like this. They manoeuvre behind people’s backs, blocking
proposals they do not like. They advance their own reputation
and career at the expense of other people’s. They can be envious
and jealous and act accordingly. They are bad news.
But it can also be argued that a political approach to manage-
ment is inevitable and even desirable in any organization
where the clarity of goals is not absolute, where the decision-
making process is not clear-cut and where the authority to make
decisions is not evenly or appropriately distributed. And there
can be few organizations where one or more of these conditions
do not apply.
Andrew Kakabadse (1983) recognizes this point when he says
in The Politics of Management: ‘Politics is a process, that of influ-
encing individuals and groups of people to your point of view,
where you cannot rely on authority.’ In this sense, a political
approach can be legitimate as long as the ends are justifiable
from the viewpoint of the organization.
POLITICAL APPROACHES
Kakabadse identifies seven approaches that office politicians
adopt:
- Identify the stakeholders, those who have commitment to act
in a particular way. - Keep the stakeholders comfortable, concentrating on behav-
iour, values, attitudes, fears and drives that the individuals
will accept, tolerate and manage (comfort zones). - Fit the image – work on the comfort zones and align their
image to that of the people with power. - Use the network – identify the interest groups and people of
influence. - Enter the network – identify the gatekeepers, adhere to the
norms. - Make deals – agree to support other people where this is of
mutual benefit. - Withhold and withdraw – withhold information as appro-
priate and withdraw judiciously when the going gets rough.
Some of these precepts are more legitimate than others.
Organiza tional life requires managers to identify the key deci-
254 How to be an Even Better Manager