Premium Essay

The Effects of Power and Politics on Goals in General Control Systems

In:

Submitted By sameradil406
Words 922
Pages 4
The Effects of Power and Politics on Goals in General Control Systems
Introduction
The organization that I am applying my analysis on is General Control System (GCS) Corporation. GCS is a large company specialized in the field of engineering control system services. It supplies many governmental and private organizations with computerized control system and provide technical support and maintenance services. The company has ten departments and around five hundred employees. GCS started as a research center with a manager and a few engineers. It expanded to a professional company that works on governmental engineering control projects. After ten years, it grew up to become a bigger company specialized in advanced control systems.

The problematic
The most problematic in this organization are the Coercive Power and bad internal politics. Managers with coercive power make things difficult for people. Most of the employees want to avoid making them angry. As a result, they try to get the job done on time without involving into a discussion or any suggestion about it. In addition, management does not allow disagreements out of insecurity or arrogance. There is limited or no leadership performance feedback. Recruitments, selections and promotions are based on internal political agenda, for example hiring friends to guarantee personal loyalty at the expense of other highly performing and more qualified employees. Stock options, bonuses and perks are not fairly linked to performance. Budgets are allocated between business units or departments based on favoritism and power centers rather than actual business needs. Impacts of Power and Politics
Management team spends most of their time on fire fighting, which affect goal setting. People go to work with many goals, not just one unified goal. These goals invoke conflict and competition among workers for the

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Federal Reserve

...English 1020 25 March 2010 Independence From Politics: The Federal Reserve Ever since the dawn of civilization, possessing control over others has been the ultimate want for every man. Dating back to the early Greek empire, there has been two ways to obtain this empowerment; Holding a respective position in the states politics and possessing the power to control currency. If one holds a respective position in politics, he or she has the power to control people by using the law and special influences through mutual favors. If one has the power in influence the states currency, he or she has the power to control the economy and the entire well-being of the nation (Greider 23). If one single individual or entity possessed both of the influences, they would be in one-hundred percent control of the nation. The same situation is an ever-looming problem here in the United States. For years, politicians have tried to get an inside edge on the nonpartisan Federal Reserve System. As B.E. Roberts, a well-respected economist proclaims, “Congress has attempted, particularly in the mid-1970’s, to use such devices to exert influence. The question is whether or not such attempts have been effective” (Mayer 92). One of the biggest threats is the Executive Branch and the Federal Reserve working together (Lockhart). A President with no checks or balances on the monetary policy, the American democracy that we now know and love would turn into a purely tyrannical dictatorship. As Plosser clearly...

Words: 2075 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Politics

...SOC 300 Soldiers and Politics Week 9 Slide # Topic Narration 1 Introduction Welcome to week nine of Sociology three hundred. This week we are going to discuss Soldiers and Politics. In much of the Third World there has been military involvement in politics at the national level. Many prominent positions in government have been and continue to be held by military leaders. Throughout this course, we have noted that the developing world is diverse. Thus, the level of military involvement in the political arena of each nation is different. In many countries there is no clear dividing line between the armed forces and political activity. With the rise of democracy in many Third World countries in recent years, there has been a steady decline in military leadership at the government level. However, this is not to say that military leaders have completely stepped down from politics. In fact, countries such as Libya and Pakistan still have military rulers in the highest positions of government. In other countries the armed forces continue to exert considerable influence over civilian political leaders. Prior to the nineteen eighties military involvement in politics of the developing world was pervasive. It was considered by some to be a defining feature of political underdevelopment. And certainly it was a feature of extreme instability within nations. A study of fifty nine developing nations shows that between nineteen forty six and nineteen seventy, there...

Words: 3655 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

War on Drugs

...America's War on Drugs: Policy and Problems In this paper I will evaluate America's War on Drugs. More specifically, I will outline our nation's general drug history and look critically at how Congress has influenced our current ineffective drug policy. Through this analysis I hope to show that drug prohibition policies in the United States, for the most part, have failed. Additionally, I will highlight and evaluate the influences acting on individual legislators' decisions to continue support for these ineffective policies as a more general demonstration of Congress' role in the formation of our nation's drug policy strategy. Finally, I will conclude this analysis by outlining the changes I feel necessary for future progress to be made. Primary among these changes are a general promotion of drug education and the elimination of our current system's many de-legitimating hypocrisies. However, before the specific outcomes of Congressional influence and policy impact can be evaluated it becomes important to first review the general history and current situation of drugs today. Our present drug laws were first enacted at the beginning of the century. At the time, recreational use of narcotics was not a major social issue. The first regulatory legislation was for the purpose of standardizing the manufacturing and purity of pharmaceutical products. Shortly after, the first criminal laws were enacted which addressed opium products and cocaine. Although some states had prohibited...

Words: 4953 - Pages: 20

Premium Essay

Cscsc

...ORGANIZATIONAL POWER POLITICS This page intentionally left blank ORGANIZATIONAL POWER POLITICS Tactics in Organizational Leadership Second Edition GILBERT W. FAIRHOLM PRAEGER An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC Copyright © 2009 by Gilbert W. Fairholm All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fairholm, Gilbert W. Organizational power politics : tactics in organizational leadership / Gilbert W. Fairholm. — 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-313-37976-5 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-37977-2 (ebook) 1. Office politics. 2. Leadership. 3. Power (Social sciences) I. Title. HF5386.5.F35 2009 658.4’095—dc22 2009018808 13 12 11 10 09 1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America Contents Preface Acknowledgement Introduction: The History and Theory of Power Part I: Defining Power in Work Group Operations Chapter 1: Elements of a Definition Chapter 2: Defining the Forms of Power Chapter 3:...

Words: 85473 - Pages: 342

Premium Essay

Making Sense of Organisations

...To what extent are people subordinated to systems and organisations in the 21st century? The purpose of the ensuing study is to critically evaluate the role played by individuals in organisations in the 21st century. The author aims to conclude the analysis with a logical and coherent explanation to the roles individuals play in organisation. Hence, for the purpose of this study, organisational life is dissected with the help of three distinct dimensions; effects of national culture on organisational culture, power and politics within organisations and psychological ownership. The study bases strong emphasis to the formulation of organisational culture and how it differs from national culture, it then moves on to specifically outline the culture of male dominated organisations and aims to address the issue of why there exists a culture of gender bias within organisations, and finally, with the help of psychological theories, the study aims to establish the outcomes of individual psychological emotions towards an organisation. With the help of the above, the study aims to reach a rationale on better understanding people and organisations by outlining the culture systems and roles played by the former in the latter. Kroebar & Kluckholm defined culture as: ‘a set of patterns, explicit and implicit, of behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbol, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiment in artefacts; the essential core...

Words: 3569 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Treasures

...CSS 105 COURSE GUIDE COURSE GUIDE CSS105 INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE Course Developer Dr. Derin K. Ologbenla University Of Lagos Akoka – Lagos. Dr. Derin K. Ologbenla Course Writer University Of Lagos Akoka – Lagos. Course Co-ordinator Dr. Godwin Ifidon Oyakhiromen National Open University of Nigeria Lagos. NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA ii CSS 105 COURSE GUIDE National Open University of Nigeria Headquarters 14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way Victoria Island Lagos Abuja Annex 245 Samuel Adesujo Ademulegun Street Central Business District Opposite Arewa Suites Abuja e-mail: centralinfo@nou.edu.ng URL: www.nou.edu.ng National Open University of Nigeria 2006 First Printed 2006 ISBN: 978-058-434-X All Rights Reserved Printed by Goshen Print Media Ltd For National Open University of Nigeria iii CSS 105 COURSE GUIDE Contents Introduction......................................................................... Aims................................................................................... Objectives........................................................................... Working through the Course.............................................. Course Materials................................................................ Study Units........................................................................ Textbooks and References.................................................. Assessment.......................................

Words: 55473 - Pages: 222

Free Essay

Dictatorship in Brazil

...Dictatorship The Brazilian military dictatorship took place in Brazil between the years of 1964 and 1985. Known as the first South American bureaucratic regime, the dictatorship strived to develop the country’s economy, reform politics and attract foreign investors. As the name suggests, this governmental model used the military’s power in order to rule the country. For this reason, the system was known to be extremely repressive and censorial. Moreover, anyone who seemed to oppose to the Brazilian authorities were often subjected to strict trials and often torture. The main explanation behind these practices is that the military government wanted to prevent revolutionary ideas that may have put their power in jeopardy. The main targets of this radical censorship were journalists and musicians, many of whom were severely punished for “conspiring” against the country’s authorities. However, the latter were simply expressing facts and public opinions on the situation of the time. This intense oppression can be seen as a violation of human rights and freedom of speech. In this essay, the historical and political context of this period, the ways that the military tyranny has affected the lives of Brazilian journalists, writers and other artists as well as the effect on publication processes of their works will be outlined. Moreover, tactics used by journalists and musicians to avoid the common oppression will be surveyed. In order to have a more effective critical approach to this military...

Words: 1999 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Lopalombara

...Power and Politics in Organizations: Public and Private Sector Comparisons Joseph LaPalombara Wolfers Professor of Political Science and Management School of Management Yale University A chapter for the “Process of Organizational Learning” section of the Handbook of Organizational Learning, ed. Meinolf Dierkes, A. Berthoin Antal, J. Child & I. Nonaka. Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming. DRAFT: Please do not cite without author’s permission. Power and Politics in Organizations: Public and Private Sector Comparisons Joseph LaPalombara Yale University Political Organizations and Their Milieu Organizational learning derives most of its knowledge from research on organizations in the private sector, particularly from the study of the firm. Its rich interdisciplinary quality is reflected in the range of social sciences that have contributed to the field’s robust development. The contribution from political science, however, has been minimal (reasons are suggested in the chapter on ‘politics’ by LaPalombara in this volume). The mutual failure of political scientists to pay more systematic attention to organizational learning and of organizational learning specialists to extend their inquiries into the public/political sphere is unfortunate in at least three senses. First, a general theory...

Words: 15177 - Pages: 61

Free Essay

Test

...Power and Politics in Organizations: Public and Private Sector Comparisons Joseph LaPalombara Wolfers Professor of Political Science and Management School of Management Yale University A chapter for the “Process of Organizational Learning” section of the Handbook of Organizational Learning, ed. Meinolf Dierkes, A. Berthoin Antal, J. Child & I. Nonaka. Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming. DRAFT: Please do not cite without author’s permission. Power and Politics in Organizations: Public and Private Sector Comparisons Joseph LaPalombara Yale University Political Organizations and Their Milieu Organizational learning derives most of its knowledge from research on organizations in the private sector, particularly from the study of the firm. Its rich interdisciplinary quality is reflected in the range of social sciences that have contributed to the field’s robust development. The contribution from political science, however, has been minimal (reasons are suggested in the chapter on ‘politics’ by LaPalombara in this volume). The mutual failure of political scientists to pay more systematic attention to organizational learning and of organizational learning specialists to extend their inquiries into the public/political sphere is unfortunate in at least three senses. First, a general theory of organizational learning is unlikely to emerge unless and until what is claimed to be...

Words: 15177 - Pages: 61

Free Essay

The X-Ray Tube

...understandings of power, leading away from the analysis of actors who use power as an instrument of coercion, and even away from the discreet structures in which those actors operate, toward the idea that ‘power is everywhere’, diffused and embodied in discourse, knowledge and ‘regimes of truth’ (Foucault 1991; Rabinow 1991). Power for Foucault is what makes us what we are, operating on a quite different level from other theories: ‘His work marks a radical departure from previous modes of conceiving power and cannot be easily integrated with previous ideas, as power is diffuse rather than concentrated, embodied and enacted rather than possessed, discursive rather than purely coercive, and constitutes agents rather than being deployed by them’ (Gaventa 2003: 1) Foucault challenges the idea that power is wielded by people or groups by way of ‘episodic’ or ‘sovereign’ acts of domination or coercion, seeing it instead as dispersed and pervasive. ‘Power is everywhere’ and ‘comes from everywhere’ so in this sense is neither an agency nor a structure (Foucault 1998: 63). Instead it is a kind of ‘metapower’ or ‘regime of truth’ that pervades society, and which is in constant flux and negotiation. Foucault uses the term ‘power/knowledge’ to signify that power is constituted through accepted forms of knowledge, scientific understanding and ‘truth’: ‘Truth is a thing of this world: it is produced only by virtue of multiple forms of constraint.  And it induces regular effects of power.  Each society...

Words: 2182 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Why Is Thucydides Still Relevant Today

...Thucydides was an Athenian general, political philosopher and one of the greatest ancient historians of the fifth century B.C. Father of scientific history, and also of political "realism", the school of thought that focuses on power and state security above all else. He became famous for his strict standards of evidence gathering and examination of cause and effect without reference to intervention by the divine beings. He set a standard for precision, concision and scope that makes his work characterizing to the genre of history, and the first scientific gathering of the facts of its sort. Thucydides still holds critical significance today and his texts are still studied at both propelled military colleges and universities around the world....

Words: 1608 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Leadership

...CHAPTER 7 Power, Politics, and Leadership The purpose of this chapter is to provide readers with new insights into power and politics so that they can make better use of power and politics and thus lead others effectively. Chapter 8 is a continuation of this topic, but with a description of various influence tactics. CHAPTER OUTLINE AND LECTURE NOTES To function effectively, leaders must use power effectively, including applying political tactics to acquire and retain power. I. SOURCES AND TYPES OF POWER To exercise influence, a leader must have power, the potential or ability to influence decisions and control resources. A. Position Power A standard method of classifying power is based on whether the power stems from the organization or the individual. 1. Legitimate Power. Power granted by the organization is referred to as legitimate power. This power increases as one moves up the organization ladder. 2. Reward Power. The authority to give employees rewards for compliance is referred to as reward power. 3. Coercive Power. The power to punish for noncompliance is referred to as coercive power. It is based on fear. 4. Information Power. Having formal control over information that people need to do their work is referred to as information power. B. Personal Power Three sources of power stem from characteristics or behaviors of the power actor: expert power, referent power, and prestige power. All are...

Words: 3646 - Pages: 15

Free Essay

Organizational

...PAGE 161 – 173: BUREAUCRACY AND AUTHORITY .............................................................................. 3 PAGE 201 – 220: ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE ...................................................................................... 4 PAGE 441 – 461: POWER AND POLITICS ................................................................................................ 4 LEESTOETS 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 6 PAGE 58 – 69: EFFECTIVENESS ............................................................................................................. 6 PAGE 81 – 106: ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................................ 7 PAGE 119 – 149: TECHNOLOGY ............................................................................................................ 7 PAGE 201 – 233: STRUCTURE (ZIE LEESTOETS 1).................................................................................. 8 PAGE 249 – 258: STRUCTURE ............................................................................................................. 10 PAGE 346 – 355: CONTROL ................................................................................................................ 10 LEESTOETS 3 ..................................................................................................................................... 11...

Words: 5782 - Pages: 24

Premium Essay

Organisational Study: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

...Organisation Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in Feb 1981 through an Act of Parliament, to meet the growing demand of a personal mode of transport caused by the lack of an efficient public transport system. Suzuki Motor Company was chosen from seven prospective partners worldwide. This was due not only to their undisputed leadership in small cars but also to their commitment to actively bring to MUL contemporary technology and Japanese management practices (which had catapulted Japan over USA to the status of the top auto manufacturing country in the world). A licence and a Joint Venture agreement was signed between Govt of India and Suzuki Motor Company (now Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan) in Oct 1982. The vision of the company is “to be the leader in the Indian automobile Industry, creating customer delight and shareholders wealth. A pride of India”. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. has always been a leader in the Indian automobile industry & we have studied the attitudes and behaviours that prevail within the organisation which are a major contributor to the success of the organisation. Understanding of the organizations parameters Leadership Leaders can make a difference. They have the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of vision or a set of goals and hence are needed to create vision for the future, and to inspire organizational members to want to achieve those visions. Maruti started in 1983. Since inception, it has seen many ups and downs...

Words: 3293 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Complex Interdependence

...only actor of world politics. This theory gave a new analytical framework to understand the international relations which was contrary to the state centric paradigm of realism. With complex interdependence as its central concept, this theoretical analysis advanced “synthesis of liberal + realist perspectives by constructing a way of looking at world politics and also the idea of institutionalism to foster cooperation”. It is asked how under conditions of complex interdependence world politics would be different than under realist conditions means this analysis ask to see “ what realism overlooked”. The phenomenon of Interdependence is not new; states have always been interdependent on each other for their economic functions and especially for security purposes. We have seen the complicated interdependence among states in the alliance system to achieve their political ends before First World War. The earliest example of interdependence comes from Norman Angell’s “The great illusion (1910) when he said the economic interdependence will minimize the occurrence of war on the basis of cost-benefit analysis.” Countries are dependent on each other for trade and transaction, they interact globally e.g. flow of money, goods, people and messages across international boundaries but all transactions among countries are not characterized by interdependence because??? Where there is reciprocal costly effect of transactions, there is interdependence” If no costly effect so only interconnectedness...

Words: 5584 - Pages: 23