linked with scheming plots and conspiracies. Like in all organizations, irrespective of the size of the business or the kind of business conducted, one would always have to deal with organizational politics. Organizational politics are a primary component in contemporary business practices.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether employees working in the selected MTN franchise shops are experienced in political tactics and upward impression management in their current jobs, and whether it is appropriately managed by the organization.
The quantitative research methodology followed existed of a questionnaire, consisting of subsection 1 on organizational politics, and subsection 2 on upward impression management.
The results showed that political tactics and upward impression management have been witnessed in the MTN shops by all the employees. The extent, to which it is managed by the organization, however, it could not be determined, due to lack of information asked by the questionnaires given.
The lack of information asked in the questionnaires is discussed, and could be looked at for future studies.
The handling of political matters in the organization might be a difficult task for the management to handle, but is unavoidable, due to the ever-presence of political tactics.
General recommendations on how to manage organizational politics, and upward impression management are made to management.
[...] In addition to the above, organizational factors, as well as individual factors that influence political behavior should be looked at, evaluated and addressed by management, in order to manage politics more effectively. Managers should be able to distinguish between true and false behaviors. Sometimes interaction with the employee is not enough to be able to determine. That is where 360 degree evaluations and peer evaluations is important, to get a true reflection of the employee's everyday behavior. Advice/Recommendations for Management: Have clear and objective performance outcomes and evaluations Recruit the right people know which positions require specific characteristics, and find those people. [...]
[...] The following literature review will give information about the definitions and effects of organizational and political tactics, as well as impression management Literature review Definition and determinants of organizational politics Organizational politics refers to behaviors “that occur on an informal basis within an organization and involve intentional acts of influence that are designed to protect or enhance individuals' professional careers when conflicting courses of action are possible” (Drory, 1993: 59 cited in Aronow, 2002:2) The dynamics of organizational politics has an impact on all aspects of business life. [...]
[...] Managing politics in organizations needs more than only management skills; one will have to be an expert at negotiating this complicated terrain. It is time to adopt a 360-degree change in mindset that will enable one to understand and control the forces that shapes organizations. Management need to be equipped to navigate the organization's culture and the various issues at play, and has a very important role to fulfill, especially in a smaller organization, such as the MTN franchises, where every shop is effectively a business-unit on its own. [...]
[...] According to Robbins (2001:370), we can divide impression management on seven different techniques: Favors: (doing something nice in order to gain a person's approval) Association (enhancing one's image by managing information with which one is associated) Conformity (agreeing in order to gain some ones' approval) Flattery (complimenting in order to make oneself appear likable) Excuses (explanations in order to minimize the severity of a dilemma) Acclamation (taking credit /explanation in order to maximize the desirable implication for oneself) Jones & Pittman's (1982) identified five impression management tactics, and is the only impression management framework with an empirically validated measure (Bolino & Turnley cited in Harris et al, 2007). [...]
[...] All seen in context, organizational politics can have negative effects on employees, and cause stress. The unpredictable, risky and threatening workplace context increases the level of job stress experiences (Cropanzano et al in Poon, 2003). The increase in perceived organizational politics can lead to a decrease in job Satisfaction (Ferris et al in Poon, 2003). These perceptions of organizational politics have also effects on withdrawal and neglect behaviors such as turnover intention (Kacmar et al., 1999; Maslyn and Fedor in Poon, 2003). [...]
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