In the following paper, the main focus is on explaining the every organisation has to deal with issues relating to power and conflict. Along with this, paper will also explain the positive and the negative impact of power and conflict in an organisation. The paper aims at explain the role of power and conflict in an organisation. The major purpose of the paper is to explain the concept of power and conflict in detail and how it is dealt in an organisation.
Power and Conflict in an Organisation
Power is the rate at which the work is converted into something useful. Power basically explains the possession of the qualities, which are required for doing some actions or getting them done (Paul 2012). Strategies that are used by the individuals for acquiring power include contracting, co-opting and co-leasing. The basic purpose of power is to influence the behaviours of individuals and the process of power includes compliance, identification and internationalization. There are different ways in which people can gain power and the most common types of power are discussed as under.
The first type of power includes reward power as per this power it is explained that employees will be more motivated to do better work if they are certain that they will get something good in return for their actions. If the subordinate perceives that the leader has the ability and resources to reward him for his actions are most likely to perform actions that comply with the directives. This type of power can also prove to be de-motivator factor as the employees are unlikely to perform their regular duties if they perceive that the reward that is being offered to them is not of enough value for them (Vincent 2011).
Expert power is the second category of power. It is based on the thinking of the subordinate about its leader as a person who is competent and has special knowledge in the particular field. This type of power is based on clear knowledge and expertise of the leader. As a result of skills posed by the leader the employees are able to trust the business. The leader should be such that can be trusted and should be able to encourage his employees to perform better by performing the actions as guided by him. This type of power is mostly witnessed in organisation if the employee has been working with the organisation for a very long time.
Legitimate power is based on the authority of an individual, which is build on the basis of position in the business. This type of power is based on the belief of the employee that the leader has the right to exercise his power on the basis of his position in the organisation. This power is generally witnessed in the construction industry where in the people who are working at the lower ends that is brick layer would be dependent on the instruction that have been given by the site manager. The employees are completely dependent on the instruction and work accordingly (Joanne and Gillian 2012). The leader is able to exercise his control only because of his dominant position in the business.
Referent power depends upon the personal skills of a person and is followed only because they are generally liked by many people of the organisation. The employees who possess this power are able to build good relations among all the levels of the business. This power depends on the identification of similarities that exist between the subordinate and the leader. The leader his able to exercise his control on the employees because of perceived attractiveness, personal characteristics, reputation and charisma (Adam, et al. 2008). The referent power has a very important role in helping the organisation reach its objectives.
The last type of power, which is identified, includes the coercive power. This is the most impolite power which is based on the fear. The subordinates are scared of their leader as a consequence of which they are forced to work as per the laid guidelines. The subordinate believes that the leader has the ability to punish them and bring undesirable outcomes for those employees who do not work as per the laid directives. When such power is used in organisation the results obtained are fast but short term in nature. The employees fell threatened and pressurised to do as directed by the leader as not working accordingly can result in holding back the privileges and benefits (Russell, et al. 2011). This power proves to be very helpful in short run but in long term employees feel highly de-motivated.
Conflict basically refers to the open clash between the two opposing groups and individuals. It is the state of opposition arising between two person/two ideas. The people that get themselves involved in conflicts go against the general rules and laws of the business. The basic reasons behind the conflicts that take place in an organisation are due to goal incompatibility, decision making and performance expectations. When the situations of conflicts are witnessed in an organisation there are two major changes which are witnessed which include changes within the groups and changes between the conflicting groups (Sebastien, et al. 2011). There are basically 4 strategies, which are undertaken in organisation for the purpose of minimising and resolving the conflicts that place in an organisation which are avoidance, confrontation, diffusion and power intervention.
As situation of conflict arises in a business the companies try to find out ways, which will help in minimising the level of conflict in the organisation. The methods, which are generally used for the purpose of handling the conflict includes designing the HRM policies in a manner that employee has been able to get equal opportunities and pay rights. The business can also make use of good communication links for the purpose of resolving the conflicts in an effective manner. This will help smooth decision making and increase the involvement of employees in the decisions of the business. Also, the business can make sure that the goals and objectives of the business are clearly laid and work in the direction of these goals which will also lead to reduction of the conflicts, which are taking place in an organisation (Cristina, et al. 2012). Along with this, employees should also take steps for the purpose of handling the issues in a best possible manner so that the efficiency of the business is not affected.
The example of power and conflict is witnessed in IBM. IBM is an international computer hardware and software company. During his reign the company had to face many problems relating to inter-politics conflicts between the groups which overshadowed the main goals of the company. IBM faced many serious problems in development of software due to high level of conflicts. The internal debate was so political that the projects got unnecessary delayed. The company’s belief in excellence, customer dissatisfaction and respect of individual, etc. all were overshadowed and misunderstood. All these lead to high level loss of stock and competitive advantage of the company. There were many architectural changes that took place in the organisation. Some of the major steps taken for architectural changes to improve the situation and reduce conflicts included implementation of new management system, all business units to work in collaboration and think about the customers, lower level of manager’s were given more control (Mohammad, 2010). The changes in the working styles of the company and have proved to be very helpful in resolving their internal conflicts. Thus it is clear that conflicts and power have an important role to play in facilitating smooth functioning of the organisation.
Negative Impact of Power and Conflict
Power is the rate at which the work is converted into something useful. Power primarily explains the possession of the qualities which are required for doing some actions or getting them done (Paul 2012). Strategies that are used by individuals for acquiring power include contracting, co-opting and co-leasing. The basic purpose of power is to influence the behaviours of individuals and the process of power includes compliance, identification and internationalization. There are different ways in which people can gain power and the most common types of power are given by French and raven who have identified 5 key types of power.
The first type of power includes reward power as per this power it is explained that employees will be more motivated to do better work if they are certain that they will get something substantial in return for their actions. If the subordinate perceives that the leader has the ability and resources to reward him for his actions are most likely to perform actions that comply with the directives. This type of power can also prove to be de-motivator as the employees are unlikely to perform their regular duties if they perceive that the reward that is being offered to them is not of enough value for them (Vincent 2011).
Expert power is the second category of power. It is based on the thinking of the subordinate about its leader as a person who is competent and has unique knowledge in the particular field. This type of power is based on clear knowledge and expertise of the leader. As a result of skills posed by the leader, the employees are able to trust the business. The leader should be such that can be trusted and should be able to encourage his employees to perform better by performing the actions as guided by him. This type of power is mostly witnessed in the organisation if the employee has been working with the organisation for a unusually long time.
Legitimate power is based on the authority of an individual which is build on the basis of position in the business. This type of power is based on the belief of the employee that the leader has the right to exercise his power on the basis of his position in the organisation. This power is generally witnessed in the construction industry where in the people who are working at the lower ends that are brick layer would be dependent on the instruction that have been given by the site manager. The employees are entirely dependent on instruction and work accordingly (Joanne and Gillian 2012). The leader is able to exercise his control only because of his dominant position in the business.
Referent power depends upon the personal skills of a person and is followed only because they are generally liked by many people of the organisation. The employees who possess this power are able to build healthy relations among all levels of the business. This power depends on the identification of similarities that exist between the subordinate and the leader. The leader his able to exercise his control on the employees because of perceived attractiveness, personal characteristics, reputation and charisma (Adam, et al. 2008). The referent power has a hugely influential role in helping the organisation reach its objectives.
The last type of power, which is identified, includes the coercive power. This is the most impolite power which is based on the fear. The subordinates are scared of their leader as a consequence of which they are forced to work as per the laid guidelines. The subordinate believes that the leader has the ability to punish them and bring undesirable outcomes for those employees who do not work as per the laid directives. When such power is used in organisation the results obtained are fast but short term in nature. The employees fell threatened and pressurised to do as directed by the leader as not working accordingly can result in holding the privileges and benefits (Russell, et al. 2011). This power proves to be immensely helpful in the short run but in the long term employees feel highly de-motivated.
Conflict essentially refers to the open clash between the two opposing groups and individuals. It is the state of opposition arising between two person/two ideas. The people that get themselves involved in conflicts go against the general rules and laws of the business. The basic reasons behind the conflicts that take place in an organisation are due to goal incompatibility, decision making and performance expectations. When the situations of conflicts are witnessed in an organisation, there are two main changes which are witnessed which include changes within the groups and changes between the conflicting groups (Sebastien, et al. 2011). There are fundamentally 4 strategies, which are undertaken in the organisation for the purpose of minimising and resolving the conflicts that place in an organisation which are avoidance, confrontation, diffusion and power intervention.
As a situation of conflict arises in a business, the companies try to find out ways which will help in minimising the level of conflict in the organisation. The methods, which are generally used for the purpose of handling the conflict, includes designing the HRM policies in a manner that an employee has been able to get equal opportunities and pay rights. The business can also make use of formal communication links for the purpose of resolving conflicts in an effective manner. This will help smooth decision making and increase the involvement of employees in the decisions of the business. Also, the business can make sure that the goals and objectives of the business are clearly laid and work in the direction of these goals which will also lead to reduction of the conflicts which are taking place in an organisation (Cristina, et al. 2012). Along with this the employees should also take steps for the purpose of handling the issues in a best possible manner so that the efficiency of the business is not affected.
The example of power and conflict is witnessed in IBM. IBM is an international computer hardware and software company. During his reign, the company had to face many problems relating to inter-politics conflicts between the groups which overshadowed the main goals of the company. IBM faced many serious problems in development of software due to high level of conflicts. The internal debate was so political that the projects got unnecessary delayed. The company’s belief in excellence, customer dissatisfaction and respect of individual, etc. all were overshadowed and misunderstood. All these lead to high level loss of stock and competitive advantage of the company. There were many architectural changes that took place in the organisation. Some of the significant steps taken for architectural changes to improve the situation and reduce conflicts included implementation of new management system; all business units to work in collaboration and think about the customers, lower level of managers were given more control (Mohammad, 2010). The changes in the working styles of the company and have proved to be extremely helpful in resolving their internal conflicts. Thus, it is clear that conflicts and power have a crucial role to play in facilitating smooth functioning of the organisation.
Positive Aspects of Power and Conflict
Power in organisations is generally seen to have negative impacts on the people by lowering down their morale and productivity. It also has certain positive effects on the way an organisation performs and achieves its goals. In its positive form power and politics can be necessary for getting the work done by the people. It is essential for achieving success for both individuals and organisations. Power and politics can be used to manage the organisation in a constructive manner. It encourages people to move in a particular direction and achieve organisational objectives in an effective manner. The reality says that politics is a fact of life in an organisation (Robert 2010). People use power and politics to influence and protect their interest along with the interest of others. This enhances their decision making authority in accordance with the role and the position they hold in the organisation.
Power and politics tend to have a positive impact on individual careers and the value of shareholders. Organisations tend to use power and politics in an effective manner so that they can achieve beneficial outcomes for their organisations in the long run. Power and politics lead to effective communication among the employees and the employers so that a proper flow of information is maintained. This has been an effective step in developing the skills of the people so that they can effectively achieve their individual goals in accordance with the goals of their organisation. The influence of power is shown through leadership and results in making the organisations innovative, responsive and responsible to create influence on the performance of the employees and the organisation (Mei, et al. 2012). Power is an act of influencing and implementing strategic change in the organisation by coping with the resistance of the employees. An effective use of power includes development of appropriate entrepreneurial behaviour of the employers towards the employees. Another sue of power in a positive manner involves its use to achieve the fundamental goals along with a balanced self interest and the interest of others.
An effective and influential use of power maintains mutuality of decisions in a balanced manner. Power provides a consciousness foundation for managing and handling the differences that exist among the viewpoints of employees of a team. If power is used in an effective manner, then it leads to appropriate direction and motivation to the employees. With the proper direction and motivation, morale of the employees increases by developing a positive attitude among the employees. Employees work in unity and coordination, in order to achieve organisational objective (Gerben, et al. 2010). In this manner power becomes strength for the employer to manage its employees and resolve the conflicting issues to meet organisational goals. This helps in influencing the employees without the use of domination. Power leads to the development of commitment and consistency among the employees towards their organisation so that they can put in their best efforts in meeting organisational objectives.
Power provides an encouragement to the employees thereby enhancing their level of productivity. Employees get the power to make their own decisions as they get rewards and appreciations for their extraordinary performance and achievement of targets. This leads to the building of confidence among the employees and motivates them to make efforts towards their work and improve their performance (Zhongming, et al. 2010). The positive use power in organisation provides respect to employees and aims at retaining the best and efficient employees to work together in an organisation.
The conflicts that arise in organisations tend to have a favourable impact on the performance of the organisation and the employees. It improves the quality of decisions made by the employees thereby developing cohesiveness among the employees to work effectively in groups and achieve organisational objectives. In this manner, conflicts when resoled tend to improve cooperation among the teams and provide organisational innovativeness by improving the quality of decisions made in resolving conflicts. One of the positive effects of conflicts is that resolving conflicting issues tend to enhance and inspire creativity among the people of the organisation. It is viewed as an opportunity to find creative solutions for coming out of the problems of conflict prevailing in the organisations. It can also instigate brainstorming ideas (Nigel, et al. 2011). When employees work towards resolving conflicts they tend to share their opinions and viewpoints willingly. This situation enables the members of the group to listen to each other effectively and work together towards the achievement of organisational goals.
Conflicting situations in an organisation tends to bring the employees together and closer to each other and get to know more about their colleagues and team members. This helps in building effective communication and develops an understanding among the members of the group. This provides an effective tool to the members to resolve the issues of conflicts, which may arise in the coming future. Conflicting issues in the organisation may give an opportunity to some of the members to come up and contribute towards the issues by giving their ideas and decisions. In this manner, their leadership skills are identified by offering meaningful solutions to the problem of conflict that the group is facing. It develops a feeling of unity among the members to work towards solving the problem that the organisation is facing (Igor, et al. 2011). A feeling of trust is developed among the employees as they work together in cooperation and coordination towards resolving conflicts. This helps in strengthening the relationship by the sharing of experiences among the members of the group. It helps in developing human capabilities among the employees to solve interpersonal differences that may arise in the group.
This develops confidence among the employees that they can handle the situation of conflict that may come in the long run. Employees gain a sense of responsibility towards handling the issues and confrontations that may arise in the organisational setting (Michele, et al. 2011). In this manner, conflicts can be handled in a collaborative manner by the employees so that productive and morale of the employees can be increased and organisational objectives can be achieved in an effective manner.
Conclusion
In the above paper, the main focus has been explaining the role of power and conflict in an organisation. Power and conflict is an integral part of the company and has both positive and negative impact on the working of the organisation. The main points which have been highlighted in the paper help in concluding that Power and conflict has both positive and negative impact on an organisation. The paper has explained that there are many types of power, and it depends upon the requirements of the business as to which form of power is exerted on the employees. Conflict is also an essential part as it helps in understanding that the employees are giving importance to the organisation and want it to progress as fast as possible.
If conflicts take place in an organisation in a healthy manner, they prove to be helpful in bringing out the most fruitful result. In the vice-versa case if the conflicts take place for personal benefits there are high chances that the efficiency of the employees suffers, and in the long run the organisation also has to suffer. It is particularly urgent that the management exercises his role in the best manner to reduce the level of conflict which is taking place in the organisation. The management has to take steps to minimise the level of conflict which is taking place in an organisation.
Power has been extremely helpful for the organisation in order to reduce the unnecessary conflicts and increase the efficiency of the organisation. The negative impact of power and organisation can be concluded that the employees focus on self interest in comparison to the organisation, decrease in productivity and morale of the employees, quality of product of the business has to suffer and also impacts the goodwill of the company. Just like of the two sides of the coin the positive impact of power and conflict on organisation indicates that performance is improved because of proper direction, shareholder value improves, and long term relations can easily be maintained. Thus, it is exceptionally clear that power and conflict proves to be helpful for the organisation if directed in the right direction and exercised properly.
The paper has been immensely helpful in explaining that power and conflict are implanted within an organisation. Along with this the explained the positive and negative impact of power and conflict on the working of the organisation.
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