Power & Politics
...not democracies. There is usually a hierarchical structure of differing levels of management and subordinates; otherwise known as those with power and those without. As history can attest to, wherever there is power there are politics. While there are some similarities and some differences between the two, in reality they tend to operate intermingling so often that they really become part of the same force. For this reason it is important to understand how they compare and contrast in order to fully comprehend how they work together.
Power and politics in organizations go hand in hand. In organizations, politics are inevitable. In comparing power and politics it first helps to understand their definitions. Power is defined in the text as the ability to get someone else to do what you want him or her to do. Power vested in managerial positions derives from three sources: rewards, punishments and legitimacy (Schermerhorn 2003). The reward source is where managers reward subordinates to get what the manager wants them do, whereas the punishment source uses punishment as a means to get people to do what a manager wants them to. The legitimacy source is in the organization where the culture is that "the boss" holds the power. Organizational politics is defined as involving the use of power to obtain ends not officially sanctioned and the use of power to find ways of balancing individual and collective interests in otherwise difficult circumstances (Schermerhorn 2003). The connection between power and politics is that politics and politicians use power to obtain influence. It depends on how the politics are used as to whether or not they are positive or negative. Politics already have a negative connotation, but they are not always negative. Organizations are bound to have politics because when there are many people in the organization, everyone's...
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