Organizational Politics

Abstract

Organizational politics is an inescapable part of organizational life. When handled well, politics can help fulfill personal and organizational interests; when handled poorly, dysfunctional politics can lead to lower job satisfaction and hamper an organization's mission. The purpose of this entry is twofold: first, to explain what organizational power and politics are and how they influence strategic communication, and, second, to examine the role that strategic communication plays in organizational power and politics. We argue that strategic communication aims to advance the organization's mission by internally aligning its members' values, identities, and goals as well as by externally promoting its image, identity, and reputation within the political environment in which it operates. Achieving and sustaining both of these alignments depends on facilitating organizational control and on the strategic management of power and politics through communicative action. Organizational politics can be seen as the process by which power is overtly exercised in organizations both at its surface level and through structural manifestations in three components—dissensus, strategy, and networks. Processes operate both within and outside of organizations shaping the environment and meaning systems in which they pursue their missions.