Politics and Politicking

The concepts of authority and power are very germane to organizational structure of any type. This is because power and authority form the basis and instrument of control over the behavior of subordinates in an organization to ensure that the goals of an organization are achieved. Authority could be defined as the formal right to exercise control over subordinates, the right being conferred by virtue of one's position in the organization. Authority is very essential to control work and achieve organizational objectives. Power is the ability or capacity to exercise control over others at times against their own will. There are five different types of or sources of power that exist in an organization. They are:

2.1 Reward power/Remunerative/ Resource power

It exists when one person offers rewards to another person in exchange for desired behavior. The reward could be in the form of money, material, praise, promotion and recognition. For the reward power to be effective in achieving the desired result, the individual or group being offered must actually value the reward. The value system varies with people depending on situations, needs and status.

2.2 Coercive Power

This is the use of punishment or threat of it. The punishment may be physical or non-physical. Physical coercion is applied in prisons and mental homes while non-physical punishment involves the denial of financial or non-financial privileges or the use of dismissal from the organization.

2.3 Legitimate or positional power

The power here is derived from the position of a person in an organization. This power is based on the belief that the person exercising control has the right to do so. Legitimate power is the same as authority which is accepted or acknowledged by those over whom it is exercised.

2.4 Referent power

This is the ability to exercise control by sheer force of personality or charisma. It does not derive from the ability to offer reward or to inflict punishment or by virtue of a person's position in the organization.

2.5 Expert power

This is the ability to control others as a result of one's actual or claimed knowledge or expertise in a given filed. The expertise that a person possesses or claims to possess must be acknowledged by those over whom the power is to be exercised so that they may submit willingly to it.

Different types of power create different effects and responses from individual members of the organization. The first type of response or involvement is called 'calculative involvement' which is generated by the use of reward or remunerative power. It is an economic instrumental involvement whereby legislative or position power is likely to ensure full and whereby an individual participates voluntarily in an organization - the benefits which he expects to get from his membership of the organization. Membership of an organization is the result of a rational decision which they may decide to stay or leave the organization depending on the remuneration or benefits of the organization to them. The second response or involvement is called 'moral involvement' which results from the use of normative power which is the power or ability to exercise control by allocating or withholding symbolic rewards such as prestige or acceptance. This is a committed and strongly favorable form of involvement or identification with an organization and its goals and mission. (Examples of this are found among members of religious and political groups where membership is maintained because of commitment to certain ideals which the organization stands for.

The third involvement revolves round alternative involvements which result from the use of coercive power which is manifested as threat and punishment. It is a state of non- identification with the organizational goals. It is a negative form of involvement in which individuals strongly oppose or dissociate themselves from the organization. Membership of the organization is involuntary since it is against their will. Examples of this are typical of prison inmates, patients of mental homes where they are forced to secure compliance.

According to Ajayi (2009), the success of an organization is dependent upon many factors, but none is as important as the import of its leaders at different levels. Leadership in any organizational setting whether educational, economic, political, at different levels makes decisions that consequently determine the purpose, goals and means of fulfilling them. Leadership is very sensitive for organizational survival or failure; the leaders is always commended for the success and reprimanded or blamed for any form of failure or lapses. Adeyemi et al. in his study of the organization claimed that when things go wrong in the organization, it should be blamed on the leader rather than the organizational members

Chike-Okoli defines leadership as a person or ability to lead a group of people in an organization for the attainment of an objective. Leadership could also be seen as a process influencing the activities of an organized group towards goal setting and goal achievement. Ojo sees leadership as a process in which an executive or a manager imaginatively directs, guides and influences the work of others in choosing and attaining specified goals by mediating between the individual and the organization in such a manner that both will obtain the maximum satisfaction. Ojo sees leadership as a social influence process in an effort to reach organizational objectives. The definitions of leadership are as many and varied as there are different human beings. However, the main theme of leadership is getting things accomplished through people. It can then be deduced according to Chike-Okoli that leadership involves the achievement of an organization's goal through a process of influencing, directing, acquiring nominative personal characteristics and power and coordinating group activities to make individuals in the organization strive willingly towards, the attainment of the organizational set goals or solution to a mutual problem. It is then generally agreed that the quality of leadership in an organization be it religious, social, economic, educational, military, cultural or otherwise affects to a very large extent, the success or failure of the organization.

Chike-Okoli identified four aspects of leadership definition which are:

• Its substance: what workers have to do?
• Its process: how they accomplish it?
• Its purpose: the ways and reasons for leadership.
• What leaders will have to do? In leadership, employees can be motivated by one or more of the following:
• Job security, enrichment and satisfaction
• Provision of good working environment
• Provision of recreational facilities such as different types of games.
• Promotion and salary increase as at when due.
• Children education as one of the methods of encouraging and retraining employees in any organization. It is a form of support for employees.
• Study leave with or without pay.
• Fringe benefits such as luncheon vouchers, coupons, transport facilities, leave bonuses etc.
• Understanding subordinates and their goals are meeting their needs.
  

Based on the leadership conceptualization in an organization. Chike-Okoli develops the managerial grid from which they identify five leadership styles as:

2.6 Impoverished leadership

This style makes minimum effort to get required work done and enough concern for people is made to sustain organizational membership. The leadership simply passes information from above to the subordinates and has little or no influence over his subordinates.

2.7 Task-oriented leadership