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Organizations As Political Systems

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vissie101

This document discusses organizations as political systems, focusing on interests, conflict, and power. It defines different types of political systems like autocracy, bureaucracy, and representative democracy. It describes how politics occurs through ongoing conflicts of interest between tasks, careers, and external interests. These conflicts can be personal, interpersonal, or between groups competing over scarce resources. Power, which is how conflicts are ultimately resolved, comes from formal authority, control of resources, rules and regulations, decision powers, knowledge and information, boundaries, technology, and interpersonal behaviors as well as structural factors. The relationship between management and workers can be seen through unitary, pluralist, or Marxist perspectives. Conflicts are handled through competing, collaborating, compromising,

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Organizations as Political SystemsInterests, Conflict and Power
Introduction I live in a democratic society. Why should I have to obey the orders of my boss eight hours a day? He acts like a bloody dictator, ordering us around and telling us what we should be thinking and doing. What right does he have to act in this way? The company pays our wages, but does this mean it has the right command all our beliefs and feelings? It certainly has no right to reduce us to robots who must obey every command!
Political Systems
Types of Political SystemsAutocracyPower is held by individual or small groupBureaucracyRule exercised through use of written wordTechnocracyRule exercised through use of knowledgeCodeterminationForm of rule where opposing parties combine in the joint management of mutual interestsRepresentative democracyRule exercised through the election of officers mandated to act on behalf of the electorateDirect democracyThe system where everyone has an equal right to rule and is involved in all decision making
Autocracy to Democracy
Organizations as Systems of Political ActivityAn organization’s politics is most clearly manifest in the conflicts and power plays that sometimes occupy centre stage, and in the countless interpersonal intrigues that provide diversions in the flow of organizational activity.More fundamentally, however, politics occurs on an ongoing basis, often in a way that is invisible to all but those directly involved.
Organizations as Systems of Political ActivityRelationships to be considered:InterestsConflictPower
InterestsThree different typesTask InterestsConnected with the work one has to performCareer InterestsIndependent of the job being performedExtramural InterestsAct towards the relation to both job and career
ConflictWhere interests collideConflict may bePersonalInter- personalBetweenRival GroupsCoalitionsBuilt intoOrganizationsRolesAttitudesStereotypesScarcity of resouces
Power
PowerPower is the medium through which conflicts of interest are ultimately resolved.Important sources of powerFormal AuthorityControl of Scarce ResourcesUse of organizational structure, rules and regulationsControl of decision powersControl of knowledge and informationControl of boundariesControl of technology
The Ambiguity of PowerInterpersonal behavioural phenomenon VSDeep-seated structural factors
Ambiguity of PowerRelationship between management and workersUnitaryIn Unitarianism, the organization is perceived as an integrated and harmonious whole with the ideal of "one happy family", where management and other members of the staff all share a common purpose, emphasizing mutual cooperation. Furthermore, unitary has a paternalistic approach where it demands loyalty of all employees, being predominantly managerial in its emphasis and application.
Ambiguity of PowerPluralistIn pluralism the organization is perceived as being made up of powerful and divergent sub-groups, each with its own legitimate loyalties and with their own set of objectives and leaders. In particular, the two predominant sub-groups in the pluralistic perspective are the management and trade unions.
Ambiguity of PowerMarxist or RadicalThis view of industrial relations looks at the nature of the capitalist society, where there is a fundamental division of interest between capital and labour, and sees workplace relations against this history. This perspective sees inequalities of power and economic wealth as having their roots in the nature of the capitalist economic system. Conflict is therefore seen as inevitable and trade unions are a natural response of workers to their exploitation by capital. Whilst there may be periods of acquiescence, the Marxist view would be that institutions of joint regulation would enhance rather than limit management's position as they presume the continuation of capitalism rather than challenge it.
Pluralist of five conflict handling modesCompetingCollaboratingAssertiveAttempting to satisfy one’s own concernsCompromisingAvoidingAccommodatingUnassertiveCooperativeUncooperativeAttempting to satisfy others’ concerns
Strengths and LimitationsTaboo subjectPushing of private motivesThis metaphor overcomes the previous metaphors by placing a knowledge of the role and use of power at the centre of organizational analysis.Helps explain the myth of organizational rationality.Helps overcome the limitations of the idea that organizations are functionally integrated systems.Helps us understand human behaviour in organizationsEncourages us to recognize the socio-political implications of different kinds of organization and the roles that organizations play in society
Strengths and LimitationsCan lead to increased politicization of the organizationAssumptions of Pluralism?MOVIE

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Organizations As Political Systems

  • 1. Organizations as Political SystemsInterests, Conflict and Power
  • 2. Introduction I live in a democratic society. Why should I have to obey the orders of my boss eight hours a day? He acts like a bloody dictator, ordering us around and telling us what we should be thinking and doing. What right does he have to act in this way? The company pays our wages, but does this mean it has the right command all our beliefs and feelings? It certainly has no right to reduce us to robots who must obey every command!
  • 4. Types of Political SystemsAutocracyPower is held by individual or small groupBureaucracyRule exercised through use of written wordTechnocracyRule exercised through use of knowledgeCodeterminationForm of rule where opposing parties combine in the joint management of mutual interestsRepresentative democracyRule exercised through the election of officers mandated to act on behalf of the electorateDirect democracyThe system where everyone has an equal right to rule and is involved in all decision making
  • 6. Organizations as Systems of Political ActivityAn organization’s politics is most clearly manifest in the conflicts and power plays that sometimes occupy centre stage, and in the countless interpersonal intrigues that provide diversions in the flow of organizational activity.More fundamentally, however, politics occurs on an ongoing basis, often in a way that is invisible to all but those directly involved.
  • 7. Organizations as Systems of Political ActivityRelationships to be considered:InterestsConflictPower
  • 8. InterestsThree different typesTask InterestsConnected with the work one has to performCareer InterestsIndependent of the job being performedExtramural InterestsAct towards the relation to both job and career
  • 9. ConflictWhere interests collideConflict may bePersonalInter- personalBetweenRival GroupsCoalitionsBuilt intoOrganizationsRolesAttitudesStereotypesScarcity of resouces
  • 10. Power
  • 11. PowerPower is the medium through which conflicts of interest are ultimately resolved.Important sources of powerFormal AuthorityControl of Scarce ResourcesUse of organizational structure, rules and regulationsControl of decision powersControl of knowledge and informationControl of boundariesControl of technology
  • 12. The Ambiguity of PowerInterpersonal behavioural phenomenon VSDeep-seated structural factors
  • 13. Ambiguity of PowerRelationship between management and workersUnitaryIn Unitarianism, the organization is perceived as an integrated and harmonious whole with the ideal of "one happy family", where management and other members of the staff all share a common purpose, emphasizing mutual cooperation. Furthermore, unitary has a paternalistic approach where it demands loyalty of all employees, being predominantly managerial in its emphasis and application.
  • 14. Ambiguity of PowerPluralistIn pluralism the organization is perceived as being made up of powerful and divergent sub-groups, each with its own legitimate loyalties and with their own set of objectives and leaders. In particular, the two predominant sub-groups in the pluralistic perspective are the management and trade unions.
  • 15. Ambiguity of PowerMarxist or RadicalThis view of industrial relations looks at the nature of the capitalist society, where there is a fundamental division of interest between capital and labour, and sees workplace relations against this history. This perspective sees inequalities of power and economic wealth as having their roots in the nature of the capitalist economic system. Conflict is therefore seen as inevitable and trade unions are a natural response of workers to their exploitation by capital. Whilst there may be periods of acquiescence, the Marxist view would be that institutions of joint regulation would enhance rather than limit management's position as they presume the continuation of capitalism rather than challenge it.
  • 16. Pluralist of five conflict handling modesCompetingCollaboratingAssertiveAttempting to satisfy one’s own concernsCompromisingAvoidingAccommodatingUnassertiveCooperativeUncooperativeAttempting to satisfy others’ concerns
  • 17. Strengths and LimitationsTaboo subjectPushing of private motivesThis metaphor overcomes the previous metaphors by placing a knowledge of the role and use of power at the centre of organizational analysis.Helps explain the myth of organizational rationality.Helps overcome the limitations of the idea that organizations are functionally integrated systems.Helps us understand human behaviour in organizationsEncourages us to recognize the socio-political implications of different kinds of organization and the roles that organizations play in society
  • 18. Strengths and LimitationsCan lead to increased politicization of the organizationAssumptions of Pluralism?MOVIE