Power as a Source of Conflict - 1421 Words

POWER AS A SOURCE OF CONFLICTS WHAT IS POWER? Power is a measure of an entitys ability to control its environment, including the behavior of other entities. The term authority is often used for power, perceived as legitimate by the social structure. Power can be seen as evil or unjust, but the exercise of power is accepted as important to humans as social beings. In the corporate environment, power is often expressed as upward or downward. With downward power, a superior influences subordinates. When a system experiences upward power, it is the subordinates who influence the decisions of the leader (Greiner Schein, 1988). Power is broadly defined as the capacity to bring about change. It takes many forms, comes from many places, and†¦show more content†¦This will eventually lead to informal groups being formed secretly where â€Å"lesser† staff can voice out their feelings, suggestions and complaints among peers. The frustration of not being heard by those in power will then build up and eventually explode into conflict. Position Where you occupy a recognized position, then subordinates will obey the rules regarding that position (rather than obeying you, per se). Formal positions include presidents, ministerial heads, policemen, and so on. When power exists in the hands of dictators they more often than not impose certain conditions on those under them, which is more often than not an infringement of fundamental human rights. Citizens are forced to comply with these conditions and this can cause uprising from citizens who have had enough and eventually will spring into a conflict between those in power and those not. As propounded by Karl Marx, absolute power corrupts absolutely, those in power tend to only see the intended end results and do not take into consideration the impacts of the various courses of action on the lay citizen. Most of them see citizens as just tools or a means to an end. People wish to receive some degree of decent, humane treatment. When the effects on the average citizens are not ta ken into consideration these citizens will bear the blunt of harsh rules, laws, policies and decrees of governments. It is, in a sense, to treat them as if they areShow MoreRelatedSources Of Power And Functional Identity, Conflict, Self Interest, And Integration Within An Organization1184 Words   |  5 PagesSources of Power in Organization Introduction Evaluating the Organizations as Political Systems, Morgan (2006) looks at the various sources of power in organizations, his textbook lists several essential sources of power. This independent research discussion will examine the management of gender relations, and the power one already has. Particularly in the Political Systems metaphor, this review will evaluate how the two sources of power can contribute to functional identity, conflict, self-interestRead MoreThe New System Of Team Leader And The Development Style Of The Team1456 Words   |  6 Pagestasked with working with a group of six employees throughout the organization. The goal of this case is to determine the leadership style of the team leader and the development style of the team will be outlined as well as how the team deals with conflict. Background Information The HR Department of a global enterprise is tasked with developing and implementing a new HRIS system that centralizes all of the personnel records for the organization. The team leader in addition to six differentRead MoreConflict and Power: Assessing Power Imbalances Essay1589 Words   |  7 PagesAssessing Power Imbalances Introduction In today’s organizations conflict and power are important elements to the success of any company but can also create negative long term impacts if not addressed. Organizations require enough power within the leaders to get through conflict and enough conflict within individuals to create new innovations. Not all conflict is bad but when there is conflict individuals with power must assist in aligning conflict resolution to assist in understanding for everyoneRead MoreThe Rise Of Nuclear Weapons1665 Words   |  7 PagesPearl Harbor and the conflict of the Cold War, but even with these conflicts present in our history, warning us of the effects of conflict and nuclear weaponry coexisting with humanity, these warnings have not carried through into society today. Currently in the Middle East, we are witnessing the elements of a modern day cold war starting to appear due to the conflict between Israel and Iran. As Israel and Iran have different religious ideologies, this has cre ated tension and conflict to occur, but moreRead MoreThe Conflicts And Politics Of Walt Disney1323 Words   |  6 PagesConflict in an organization is the state of discord which arises as a result of the opposition of needs and interests between the employees who are working together. The various conflicts and politics which affected Walt Disney in the past were caused by the falling company under the management of Michael Eisner. During the early 2000 s, Eisner who was the then CEO of Walt Disney was under a lot of criticism due to the company s falling performance and also his centralized decision-making processRead MoreEssay on Will There Be Peace in the Middle East1461 Words   |  6 PagesTurmoil and conflict in the Middle East not only affects the people inhabiting this region, but also has global consequences. To answer this question, one must analyze the sources of conflict in the Middle East, historically, currently, and in the future. The limited amount of natural resour ces in this region has arguably served as the most major source of conflict in the Middle East. Other contributing factors to conflict are the leadership styles of the key players in positions of power, and religiousRead MoreCritical Analysis of the Conflict Theory1633 Words   |  7 PagesInteraction, and Conflict. These theories relate to the main aspects of life in a society: organized group membership, interaction, and conflict. Out of all three of these, conflict seems to be the most straight-forward. Every person has experienced conflict in life. The main focus of this theory is how power structures and power disparities impact people’s lives (The Catholic University of America,  2008). Conflict theory according to Crossman (2013) emphasizes the role of coercion and power in producingRead MoreOrganizational Conflict At Walt Disney The Ceo Eisner1124 Words   |  5 Pagesorganizational conflict is the clash that occurs when the goal-directed behavior of one group blo cks or thwarts the goals of another (p. 391). In the case study Politics at Walt Disney the CEO Eisner began losing favor with the company when the firm’s performance began to fall. Despite having handpicked a majority of the board members Eisner could not deny the company’s loss of performance. Pondy (as cited by Jones, 2013) developed a model of organizational conflict which lists five sources of conflictRead MoreThe Russian Ukrainian Conflict During Media Discourse1510 Words   |  7 PagesMedia has power to create, shape and change public opinion. At the same time, it is also created and shaped by community. In war or conflict discourse the power of media is crucial because it affects the image of the country on the international stage as well as public mood and atmosphere in the country. The ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict has been a matter of debate between many countries including but not limited to Russia and Ukraine. The research area of the current stu dy is the current Russian-UkrainianRead MoreWater Problems Associated With Water Scarcity1589 Words   |  7 Pagesrenewable and non-renewable water sources will be strained to the breaking point, even in developed countries (Wolf, Kramer, Carrius, Dabelko, 2006). WATER-RELATED CONFLICT Water conflicts are a result of many indicators including the growth of populations, an increase in demand for water resources, a constantly shifting climate, advances in technology, the globalization and industrialization of developing countries, dwindling supplies of non-renewable water sources, among many others. To fully understand