Essays on Organizations as political systems

The main reason for political conflicts in the world today is connected with the strategy and tactics of the redistribution of state property and power, which determines their severity and lead to socio-economic and political instability and tensions in all spheres of society. Socio-psychological background against which arise and conflicts occur, characterized by the following factors:

a) radical changes in the social structure of society, manifested in the rapid differentiation of the population by income and ideological orientation;
b) strain-changing value systems, distribution of samples of western culture, individualism, the cult of force, etc.;
c) the extension of social and ethnic tensions on the basis of constitutional, territorial and ethnic conflicts;
d) lack of experience of being in conflict, intolerance of dissent, the radicalism of consciousness;
e) massive violations inherent in the Constitution the rights and freedoms, especially the socio-economic and to receive truthful information about the activities of government;
f) The politicization of the army, the possibility of turning it into an independent political force to restore order or change the political regime.
I can imagine that all this is related to political culture. “Instead of trying to change the culture to change the organization, the wisest approach may be to work with and through the existing culture”.

Despite the fact that each taken separately conflict is unique, it still bears some similarities, be attributed to a particular type (class mean). The basis of the typology of conflict could be:

– the similarity of the causes of conflict: social injustice, unequal participation in political decision making, the alienation from government and political institutions;
– Scope manifestations: economic, social, ethnic, cultural, military, etc.;
– the level of formation and manifestation: on the interpersonal, group, regional and global levels on the organizational level – inter-party, inter-institutional, between the existing power and social forces whose interests are not represented in the government or are in the form of denial and suppression of these interests, inside the power;
– The time: long, short-lived.

The settlement involves removal of the severity of the warring parties to avoid the negative consequences of the conflict. However, the cause of the conflict is not eliminated, thus still possible new aggravation of already settled relationship. Conflict resolution provides for the exhaustion of the subject matter, the change in the situation and circumstances that would lead to partnership and eliminated the risk of recurrence of conflict.

Reconciliation on the basis of coercion, based on:
– A clear superiority of the forces and resources on the one hand and the deficit on the other;
– Isolation of the parties, lowering its status, as well as other state, indicating a weakening of its position, the lesion;
– Destruction of the enemy, resulting in the world established in the absence of the enemy.

The most common method of achieving reconciliation between the parties is negotiating. During the talks the sides exchanged views, which removes the sharpness of the confrontation, helps to understand the interests of the opponent, to more accurately assess the balance of forces, conditions of reconciliation, to reveal the essence of mutual claims, alternative situations weaken “dishonest tricks” rival. Thus, process of negotiations involves compliance with specific rules, techniques that allow each party to achieve their goals through the decision-making, to ensure their implementation and to prevent the exacerbation of post-conflict relations. Negotiation – a ritual that reflects the balance of power. The most effective method of carrying out an agreement based on compromise. This is particularly true in cases where the breakdown of negotiations will have on the conflicting parties adverse effects.

Peaceful resolution of the conflict includes the ways and methods:
– To reach a compromise on the basis of preserving the original position;
– An agreement based on mutual concessions;
– Depletion of one or more parties, which makes it impossible to continue the conflict;
– Acquiring in the process of mutual confrontation of the parties, the understanding of the rights and interests of the opponent.
“To help us understand organizations, we might consider them as political systems. The political metaphor helps us understand power relationships in day-to-day organizational relationships. If we accept that power relations exist in organizations, then politics and politicking are an essential part of organizational life”.

Value and place of conflict in political life can be refined on the basis of its functions. By the function, conflict refers to the determination in a particular time-frame effects, or orientation of its impact on society as a whole or to individual spheres of life. A positive or negative value conflicts can only speak to specific cases and in a fairly conventional sense. Conflicts of multifunctional:

– playing a stabilizing role and can lead to disintegration and destabilization of society;
– contribute to conflict resolution and renewal of society, and may cause loss of human lives and material losses;
– stimulate reassessment of values, ideals, accelerate or retard the process of establishing new structures;
– provide a better knowledge of the conflict and may lead to a crisis or a loss of legitimacy of power.

“For people like the politically savvy, the ”˜power of ethics’ is obvious as it is for almost everyone who has experienced the effects of ethical behavior from an increased influence perspective. We have found most people intuitively understand this experience. Yet they often don’t believe it is realistic in what appears to be cutthroat competitive business environments. Some others just don’t know how to tap into it”.

The most acute conflicts occur between individuals and social groups in politics. Politics, on the one hand, efforts to prevent and resolve conflicts. On the other hand, the policy – a means of provoking the conflict as it relates to the struggle for the possession of power. Technology and practice of conflict management is determined not only by the general rules, but also socio-economic, political state of society, historical, national, religious and cultural characteristics. Political conflict – a sharp clash of opposing sides, caused with different interests, views and goals in the acquisition, redistribution and use of political power, leading to master (key) positions in power structures and institutions, gaining the right to influence or access to decision making about the distribution of power and property in society. The subjects of political conflict may be the state, classes, social groups, political parties, personalities.



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