MGT 6570 - Power and Politics Within Organizations

Organizations are fundamentally political entities and in them, power and influence are key mechanisms by which things get done. Moreover, effective leadership involves developing and wielding influence among others. In this course, such processes will be diagnosed and analyzed focusing on the sources, dynamics, and effects of power and political struggles in organizations. Course objectives include: developing the ability to create and use sources of power beyond formal authority, identifying common strategies and tactics of influence, and exercising skills that make each student more effective in complex, changing organizations. Course materials and activities focus on topics such as: the management of strategic dependencies and social/political capital; ethics; culture and unobtrusive control; commitment; and persuasion processes; and network building.