Question

A person in power has the authority and control over the people at departmental, group or the whole organization. In my previous job, I worked as an office secretary. The chain of command was from the Chief executive officer to other managers. However, in my case, the head of the department had the authority to delegate duties and make prompt follow up over us.   One notable concern while working as an office secretary was the departmental politics and the politics between the technical manager and operations manager. Ideally, an impact in the behavior evident with this coercive power type (Fleming, & Spicer, 2014). The clash between duties between the technical manager and operations manager was often. The conflict between the two leaders was based on power superiority. Each leader was superior to the other. An impact was felt in the organization as each leader had his group to work with leading to conflicts when delegating duties. From my perspective, the power conflict was destructive as there was the division between groups of people. It led to a feeling among some employees who believed to control crucial tasks within the organization. The feeling of superiority among departments was created.

In responding to the above post, respectfully comment on the conflicts they have described. Do you agree with their assessment of the constructive or destructive nature of the conflict? Why or why not? Encourage further elaboration by asking questions, offering alternative viewpoints, and/or including additional research that you have obtained from the internet.

Answer 1

Answer: This post describes the power conflict that is present inside the organizations. Power is a source of authority and people want to have authority. At times inside an organization there are more than one power centers. These power centers are in perpetual struggle to impose their authority within organizations and also on each other as evident in the case mentioned in this post. This results in a situation of conflict where power and authority becomes more important for the people in comparison to organizational performance. This power struggle often results in lack of teamwork and a feeling on animosity amongst the people inside the organization. This situation is harmful and destructive in nature. Thus I agree with the destructive nature of this conflict as mentioned in this case. But such situations can also be used constructively by encouraging healthy competition between such power centers. For this a tighter control is required on the process and there is a need to establish the cases and ways where such conflicts have created healthy competition and resulted in better organizational performance.