Power and Politics in Organizations

Power and Politics in Organizations

• Course: Organizations Management Course
• Instructor: Dr. Thierry VIALE
• Contact: [email protected]

Outline

• Learning objectives
• Introduction to organizational politics and power
• Sources of power
• Political arenas and resistance
• Domination and social structure
• Soft domination
• Total institutions
• Experiments with authority

Learning Objectives

• Understand organizational politics and power's interconnectedness
• Recognize the normalcy of politics in organizational life
• Understand surveillance, resistance, and empowerment practices
• Critically evaluate empowerment ethics

Introduction

• Organizational politics is pervasive
• Refers to social relations within and around organizations
• Power results from positional relationships within networks
• Power is structural and positional
• Authority relates to personal attributes, charisma, and power embodiment
• Legitimacy is about perception, belief, and recognition

Sources of Power

• Max Weber established foundational concepts of power in organizations (Economy and Society, 1922)
• Differentiated between authority and domination
• Authority requires consent, while domination implies lacking granted legitimacy to superiors
• Weber identified three types of authority:
  • Charismatic authority: based on exceptional personal qualities
  • Traditional authority: rooted in established beliefs and traditions like inheritance
  • Rational-legal authority: based on codified rules and procedures (e.g., modern law, bureaucracy)

Charismatic Authority

• Exceptional personal qualities make individuals stand apart and are attributed supernatural or exceptional powers

Traditional Authority

• Power derived from a belief in time-honored traditions, traditions, and inheritance

Rational-Legal Authority

• Power based on codified rules, procedures, and modern law/bureaucracy in the modern era

Power from Legitimacy

• Legitimacy is the acceptance of power by the dominated
• Legitimacy attaches to actions and wider social structures based on widespread belief in their validation and righteousness.

Modern Theories of Power

• Actors are guided by self-interest
• Mastering and sustaining uncertainty in the workplace is a crucial source of power within organizations.
• Power is often played out in conflicts over uncertain informal games that aren't apparent in official charts and organization schemes.
• Unpredictability leads to more power.
• Knowledge can be a contested resource

Organizations as Political Arenas

• Organizations are arenas for conflict and tension
• Resistance to change is an organizational activity aiming to impede change
• Power, tensions, and conflict may be important to understand as organizational dynamics.
• Power, conflict, and tension can be present and relevant in different organization contexts.
• Spin doctors, consultants, and coaches—examine their relevance in organizational contexts.
• The importance of political factors in organizations and markets

Organizations as Political Arenas (cont.)

• Politics arises from several contributing factors
• Meaning and symbolic factors within an organization, including myths, beliefs, language, and legends shape perceptions and understandings that form the culture of an organization.
• Divisions and different roles and identities, associated values, and styles (e.g. in creative industries)

Organizations as Political Arenas (cont.)

• Complexity and Degree of Uncertainty: Control over uncertainty isn't a measure of power unless it's significant.
• Salience of Issues: Issues that concern management more directly are more likely to be power-related.
• External Pressure: Stakeholder pressure can empower individuals and groups within an organization.

Dominance as a Reflection of Social Structure

• Organizations perpetuate existing social structures related to dominance
• Traditional social structures influence and are reflected in organizations
• Examples, like those in old countries (e.g., France or UK), show significant socioeconomic disparities

Modern Domination: Soft Domination

• Soft domination appears equal but is a system of control
• Legitimate techniques of control used by management
• Tools include electronic surveillance, empowerment tactics, and mutual control
• These tactics cause resistance to feel less legitimate

Modern Domination: Soft Domination (cont.)

• Governmentality, a shift from power-using to self-governing
• Individuals become subjected to their government and are actively incentivized to engage in self-governance
• Self-policing and surveillance are common
• Subjugation, achieved through coercion, is replaced by consent
• This strategy for control is now pervasive in the digital age

Digital Surveillance/Domination

• Bentham's Panopticon concept: centralized surveillance
• Modern usage of digital surveillance and social media as tools for control and data collection
• Total institutions, like those previously discussed, characterized by strict regulations and constant surveillance of individuals

Experiments with Authority/Power

• Banality of Evil: Nazi criminals were ordinary people, and the actions were not inherently monstrous.
• Milgram Experiment: Investigating human obedience to authority in an experiment regarding delivering perceived shocks to others.
• Replication in Poland: 90% of participants did not stop administering perceived shocks in the experiment.

When it's Time to Say No

• Ethical and personal values and bravery are crucial
• Courage as a valuable way to overcome obedience-based power structures

This quiz explores the interconnections between power and politics within organizations. It covers various sources of power, political arenas, and concepts such as soft domination and total institutions. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for evaluating organizational life and ethical practices in empowerment.