Politics, Position, and Power


Book Description

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The Organizational Politics Playbook


Book Description

Good things do not always come to good people who deliver on their promises, act with integrity, and behave responsibly. Unfortunately, it takes more than a strong work ethic and long hours to get ahead or even survive in most organizations. Organizational survival often requires mastering organizational politics. But how are we supposed to learn how to navigate the often-treacherous world of tight coalitions, unwritten rules, and secret agendas? The Organizational Politics Playbook has the answers and includes fifty practical strategies that include how to: • Uncover the secret sources of power • Make others look good • Leave a bad organization with grace • Build a protective brain trust • Make yourself seem more valuable by creating a sense of scarcity While this book addresses predictable strategies such as creating fear, using coercion, and engaging in manipulation, it does so only to make sure you recognize them. Allison Vaillancourt believes we must know the dirty tricks of politics in order to combat them.




Managing With Power


Book Description

Although much as been written about how to make better decisions, a decision by itself changes nothing. The big problem facing managers and their organizations today is one of implementation--how to get things done in a timely and effective way. Problems of implementation are really issues of how to influence behavior, change the course of events, overcome resistance, and get people to do things they would not otherwise do. In a word, power. Managing With Power provides an in-depth look at the role of power and influence in organizations. Pfeffer shows convincingly that its effective use is an essential component of strong leadership. With vivid examples, he makes a compelling case for the necessity of power in mobilizing the political support and resources to get things done in any organization. He provides an intriguing look at the personal attributes—such as flexibility, stamina, and a high tolerance for conflict—and the structural factors—such as control of resources, access to information, and formal authority—that can help managers advance organizational goals and achieve individual success.




Power and Organizations


Book Description

"A marvelous addition to the literature on both organizations and power. It is well-grounded in the research on these topics and especially the wide-range of relevant theorizing... The book is terrific at bringing together theory, research and the world of organizations."- George Ritzer, Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland "This book tirelessly illuminates the nooks and crannies of the power literature...taking readers on an audacious tour of power′s multiple conceptualizations and expressions."- Hugh Willmott, Diageo Professor of Management Studies, University of Cambridge "Clegg and his associates expose the power dynamics that lie at the heart of all political and organizational arenas, and in so doing, they shed light on the underbelly along with the creative potentialities in organizational life."-Joyce Rothschild, Professor of Sociology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University "Strange but true - most studies of organizational hierarchies downplay the issue of power or uncritically assume more is better, while ignoring its pernicious effects. Stewart Clegg, David Courpasson and Nelson Phillips set the record straight."- Joanne Martin, Merrill Professor of Organizational Behavior and, by courtesy, Sociology Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Stanford In this tour de force, Stewart Clegg, David Courpasson and Nelson Phillips provide a comprehensive account of power and organizations, unlocking power as the central relation of modern organizations and society. The authors present an excellent synthesis of organization, social and political theory to offer an overview of power and organizations that is historically informed, addresses current issues and is comprehensive in scope. Power and Organizations reviews the evolution of theories on power and organization, presenting not only the theorists who identify power as positive, but also dealing with the negativity of power and the real horror of which organizations are capable, which has thus far been underplayed in organization theory. At the core of organizational power projects are organizational elites, whose politics and projects are examined extensively in the book. The book concludes by examining the implications for organizations and their elites of the trends, tendencies, and theories considered in the course of the book. This book is required reading for graduate students and researchers in areas such as organizational, social and political theory.







Power, Politics, and Organizational Change


Book Description

`Many books on management are sanitized, cleanly technical accounts of the unreality of managerial life and work. Politics hardly feature. This book tells it like it is: it dishes the dirt, gets low-down, into the funky and fascinating politics of organizational life′ - Stewart Clegg, Aston Business School and University of Technology, Sydney Combining a practical and theoretical guide to the politics of organizational change, this book provides an exceptional resource to students of change management, and organizational behaviour. Buchanan and Badham show how the change agent who is not politically skilled will fail, and that it is necessary to be able and willing to intervene in the political processes of the organization. This revised edition includes a range of excellent new material and features, including: - a new chapter on gender in approaches to organization politics - a full range of teaching materials including case studies, incident reports, self-assessments, and more - Each chapter recommends a feature film (or DVD) to illustrate aspects of organization politics - fresh research evidence - recent literature on the nature of entrepreneurial politics; - a model of political expertise, and how that can be developed This lively and engaging book is key to MBA and other Masters degree candidates taking courses in change management, and organizational behaviour. It will also be valuable for practising managers on tailored executive programmes in organization politics.




Organizational Power Politics


Book Description

This updated edition of the award-winning volume is a contemporary guidebook for understanding and using personal power in organizational settings of all kinds. In 1993, when it named the first edition of Organizational Power Politics: Tactics in Organizational Leadership an Outstanding Academic Book, Choice said, "It contributes to the analysis and discussion of an issue that has, as yet, not received adequate attention." Now this acclaimed book returns in a fully updated new edition that gives readers proven strategies for using power to achieve personal and group objectives in all kinds of contexts—work, social, religious, military, and more. Based on extensive research, Organizational Power Politics looks at important underlying theories about the use of interpersonal power, as well as examples of successful operational approaches in the workplace and elsewhere. At its heart are 22 specific power tactics applicable to a wide range of organizations and situations, complete with activities, self-evaluations, and discussion questions that will help anyone sharpen their power skills. This edition features two new chapters: one that looks at multinational organizations and one focusing on the middle layers of large-scale organizations.




Leadership


Book Description

Today, there are a growing number of business schools, law schools, and continuing education programs in executive development and management training that offer leadership classes. Despite the growing curricular recognition of this area, there is a shortage of strong college-level texts. Leadership, second edition—a completely up-to-date anthology of key writings by well-known contributors—meets this need for a textbook that encompasses the major theories in the field of leadership. Leadership is divided into six sections. Part I provides an overview of the subject with readings that examine what leaders actually do, as well as the many myths surrounding the notion of leadership. Part II focuses on the fundamentals of leadership by taking a close look at the specific tactics people use to get their own way. These readings analyze the political games people play and the two-way nature of leader-subordinate influence. Part III considers problems that can arise from leadership gone wrong—when power and influence are abused. The major formal models of leadership that have been offered over the years are reviewed in Part IV. The next section looks at contemporary views of leadership, emphasizing reliance on maturity of subordinates for success, including leadership in the context of self-directed work teams, entrepreneurial leadership, the notion of the leader as servant, and examples of leaders who are recognized for having empowered others or for providing moral leadership. The final section examines the roles of societal and organizational cultures as they pertain to leadership. Robert P. Vecchio has updated the second edition with six new articles. Aimed at upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level courses, Leadership continues to provide classic essays by the major figures in the field of leadership along with topical essays on current and emerging issues.




Informal Coalitions


Book Description

This book places everyday talk and role-modelling interactions at the forefront of an alternative change-leadership agenda, and introduces a number of practical approaches to help line managers and organizational specialists deliver this agenda more successfully. It is essential reading for organizational practitioners at all levels.




Handbook of Organizational Politics


Book Description

This exciting Handbook offers a broad perspective on the intriguing phenomena of power, influence and politics in the modern workplace, their meaning for individuals, groups and other organizational stakeholders, and their effect on organizational outcomes and performances. The contributors illustrate the fact that organizational politics has many facets and definitions, all relating to the use of personal or aggregate power in influencing others and better achieving goals in the workplace. However, politics in organizations is difficult to study, as neither employees nor management are keen to divulge the political secrets and dynamics that help them to promote their own ideas and goals and to advance in the workplace. In the face of this challenge, the Handbook presents a comprehensive collection of original studies and theoretical discussions from across the globe. Providing a starting point for new research in the area, issues dealt with include: politics, personality and leadership ethics, fairness and prospects of trust in workplace politics organizational politics and employees well-being strategy, change and decision-making as a political process human resource management and consulting in a political sphere. Offering a fresh and up-to-date take on the topic, this highly original Handbook will be a fascinating read for academics, students and researchers in the fields of management and organizational behavior. The wide range of perspectives presented in this book, written by some of the leading scholars and researchers in the field, will also be invaluable to practitioners in management and to individuals in organizations who require a better understanding of the meaning of power and influence in the modern workplace.