Organizational Politics and Corporate Performance in Nigeria Local Government; a Case Study of Afikpo North Local Government
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the study
The main focus of this study is to examine the Organizational politics and corporate performance in Nigeria local government. Specifically, it sought to:
- To find out the causes of organizational politics in Afikpo north local government.
- Ascertain the preventive measures put in place by the management of Afikpo north local government.
- Identify the extent to which organizational politics affect the performance of employees of Afikpo north local government.
- Find out the coping strategies used by employees in managing organizational politics in Afikpo north local government.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATUREREVIEW
Introduction
This chapter reviews literature related to the issues under investigation. Specifically, the chapter focuses on the concept of Organizational politics, causes, prevention and management of Organizational politics.
Concepts of Organizational politics
The literary discourse regarding Organizational politics began in the 1970’s with a focus on aspects of power and bureaucracy in the work place specifically focused on management and leadership (Drory&Romm, 1988). Mintzberg (1985) acknowledges that the topic received only fragmented exposure in the literature prior to the 1980’s and associates the phenomenon primarily with conflict. The initial literary explorations attempted to justify its existence and relevance and struggled with defining the experience (Drory&Romm, 1988). Organizational politics started getting attention when the concept of organisational rationality was challenged because of the emergence of concepts like person-organisation misfit and incompatibility of personal and organisational goals. The concept of organisational rationality was based on the idea that individuals decide their goals by keeping in view the organisational goals and are expected to work for the achievement of their personal goals according to the rules and regulations within the organisation. This existence of conflicting goals within the organisation gave birth to Organizational politics (Vigoda-Gadot, 2000).
Like the unseen elephant in the living room, one knows it is there, even though it is difficult to describe and define. The human relations movement forged new inquiry into the discourse regarding human behavior in the work place. As early as 1938, Chester Barnard described the organisation as a social structure integrating traditional management and behavioral science applications (DeSimone& Harris, 1998). While social scientists explored human behavior, motivation, and need fulfillment in relationship to work, management practices primarily remained modeled after a mechanistic organisational structure. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s the social sciences met head on with organisational management methods.
The label “organisationalpolitics” found its way into the literature oforganisationalbehaviour in 1983 in publications by Robbins, Hellrigel, Solcum and Woodman (Drory&Romm, 1998). Notwithstanding this, Organizational politics remained relatively undefined. Mintzberg (1985) couples politics with influence when he writes that “politics may be considered to constitute one among a number of systems of influence in the organisation, the others include authority, ideology and experience may be described as legitimate in some sense”. Organizational politics has proved to be a significant part of both public and private organisations, therefore researchers argued for the need of further investigation of the issue (Mayes &Allen, 1977; Pfeffer&Pfeffer 1981, 1992; Dubrin, 1988; Mintzberg, 1983; Drory&Romm, 1990; Parker, Dipboye& Jackson, 1995).Once the concept received a label even though undefined, it was ripe turf for grounded theory and hypotheses. The literary dialogue continued with the struggle to define the playing field.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience viz. a vis, the study beneficiaries.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Introduction
This chapter deals with the analyses and discussion of data obtained from respondents of the study. It begins with an analysis of background characteristics of respondents and then followed with the analysis of responses to the research question.
Background Characteristics of Respondents
The first part of the questionnaire sought to obtain demographic information about the respondents. This was to enable the researcher to make comparison among the respondents. Information obtained included category of staff, position, level of educational qualification and length of service.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
This chapter provides a summary of the findings of the study, conclusions and recommendations. The study analysed Organizational politics and corporate performance in Nigeria local government. A case study of afikpo north local government Areas for further research are also suggested in this chapter.
Summary
The study was conducted to find out the causes, prevention and management of Organizational politics at Afikpo north local government. The study was based on a descriptive research design and the population for the study was staff from the various departments of Afikpo north local government (teaching and non- teaching staff).Simple random sampling was used for the study.Questionnaires and structured interviews were used to solicit for data for the study. The questionnaire consisted of 26 items to elicit information from both the teaching and non-teaching staff whereas 17 structured interview questions were used to elicit information from the Deans and Heads of departments/sections of the various departments. The study used statistical tools to analyse the data. The following are the findings of the study:
- Politics in the organisation was not really as bad as it is perceived. Organizational politics could negatively affect the performance of the employee and the organisation as a whole if the right mechanisms are not put in place to manage it.
- The findings again clearly revealed that staff becomes less enthusiastic about their duties/tasks leading to low productivity. This impedes management decisions negatively as expressed by most of the respondents.
- Majority of the respondents agreed that Organizational politics was caused by limited resources in the Polytechnic. This indicates that there has not been much effort with regard to increasing the Polytechnic resource base.
- Furthermore, it was observed that non-management of Organizational politics led to apathy on the part of employees, dissatisfaction and aggrieved members resigned their jobs. In these times where most organisations place more emphasis on experience, it was rather observed that Afikpo north local government staff after acquiring experience which makes them more marketableleave the institution due to the high level of politics in the institution.
- It was again realised from the study that failure on the part of management to share ideas and necessary information leaves the employees at bay making them guess to conclude on their own observation.
Conclusions
Organizational politics has become a common scourge in modern organisations. Even when organisations are properly structured with appropriate policies, there will still be the natural tendency for people to act beyond expectation in efforts to have an edge over others in a world characterised by scarcity and uncertainty. The study has established that some individuals or groups will naturally take advantage of circumstances at work which will benefit them personally.
Finally, it may be concluded from the findings of the study that, if Organizational politics is not managed properly it will lead to de-motivation and then low productivity. Moreover, Organizational politics impedes the implementation of certain major policies in the Polytechnic. Politics in the organisation has both negative and positive influences on employees and the organisation as a whole.
Recommendations
From the findings and conclusions drawn, the following recommendations are made:
- There should be awareness creation about the dangers of Organizational politics since it has the tendency of retarding the growth of the Polytechnic.
- It is recommended that management of the Polytechnic address themselves to how they can curtail the emergence of Organizational politics rather than concentrating on how to manage it in the various departments.
- Management of Afikpo north local government should ensure the free flow of information. This will curtail inaccurate information that normally characterises the use of grape vine.
- Top management should try to avoid the accumulation of scarce resources in the hands of some individuals/groups and ensure that there is equitable distribution of resources within all section of the organisation
- The use of dialogue in managing Organizational politics should be embraced by the Polytechnic Management. Moreover, there is the need to carefully study the causes of politics in the respective departments and adopt appropriate strategies for managing Organizational politics so as to enhance effective and maximum results.
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