Page 70 - DMGT520_ORGANIZATION_CHANGE_AND_DEVELOPMENT

Unit 4: Power, Politics and Ethics in OD

Notes
Revati felt that Raman’s responses to her concerns included a strong, inferred ultimatum:
if you want to stay with this company, you had better take this job. “I knew I had to sink
or swim with this job and this client,” Revati later reported.

As she reflected on her options, she pondered the following questions:
 How can I be honest with the client and thus not jeopardies my values of openness
and honesty?
 How can I be helpful to this client?
 How much do I know about quality improvement processes?

 How do I satisfy the requirements of my employer?
 What obligations do I have?

 Who’s going to know if I do or don’t have the credentials to perform this work?
 What if I fail?
After thinking about these issues, Revati summarised her position in terms of three
dilemmas: a dilemma of self (who is Revati?), a dilemma of competence (What can I do?)
and a dilemma of confidence (Do I like who I work for?). Based on the issues, Revati made
the following tactical decisions. She spent two days at the library reading about and
studying total quality management and continuous improvement. She also contacted
several of her friends and former classmates who had experience with quality improvement
efforts. Eventually, she contracted one of them to be her “shadow” consultant – to work
with her behind the scenes on formulating and implementing an intervention for the
client.
Based on her preparation in the library and the discussion with her shadow consultant,
Revati was able to facilitate an appropriate and effective intervention for the client. Shortly
after her assignment was completed, she resigned from the consulting organisation.
Question
Analyze the above case

4.4 Summary

 The present unit discusses the power and control issues in the organisations.
 Two faces of power, the positive and the negative have been identified along with the
requisite conditions for the use of power and politics in business organisation.

 Different approaches to understand the sources of power have been highlighted.
 The concept of organisational politics which is associated with decision making, resource
allocation and conflict resolution processes has been discussed. Implication of power and
politics for the practices of OD have been diagnosed and discussed.
 Ethical dilemmas faced by OD practitioners may affect the effectiveness of the OD program
if not clarified in the initial stages.
 Some major categories of ethical dilemmas at the point of choice of intervention, use of
information, withholding of services, client dependency, choice of participation and client
manipulation have been highlighted.

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