MGMT2005 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Hierarchical Organization
Document Summary
Occur in any group, team or organization, describe the power relationships of the group. May have very little to do with the official organizational hierarchy. But everything to do with people: their personalities, relationships with one another, their needs and goals, both open and hidden. An understanding of the organization"s power dynamics and an ability to navigate them, in order to get things done. It"s also about understanding the political undercurrents, or hidden agendas, in an organization. Because it is about understanding people, it is a key component of empathy, which in turn is part of emotional intelligence. If you can read well, you are politically aware or savvy. The payoff for playing psychological games is that someone ends up feeling bad. Used wisely and well, political awareness is a force for good and for getting things done in organizations.
