Page 325 - DMGT402_MANAGEMENT_PRACTICES_AND_ORGANIZATIONAL_BEHAVIOUR

Management Practices and Organisational Behaviour

Notes 15.5 Reality of Politics

Politics is a fact of life in organisations. People play politics for the following reasons:
1. Organisations are made up of individuals and groups with different values, goals and
interests.
2. Resources in organisations are limited. This forces members to compete for the
organisation's limited resources.

3. Most decisions have to be made in a climate of ambiguity. People within organisations
will use whatever influence they can to tweak the facts to support their goals and interests.
Politics cannot – and should not – be eliminated from organisations. Managers can, however,
take a proactive stance and manage the political behaviour that inevitably occurs.
1. Uncertainty is a condition that tends to increase political behaviour, while transparency
and open communication reduces this uncertainty.
2. Regarding performance, clarify expectations. This can accomplished through the use of
clear, quantifiable goals and through the establishment of a clear connection between
goal accomplishment and rewards.
3. Often, people engage in political behaviour when they feel excluded from decision-making
processes in the organisation. Therefore, the key is participative management.
4. Managing scarce resources is important. Clarify the resource allocation process. This
discourages dysfunctional political behaviour.

5. Encourage co-operation among work groups. This can instil a unity of purpose in work
teams by rewarding cooperative behaviour.

Tasks Critically examine the situation when you saw a professional using
1. his power for positive gains for the organisation
2. politics for positive gains for himself

15.6 Maccoby's Four Political Types

In his book "The Gamesman", Michael Maccoby describes four types of organisational politicians.
They are:
1. Craftsman: Craftsmen, driven by achievement, are the least political. They are often
technical specialists who like details and precision. The person is usually quiet, sincere,
modest and practical.
2. Jungle Fighter: Jungle fighters, although very different in behaviour, are apt to be active
politicians. Unafraid to step on others to get ahead, this fighter believes employees should
be used to get ahead in the company. They desire success at any cost. There are two types
of jungle fighters:
(a) Foxes: The foxes make their nests in the organisation and manoeuvre from this safe
base.

(b) Lions: Conquer others' territories and build empires.
3. Company man or women: As politicians go, these are conservative people. They possess a
strong desire for affiliation and may not exhibit a lot of political behaviour. In fact, this

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