ORGANISATIONAL POLITICS, CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT Essay

ORGANISATIONAL POLITICS, CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT - Essay Example shing selected aims.† For Henry Fayol â€Å"To Manage is to forecast, to plan, to organize, to command, to co-ordinate and to control† (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coulter 2012). These are the major functions performed by any manager in any organization although the functions differ depending on the size of the organization. To perform these functions, managers do need to have power and authority in order to elicit compliance and commitment from the employees. However, with all the resources in the world, an organization cannot achieve its goals if it is not accompanied by effective management especially in modern times when management has become so complex and demanding owing to globalization. Effective management in this case, depends on how well the managers exercise their power and authority over subordinates. In this essay, I will argue that management is both an art and a science which requires effective exercise of power to elicit compliance and commitment. I will argue that it is an art in the sense that it has its own creative skills, tools and techniques. It also requires intelligence, innovation, an individual approach, discipline and dedication as well as practicability. It is a science in that it utilizes empirically tested principles and draws heavily from social sciences such as economics, sociology and psychology. To be successful in the management field, management cannot be reduced to either an art or science but should be taken as both an art and a science. Managers in the organization exercise various types of power in an effort to influence the followers so that they can be committed and engaged to their work hence improved performance and success for the organization. Koontz and Weihrich define power as â€Å"the ability of individuals or groups to induce or influence the beliefs or actions of other persons or groups (2008: 179). Influence in this case according to Silos (2003) is the ability to make the followers strive towards a common