Organizational Politics

As used here, the term organizational politics refers to informal approaches to gaining power through means other than merit or luck. Politics are played to achieve power, either directly or indirectly. For example, a person seeking to enhance his or her legitimate power might use a variety of tactics to be favorably perceived by top-level decision makers in the company. Power may be achieved in such diverse ways as by being promoted, by receiving a larger budget or other resources, by obtaining more resources for one’s work group, or by being exempt from undesirable assignments. The meaning of organizational politics continues to shift in a positive, constructive direction. Politics are often used to advance the purposes of the leader’s group such as obtaining valuable resources. A team of scholars have proposed the concept of leader political support that points to the contribution of political behavior. Leaders need political skill for building alliances and gaining resources for their constituents. Nevertheless, many writers still regard organizational politics as emphasizing self-interest at the expense of others. People want power for many different reasons, including having more prestige and income, which is why political behavior is so widespread in organizations. By definition, politics is used to acquire power.