Political Behaviors and Tactics - Assignment Example

What is meant by impression management, and what are some of the political behaviours and tactics an employee might adopt to gain power Introduction The aspects of human behaviour developed within a specific social context are likely to be differentiated under the influence of the external environment and the personal perceptions of each individual; under certain terms, individuals are likely to develop behavioural mechanisms that have common characteristics leading to the achievement of similar goals; impression management is such mechanism. The content and the role of impression management are examined in this paper; at the same time, the behaviours and the tactics that an employee can develop in the workplace in order to increase his power within the organization are presented and evaluated. It is concluded that impression management is unavoidable – in various social conditions – including the workplace; however, the causes or the effects of the impression management are not always easy to be identified or criticized – mostly because they are depended on the personal perceptions of the performer but also on the particular organizational conditions – referring to the literature examined in the context of this study where reference is made to the relationship between the impression management and the organizational environment. 2. Impression management – definition and characteristics Despite the fact that different approaches have been used in order to indicate the characteristics and the role of impression management, the scope of impression management is basically the following one: impression management is developed by imitate behavioural patterns in order to achieve specific goals; in the context of the impression management ‘people can take many roles attempted to please audiences to win their moral, social and financial support’ (Giacalone et al., 1989, p.2); Griffin et al (2009) describe impression management as follows: ‘impression management is a direct, intentional effort by someone to enhance his or her image in the eyes of others’ (Griffin et al., 2009, p.356). It is made clear that impression management has a specific scope; however, its role may be differentiated in accordance with the social events and perceptions to which it is related; this fact is made clear in the study of Greene et al. (2003); in the above study reference is made to a particular characteristic of impression management: its dual character. More specifically, Greene et al. (2003) support that impression management refers – simultaneously – to ‘how individuals present themselves and how they respond to the presentation of others’ (Greene et al., 2003, p.358). In both the above cases, the target is the same: the achievement of personal goals – usually, these goals are related with one or more benefits. Hellriegel et al. (2007) have given a similar definition for impression management; in accordance with the above researchers, ‘the impression management is an attempt by an individual to manipulate or control the impressions that other form about them’ (Hellriegel et al., 2007, p.77); the above definition reveals a key characteristic of impression management: manipulation; impression management is, therefore, a series of activities that are not taken place by accident; rather, they are executed in accordance with a specific plan – developed in advance; in this context, the activities that take place by accidents cannot be characterized as part of the impression management which is based on the intention and the willingness of the individual involved. Another characteristic of the impression management – as revealed through the definitions presented above – is that impression management is related to human behaviour – i.e. it refers to the actions of a particular person; even when impression management is developed in the context of a specific organization – as in the case of strategic impression management explained below – still it refers to the decisions and the activities of the persons that act in behalf of the particular organization. Copley (2004) notes that impression management can have two different forms: ‘assertive and defensive’ (Copley, 2004, p.279); the former focuses on the development of a particular image while the latter is used in order to protect the image; at the next level, impression management can be distinguished to ‘tactical and strategic’ (Copley, 2004, p.279); tactical impression management refers to the achievement of short term (usually personal) goals while the strategic impression management is related with long term goals – referring to organizational and not to personal goals (Copley, 2004, p.279). The above categorization is quite important when the potential use of impression management in different environments needs to be evaluated; within organizations, both forms of impression management can be identified; employees are likely to use tactical impression management for gaining specific benefits while the organization – as a separate entity – can use impression management for achieving its goals. The characteristics of impression management are not always identifiable; more specifically, the existence of impression management may not be identified; an indicative example is the theory of Goffman who noted that: ‘all people are performers whose main task is to construct an identity’ (Goffman, 1959 in Giacalone et al., 1989, p.2). However, the above theory could lead to the elimination of moral values – since human behaviour is based on a role; such assumption cannot be accepted since its in opposition with the moral values and ethics held in societies worldwide; if the above theory would be accepted, then these values and ethics would have no reason of existence. On the other hand, impression management is highly developed in areas where the co-existence of people with different perceptions and background is obliged – most commonly, the workplace; in such environment, impression management is used for the following reasons: a) for surviving – i.e. for protecting the position within the organization or b) for achieving personal goals – not necessarily financials. 3. Political behaviours and tactics available to employees aiming to gain power In the workplace, the role of impression management can be quite important; in the specific case, the ability of a person to perform in accordance with the organizational standards and expectations can affect his prospects in the particular organization. Hamilton (2007) refers to a study that focused on the effects of impression management on the potentials of a person to get hired; in accordance with the above study, in interviews where a negative impression was created for the applicant, the chances for the rejection of the job application were estimated to 90 percent; on the contrary, when a positive impression existed the chances for getting the jog were just 75% - i.e. inequality was identified in the effects of negative and positive impressions, a fact that further indicates the need for developing of practices towards the limitation of negative impressions. This issue is particularly important in the workplace where negative impressions can lead to non-reversible outcomes; in the example mentioned above, it is very difficult for an applicant whose the application on a position was rejected to be given a second chance. Because of the importance of impressions within organizations, various techniques have developed and are available to employees that seek to achieve specific goals – usually to keep or improve their position within the organization. Some of these techniques are described in the study of Sims (2002); in the above study, these techniques are divided to two major categories: the self-enhancing and the others-enhancing techniques; the self-enhancing techniques aim ‘to improve others’ impressions of the person using the techniques’ (Sims, 2002, p.34); common self-enhancing techniques – parts of the impression management in the workplace – are the following ones: name-dropping – the claim of association with a person who has an important position in the social, political or economic life of a country, the careful management of appearance (dressing) and the self-enhancing statements (referring to personal characteristics) are elements of the impression management developed in the workplace (Sims, 2002, p.34). A common self-enhancing technique available to employees of modern organizations is the reputation management (Varey, 2002, p.206) – an impression management technique also analyzed in the study of Schneider et al. (2004, p.133). As for the others’ – enhancing techniques used within organizations these tend to have specific forms, like flattery and favours (Sims, 2002, p.34). On the other hand, the political skills of employees seem that can affect the performance of the impression management techniques used by those individuals; this issue was set under examination by Harris et al. (2007) and it was revealed that ‘individuals who were not politically skilled created a more desirable image in their supervisors eyes’ (Harris et al., 2007, p.278). Using the above techniques, employees could increase their power within the organization; this means that in case of a successful impression management, its performers become able to force other people – in this case referring to other employees – to obey (as power is usually interpreted within the organizational environment and as this term is defined by Weber). In other words, the increase of the employees’ power within the organization is highly depended on their ability to develop effective impression management techniques; at this point, another element of organizational behaviour appears: politics; the term is used in order to show the ability of employees ‘to mobilize support for or against policies, rules and goals’ (Robbins, 1987); in the above context, politics are related to impression management as both of them are used by employees in order to achieve similar goals: to increase power within the organization; in the case of impression management this effort is not so clear – i.e. not so easily understood or identified - as with politics. 4. Conclusion The improvement of others’ impression can be quite important for the achievement of personal goals; however, the terms under which this activity is developed need to be carefully reviewed. In the workplace, such initiatives are common phenomena and are included in the context of impression management; under certain terms, such behavioural techniques can be justified – referring especially to the workplace – but only up to a point. Revealing personal perceptions and thoughts can often lead to quite negative results which can be – in many cases – unfair taking into consideration the fact that each individual has his own way of thinking and evaluating facts and statements. In this context, employees could use impression management techniques in the workplace; however, they should ensure that no damage is caused to their colleagues or the organization. Moreover, even if its use in the workplace is justified, impression management is still a negative behavioural pattern referring to the promotion of false beliefs and events for the achievement of specific benefits. References/ Bibliography Copley, P. (2004) Marketing communications management: concepts and theories, cases and practices. Butterworth-Heinemann Giacalone, R., Rosenfeld, P. (1989) Impression management in the organization. Routledge Greene, J., Burleson, B. (2003) Handbook of communication and social interaction skills. Routledge Griffin, R., Moorhead, G. (2009) Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. Cengage Learning Hamilton, C. (2007) Communicating for Results: A Guide for Business and the Professions. Cengage Learning Harris, K., Kacmar, M., Zivnuska, S., Shaw, J. (2007) The Impact of Political Skill on Impression Management Effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology, Volume 92, Issue 1, pp.278-285 Hellriegel, D., Slocum, J. (2007) Organizational behavior. Cengage Learning Lievens, F., Peeters, H. (2008) Interviewers Sensitivity to Impression Management Tactics in Structured Interviews. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, Volume 24, Issue 3, pp. 174-180 Schneider, B., Smith, B. (2004) Personality and organizations. Routledge Sims, R. (2002) Managing organizational behavior. Greenwood Publishing Group Singh, V., Vinnicombe, S. (2001) Impression management, commitment and gender: Managing others good opinions. European Management Journal, Volume 19, Issue 2, pp.183-194 Varey, R. (2002) Marketing communication: principles and practice. Routledge Von Hippel, W., Von Hippel, C., Conway, L., Preacher, K., Schooler, J. (2005) Coping With Stereotype Threat: Denial as an Impression Management Strategy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Volume 89, Issue 1, pp. 22-35 Zaidman, N., Drory, A. (2001) Upward impression management in the work place cross-cultural analysis. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Volume 25, Issue 6, pp. 671-690 Read More