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The place of organizational politics in strategic change
Author(s) -
Lewis Dianne
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
strategic change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.527
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1099-1697
pISSN - 1086-1718
DOI - 10.1002/jsc.572
Subject(s) - politics , action (physics) , power (physics) , organizational change , political action , strategic thinking , strategic management , strategic planning , public relations , sociology , management , business , political science , economics , law , physics , quantum mechanics
This paper traces the development of strategic change models and their assumptions, arguing that managers have a good deal of choice in the strategies they adopt. It presents the idea of organizational politics as simply another tool that managers have to choose from when instigating strategic change and explains why Western managers feel uncomfortable with the notions of power and politics. The paper outlines the assumptions upon which the political model of change is based and argues that managers engage in political action in many subtle ways, particularly during times of change. Finally, it provides some examples of political strategies that managers use, arguing that political action is not all bad and that managers have much more choice in strategic change strategies than they are willing to acknowledge. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.