In fact, it is a chapter in the Conflict Management course material at Fanshawe College, Canada. So I believe it is worth reading in terms of academic rigour. There are three sections that introduce what is power, what is politics, and how to effectively handle power and politics at work.
Content Summary
What is the difference between power authority and leadership?
After reading this chapter, I would say that Power is the ability to make someone do something by force or reward. Authority is making someone do something with respect or right. Leadership is making someone do something with trust or vision.
In the workplace, under what circumstances do political disputes most commonly occur?
As shown in the chart below, it is expected that political activity will be highest in situations characterized by high levels of uncertainty and complexity and high levels of competition among groups for a limited amount of resources. When uncertainty and complexity are low and resources are not being competed for between employees, there should be the least amount of politics.
This third part focuses on the ethical use of power and politics in the workplace. As a manager, it is important to use these tools responsibly and ethically.
Ethical Use of Power: The content provides guidelines for the ethical use of power by sources of power, such as reference power, expert power, legitimate power, reward power, and coercive power. As for the guidelines, they include treating subordinates fairly, defending their interests, promoting expertise, maintaining courtesy and graciousness, and verifying compliance.
Ethical Use of Politics: The content explains that while organizational politics cannot be completely eliminated, strategies can be employed to manage them effectively. The strategies include reducing competition, clarifying job responsibilities and evaluations, dismantling existing political groups, and preventing the formation of new political groups. If a level work environment is created with clear goals and resource allocation procedures, the negative effects of office politics can be minimized.
Personal Reading Sharing
The content of this article differs from the first two in that it comes from a school textbook in the first place. Therefore, it has more academic credibility. A second aspect is that it is standing on the manager's institution to offer advice regarding the proper use of power in the workplace as well as how to use it properly.
My particular interest is in the research charts provided, such as the presentation on what conditions lead to high levels of competition. It has less to do with individual personalities than it does with aspects such as resources, incentives, and the strength of competition at work. The information provided can assist me in taking a more rational approach to the causes of workplace politics.
However, I am neutral on some of these points. Among the suggestions made in the content on how to reduce the impact of political behaviour is: Reduce the competition for resources among managers. In my opinion, it is not something that a manager can change if you are in a highly competitive industry (finance) or role (sales). There will always be a limited number of resources and rewards will not be available to everyone. In this regard, we may require a critical reading approach.
* Reference
Stracuzzi, A. (Ed.). (2021/2022). Ethical Use of Power and Politics. In Conflict
Management (Chapter 4-Power and Politics). eCampusOntario Pressbooks. Retrieved
from https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/conflictmanagement/chapter/4-3-ethical-use-of-power-and-politics/
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and I would appreciate it if you would leave any comments.
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