This is my powerpoint presentation for our Managerial Psychology Masters Class

1. PowerandPolitics
BY: KIMBERLY ALESNA

2. Organizational Politics
activities that managers and other
members of the organization engage in to
increase their power and to use power
effectively to achieve their goals and
overcome resistance or opposition

3. Political Strategies
 specific tactics that managers use to increase
power and to use power effectively to achieve
their goals and overcome resistance or
opposition
Important when managers are planning and
implementing major changes in an organization

5. Importance of Organizational
Politics
 Gain support for and implement needed
changes in an organization
Help overcome resistance to change and
achieve the goals of managers

6. Political Strategies for Gaining and
Maintaining Power
Managers who use political strategies
to increase and maintain their power
are better able to influence others to
work toward the achievement of group
and organizational goals.

7. Political Strategies in Increasing Power
 CONTROLLING UNCERTAINTY
 BEING IRREPLACEABLE
 BEING IN A CENTRAL POSITION
 GENERATING RESOURCES
 BUILDING ALLIANCES

8. CONTROLLING UNCERTAINTY
 Uncertainty – a threat for individuals, groups
and whole organizations and can interfere with
effective performance and goal attainment
Controlling and reducing uncertainty for other
managers, teams, departments and
organization as whole are likely to see their
power increase

9. MAKING ONESELF IRREPLACEABLE
Managers gain power when they have valuable
knowledge and expertise that allow them to
perform activities that no one can handle
The more central these activities are to
organizational effectiveness, the more power
managers gain from being irreplaceable

10. BEING IN A CENTRAL POSITION
Managers who are outstanding
performers, have a wide knowledge base,
and have made important and visible
contributions to their organizations are
likely to be offered central positions that
will increase their power.

11. GENERATING RESOURCES
Organizations need these 3 kinds of
resources to be effective:
Input resources
Technical resources
Knowledge resources
Generating one or more = increase in
power

12. BUILDING ALLIANCES
Managers develop mutually beneficial
relationships with people both inside and
outside the organization
Alliances provide managers with support
for their initiatives

13. Political Strategies for Exercising Power
 Relying on objective Information
 Bringing in an Outside Expert
 Controlling the Agenda
 Making Everyone a Winner

14. Relying on Objective Information
Managers require the support of others to
achieve their goals, implement changes, and
overcome opposition
Reliance on objective information is one
way for a manager to gain support and
overcome opposition

15. Bringing in an outside expert
Lends credibility to a manager’s initiatives
and causes others to believe that what the
manager is proposing is the appropriate or
rational thing to do

16. Controlling the agenda
Controlling the agenda – influencing
which are considered or even whether a
decision is made
Managers can make sure that each
considered alternative is acceptable to them
and unacceptable are not in the feasible set

17. Making everyone a winner
Managers make sure that everyone whose
support they need benefits personally from
providing that support.
A manager is able to influence other
organizational members because these
members see supporting the manager as being
in their best interest.

19. POSITIVE WORKPLACE POLITICS
Both the organization and the employees are
benefited yet costly in nature
Balanced pursuit of self-interest and the interest of
others: viewing situations in win-win terms
Open problem solving
Action and influencing
Absence of the tactics of fighting
Socialized need to lead, initiate and influence others

20. NEGATIVE WORKPLACE POLITICS
Usual expected face of politics
Extreme pursuit of self-interest and unsocialized needs to
dominate others
Tendency to view situations in win-lose terms rather than
win-win terms
Predominant use of tactics such as: fighting-secrecy, surprise,
holding hidden agendas, withholding information and
deceiving
Employees may gain benefits but the organization’s interests
are generally hampered

21. SOURCES:
Jones, G. & George, J. (2008) Contemporary
Management Fifth Edition. New York, NY:
Robbins, S. & DeCenzo, D. (2007) Supervision
Today!, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson
Inc.

22. THANK YOU!