The Concept of Power in Organizations - Literature review Example

? REFLECTIVE REPORT Question Based on the theories of power examined on Week 2, John Locke’s theory of power under, Two Treatises to Government, is the most relevant for the contemporary society. In this case, Locke’s social contract theory is a proposition that provides defence to people’s rights and provides the people with political powers as their unalienable right (“Week 2 Theories of Power” 2013). In this regard, it is evident that contemporary organisations face situations that are related to power due to the realization by employees of their rights in the workplace. In this case, this factor has made it possible for employees in organisations to acknowledge their rights by agitating for these rights using the most democratic approaches. One approach that employees use to fight for their rights is the formation of unions that advocate for the rights of the people within a specific industry. In this regard, the contemporary society has witnessed the formation of powerful trade unions that advocate for the rights of the people that they represent in order to obtain better working conditions and remuneration. The empowerment of employees, by these trade unions and other measures such as legislations that protect them from their employers, has been partly due to the current systems of governance that underlines the need of rebelling against ruling bodies that commit offences. Therefore, these power-related organisations are a way of the employees asserting their authority. Through the activities of trade unions, in organisations, employees assert their power by maintaining checks on their employer’s activities and ensure that the employer did not infringe on their rights. For example, most organisational policy on improvement of the working conditions and remuneration are not consistent with the law. In this case, employees challenge the people in power to implement policies that benefited employees, which underlines Locke’s theory on power being contestable. Consequently, Locke’s proposition that people have the power to fight for their rights explains the rationale behind the formation of unions that advance the cause of employees, especially in situations whereby they felt that their employer was acting contrary to expectations and the available laws. Ward (2010) identifies Locke’s central idea of freedom based on the ability of individuals to intellectualize phenomena based on ideas. In this case, organisations and people in the contemporary society identify power as contestable. Consequently, this has been the reason why employees in organisations have the ability to contest decisions made by their bosses following down the laid down procedures by using courts or other legal avenues. On the other hand, various stakeholders contest for power in the contemporary societies especially in instances whereby they felt that the organisation was not being managed in the right away. Therefore, these power-related struggles between various stakeholders in an organisation are a result of the view that power can be contested with the rebellion replicating Locke’s view that people who are in authority may be deposed if they offended the natural law. In effect, this makes Locke’s theory of power the most relevant to explain power-related phenomena in the modern world. Question 2 In the contemporary society, it is evident that the ruled rely on their rulers to make decisions that affect their daily lives. In this regard, the subjects identify the ruling class as the people who are responsible for provision of important resources in their lives. In fact, this supports Weber’s contention that the ruling elite make decisions that affect the people, which is against the premise that power is exercised by the people (“Elite Theories” 2013). It is a common occurrence for the ruling class to ask for power from the people they ruled while making promises on what they are going to accomplish to these people. In this case, the ruling elite make manifestos, which underline the promises they will fulfil once they have the mandate to rule the people. Based on the manifestos and the promises made, especially during an election period, the people who mandate the ruling class to rule become dependent on the ruling class for services such as health, education, transport, and other services that are resources of value to those being ruled. On the other hand, it is evident that the ruling class rise to power due to their dependency on the ones that they are going to rule. In this case, power is a resource of value since the ones who wield it are able to decide policies that affect the lives of millions of people. Consequently, arising to positions of power requires the mandate of people, without which the ruling class will not be able to rise to these positions. Through seeking the mandate to govern and rule people, the ruling class identify the powerful resource that those that they rule wielded in determining their future as their rulers. Therefore, the ruling class is dependent on those that they ruled to give them this resource of value. In an organisation setup, it is evident that power is defined in various aspects according to the organisational culture with each section of employees depending on another section for various resources of value. For example, an organisation’s CEO depends on the organisation’s board of directors to exercise their powers and guide the organisation. In this case, without the approval of the board of directors, the CEO cannot exercise his authority, which is a resource of value that he wields although dependent on the board. On the other hand, the success of an organisation is dependent on the CEO’s strategies that determine the productivity within the organisation. Consequently, the CEO has the power to determine the success or failure of an organisation based on the approaches and strategies that they use in their operations. In effect, the CEO’s strategies are a resource of value that an organisation depends upon since the strategies can either bring success or failure. On the other hand, employees in an organisation depend on the people in power, usually the board of directors, to determine the working conditions and remuneration. In this case, remuneration and good working conditions are resources of value. Question 3 The diversity in the society has contributed to different perspectives that people identify various phenomena. Based on this premise, it is evident in the contemporary organisational setting that what an individual can characterize as ‘organisational politics’ can qualify to be labelled as ‘effective management’ by another individual. Nonetheless, it is important to point out that ‘effective management’ is not always going to qualify as organisational politics although it is going to be the case in other instances. Therefore, an individual’s point of reference contributes to their identification of various situations in the organisation as organisational politics. On the other hand, organisations vary in degree of political activities from within. For this reason, it is possible to find some organisations to have rampant and more politicking than other organisations based on various aspects. Overall, the identification and characterization of various things as organisational politics is dependent on an individual’s perspective. The interplay of an organisation’s culture and the diversity of its employees play a critical role in defining organisational politics. In view of this fact, the organisational culture defines the approach that employees take in defining various issues. Importantly, the ethical culture in an organisation is critical in labelling some activities as organisational politics while others are given a different label. Despite the ethical culture in an organisation, it is important to highlight the challenge posed in differentiating issues as political or effective management as a result of the challenge posed in differentiating ethical and unethical practices (“Week 5: Organizational Politics” 2013). It is important to point out that the issue of organisational politics leads to the question about organisational politics and ethics. In this case, it is possible for politically oriented people in organisations to make issues that are unethical appear ethical in nature (“Week 5: Organizational Politics” 2013). For example, an individual can create conflict in an organisation using various approaches that lead to laying-off of some employees, which is political in nature. However, this individual can make this unethical act ethical by indicating that they were encouraging change and innovation. Similarly, another politically motivated individual can claim to be fixing responsibility by blaming other people, which is a politically motivated action and unethical. Contemporary organisations face a challenge when addressing various issues, key among them is how to report issues that affect the organisation to the management in order to increase efficiency in management. In line with this, the issue of whistle blowing poses an ethical dilemma on the approach that an organisation takes in defining this issue. Hence, politically motivated people in an organisation may identify this issue as unethical practice in an organisation while others identify this issue as an effective approach of improving efficiency. On the other hand, contemporary organisations identify the importance of teamwork in order to ensure effective management. Consequently, politically motivated people within organisations may use this issue as a way of forming factions within the organisation. In this case, politically motivated people to form factions within the organisation, and pass the factions as a way of facilitating teamwork within the organisation, which is unethical. Reference List “Elite Theories,” 2013. lecture notes distributed in 200752 Power, Politics & Knowledge at [YOUR INSTITUTION], on [DATE]. Ward, L 2010, John Locke and Modern Life, Cambridge University Press, New York. “Week 2: Theories of Power,” lecture notes distributed in [COURSE TITLE] at [YOUR INSTITUTION], on [DATE]. “Week 5: Organisational Politics,” lecture notes distributed in [COURSE TITLE] at [YOUR INSTITUTION], on [DATE]. Read More