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21937 Managing, Leading, Stewardship

Making Sense of Managing, Organising, and Organisation Theories

Slides prepared to support students‘ self- directed learning of Organisation Theories

Dr Natalia Nikolova and Dr Walter Jarvis

“Theory, you say? Theory often gets a bum rap among managers because it's associated with the word "theoretical," which connotes "impractical.“ But it shouldn't. A theory is a statement predicting which actions will lead to what results and why. Every action that managers take, and every plan they formulate, is based on some theory in the back of their minds that makes them expect the actions they contemplate will lead to the results they envision.”

Christensen and Raynor (2003)

Why do you need to study Organisation Theories?

Overview

Organisation Theories reviewed: 1. Transaction Cost Economics and Agency Theory

2. Scientific Management and Bureaucracy

3. Institutional Theory

4. Organisational Learning

5. Organisational Culture

6. Power and Politics

Organisation Theory as a Lens for solving Organisational Issues

Organisational Issue

Single consideration for solving the orga-

nisational issue

‘Lens‘ of organisation theory

Source: Crane; Matten (2007): 119

Multiple Organisation Theories for solving Organisational Issues

Organisational Issue

Source: Crane; Matten (2007): 119

Theory A induced solution

Theory B induced solution

Theory C induced solution

‘Lenses‘ of Organisation Theory

Potentially Contradictory

Results

“Without contradictions, without criticism, there would be no rational motive for changing our theories: there would be no

intellectual progress.”

Popper’s (1965, p. 266, translation)

Why do we then need multiple organisation theories?

Because:

Major difference between organisation theorists and economists in how they view organisations

Economists emphasise a world of autonomous actors interrelated through market transactions

Organisational theorists see first a world of organisations and second market transactions

Source: Idea adapted from Simon, H. A. (1991) Organizations and markets, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(2), pp. 25-44. 7

Organisations as an Area of Study Emergence of Organisation Theory

Early Precursors – Studies on prisons (Clemmer, 1940)

– Party structures (Gosnell, 1937)

– Factories and labor unions (Whyte, 1946)

Founding Phase – Administrative and scientific theorists (Taylor, 1911, Fayol, 1949, Gulick

und Urwick, 1937)

– Human relations (Mayo, 1945)

– Weber’s (1946) analysis of bureaucracy

– Simon on administrative behavior (1950) and March and Simon (1958)

Management & Organisation Studies as an Embedded Knowledge Field

Management & Organisations Studies

Business Policy, Organisational Behavior, International Managment, Human Resource Management, Entrepreneurship, etc.

Root Disciplines

Philosophy Mathematics

Marketing Accounting Finance Operations

Factual Baseline Disciplines

Economics Sociology Political Science Culturology Psychology

Sister Disciplines

What is an Organisation?

A simple working definition: Organisations are groups whose members coordinate their behavior in order to accomplish shared goals or to put out a

product/service.

Examples Qualities

Organisations Companies, schools, families and voluntary associations

Roles, rules, goals, recurring behaviors, clear boundaries

Not Organisations Random collections of persons, isolated individuals

No roles, rules, goals, pattern of recurrence, or boundary

Ambiguous Cases Street gangs, friendship groups, social movements

Less clear roles, rules, and goals, porous boundaries and fluid participants

Source: Daniel A. McFarland Organizational Analysis

But...

There are many diverse organisations:

“There is no such thing as a ‘good organization’ in any absolute sense. Always it is relative; and an organization that is good in one context or under one criterion may be bad under another” (Ashby, 1968)

Transaction Cost Economics and Agency Theory

Origin and Fundamental Concepts

What are the phenomena of interest?

How are human agents described?

How is a firm described?

Why do firms exist?

What determines their size and extent?

Key questions within TCE are …

Transaction Cost Economics - Introduction

“A transaction occurs when a good or service is transferred across a technological separable interface. One stage of activity terminates and another begins.“ (Williamson 1985, p. 1)

Transaction Cost Economics - Introduction

Transaction Costs imply the following categories:

1. Search and information costs (ex ante/ provision of information about product, price, and

potential transaction partner)

2. Negotiation and contracting costs (ex ante/ agreement of interests and establishment of contract conditions)

3. Monitoring costs (ex post/ monitoring the adherence to contract agreements)

4. Conflict and enforcement costs (ex post/ conflicts about interpretation and fulfillment of agreements as well as sanctions, arbitration process, and court)

5. Adaptation costs (ex post/ unforeseen changes in circumstances necessitate an adaptation of contracts)

Transaction Cost Economics - Introduction

Costs of buying a newspaper in your home

country

Costs of hiring a new MBA to a career position

Costs of locating and buying a part for an

antique clock

Costs related to transactions vary enormously, compare the following…

Transaction Cost Economics - Assumptions

Discription of Human Actor

bounded rationality self-interestedness

Attributes of contract and organisation

incompleteness of contracts opportunism

Williamson (1985)

risk neutrality

Simon (1985)

Transaction Cost Economics - Assumptions

Discription of the Firm

New Answers to Old Questions

Existence of the Firm? Boundaries of the Firm?

Coase (1937), Williamson (1975, 1985)

Williamson (1985)

Firm as governance structure

Transaction Cost Economics - Implications

“The object is to work out the efficiency logic for managing transactions by alternative modes of governance – principally spot markets, various long- term contracts (hybrids), and hierarchies.“

(Williamson, 2005, p.1)

Agency Theory

Jensen & Meckling (1976)

Drawing from the theory of agency, property rights, and finance, the authors established a theory of the ownership structure of the firm.

In this sense, most organisations are “legal fictions which serve as a nexus for a set of contracting relationships among individuals.”(p. 310).

Many organisations are based on a separation of ownership and control.

Strengths and Limits of TCE/Agency Theory

Strengths

TCE contributes to an important extension of the prevailing organisational research perspective mainly by addressing such fundamental questions as why are there firms? with only a limited analytical focus.

TCE complements organisation theory with an (micro-)economic explanation of different institutional forms by comparing the efficacy regarding alternative arrangements and providing a transaction cost economizing result.

Strengths and Limits of TCE/Agency Theory

Limits The focal point of criticism is the concept of opportunism lying at the core of Williamson’s TCE;

some authors urge a more complex motivational model, which takes into account that opportunistic behavior is influenced by various factors such as control mechanisms and prior conditioning (for example, Ghoshal & Moran (1996) describe the narrow assumption of opportunism as a self-fulfilling prophecy, as hierarchical control within firms, which is supposed to defuse opportunism, at the end may be self-defeating).

While regarding the firm as the organisational form of last resort, TCE ignores the existence of efficient, energetic, and innovative organisations encouraging creativity, leadership as well as initiative not by mere hierarchical control and fiat, but rather by social control promoting trust, commitment, and a context of identification.

TCE disregards relevant factors of influence when explaining the existence of alternative governance structures, e.g. aspects of power relations between transaction partners, the influence of production costs and transaction related cost advantages, interdependencies between transactions, and environmental conditions (including social, historical, political, and legal aspects).

Bureaucracy and Scientific Management

Checklist Used to Evaluate the Performance of Counter Staff of a Fast-Food Restaurant 1/4

Greeting the customer Yes No

There is a smile.

It is a sincere greeting.

There is eye contact.

Other:

Taking the order Yes No

The counter person is thoroughly familiar with the menu ticket. (No hunting for items.)

The customer has to give the order only once.

Small orders (four items or less) are memorized rather than written down.

There is suggestive selling.

Other:

Morgan, G. (1986): Images of Organization p.21, London: Sage Publications 24

Checklist Used to Evaluate the Performance of Counter Staff of a Fast-Food Restaurant 2/4

Assembling the order Yes No

The order is assembled in the proper sequence.

Grill slips are handed in first.

Drinks are poured in the proper sequence.

Proper amount of ice.

Cups slanted and finger used to activate.

Drinks are filled to the proper level.

Drinks are capped.

Clean cups.

Holding times are observed on coffee.

Cups are filled to the proper level on coffee.

Other:

Morgan, G. (1986): Images of Organization ,London: Sage Publications, p.21. 25

Presenting the order Yes No

It is properly packaged.

The bag is double folded.

Plastic trays are used if eating inside.

A tray liner is used.

The food is handled in a proper manner.

Other:

Asking for & receiving payment Yes No

The amount of the order is stated clearly and loud enough to hear.

The denomination received is clearly stated.

The change is counted out loud.

Change is counted efficiently.

Large bills are laid on the till until the change is given.

Other:

Morgan, G. (1986): Images of Organization ,London: Sage Publications, p.21.

Checklist Used to Evaluate the Performance of Counter Staff of a Fast-Food Restaurant 3/4

Checklist Used to Evaluate the Performance of Counter Staff of a Fast-Food Restaurant 4/4

Thanking the customer & asking for repeat business Yes No

There is always a thank you.

The thank you is sincere.

There is eye contact.

Return business was asked for.

Other:

Source: Morgan, G. (1986): Images of Organization ,London: Sage Publications, p.21. 27

Taylor‘s Scientific Management 1/2

“No great man can … hope to compete with a number of ordinary men who have been properly organized so as to efficiently cooperate. In the past the man has been first, in the future the system must be first.”

Taylor (1947: 7)

Taylor‘s Scientific Management 2/2

1. Principle: Shift all responsibility for the organisation of work from the worker to the manager

2. Principle: Use scientific methods to determine the most efficient way of doing work

3. Principle: Select the best person to perform the job

4. Principle: Train the worker to do the work efficiently

5. Principle: Monitor worker performance

Modern Version of Taylorism: Benchmarking

Principles of classical management theory - Henri Fayol (1919) 1/2

Unity of command: an employee should receive orders from only one superior.

Scalar chain: the line of authority from superior to subordinate, which runs from top to bottom of the organization; this chain, which results from the unity-of-command principle, should be used as a channel for communication and decision making.

Span of control: the number of people reporting to one superior must not be so large that it creates problems of communication and coordination.

Staff and line: staff personnel can provide valuable advisory services, but must be careful not to violate line authority.

Initiative: to be encouraged at all levels of the organisation.

Division of work: management should aim to achieve a degree of specialisation designed to achieve the goal of the organisation in an efficient manner.

Authority and responsibility: attention should be paid to the right to give orders and to exact obedience; an appropriate balance between authority and responsibility should be achieved. It is meaningless to make someone responsible for work if they are not given appropriate authority to execute that responsibility.

Source: Morgen, G. (1986): Images of Organization, London: Sage Publications, p.26. 30

Principles of classical management theory - Henri Fayol (1919) 2/2

Centralisation (of authority): always present in some degree, this must vary to optimise the use of faculties of personnel.

Discipline: obedience, application, energy, behavior, and outward marks of respect in accordance with agreed rules and customs.

Subordination of individual interest to general interest: through firmness, example, fair agreements, and constant supervision.

Equity: based on kindness and justice, to encourage personnel in their duties; and fair remuneration which encourages morale yet does not lead to overpayment.

Stability of tenure of personnel: to facilitate the development of abilities.

Esprit de corps: to facilitate harmony as a basis of strength.

Source: Morgen, G. (1986): Images of Organization, London: Sage Publications, p.26.

Max Weber‘s Theory of Bureaucracy

A bureaucracy should have a:

Clearly specified System of task and role relationships

Clearly specified hierarchy of

authority

System of written rules and standards

operation procedures that specify how

employees should behave

Selection and evaluation system

that rewards employees fairly

and equitably

Source: Meyer et al. (2007) Contemporary Management, McGraw-Hill: London, p. 40.

Bureaucracy - Conditions

Simple and stable environments Rationalised tasks: Repetitive and standardised tasks

Mature, large and old organisations Has the volume of operating work needed for repetition and

standardisation

old enough to settle on the standards the organisation wishes to use

Mass Production Firms as Bureaucracies

Strategic Apex

Purchasing Fabricating

M an

u fa

ct u

ri n

Assembling Selling

Source: Mintzberg (1979): 327 34

Organigram of a large Steel Company

Board of Directors

Chairman of the Board

Vice-President Secretary & General

Counsel

Facilities Planning, Eng. and R & D

Division Operations Division Marketing Division Financial Division Personnel Division

President and Chief Executive

Officer

Executive Vice President

Environmental Control Transportation Raw Material Industrial Engeneering Metallurgical & Quality Control Production Planning Plant Protection Works A Primary Production Shapes Production Flat Rolled Operating Services Works B Wire, Wire Products and Screws Heavy Bolts Tubular Works

Facilites Planning Research & Development Engeneering - Primary Works Finishing & Tubular Works Electrical Engeneering Technical Services

Organisation Developmanet Public Development Personnel Services Salary and Benefits Medical Industrial Relations

Taxiation Data processig Internal Audit Accounting Financial Analysis & Control Systems Office Services Treasury Corporate Insurance Pension Fund Investment Credit Procurement

Product Salles Market Development Overseas Sales Commercial Planning & Research

Source: Mintzberg (1979): 328 35

General Manager

Credit Manager

Personal Manager

Maintenanc e

Supervisor

Resident Manager

Director of Marketing and Sales

Food and Beverage Manager

Director of Sales

Executive Assistant Manager

Executive Maitre D´Hotel

Purchasing Agent

Banquet Manager

Assistant Manager

Reception

Front Office

Manager

Beverage Supervisor

Head Housekeepe

Night Manager

Garage Manager

Executive Chief

Chief Engineer

A Hotel as a White Collar Bureaucracy

Assistant Accountant

Chief Accountant

Source: Mintzberg (1979): 330 36

Maxim Stability und calculability

Basic regulatory frame Welfare state Market regulation

Enterprises: Economies of Scale

Mass production Bureaucratic organisation Arm’s length market relations

Fordism as an example

Bureaucracy - Summary

Prime Coordinating Mechanism:

Main Design Parameters:

Contingency Factors:

Standardisation of work processes

Behaviour formalisation; job specialisation; usually functional grouping; large operating-unit size; centralisation; action planning

Old, large; regulating; non-automated technical system; simple, stable environment; external control; not fashionable

Bureaucracy/Scientific Management - Issues

Human problems in the operating areas

Coordination problems in the administrative areas

Adaption problems in the strategic areas

Strenghts and Limitations of Bureaucracy

Strengths A mechanistic approach to organisations works well under these

conditions:

• when there is a straightforward task to perform;

• when the environment is stable enough to ensure that the products produced will be appropriate ones;

• when one wishes to produce exactly the same product time and again;

• when precision is at a premium; and

• when the human "machine" parts are compliant and behave as they have been designed to do.

Strenghts and Limitations of Bureaucracy

Limitations – An approach to “organizations without people” (Bennis, 1959, p. 263)

– Can create organisational forms that have great difficulty in adapting to changing circumstances;

– can result in mindless and unquestioning bureaucracy;

– can have unanticipated and undesirable consequences as the interests of those working in the organisation take precedence over the goals the organisation was designed to achieve; and

– can have dehumanising effects upon employees, especially those at the lower levels of the organisational hierarchy.

Institutional Theory

Main Thesis

“… the formal structures of many organizations in postindustrial society dramatically reflect the myths of their institutional environments instead of the demands of their work activities.“

Meyer/Rowan (1977), p. 341

Source: Meyer JW, Rowan B. 1977. Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony. American Journal of Sociology 83(2): 343.

Origins of Institutional Theory: Meyer & Rowan (1977)

M&R (1): organisations use strategies, structures and practices that are socially

expected of them

 social approval (Legitimacy) rather than efficiency

 Increases likelihood that external constituents will assist the organisation

 Managers do not choose whether to conform, they conform because

alternatives are not recognised (taken for granted: myths)

M&R (2): contradictions between institutionalised expectations and organisational

efficiency leads to decoupling

 Organisations adapt structures and practices that are aligned with institutional

prescriptions but which are deliberately distanced from how work is actually

done

 „Ceremonial“ conformity

Institutionalist Explanation of Organisational Survival Meyer & Rowan (1977)

Development of

institutionalised

rationality myths

Conformity of organisations

with institutionalised myths

Legitimacy

and resources Survival

Efficiency of organisations

Mechanisms of Isomorphism DiMaggio & Powell (1983)

1. Coercive mechanisms Result of actions by agencies (e.g. state, regulatory bodies, funding agencies)

upon whom collectivities of organizations are dependent, but also pressures

by other organisations

2. Mimetic mechanisms Under uncertain and ambiguous conditions managers copy organisations

perceived to be more successful and legitimate.

3. Normative mechanisms Professionalisation: standardisation of education; organisational norms

among professional managers and their staff; setting of normative rules

about professional behavior

Source: Adapted from DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. 1983. The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2): 147-160.

Institutional Entrepreneurship and Institutional Strategies

Strategy Effect

Co-option Neutralizing institutional constraints

Lobbyism Dismantling/creating of institutional

constraints

Membership Creating of institutional constraints

Standardisation Creating of institutional constraints

Influence Influencing societal value systems

Strengths and Limitations of Institutional Theory

Strengths – Organisations compete for “social as well as economic fitness” (DiMaggio and Powell

1983, 150), as their survival and success not only depend on the technical efficiency, but also the perceived social appropriateness of their ideas, products, structures and practices.

– Legitimacy becomes a critical resource that organisations must extract from their institutional environment.

– Institutional Theory offers important constructs for explaining why firms and organisations become and behave more alike.

Limitations – Institutional Theory became seen as a theory of convergence, similarity and inertia,

unable to conceptualise change.

– Institutions are mostly conceptualised as constraints rather than products of human action.

Organisational Learning and Heterarachy

Organisational learning

It focuses on adaptation and learning from experience. Organisations learn by encoding past inferences into organisational structures, culture, people, and technologies that guide behavior. It encodes successful practices into rules, beliefs-culture, participant’s memories and their tasks.

50 Source: Daniel A. McFarland Organizational Analysis

Charles Darwin:

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change”

Why do organisations need to learn?

How do we understand learning?

Learning as a quantitative increase in knowledge. Learning is acquiring information or ‘knowing a lot’.

Learning as memorising. Learning is storing information that can be reproduced.

Learning as acquiring facts, skills, and methods that can be retained and used as necessary.

Learning as making sense or abstracting meaning. Learning involves relating parts of the subject matter to each other and to the real world.

Learning as interpreting and understanding reality in a different way. Learning involves comprehending the world by reinterpreting knowledge.

52 Source: Ramsden, P. (1992) Learning to Teach in Higher Education, London: Routledge, p. 26.

Learning as acquiring knowledge

Learning as sensemaking

Topics of Organisational Learning

Exploration & Exploitation (James G. March) Exploration – searching, variation, risk-taking, experimenting, play, flexibility, and innovating (generating new practices). Exploitation – refining, choice, production, efficiency, selection, implementation, and execution (eliminating inferior forms).

Features of Learning Organisations

TRANSFORMATIONAL

LEADERSHIP

DISPERSED STRATEGIES

INTEGRATING MECHANISM

KNOWLEDGE WORKERS

HORIZONTAL STRUCTURES

EGALITARIAN CULTURE

LEARNING

ORGANIZATION

ENVIRONMENT

The Heterarchy

Space agency

Avant-garde film company

Factory manufacturing complex prototypes

Integrated petro-chemicals company

Think-tank consulting firm

Creative advertising agency

Different, yet sharing a number of basic structural characteristics

Focus on innovation instead of standardisation

Capable of sophisticated innovation

Problem-solving structure

Fuse experts from different disciplines into smoothly functioning ad hoc project teams

Most complex structure

Flexible structure of the organisation: rather like a “tent” than a “palace”

The Heterarchy – Structure (1)

Highly organic, little formalisation of behavior

High horizontal job specialisation based on formal training

Specialists from different disciplines are grouped in functional units (formally), but are deployed in small, market-based project teams for their work

Liaison devices to encourage mutual adjustment as the key coordinating mechanism within and between teams

Selective decentralisation to and within teams

Non-bureaucratic structure: innovation cannot be achieved by standardisation Least reverence to the classical principles of management, esp. unit of

command Information and decision processes flow flexibly and informally to promote

innovation Override the chain of authority, if necessary

The Heterarchy – Structure (2)

Hire and give power to experts; but no reliance on the standardised skills of these experts to achieve coordination

 Professionals must amalgamate their efforts

 Multi-disciplinary teams formed around the project of innovation

Mutual adjustment as major coordination device

 Liaison positions; matrix structure

 Teams are established as task forces

Managers abound: functional, integrating, project managers

 Small sized work units (narrow “spans of control”)

 Liaison and negotiation rather than supervision

The Heterarachy – Structure (3)

Complex and dynamic environment

• Organic and decentralised structure

Disparate forces in the environment

• Different work constellations to deal with different aspects of its environment

Very frequent product change (e.g. “unit producer”)

Youth of the organisation

• Heterarchies tend to bureaucratize as they age

The Heterarchy - Conditions

Human Reactions to Ambiguity

 Low tolerance for ambiguity?

 Hetearchy is the only structure for those who believe in more democracy with less bureaucracy

 Authority relationships are obscure

 Conflict and aggressiveness are necessary elements in the adhocracy

Problems of Efficiency

 Heterarchy is not competent in doing ordinary things

 Root of its inefficiency is its high cost of communication

 Unbalanced workloads

Heterarchy - Conflicts and Problems

Strengths and Limitations of the Organistional Learning lens

Strengths

– The image gives clear guidelines for creating learning organisations that are able to innovate and evolve.

– We gain a new theory of management based on principles of self-

organisation.

Limitations

– There may be a conflict between the requirements of organisational learning and the realities of power and control.

– Learning for the sake of learning can become just another ideology.

Organisational Culture

Why Did Management Studies Turn Its Attention to the Organisational Culture Phenomenon?

Methodological critique of the status quo – The orientation of traditional management studies towards formal

structures and quantitative analysis was criticised.

Empirical relevance – Success of Japanese firms with culturally conscious management styles

Management fashion – The concept of corporate culture was popularised through management

bestsellers (Peters/Waterman, 1982; Deal/Kennedy, 1982; Pascale/Athos, 1981)

Defining Organisational Culture

Organisational culture is ...

the shared rules governing cognitive and affective aspects of membership in an organisation, and the means whereby they are shaped and expressed.

64 Source: Daniel A. McFarland Organizational Analysis

Defining Organisational Culture

What are traces of organisational culture?

Shared meanings, assumptions, norms and values governing work behavior

Symbolic, textual, and narrative structures in which they are encoded

The structural causes and consequences of cultural forms and their relation to organisational effectiveness

65 Source: Daniel A. McFarland Organizational Analysis

Schein’s Cultural Model

visible, but often not decipherable (needs interpretation)

invisible, mostly unconscious

Source: Adapted from Schein, EH. 1984. Coming to a New Awareness of Organizational Culture. Sloan Management Review 25(2): 4.

Artifacts & Symbols

Language, Rituals, Clothes, Manners

Values

Maxims, Norms, Guidelines, Taboos

Basic assumptions

about: Relationship to environment, nature of reality, time and space, etc.

Organisational Cultures

Clan Heterarchy

Hierarchy Market

Flexibility and Discretion

Stability and Control

In te

rn al

F o

cu s

an d

In te

gr at

io n

Extern

al Fo cu

s an d

D ifferen

tatio n

Source: Adopted from Cameron, Kim S.; Quinn Robert E. "Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. Based on the Competing Vales Framework", Reading, Mass. et al., 1999, p, 32.

Strength and Limitations of the Organisational Culture Lens

Strenghth

– Draws attention to the symbolic significance of organisational elements

– It points to another means of creating organised activity: by influencing the language, norms, ceremonies, etc. that communicate the key ideologies, values, and beliefs guiding action

– Management of change as a process of changing organisational culture

Limitations

– The dark side of cultural management: developing the art of management into a process of ideological control – corporate newspeak

– Danger of a mechanistic attitude that underlies many perspectives advocating the management of culture.

Power and Politics

Foundations of the Power and Politics Lens

Roots are in political science – the study of power relations within and across organisations

– Political scientists study the struggle for, and maintenance of, political, economic, and cultural power

Important contributors to a power perspective in organisation studies: – March (1962) The business firm as a political coalition

– Pfeffer (1981) Power in organizations

– Mintzberg (1983) Power in an around organizations

– Foucault (1980) Power/knowledge

– Clegg et al. (2006) Power and organizations

“… we assume that a business firm is a political coalition and that the executive in the firm is a political broker. The composition of the firm is not given; it is negotiated. The goals of the firm are not given; they are bargained. “

James March, 1962

Unit of Analysis and Power

What is power? – “A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something B

would not otherwise do" (Dahl, 1957, pp. 202-203)

– Power is "the chance that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance" (Weber, 1947, p. 152)

What is a political system? – A political system is a stable pattern of human relations that integrates

to a significant part power, domination, or authority (Dahl, 1973)

Power and Social Perception – Unlike physical forces, social forces pass through people's heads: that

is, their effects depend upon the way they are perceived

Organisational Politics – Definitional Elements

Situational Characteristics

• Conflict

• Uncertainty

Means

• Influence

• Power Tactics

• Informal Behavior

• Concealing Motives

Outcomes

• Self Serving

• Against the Organization

• Resource Distribution

• Power Attainment

Organisation Group Individuum

Source: Drory, Amos; Romm, Tsilia (1990) The Definition of Organizational Politics: A Review, Human Relations ,43, p. 1135.

Strengths and Limitations of the Power and Politics Lens

Strengths – Demonstrates the political nature of organisational life

– Helps to explore the myth of organisational rationality

– Helps to overcome the image that organisations are functionally integrated systems

– It recognises the tension between private and organisational interest as an incentive to engage politically

– Makes us aware of the sociopolitical role organisations play in society

Limitations – When we understand organisations as political arenas we are more likely

to behave politically in relation to what we see

– The political image may overstate the power and the importance of the individual and underplay the system dynamics that determine what becomes political and how politics occurs