Power, Politics and Culture Assignment

ASSIGNMENT 3: POWER, POLITICS, AND CULTURE
Due Week 9 and worth 190 points
In Assignment 2, you created a professional development plan
using EI building blocks and motivation. In
this last assignment, you will examine how politics and power
influence an organization and its culture.
In business, power and politics greatly influence an
organizational culture and may hinder organizational
productivity. In your role as consultant you observed power
and politics influence on the corporate culture.
INSTRUCTIONS
Following SWS standards, write a 5 to 7 page report that
addresses the following:
1. Influence of Politics and Power
○ Explain how politics and power-play may have influenced the
organization’s culture.
2. Sources of Power

○ Explore the sources of power and describe how management
could use this influence to
benefit the department and improve organizational performance.
3. Leadership Behavior and Culture
○ Make recommendations that support how the study of power
and politics could influence
leadership behavior and improve the organization’s culture.
4. Leadership Influence
○ Discuss the importance and complexity of leadership behavior
in solving the issue you
identified. How does it influence organizational structure and
performance?
5. References and Citations
○ Go to https://research.strayer.edu to locate at least two
resources.
○ In-text citations are required when paraphrasing or quoting
another source.
6. Formatting and Writing Standards
○ Formatting and writing standards are part of your grade.
Align your formatting to the
Strayer Writing Standards.

*Grading for this assignment will be based on the following
criteria and evaluation standards:
https://research.strayer.edu/
https://research.strayer.edu/
POINTS: 190 ASSIGNMENT 3: POWER, POLITICS, AND
CULTURE
Criteria Exemplary
100% - A
Proficient
85% - B
Fair
75% - C
Unacceptable
0% - F
1. Influence of
Politics and
Power
Weight: 20%

Completely explains
how politics and
power-play may have
influenced the
Accurately identifies
the core issues and
strongly connects them
to the impact on
culture. The
explanation is well-
supported by research.
Satisfactorily explains
how politics and power-
play may have
influenced the
Identifies some core

issues and connects
them to the impact on
the culture. The
explanation uses
research support.
Partially explains how
politics and power-play
may have influenced the
Identifies some issues but
does not fully explore them
or make a strong
connection to their impact.
Uses little research
support.
Does not explain
how politics and
power-play may

have influenced the
organization’s
culture.
2. Sources of
Power
Weight: 20%
Completely identifies
the sources of power
and describes how
management could
use this influence to
enhance organizational
performance. Uses
relevant key concepts
and makes valid
connections to
enhanced performance
that are well-supported

by research.
Satisfactorily identifies
the sources of power
and describes how
management could use
this influence to
enhance organizational
performance. Most key
concepts are
accurately identified
and there is a
connection to
enhanced performance
with research support.
Partially identifies the
sources of power and
describes how
management could use this

influence to enhance
organizational
performance. Not all key
concepts are identified and
there is a loose connection
to performance. There is
little research support.
Does not identify the
sources of power or
describe how
management could
use this influence to
enhance
organizational
performance. There
is no reference to
research.
3. Leadership

Behavior and
Culture
Weight 25%
Provides excellent
recommendations as
to how the study of
power and politics
could influence
leadership behavior
and impact the
Recommendations are
credible and relevant
with a strong
connection to the
impact on culture
backed by well-
supported research.

Satisfactorily
recommends how the
study of power and
politics could influence
leadership behavior
and impact the
Recommendations are
clear and mostly
realistic; there is a
connection to the
impact on culture.
Research support is
evident.
Partially recommends how
the study of power and
politics could influence
leadership behavior and

impact the organization’s
culture, but the
recommendations are
unclear or unrealistic.
There is no clear
connection to the impact on
culture. There is little or no
research support.
Does not
recommend how the
study of power and
politics could
influence leadership
behavior and impact
the organization’s
culture. There is no
reference to
research.

POINTS: 190 ASSIGNMENT 3: POWER, POLITICS, AND
CULTURE
Criteria Exemplary
100% - A
Proficient
85% - B
Fair
75% - C
Unacceptable
0% - F
4. Leadership
Influence
Weight 20%
Thoroughly discusses
how the importance
and complexity of
leadership behavior

influences
organizational
structure and
performance. Relevant
key concepts are
presented with strong
research support.
Satisfactorily discusses
how the importance
and complexity of
leadership behavior
influences
organizational structure
and performance. Most
key concepts are
presented with
research support.
Partially discusses how the

importance and complexity
of leadership behavior
influences organizational
structure and performance.
Some key concepts are
missing and there is little or
no research support.
Does not discuss
how the importance
and complexity of
leadership behavior
influences
organizational
structure and
performance. There
is no reference to
research.
5. Reference

minimums;
Reference
quality
Weight 5%
Meets or exceeds
required number of
references; all
references high-quality
choices.
Meets required number
of references; some
references may be
poor-quality choices.
Does not meet the required
number of references;
some references may be
poor-quality choices
No references

provided or all
references poor-
quality choices.
6. Follows
writing
standards;
Meets page
minimums
Weight 10%
Followed all writing
standards. Met page
minimums.
Followed most writing
standards. Met page
minimums.
Followed few writing
standards. May not have

met page minimums.
Followed few to no
writing standards.
Did not meet page
minimums.
WHERE THE STRANGE FRUIT GROWS
by ROGER SATNARINE in 2015 (based on a poem by Abe
Meeropol in 1939)
Home of the brave and land of the FREE
Are these words still popular with the strange fruit that swung
from a POPLAR TREE
Black men women and children their necks snapped at the end
of a NOOSE
yet today prejudice and hatred is still very much on the LOOSE
This is an historic fact of our COUNTRY'S TIME
and now just like all those years ago these new-old sounds of
prejudice come from a different CHIME
It resonates with the blare of sirens coming to protect us we are
TOLD
but to everyone’s surprise the innocent dies from an unlawful
CHOKE-HOLD
The worst hate crimes are done by those who PROTECT AND
SERVE
We elected them is this what we then DESERVE
Weird watermelon colored collard greens those fiends for fried
CHICKENS
slant eyed rice lovers and bean mashers yes the strange fruit pot

and plot THICKENS
Fear comes from what we do not UNDERSTAND
Is it wise to live with ignorance rather than extend a
PEACEFUL HAND
Black white yellow or BROWN reverse discrimination happens
in every TOWN
Native Americans from the East were forced marched to
reservations in the WEST
The Trail of Tears it was known as but history claims it was for
the BEST
African Amerikkkan slaves got it WORST
We gained freedom from British tyranny and developed an
insatiable industrialized THIRST We needed to grow and vastly
EXPAND achieving it by hate filled whips across BLACK
BACKS from a WHITE HAND
Eli Whitney invented the COTTON GIN no other device in
history has contributed more to such an EVIL SIN
Slaves beaten into submission for free LABOR the women and
children raped by their owners then murdered when they go into
LABOR
Drafted soldiers returning from VIETNAM
baby killers we called them who deep fried children with our
falling NAPALM
Black soldiers suffered MOST returning home to a war raging
against racism this new battle became their IN-COUNTRY
OUTPOST
We now bash and murder people for whom they freely choose to
LOVE
Does God judge same sex marriage from ABOVE
The seeds of domestic violence have been deeply SOWN
causing us to hurt OUR VERY OWN!
A country divided will fall drop to her KNEES
and those bloody tears will grow the dreaded "POPLAR
TREES"
We will all then swing from a mutual LIMB
History has proven this it's the facts not just me being GRIM

So my beloved country these UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
standing united should now become our main AGENDA
Let us lead by example and start the change for THE WHOLE
WORLD KNOWS
that in its own backyard is WHERE THE "STRANGE FRUIT”
GROWS!!!!!!
END
Original Poem by:
Abe Meeropol, Strange Fruit, (1939)
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
And the sudden smell of burning flesh!
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
Research Links:
http://spartacus-educational.com/USACstrangefruit.htm (follow
instructions to the closest match)
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/strangefruit/film.html
(follow instructions to the closest match)
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/feb/16/protest-songs-
billie-holiday-strange-fruit
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/m/ma
rgolick-fruit.html?TB_iframe=true&height=921.6&width=921.6
Assignment Instructions

Part 1 - Short Story Analysis Essay Instructions
Note: After completing Part 1, you will automatically gain
access to Part 2.
1. Read some of the short stories from the link below and select
ONE story to analyze.
Short stories available at: http://americanliterature.com/twenty-
great-american-short-stories
2. After you select and have carefully read the short story, do
RESEARCH by finding at least two scholarly articles on the
short story and integrate what you learned from them in your
essay. Try the SPC Library database or Google Scholar.
3. In a new document, start by composing one fully developed
paragraph (200 words minimum), where you identify the
following elements:
· title of story, author, date of publication
· setting
· characters
· plot
4. Then, in two fully developed paragraphs (at least 200 words
in each paragraph), explain the ultimate meaning of the
story. Provide as many specific examples from the story as
possible. Please note that this is your interpretation of the many
possible meanings that the author is trying to convey. This is a
point over which reasonable people may disagree. How do the
researched interpretations of the story compare to your own
interpretations?
Minimum 3 Paragraphs and 600 word count total.
5. Cite the sources of your researched interpretations. You must
integrate at least two research sources beyond your textbook.
You may also cite research links provided in this module, but be
sure to find and cite at least one source beyond what you are
provided. Please use the MLA style for both in-paper citations
and your works cited. Do NOT use Wikipedia or other
encyclopedias (online, etc.) only. That is, you cannot use
encyclopedias alone. Of course, you may use it as a starting
place. Be sure to use SPELL CHECK and proofread your essay.

Tips:
· Avoid retelling the story. You can assume your readers (the
instructor and your classmates) are familiar with the story.
· Focus the submission on the analysis: What is the ultimate
meaning of the story? What is the author saying about the
human experience? How does the author convey the meaning?
Why did the author choose to do it that way?
· Provide the citations both in text (Smith, 74) and in a works
cited section on the last page. Use a hanging indent and double
spacing. Put the citations in alphabetical order by the first word
in the entry (usually the author's name)
· Cite the short story you're analyzing too.
Leanne Batiste
Assignment 2:
Professional Development Program Proposal
05/17/2020
Professor Wanda Tillman
Bus 520

EI and Motivation
The emotional intelligence building blocks that would impact
the ability of the management to enhance employee performance
and job satisfaction include self-regulation, empathy, and
motivation. A leader who regulates him or herself effectively
rarely attacks other employees verbally or make emotional or
rushed behavior (Sathya et al. 2018). Also, the leader does not
stereotype people and has his or her values compromised. The
self-regulation EI building block ensures that leaders stay in
control. Also, it is an element that covers the flexibility and
commitment of a leader to personal accountability. With this, an
employee feels satisfied and in the right place, thus motivated
to work each day.
The other EI building block, motivation, also helps in
improving employee performance and job satisfaction. A leader
who is self-motivated work consistently toward his or her goals,
and the leader has an extremely high standard for their work
quality. A motivated leader will try and find at least a good
thing about a situation when faced by failure or challenge, and
it motivates the employees a great deal (Sathya et al. 2018).
Empathy also is an emotional intelligence building block that
can impact management’s ability to have job satisfaction and
employee performance enhanced. For a leader, having empathy
is essential to managing a successful organization or team. A
leader with empathy can put him or her in someone else’s
situation. He or she can develop the employees on the team and
listen to those who require it.
In influencing the organization’s members and in resolving any
issue at the organization, the motivation theory to be used is
McClelland’s theory of needs. It is a motivation theory that
affirms that three motivators, affiliation, achievement, and
power. The theory is associated closely with learning theory as
its proponent believed that needs get acquired or learned by the

kinds of events individuals experience in their culture and
environment. The need for achievement is a drive to excel and
to strive to succeed. In other words, it is behavior directed
toward competition, which is with excellence standard. For
example, an employee who is a high-need achiever has a strong
desire for performance feedback. The need for affiliation gets
defined as a desire to have a warm and friendly relation
established and maintained with other people.
EI and Social Skills and Decision Making
EI is the capacity of a person to regulate and recognize the
emotion’s expression. Self-awareness is among the core
concepts of emotional intelligence and gets expressed by
knowing the feelings one has. Only when an individual is aware
of his or her feelings can use them effectively when it comes to
making decisions that are right and good (Sathya et al. 2018).
Also, an individual with high EI make choices or rather
decisions founded on a realistic valuation of his or her
knowledge and capability. Therefore, the individual will not
indulge in delusion thinking, which contributes to efficacy in
the decision making of a management team. The other core
concept of EI, which can enhance the decision making the
efficacy of a given management team is self-regulation. It is the
ability to approximately manage emotions of a person so that
the person can facilitate, rather than interfering with the task at
hand. When an individual is aware of his or her anger or any
other feelings he or she has, it allows the individual to have
anger channeled in an industrious manner, and not an unhelpful
manner enhance decision making efficacy (Sathya et al. 2018).
Also, people with emotional intelligence can have gratification
delayed in search of the objective and goals. Such people have
emotions controlled, and not emotions have control over them,
making decisions without haste.
Empathy is the other core concept of emotional intelligence and

critical in making decisions in a team. It gets usually seen as a
capability to sense or know what the other person is feeling. An
empathetic individual can show compassion and kindness
towards the other person when in hurting or distress, even if one
does not feel the same (Sathya et al. 2018). Empathy ensures the
ability to bring close a group that is diverse of individuals
together to unite for a cause. Motivation also is s a core concept
of the EI and aids in decision making in an organization and a
team. Motivation is the capability to persevere in the face of
challenges and setbacks. When it comes to the issue of decision
making, a motivated person get undaunted by frustrations and
failure, take the initiative, and striving to improve and move
steps forward in search of the objective. Lastly, social skills,
also as an emotional intelligence core concept, significantly
contribute when it comes to making the right decisions in a
team. A social skill gets considered as the capacity to handle
both one's own emotions and other emotions productively, as
opposed to a destructive way (Sathya et al. 2018). An individual
with high emotional intelligence utilizes soft skills to
communicate effectively and unify and collaborate with others.
Effective teams
Effective teams usually have a common goal. It is because
successful teamwork is the capacity to work together toward a
shared vision. A capable team typically has one shared goal that
each member of the team is working towards. The goal is
unambiguous, all the members of the team know it, it is
motivating, and has a clear achievement path. A common goal is
like fuel, as it allows common people to attain uncommon
results. Also, effective team practice opens communication
(Mikkelsen et al. 2017). It is essential that like a common goal,
communication to be too unambiguous and shared with every
member of the team. Without any communication, it is not
possible to achieve the goal.

Excellent communication usually incorporates dispensing
knowledge accurately, and an environment where members of
the team can freely express their opinions and thoughts, and
trust. Also, time management is an attribute of a capable team.
An effective team usually uses the precious time it has
efficiently (Mikkelsen et al. 2017). Once the necessary next task
gets identified, the team members focus on the completion of
the job. To develop team dynamics, one should first know the
team. It starts by learning the phases that a group goes through
when designing, and it is then one can be in a position to
preempt challenges that could arise. The other strategy in
developing team dynamics is tackling the problems quickly. If
one notices a member of the team has adopted a trait affecting
the group unhelpfully, quick actions to challenge, it gets
advised. The other strategy to develop team dynamics is
focusing on communication. It is because open communication
is the key to excellent team dynamics; thus, it is essential to
ensure that every team member communicates clearly.
Reward systems
A workforce that is motivated is a significant factor when it
comes to the success of any organization. When an employee
gets motivated to work at higher productivity levels, the
organization runs more efficiently and effectively at reaching
the objectives. The reward system, which is in a position to
solve the issues at the organization, is intrinsic. Intrinsic
rewards are internal to the individual, whereby it is something
an individual has to offer and gets driven by personal enjoyment
or interest in the work itself (Mikkelsen et al. 2017). Intrinsic
motivation usually exists in an individual; thus, achievement
does not depend on other people. An employee who is motivated
intrinsically tends to work at higher productivity levels and
strive to develop professionally. Intrinsic rewards incorporate
things like professional growth, personal achievement, sense of
accomplishment, and pleasure.

Employees can get motivated and behavior influence through
ways like valuing each employee’s role and contribution. It is
because when an organization values the contribution and role
of an employee, productivity increases, and the negative
behavior reduces (Mikkelsen et al. 2017). Thus, a worker
feeling valued is the key to dedication and motivation, which is
long-term to the business. Also, an employee can get motivated,
and behavior influenced when a transparent, open, and
accessible environment gets created. The trusting atmosphere
usually gets created through open communication, results
sharing, and defining the expectations clearly (Mikkelsen et al.
2017). When a manager of an organization shares information
and data, it is a positive effect on motivating the behavior of the
employee. Employees can get motivated by making expectations
clear, and the guidelines more evident. Expectations must be
crystal clearer as to when the rule is misunderstood and hazy; it
is easy for an employee to misstep and find oneself in lousy
standing.
References
· Mikkelsen, Maria Falk, Christian Bøtcher Jacobsen, and Lotte
Bøgh Andersen. "Managing employee motivation: Exploring the
connections between managers’ enforcement actions, employee
perceptions, and employee intrinsic motivation." International
Public Management Journal 20.2 (2017): 183-205.
· Sathya, A., and Dr. VP Velmurugan. "Role of Emotional
Intelligence In Leadership Behaviour-A Review." Journal of
Management 5.3 (2018).
Assignment 1- Organizational Issues and

Solution
s
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
Leanne Batiste
Professor Wanda Tillman
Leadership and Organizational Behavior
05/03/2020
Liberty Mutual Insurance is a long-time established firm
founded in 1912 by a group of shareholders. In 1917 the
company decided to use "Liberty Mutual Insurances Company"
as its official name with automobile policy as the first insurance

cover (Liberty Mutual History, 2020). The company history
shows the great achievement of the year of the foundation. By
1973, the company expanded to 48 states of the United States,
and in 1972 the company had around $2 billion net in written
premium. Currently, the company provides its services to more
than seventeen countries in a different part of the world, which
are in regions such as Latin America, Asia, and Europe.
The operations carried out by the company are classified into
three sections; that is Liberty International Underwriters,
Liberty Mutual Surety, and Liberty Specialty Markets. As
International Underwriter, the company evaluates risk/writes
commercial and specialty insurance under marine, property,
trade credits, and construction. Under the Liberty Mutual
Surety, the company underwrites and evaluates risks concerning
corporations and contractors using brokers and agents. The
Liberty Specialty Market has three business units, such as
specialty, commercial, and reinsurance. Currently, the company
is facing a lot of issues by trailing behind in adopting
technology changes in the insurance industry (Liberty Mutual
Insurance, 2020). This issue has affected the company at a great
deal leading to poor anticipation of demand and inadequate
adjustment in its operations. This article provides my advice to
the company as they currently hire a consultant (hypothetically)
in the form of a solution and recommendation on how the
company can overcome the challenge.

Before I provide my solution and recommendation, I prefer to
outline how the company's current culture contributes to the
issues the company is facing. First, the company has established
a robust diversity and inclusion culture that enables it to
effectively corporate with other companies, promote workers'
engagement, and improve its services. However, changing the
organizational culture that has been established for a long time
makes the company the drag behind due to workforce resistance
to change and to have traditional prospecting about technology
the impact of technology on the insurance industry. Moreover,
been a diversity orient organization, every technology change
initiative must consider every individual contribution and
interest, which consumes a lot of time during the decision-
making process (Liberty Mutual Insurance, 2020). For example,
the company must look for new ways to attract, train, engage,
and retain its workforce/customers in the process of adopting
new technology.
To ensure that this is successful, the company must take in-
depth analysis and evaluation of the impact of adopting new
trends in its operation as well as the company culture. Due to
the high need for ensuring diversity and inclusion, it takes a
long period for the company to fully adopt new changes hence
slowing down the company's capability to be in par with the
rapid changes in the world. Additionally, the company mission
statement reveals that the company has a strong concern for the

customers’ satisfaction to make every individual be a proud
member. Unfortunately, adopting new technology is not easy for
most insurance companies due to the complex nature of the
industry and the high risk associated with new trends (Liberty
Mutual Insurance, 2020). When I combined this with the
company satisfaction-oriented culture, I identified that a
significant number of customers would be disappointed. For
example, early adaptor customers will not benefit from the
services provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance due to the slow
adoption of changes.
Before I give my advice and recommendation, I feel it is also
important to outline some of the company weaknesses that I
noticed through the SWOT analysis (Liberty Mutual Insurance,
2020). First, with the current culture, I feel that it will be
difficult for the company to diversify to other products and
services segment. The company is also slow in researching and
developing new insurance policies that address trending issues
as technology changes. Despite that, the company has several
successful partnerships with different companies in the world. It
is still limited to the only company that has a similar culture to
its own.
After carefully evaluating the company’s issues and
weaknesses, I would like to start with advising the company to
shift its cultural centric partnership practices to inclusive
partnership in the same way it promotes diversify and inclusion

in its workforce. I believe that this approach will improve the
company's expansion capability and thus develop a better tool
for sharing ideas that would help it to produce a better measure
for responding to technology changes. To effectively solve
adjustment issues in the current rapid technology changes, I
propose implementing agile approaches in the company (Liberty
Mutual Insurance, 2020). I suggest this technique because I
believe it will support the company's collaboration culture as
well as help to transform an effective solution according to
trending issues quickly. The agile approach also fits well with
the cloud computing technology because it supports the
segmentation of a business into different units that an
individual can address separating. This increases the accuracy
in intensifying the issues and well as makes it easy to generate a
solution even within a short time notice.
I also recommend the company incorporate online services in
the process of using the agile approach to farther increase
flexibility and speed to formulate a strategy that can even
predict possible future changes that are likely to affect the
company. I also believe that used both agile and online
techniques will help the company to optimize security for the
update’s technology implementation and storage of electronic
customer data
References
· Liberty Mutual History. (2020). Access denied. Retrieved

from https://www.libertymutual.com/about-us
· Liberty Mutual Insurance. (2020). Liberty mutual uses new
technologies and an Agile approach to develop a cloud-based
solution providing competitive advantages | LMG. Retrieved
from https://www.libertymutualgroup.com/about-
lm/news/articles/liberty-mutual-uses-new-technologies-and-
agile-approach-develop-cloud-based-solution-providing-
competitive-advantages

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