POLITICS
Politics is the art of acquiring and enhancing power. Employees have a certain role to play. Therefore, their exercise of power is limited to a large extent by the role obligations. Political behavior is of two types.
Legitimate – It includes normal every day’s politics. It includes:
- Complaining to one’s superiors
- By passing the chain of command
- Forming coalitions
- Obstructing organizational policies through excessive adherence to rules
- Developing contacts outside through professional activities
Illegitimate – It includes influences that are extreme and violate the implied “rules of the game.” Such activities include
- disruption,
- Whistle blowing,
- Symbolic protest such as wearing unorthodox dress and
- Groups of employees cumulatively calling in sick.
It may be stated that the vast majority of political actions are of the legitimate variety. The reasons are pragmatic – the extreme and illegitimate forms of political behavior pose a very real risk of loss of organizational membership, or extreme sanctions against those who use them and then fall short in having enough power to insure that they work.
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