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Reframing Organizations , 4 th ed.

Reframing Organizations , 4 th ed. Chapter 9. Power, Conflict, and Coalitions. Power, Conflict and Coalitions. Assumptions of the Political Frame Organizations as Coalitions Power and Decision-Making Authorities and Partisans Sources of Power

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Reframing Organizations , 4 th ed.

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  1. Reframing Organizations, 4th ed.

  2. Chapter 9 Power, Conflict, and Coalitions

  3. Power, Conflict and Coalitions • Assumptions of the Political Frame • Organizations as Coalitions • Power and Decision-Making • Authorities and Partisans • Sources of Power • Distribution of Power: Overbounded and Underbounded Systems • Conflict in Organizations • Moral Mazes: The Politics of Getting Ahead

  4. Assumptions of the Political Frame • Organizations are coalitions • Enduring differences among coalition members • Allocation of scarce resources • Scarce resources and differences make conflict the central dynamic which makes power the most important asset • Goals and decisions arise from bargaining, negotiation and jockeying for position

  5. Organizations as Coalitions • Coalitions rather than pyramids • Organizational goals are multiple and sometimes conflicting because they reflect bargaining involving multiple players with divergent interests

  6. Power and Decision-Making • Gamson: Authorities and partisans • Authorities make binding decisions • Agents of social control • Seek to maintain authority; their position depends on it • Partisans are subject to authorities’ decisions; they will support or question authority depending on decisions affect their interests • Recipients of control from authorities • Support authority when satisfied, but may challenge when not

  7. Sources of Power • Position power • Control of rewards • Coercive power • Information and expertise • Reputation • Personal power • Alliances and networks • Access and control of agenda • Framing: control of meaning and symbols

  8. Distribution of Power: Overbounded and Underbounded Systems • Overbounded: strong, top-down control, conflict is tightly-regulated (e.g., Iraq under Saddam Hussein) • Underbounded: weak authority, chaotic decision-making, open conflict and power struggles (Iraq after invasion and collapse of old regime)

  9. Conflict in Organizations • Conflict is natural and inevitable: organizations can have too much or too little • Political frame focuses on strategy and tactics for dealing with conflict • Forms of organizational conflict • Hierarchical conflict • Horizontal • Cultural

  10. Moral Mazes: The Politics of Getting Ahead • Getting ahead is a political process involving conflict for scarce resources • Assessment of individual performance often depends on subjective judgments • Does advancement depend on doing good work or doing what is politically correct? • Organizations can’t eliminate politics, but they can influence the kind of politics they have

  11. Conclusion • The political frame sees a very different world from the traditional view of organizations • Traditional: organizations are hierarchies, run by legitimate authorities who set goals and manage performance • Political view: organizations are coalitions whose goals are determined by bargaining among multiple contenders • Politics can be nasty and brutish, but constructive politics is possible and necessary for organizations to be effective

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