Making sense of organizational politics, PhD conference (part of the 3rd annual Birkbeck Business Week), Department of Organizational Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK, 25 June 2012

Citation

Ward, A. (2013), "Making sense of organizational politics, PhD conference (part of the 3rd annual Birkbeck Business Week), Department of Organizational Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK, 25 June 2012", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 12 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2013.37212aaa.011

Making sense of organizational politics, PhD conference (part of the 3rd annual Birkbeck Business Week), Department of Organizational Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK, 25 June 2012

Article Type: Resources From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 12, Issue 1

At the PhD conference, I presented my research paper on “Making sense of organizational politics”. It is a generally held view that organizations have become more political in recent years. The unpredictability of the organizational context and the absence of procedural rules and career ladders imply that leaders have become more dependent on their own resources and interpersonal skills. The competition of ideas has become an even hotter competition for promotion, where time served cannot be taken for granted as a differentiator. Organizational structures are typically more fragmented, with transient alliances replacing the relatively stable interest groups of the past. Accepting these trends implicates a future in which political behavior will play an increasing role in organizational decision making and leadership careers.

Different views of organizational politics

The aim of this qualitative research is to examine how leaders construct and make sense of organizational politics, the way in which this influences identity construction and the extent to which such processes are gendered. Many writers and commentators have highlighted a lack of agreement as to the nature and impact of the politics in daily organizational life. The prevailing view traditionally sees political behavior as dysfunctional manipulation and back stabbing aimed at serving hidden self-interest and a lust for power that should be exposed and eradicated from organizational life. Present in more contemporary analysis is a view that the leader who strives to be politically neutral or “squeaky clean” is likely to be ineffective in the face of resistance to legitimate change. Political behavior is a pervasive and naturally occurring feature of change and cannot be “wished away.” Leadership is a “contact sport” and those who do not wish to get bruised should not play.

Gender aspects under explored

The gender aspects of politics are under explored. On the one hand, there is much to suggest that politics is inherently a man’s game played out in a man’s world. Women, either through a lack of competence or through attitudes shaped by a variety of factors, choose not to engage, seeing the whole issue as irrelevant or distasteful. Other sources of data, however, paint a rather different picture; female perceptions and moral judgments of OP together with their ability and willingness to participate in the game may not be different to their male counterparts, even if they are not prepared to acknowledge as much.

Adrian WardOwner and director of Ashley House Consulting Ltd, a leadership development & change management consulting practice.

Data will be gathered from interviews with a diverse sample of male and female leaders, with the findings presented back to Birkbeck’s next PhD conference in June 2013.

For more information

Visit: www.bbk.ac.uk/orgpsych/research/phd/adrian-ward