Individual Power and Political Behaviors in Organizations

[Schein, Virginia E. (1977), Individual Power and Political Behaviors in Organizations: An Inadequately Explored Reality. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan), pp. 64-72]

In organizations, we have different perpetually ongoing and pervasive functions like planning, organizing, directing and controlling. All these functions deal with the usage of available resources in the organization like men and machinery. Employees (men) are an important asset of any organization. But as each individual is unique and they carry their unique personal goals along, the difference between their personal goal and organizational goal creates a conflict between the individual and organization. To avoid that open conflict, individuals try to acquire certain power or favor. That’s why individuals get involved in struggle for power. That’s how struggle for power and its practice become much a part and parcel of the above mentioned functions performed in organizations. By this one could conclude that power and political behavior will also be all pervasive function of the organizational environment.

The paper which is reviewed here narrates this reality and develops arguments.  Power is always acquired on the basis of certain tangible or intangible set of resources which forms the bases of power. Now when one is in possession of some power then one can use it (via means) in order to get our personal goals achieved (intent) using some tactics. In this paper, Schein describes intent of the power holder as the mediating variable between the powers available to them and means to be used. Intent of the power holder is a function of personal needs or goals of individual and the contingency of situational factors. Intent of the power holder will be the deciding variable for the means to be used for getting the needs fulfilled or goals accomplished. There is a strong link between intent and means of using power by individuals in the organization. He put forwarded that whether one’s personal goals are congruent to the organizational goal or not has a strong relation with what type of means one would be using to accomplish that goal. The literature had founded that when individual’s goal was congruent to organizational goal, then that individual had used overt means and when his goal was incongruent to organizational goal then that individual had used covert means. 

Now this is not true that at one time individuals use only one type of means as they are found to be using both overt and covert types of means simultaneously. For example, when an individual’s personal goal is incongruent to the organizational goal, then although he is using covert means to reach to his goal but he will be expressly showing certain overt means which are congruent to the organizational goal. Now in this way the individuals use their powers in order to get their incongruent personal goals achieved without openly going in contradiction with the organization. So in nutshell on the basis of paper one could conclude that the individual intent plays a very important role in evaluation of his political behavior in organization.

[submitted by Kirti Saroha, M.Phil Batch XLI (2017)]