Assessment of Factors Responsible for Organizational Politics and Its Implications in the Workplace

Abstract

This seminar paper examined factors responsible for organizational politics and its implications in the workplace. A critical review of previous researches on organizational politics revealed that every organization has a unique political landscape and that quest for equality; promotion and power tussle in organization remain the major factors that incubate and hatch politics in workplace.It was also deduced that political storm in an organization affects both the individual employees and the organization negatively. It was therefore concluded that organizational politics is counter-productive work behaviour and must be minimized to the barest minimum. Based on these findings,it was therefore recommended that both management and employees should set aside their personal interest whiles at the work place. Also, management and employees should have good interpersonal relationship so as to identify the needs of employees and provide them in order to create a peaceful environment, prevent division and conflict between management and employees. Furthermore, the bureaucracy in an organization’s political system can be like that of a government agency. Therefore, for a manager to get his ideas implemented he needs to be part of the political process. More importantly, organizations should create committees to conduct research before taking important organizational decisions. Above all, teamwork and employee efficacy is important in order to understand the structure of the organization and therein the politics they choose to employ.

Keywords: Psychology, Politics, Workplace, Organization