Page 327 - DMGT402_MANAGEMENT_PRACTICES_AND_ORGANIZATIONAL_BEHAVIOUR

Management Practices and Organisational Behaviour

Notes watched him work his way up from the bottom and grew to trust him. "I would listen to
their suggestions and pass them along to my father," he says. "All that helped me ease my
way and break down any resentment the workers had at having the boss's kid in their
midst".

Hiring the kids doesn't have to be a disaster. It just takes good political strategies that
benefit everyone in the organisation.
Source: "Playing Favorites?" Entrepreneur (July 1994) Page 78-81.

15.7 Summary

The toughest of all areas within corporate life is dealing with power and politics.

Some companies are better or worse than others in the amount of political activity taking
place.
Usually, the larger the company, the more part the politics plays in one's ability to perform.
In order to be successful in the corporate world, people need power.

There are many types of powers.
All have their advantages and disadvantages.
Power may be used for both the benefits of an organisation or disadvantage for it.
Similarly, politics may be used for both, self benefit without harming others or harm to
others.

15.8 Keywords

Expert Power: Power that arises from a person's expertise, knowledge or talent.
Reward Power: When the source of power is a person's control over rewarding outcomes, the
power is called reward power.

15.9 Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. Employees at all levels may exert .................. power through such tactics as ridicule or
exclusion of a co-worker.
2. .................. Political Behaviours are those activities that violate the implied rules of the
game.

3. .................. groups are those that have many connections with other groups and a large
effect on work flow.
4. .................. feedback, while tougher to initiate, if given in a problem-solving format, can
even bring about a closer relationship.
5. Some people influence others through the force of their attractiveness, the mysterious
personal magnetism we call .................. .
6. The key to using the power in an organisation is using it .................. .
7. The degree of power wielded by a particular group/individual also depends on the
.................. of work activities and communications in the organisation.

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