POSITION PAPER: POWER, POLITICS, AND CULTURE
Power and politics greatly influence an organization’s culture. In business, the culture can make or break an organization’s productivity. In this assignment, you’ll analyze the ways power and politics have influenced an organization’s culture. You’ll apply best practices you learned in course resources and your own research to make recommendations for improving this
organization’s culture.
PREPARATION
Using the same organization from the first two assignments, imagine the CEO has now requested your task force investigate the influence of power and politics on the corporate culture. You have been asked to prepare a position paper that presents and supports your recommendations to improve the culture.
Prepare for this assignment by delving into the organization's culture and identi- fying the resources you, the task force leader, will use to create your research-supported position paper. Use at least two quality resources such as the course textbook, company website, business websites (CNBC, Bloomberg, etc.), resources from the Strayer Library, and/or outside sources.
Note: Wikipedia and web-based blogs do not qualify as credible resources.
INSTRUCTIONS
Develop your position paper, addressing the following components:
1. Influence of Politics and Power
Explain how politics and power-play may have influenced the organization’s culture.
2. Sources of Power
Explore the sources of power and describe how management could use this influence to benefit your department and improve organizational performance.
3. Leadership Behavior and Culture
Make recommendations that support how the study of power and politics could influence leadership behavior and improve the organization’s culture.
4. Leadership Influence
Discuss the importance and complexity of leadership behavior. How does it influence organizational structure and performance?
5. Executive Summary
Prepare an executive summary that presents your recommendations for ways in which the organization could build a stronger culture. Note: An executive summary is a condensed version of your full report. It should summarize briefly all the main points in concise paragraphs. It should be written clearly and should use
language appropriate for the audience.