I need some assistance with these assignment. power and politics in companies Thank you in advance for the help! Power is the capability to use influence in any corporation beyond the authority that might have been given to a person. Any supervisors individual power can be based on his knowledge regarding the job, own authority, their interpersonal or communication skills, the capability to attain results, sympathetic and convincing capability and even physical strength to some extent.

Most managers can get power both from the “organizational and individual sources”. The tendency to derive the power in the organization may solely rest on the virtue of the position they hold in the organization. It is a very useful thins and allows them to intimidate their subordinates or reward them as and when necessary. Talking about the individual level, the manager may have used personal power solely based on his/her knowledge and upon the power to control someone else’s behavior.

Politics, on the other hand, can be portrayed as the “art of using authority, the power to achieve your goals and most influence.” However, for a manager to get into politics means that he/she should be well aware of the barriers like the departments, individual, company, divisional, and group self-interest. It is interesting to note that people. even though they work in the same company. would patrol their territory and guard the perimeters like dogs mark their boundary.

Politics is also used in companies when one wants to “win over staff from other departments”. This will happen if the manager is able to demonstrate their views or results to the “self-interest group” in a way that is not threatening at all. One should be able to highlight the fact that “what you request for is good for both departments and for the company.”

For a comparison and contrast to see if power and politics are at play in a company we have chosen Coca-Cola and Southwest Airlines.