An Examination of Power and Politics in Organizations Essay Example for Free

An Examination of Power and Politics in Organizations Essay Abstract Many studies have examined the affects power and politics have on organizations. In researching The University of Phoenixs Online Library and current web sites information shows that power and politics dominates the work place and organizations more than any other personal skill. In order to lead one must have power to influence, set and enforce rules. Politics are found in the majority of organizations, therefore it is crucial for employees to recognize the political game in their own organization and decide rather to participate and benefit from the positives of politics or not. An Examination of Power and Politics in Organizations Power and politics are dominating forces with in organizations. Organizations are lead by people with power. Power can be awarded by management to a person by title, legitimate power which is more formal and recognizable. Many leaders assume power through such things as knowledge, information or seniority. Through research located online and knowledge obtained from personal experiences a comparison was conducted on power and politics in organizations. The structure of a team is important in determining how the team will perform. Each team member should contribute skills to enhance the teams overall performance. Individual work habits and leadership styles will determine if the team has the ability to join together and complete their common goals. Teams create environments that bring out the best in each team member. A commitment to effectively communicating information and ideas is a characteristic of an effective team. That is why the usage of coercion and politics to gain advantage over team members can be very destructive to team dynamics. Coercion is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary is to force one to act or think in a certain manner, to dominate, restrain, or control by force. Often at work or in a group environment one might utilize this form of power to control dominance  over the group. This usage of power can often make other team members conform. In a successful team conformity is not a useful tactic. The usage of politics and coercion to gain advantage over team members is a danger to the success of the project. Once team members realize that their input is not wanted more than likely they will withdraw from the process altogether. The USA today states, offices dynamics often change from the usage of intimidation. (2004) For example a team must work together to process information for the desired results. Once a member takes advantage of a situation and use coercion to gain advantage it often leads to disaster. An example of such disaster happened recently within our team. A couple classes ago we had a member that was an extremely dominant person. The person was very smart and well educated but had a problem understanding the syllabus. Everybody in the team would understand the group assignments one way but she would always play devil advocate on the simplest details. She would use coercion to gain advantage over the other team members when we would meet to complete group assignments. The entire team was guilty of just going with the flow, not wanting to cause any problem. She was so convincing we felt she had to be correct! The result was a low grade, because the content was not correct. So the team from that moment on did not allow that dominant personality use politics and power to manipulate the group any more. Organizational Behavior Ch. 15 pg. 3 defines power through information as; Information power is the access to and/or the control of information. It is one of the most important aspects of legitimacy. In the majority organization the person with the information controls the manner in which the company operates. Expert power is the ability to control through the possession of knowledge, experience, or judgment that the other person does not have but needs. This source of power is often used by subordinates. Judson, P. stated in Worldwide Energy although there are several directors and managers to organizations the experts of the business actually controls progress. In the public works and engineering department there are several directors and managers. Hierarchical authority has put several rules, guide lines and manuals together through information they obtain for employees to  follow when completing tasks and goals. Supervisors and employees who actually work in the field have the knowledge and experience; therefore tasks are completed in a different manner than the manuals implement. The knowledge subordinates obtain through actually doing the work gives them more power and control in decision made about the organization. Politics are in all organizations and employees are affected in some way by politics. As stated in by Schermerhorn, Hunt and Osborn, any study of power and influence inevitably leads to the subject of politics. For many, this word may conjure up thoughts of illicit deals, favors and special personal relationships. Although these actions are considered negative by the observer, the organization and the recipients view politics as positive. Organizations use politics to influence employees through promotions and rewards. The City of Houston Public Works and Engineering Department mainly promotes from with in the organization. This is a positive showing by management, because employees feel effort are rewarded. When you think of power and politics rarely are these images positive or inspiring. Corporate American today has fallen far from the one time logic that rewards are based simply on individual performance. Today more rewards are based on the managements need for power. This ability, power, to have someone else do something in the way you want it done and the precise time you need it done is an overwhelming and influential force. There are several types of ruling powers that are used in todays businesses. Perhaps, the most preferred by employees is known as the Reward Power. The Reward Power enables a manager to express their appreciation to an individual or group for a job well done by offering the employee or team members a bonus. Such pleasantries can be in the form of a pay increase, personal praise, or advancement within the company. Unlike the Coercive Reward, probably the most disliked by associates, is a system in which the person in charge uses punishment to rule. Examples of such authority could be the withholding of merit increases, denying a promotion, or even termination. Powers such as these are key elements to leadership success. Unfortunately, they seem to represent the seamy side of management (Schermerhorn, 2003). There are other powers used in organizational structures, such as legitimate, process,  informational and representative. These power all vary in pattern, however, none are as contrasting as the Reward versus Coercive Power. How do these managers gain this power? Some might believe that office politics and networking are major components. The saying its not what you know, but who, does not stand truer than in todays corporate environments. An example of networking took place a couple of years ago in our department. At the time of this occurrence, Sam was a Financial Administrator for the West Region. He held a reputation for one of the best managed financial divisions. It seems that Sam had built a special friendship with the Sales manager for that region and he would do allow special payments or exceptions for his market without proper documentation to help his numbers increase. These favors were soon shared with other salespeople from other markets, and Sam immediately became best of buddies with everyone. A few months later a position for a supervisor was opened and Sam immediately recruited his comrades to assist him in assuring this new position. His use of political power and networking is a prime example of the self absorbed need for dominance in todays managers. Ethical Persuasion and Legitimate Power can have a strong impact on teams, management and others alike. First, lets look at the definition of ethical persuasion and legitimate power. Ethical persuasion is behavior that is morally accepted as good and right (Schermerhorn, gloss, pg. 6). Legitimate power is the extent to which a manager can use the right of command to control other people (Schermerhorn, gloss, pg.12). Ethical Persuasion is very different from legitimate power because when a manger is demanding that you complete a task, the task may not always be ethical. Each one of these behaviors can affect a team in many ways. For example, a management team is assigned a task that involves investigating an employees work history to locate any negative infractions or practices in order to terminate the employee. In the investigating process you learn that this person is a single-mother barely able to feed her two children. However, the company cannot afford to keep her for financial reasons and needs to lay her off. There are five members in the management team that are working on this case and three of them are females, these ladies do not feel that they are  displaying ethical behavior and refuse to have anything to do with dismissing this single mother. In reality this woman has done nothing wrong, she was just the last one hired. In the meantime the CEO hears about the moral conflict and he gets very upset with the team members disobedience. Consequently, the CEO calls a meeting to let the management team know that he is the head of the company and team will do as he says whether they like it or not. If the team do not do as they are told, then they can give the single mother their positions because they will no longer be needed. In this situation the CEO is clearly using legitimate power, which is definitely not ethical; however, it is a job that still has to be done. Therefore, ethical behavior and legitimate power can and will eventually affect a management team. More often than not legitimate power will overrule ethical behavior. In conclusion research has proven sources of position and personal power, such as expert, information, reward, coercion and legitimate are used by employees to control, persuade and influence people and organizations. Politics are more commonly used by management to control and influence organizational behavior. Both politics and power have positive and negative affects on employees, organizations and communities. References Lindsey, L. B. (2004, July 14) Office Dynamic; Retrieved August 26, 2004 from University of Phoenix, EDSCO Host database, Website http://phoenix.edu//libraryresource Stum, D.L. Strategy and Leadership. Maslow Revisited. Building the Employee Commitment Pyramid Volume 29. University of Phoenix Custom Edition. Retrieved August 25, 2004, from ProQuest database. Judson, P. (2004) Advantages of Experts; Worldwide Energy. Vol. 15 Issue 8 p3. abstract retrieved August 28, 2004, from EBSCOhost data base Schermerhorn, J.R., Hunt, J.G. Osburn, R.N. (2003) Organizational Behavior New York: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Ch. 15 Power and Politics Pg 2-3

Marketing Image Culture :: Alan Liu Media Entertainment Essays

Marketing Image Culture As Alan Liu defines "cool", it is a non-political protest in society, "a gesture of ambivalent oppositionality." In Liu's terms, "cool" is a cultural component of the information age, and can only exist and have meaning within the environment it protests. This essay seeks to explore the relationship image culture, marketing, and Alan Liu's concept of "cool." In a recent presentation he gave at New York University, Liu previewed his forthcoming book The Laws of Cool : The Cultural Life of Information, which describes the importance of "cool" in the information age. To assist his explanation, he compares corporate culture to the Guayaki tribe of South America. Liu says that in both cultures there is a central problem, an unreasonable demand placed on some people that must be dealt with. As he opens his presentation, Liu makes an important point: being a part of a community is both empowering and stifling. The demand placed upon the information age worker is to retain productivity and remain valuable in the traditional sense, while in the postmodern sense being flexible and decentralized. Workers must keep order in their jobs to be productive, but also be able to excel at a wide variety of tasks that often require a breakdown and restructuring of corporate structures, departments, teams, and tasks. For the Guayaki, the job of hunting parallels the demand of flexibility required of Liu's information worker. Hunters are charged with the task of feeding their tribe, and sharing their wives, since Guayaki men outnumber women two to one. (I mention the latter condition because Liu made a point of it; whether or not this aspect of Guayaki life represents normality or hardship was not addressed in Liu's presentation.) Hunting in the forest with a bow and arrow requires a huge amount of skill, with dire consequences if unsuccessful, for the tribe will then not eat. In both "primitive" and technologically advanced cultures, there exists what Liu terms mandatory and individual disempowerment. Both hunters and information workers must defer to the will of their tribe. In response to stifling, both the tribesman and the information worker develop "cool." "The desire for flexibility and decentralization opens the gap between a culture and its people," says Liu. "Cool" is a technique for expressing that gap between a society and it's people. In the case of the Guayaki, this technique involves singing a highly personalized warrior song at nightfall, which essentially serves to fuel ego and one's sense of individuality. Marketing Image Culture :: Alan Liu Media Entertainment Essays Marketing Image Culture As Alan Liu defines "cool", it is a non-political protest in society, "a gesture of ambivalent oppositionality." In Liu's terms, "cool" is a cultural component of the information age, and can only exist and have meaning within the environment it protests. This essay seeks to explore the relationship image culture, marketing, and Alan Liu's concept of "cool." In a recent presentation he gave at New York University, Liu previewed his forthcoming book The Laws of Cool : The Cultural Life of Information, which describes the importance of "cool" in the information age. To assist his explanation, he compares corporate culture to the Guayaki tribe of South America. Liu says that in both cultures there is a central problem, an unreasonable demand placed on some people that must be dealt with. As he opens his presentation, Liu makes an important point: being a part of a community is both empowering and stifling. The demand placed upon the information age worker is to retain productivity and remain valuable in the traditional sense, while in the postmodern sense being flexible and decentralized. Workers must keep order in their jobs to be productive, but also be able to excel at a wide variety of tasks that often require a breakdown and restructuring of corporate structures, departments, teams, and tasks. For the Guayaki, the job of hunting parallels the demand of flexibility required of Liu's information worker. Hunters are charged with the task of feeding their tribe, and sharing their wives, since Guayaki men outnumber women two to one. (I mention the latter condition because Liu made a point of it; whether or not this aspect of Guayaki life represents normality or hardship was not addressed in Liu's presentation.) Hunting in the forest with a bow and arrow requires a huge amount of skill, with dire consequences if unsuccessful, for the tribe will then not eat. In both "primitive" and technologically advanced cultures, there exists what Liu terms mandatory and individual disempowerment. Both hunters and information workers must defer to the will of their tribe. In response to stifling, both the tribesman and the information worker develop "cool." "The desire for flexibility and decentralization opens the gap between a culture and its people," says Liu. "Cool" is a technique for expressing that gap between a society and it's people. In the case of the Guayaki, this technique involves singing a highly personalized warrior song at nightfall, which essentially serves to fuel ego and one's sense of individuality.

How Sustainable Is A Wind Energy System Environmental Sciences Essay

A The literary significance of sustainability derived from the Latin word which means maintain or support. However, since 1980, sustainability has been used for environment and development related to environment. With the progress of engineering, human lives become more mechanised and modern. In this modern universe we depend on more in engineering than earlier, so more energy is required for our modernised society. To carry through our demands we burn fuel which we get from the natural reservoir. By firing this natural fuel non merely we destroy our natural resources, but besides we increase the C emanation in the environment. The simple definition â€Å" sustainability is bettering the quality of human life while populating within the transporting capacity of back uping eco-systems † , ( hypertext transfer protocol: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development ) . â€Å" a sustainable planetary society founded on regard for nature, cosmopolitan human rights, economic justness, and a civilization of peace. † ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.earthcharterinaction.org/content/ ) Ethical issueA I choose I chose wind energy systems: is a sustainable and renewable energy which is produced from air current. This sustainable or renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources: air current energy is one of the illustrations of sustainable energy. Wind energy is pollution free, sustainable signifier of energy which can assist us to cut down the traditional dodo based power coevals. Many industrialised states such as US, Canada recognised that air current energy is a lasting, sustainable economic and environmentally friendly, which secured energy monetary value and supply. Wind energy is a green energy which supports long term energy supply to our environment from renewable resources. Wind energy systems Using air current energy system to bring forth power is advantageous in many facets. On the other manus if fossil fuel is used as an energy beginning, it increases the carbon-di- oxide degree in the air and it is dearly-won. Wind energy is pollution free, sustainable signifier of energy which can cut down the traditional dodo fuel energy coevals. If we continue to bring forth the energy by firing the dodo fuel, there will be singular impact and alterations in the environment such as planetary heating, utmost conditions events ( such as inordinate inundation, draught etc ) , and atmospheric instability. Air pollution To bring forth air current energy, there is no demand of any signifier of fuel. Wind turbines are acquiring powered by air current, so wind energy green goodss zero emanation to the environment. Fossil fuel contributes to bring forth acerb rain, smog and every bit good as clime alteration. Harmonizing to western air current energy, â€Å" Using air current to bring forth adequate power for over 200 places ( 2,000,000 kWh ) of electricity alternatively of firing coal will go forth 900,000 kgs of coal in the land and cut down one-year nursery gas emanations by 2,000 metric tons. This is tantamount to taking 417 autos off the route or seting 10,000 trees. † ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.westernwindenergy.com/s/Environment.asp ) Huge sum of green house gas emanation resulted acid rain which destroyed workss, aquatic environment, edifices etc. the chief causes for acerb rain is inordinate sum of sulphur-nitrogen compounds present in the air. These harmful sulphur-nitrogen compounds produced from mills, emanations from motor vehicles and from electricity coevals. Coal power works is the most unsafe agent of bring forthing green house gas. The green house gas from coal power works can go thousand of kilometers before it produce acerb rain. So it polluted our air non merely the mill environing but besides affect nearby state. There is no uncertainty that production of energy by fossil fuel is harm to our environment and life. Furthermore, during geographic expedition, transit, extraction of resources besides effects the environment. Lay waste toing consequence on Marine ecology and on wild life during transit of oil is already good known to everyone. So, this is the clip to switch to utilize alternate energy beginnings that is wind energy. By utilizing air current energy to bring forth power we can maintain the environment clean for our following coevals. Water From the American Wind Energy Association web site, it is found that little sum of H2O required comparison to coal works. â€Å" A typical coal works consumes about 0.49 gallons ( 1.90 liters ) * and an oil works consumes about 0.43 gallons ( 1.60 liters ) of pure H2O per kilowatt hr produced. Relatively, wind energy requires 0.001 gallons ( 0.004 liters ) * per kWh, this H2O is used to clean the turbine rotor blades when rainfall is deficient to unclutter off dust and insect build-up which would deform the form of the aerofoil and degrade public presentation. † ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.awea.org/ ) Cost effectual -to green goods air current energy Producing air current energy is besides sustainable for environment and strong economic system. Global heating and contaminated environment impact the economic system in many ways. These are as follows: The US spends more than $ 20 billion a twelvemonth on lung-related unwellnesss associated with debauched air quality due to fossil-based power coevals. ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.westernwindenergy.com/s/Environment.asp ) Hurricane, inundation harm 100s of house, destroys many lives. Pollution from fossil fuel destroys many marine lives such as fish, H2O works. Green house gases bit by bit increase the mean temperature in the Earth. It besides altering the conditions form in the universe, as a consequence we have flood, cyclone, and tsunami really often now a twenty-four hours. Childs are enduring lung disease which diseases create from air pollution. Low birth weight, premature birth and infant deceases besides result of smog. Lake H2O besides contaminated by quicksilver, a toxic heavy metal. However, wind power workss besides have some inauspicious consequence to the environment but the effects are much lower than fossil fuel energy.AFact and recommendations Energy is required in every facet from our day-to-day life to industrial intents. We should travel to utilize air current energy to bring forth power which is more sustainable. We need to believe about this alternate energy resources to carry through our demands while continuing the environments to maintain the environment clean for our future coevalss. Fig 1: adapted from wikipedia ( hypertext transfer protocol: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development ) Following are the recommendation to diminish the environmental pollution and move to utilize green energy that is wind energy: Production of energy utilizing renewable beginnings that is wind energy which led to cut down the green house gas emanation to the environment. Increase the environmental and ethical consciousness of the people to switch to green power. Environmental consciousness can be done by advertise the inauspicious consequence of dodo fuel energy. Mutuality regulations are required to maintain the environment clean. Government of different developed states need to hold to bring forth green energy by utilizing air current energy system. Merely few states now a twenty-four hours bring forth energy from wind energy systems. As green house gas can go few 100s of stat mis, it can impact many life every bit good destroy the ecological rhythm. Finally, its clip to travel air current energy system to bring forth power for the industrialised universe. Decision The chief intent to utilize weave energy system is to maintain clean our environment for the following coevals. The concluding end of utilizing air current energy is the manner to bring forth energy in a sustainable manner. Using air current energy to bring forth power non merely sustainable for the environment but besides economically feasible. Our nonsubjective, at this clip, is to impel the company into a outstanding market place. In this century, around the universe terrible emphasis is noticed in every sector either economic or environmental. Increase in Population is besides a large issue of this emphasis. Energy ingestion additions quickly with the addition of population. Peoples are non taken attention of their environment at good. To carry through the energy demand we destroy our environment but we besides destruct our life and sustainability of environment and economic system in this universe. Now is the clip to take attention of our life and environment by utilizing alternate air current energy systems to bring forth energy and power for our day-to-day life and for our industrialised society.

Biography of Noor Inayat Khan, World War II Spy Heroine

Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan (January 1, 1914 –September 13, 1944), also known as Nora Inayat-Khan or Nora Baker, was a renowned British spy of Indian heritage. During one period of World War II, she handled clandestine radio traffic in occupied Paris nearly singlehandedly. Khan also broke new ground as a Muslim female operative. Fast Facts: Noor Inayat Khan Known For: Renowned spy who served as a wireless operator for the Special Operations Executive during World War IIBorn: January 1, 1914 in Moscow, RussiaDied: September 13, 1944 in the Dachau concentration camp, Bavaria, GermanyHonors: The George Cross (1949), the Croix de Guerre (1949) An International Childhood Khan was born on New Years Day 1914 in Moscow, Russia. She was the first child of Inayat Khan and Pirani Ameena Begum. On her father’s side, she was descended from Indian Muslim royalty: his family was related closely to Tipu Sultan, the famous ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. By the time of Khans birth, her father had settled in Europe and made a living as a musician and a teacher of the Islamic mysticism known as Sufism. The family moved to London the same year Khan was born, just as World War I broke out. They lived there for six years before relocating to France, just outside of Paris; by that point, the family included a total of four children. Khans father was a pacifist, as his religion and moral code dictated, and Khan absorbed many of those principles. For her part, Khan was mostly a quiet, thoughtful child with a knack for creativity. As a young adult, Khan attended the Sorbonne to study child psychology. She also studied music with the famed instructor Nadia Boulanger. During this time, Khan produced musical compositions, as well as poetry and children’s stories. When her father died in 1927, Khan took over as the head of the family, caring for her mother and three siblings. Joining The War Effort In 1940, as France fell to the Nazi invaders, the Khan family fled and returned to England. Despite her own pacifist leanings, Khan and her brother Vilayat both decided to volunteer to fight for the Allies, at least partially in hopes that the heroism of a few Indian fighters might help improve British-Indian relations. Khan joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and was trained as a radio operator. By 1941, Khan was bored with her posting at a training camp, so she applied for a transfer. She was recruited by the Special Operations Executive, the British spy organization during the war, and specifically assigned to the sections related to the war in France. Khan trained to be a wireless operator in occupied territory—the first woman to be deployed in this capacity. Although she did not have a natural talent for espionage and failed to impress in those parts of her training, her wireless skills were excellent. Despite these concerns, Khan impressed Vera Atkins, the intelligence officer who was her superior in â€Å"F Section. Khan was selected for a dangerous mission: to be a wireless operator in occupied France, transmitting messages and serving as a connection between agents on the ground and the base in London. Operators could not stay in one location for long, due to the likelihood of being discovered, but moving was also a risky proposition due to the bulky, easily noticed radio equipment. By the time Khan was assigned this mission, operators in this job were considered lucky to survive two months before being captured. In June 1943, Khan, along with a few other agents, arrived in France, where they were met by Henri Dericourt, a French SOE agent. Khan was assigned to work in the sub-circuit led by Emile Garry in Paris. However, within weeks, the Paris circuit was discovered and almost all her fellow agents were swept up by the Gestapo—making Khan the only remaining operator in the region. She was offered the option to be pulled from the field, but insisted on staying and completing her mission. Survival and Betrayal For the next four months, Khan went on the run. Using every technique possible, from changing her looks to changing her location and more, she evaded the Nazis at every turn. Meanwhile, she determinedly continued doing the job she was sent to do, and then some. In essence, Khan was handling by herself all the spy radio traffic that would normally be handled by a full team. Unfortunately, Khan was discovered when someone betrayed her to the Nazis. Historians disagree as to who the traitor was. There are two most likely culprits. The first is Henri Dericourt, who was revealed to be a double agent but who may have done so on orders from British intelligence MI6. The second is Renee Garry, the sister of Khans supervising agent, who may have been paid off and who may have been been seeking revenge on Khan, believing she had stolen the affections of SOE agent France Antelme. (It is unknown if Khan was actually involved with Antelme or not). Khan was arrested and imprisoned in October 1943. Although she consistently lied to investigators, and even attempted to escape twice, her shortened security training came back to hurt her, as the Nazis were able to find her notebooks and use the information in them to impersonate her and continue to transmit to unsuspecting London headquarters. This resulted in the captures and deaths of more SOE agents who were sent to France because their superiors either did not realize or believe that Khans transmissions were fake. Death and Legacy Khan attempted escape once more, along with two other prisoners, on November 25, 1943. However, a British air raid led to their final capture. The air raid sirens triggered an unplanned check on the prisoners, which alerted the Germans to their escape. Khan was then taken to Germany and kept in solitary confinement for the next ten months. Eventually, in 1944, Khan was transferred to Dachau, the concentration camp. She was executed on September 13, 1944. There are two differing accounts of her death. One, given by an SS officer who witnessed the execution, portrayed it very clinically: a death sentence pronounced, some sobbing, and the execution-style deaths. Another, given by a fellow prisoner who survived the camp, claimed that Khan was beaten before being executed, and that her final words were â€Å"Libertà ¨!† Posthumously, Khan was awarded multiple honors for her work and her bravery. In 1949, she was awarded the George Cross, the second-highest British honor for bravery, as well as the French Croix de Guerre with a silver star. Her story endured in popular culture, and in 2011, a campaign raised funds for a bronze bust of Khan in London, near her former home. Her legacy lives on as a groundbreaking heroine and as a spy who refused to abandon her post, even in the face of unprecedented demand and danger.   Sources Basu, Shrabani.  Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan. Sutton Publishing, 2006.Porath, Jason. Rejected Princesses: Tales of Historys Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics. Dey Street Books, 2016.Tsang, Annie. Overlooked No More: Noor Inayat Khan, Indian Princess and British Spy. The New York Times, 28 Nov. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/obituaries/noor-inayat-khan-overlooked.html