POWER AND POLITICS IN ORGANIZATIONS: A REVIEW OF PFEFFER’S TYPOLOGY

Abstract

In order for organizations to achieve their goals, members of the organization face many cases when they need to make decisions in line with the organizational goals. Power relations in the organization and political behaviors arising from the transformation of these relations into actions affect the decisions taken informally, although not at the formal level. Therefore, power and politics in organizations is an issue that needs to be addressed. The aim of this study is to draw the theoretical framework of organizational power and politics from the perspective of Pfeffer. In this context, firstly, the concepts of power and organizational power are defined within the framework of Pfeffer’s typology. Then, in order to better understand where power comes from, when power emerges in an organization is examined and the sources of power are discussed. Then, the power tactics used by both subordinates and superiors in the organization were emphasized and power management, which is necessary for power to be effective and not to get out of control, was explained in detail. After discussing power and organizational power, the concepts of politics and organizational politics were explained by revealing when power turns into politics. Then, the political tactics employed in organizations were discussed. Finally, the ways of combating political behaviors were explored in order to prevent political behaviors from harming the organization. The study data on Pfeffer’s typology was collected through literature review based on primary and secondary sources.