Introduction
Power, politics and culture play a critical role in organizational productivity. An organization productivity and success is dependent on many factors, both tangible and intangible. Human, technical and conceptual skills come in handy. Power, politics and culture are the human skills that are also known as soft skills that are central to an organization’s productivity. This paper seeks to explore the influence of politics and power in McDonalds Corporation, and examine how leadership conduct and culture can advance a company’s culture
Impact of Politics and Power
McDonalds Corporation is known for leadership in the fast-food industry, given its long history in the field. The corporation is a worldwide name and is known for being a market leader in the fast-food industry across the globe. McDonalds was a market leader in sales and profitability until 2019 when its sales took a U-turn towards a decline. At about the same time, the top leadership at McDonald’s was experiencing ups and down following the popularized news about its then chief executive officer consensual relationship with an employee, together with the chief operations officer. The top leadership in any organization are a symbol of power, and they highly esteemed by the public. They represent the face of any organization. As such, any action by the leadership is regarded as part of the company’s culture. McDonald’s sales started dwindling since 2019, and the issue of power and politics cannot be eliminated from the issue.
A top official in a company is a symbol of power. As earlier highlighted, former McDonald’s corporation CEO Steve Easterbrook was involved in a consensual relationship with a junior employee, which was against the company’s culture that prohibited sexual relationships among employees. If the top leadership could be engaged in such practices, how about the rest of the staff. How could the practice have infiltrated to the rest of the workers? A culture of abuse and disregard for workplace policies could have influenced the organization’s culture such that workers had little regard for customers and general quality of services that led customers to look for alternatives, thereby resulting in decreased sales.
Sources of power
There are different kinds of power that that are at play in organizations. French and raven have offered five main types of power notably reward power, legitimate power, coercive power, referent power and knowledge power (Piccolo, 1). The management at McDonald’s corporation can use connection power to benefit the sales division and increase the company’s performance. Piccolo (1) notes that connection power goes beyond the French and Raven’s typology, and it depicts the ability to use connections inside and outside the organization to get things done. Connection power is beneficial to the since it evokes intrinsic motivation whereby people act on it because they want to, and not because they have to. Connection power is not limited to formal interactions as it stems from both formal and informal interactions with others that form relationships and networks.
Connection power may be divided into three main categories; reciprocal, association and information power. Association power is the power gained through relationship with other powerful people through networking. Reciprocity power stems from reciprocal alliances with others, and the alliance is created when someone does a favor for somebody else, creating an obligation to return the favor. Information power is the power obtained from being in possession of valuable information (Piccolo, 1).
McDonald’s corporation can use the connection power to make employees reach out and relate to influential people with an aim of attracting them to come and dine at McDonald’s outlets to increase sales. The connection power has a multiplication effect in that if an employee brings 10 clients who are served and are delighted with the services, they can reciprocate by bringing their friends. Suppose each of the ten customers brings 10 of their friends or family, the net effect is that McDonald’s will serve 100 people. If the 100 people then network and bring in others and are rewarded with free breakfast or lunch as a way of McDonald’s exercising reciprocal power, then the connection impact will see McDonald’s sales increase exponentially. The management should use connection power and its constituents of information power, association power and reciprocal alliances.
Leadership Behavior and Culture
Organizational politics occur since there is inadequate capability of official structures to meet the performance requirements of the business. As a result, an informal structure that epitomizes the manner in which work actually gets done arises (Piccolo, 1). Formal systems prescribe how work processes are coordinated and structured by serving as behavior coordinators that drive business results. Nonetheless, they are limited in their ability to describe precisely what people need to do to get their work done. As such, the informal systems emerge to fill in the gaps. Piccolo (1) notes that informal systems are patterns of networks and relationships that are generated on a daily basis, and they reside in personal connections and relations that employees develop as they interact in work environments.
While the informal system is important to get work done, it may also be used for less positive purposes. This arises when employees use relationships and connections for personal advantage or cause harm to others in what is known as the self-interested politics. Examples of self-directed politics are such as scapegoating, coalition building, favoritism and using information as a political tool. People perceive the same political climate differently depending on the amount of status and power they hold. A person with a lot of power and is highly connected may perceive the climate as positive and beneficial whereas an individual with less power might feel powerlessness and consider the organizational climate as demoralizing and dysfunctional.
It is important for an employee to manage his or her power and navigate the political landscape prevailing in the organization to avoid being powerless. Although this cannot always be done in certain workplaces with toxic environments, it might be navigated by managing one’s attitude and behavior. Employees who are cynical about power and non-political may be let out of decision making or fail to get promoted. Employees who are overly political and misuse their power can be regarded as self-driving or unscrupulous. Ultimately, they will lose trust and authority (Piccolo, 1).
The Influence of Leadership
The significance and involvedness of management behavior in influencing organizational structure and performance cannot be underestimated. The decline in sales at McDonald’s corporation could be partially attributed to the leadership behavior. The news about the CEO involvement in consensual relationships with junior staff behavior presents an organization in negative light because a CEO is not just an ordinary staff, but a face of the organization. A corporate-insider further revealed that Easterbrook, the former McDonald’s CEO was reproached for engaging in sexual dealings with several of other McDonald’s staffs and concealing these acts. The Wall Street Journal further reported that Easterbrook disregarded the complaints involving the misconduct of other officials to the human resources (Kelly, 2). A culture of favoritism prevailed at McDonald’s as former supervisors and workers highlighted how they were left out of advancement prospects because they were not part of “after-hours” social group among HR executives (Kelly, 2). These report is in line with the above observations of the perception of politics and the whereby people who are nonpolitical are left out of promotions and other important decisions.
In view of the above, there is no doubt that the leadership behavior of the present McDonald’s CEO and other executives infiltrated a culture of favoritism and other malpractices that were perhaps notable to other staff and the general public. The current leadership has an uphill task of redeeming the lost image of the human resources team and the executive team because they are the face of the organization.
Power, politics and culture play a critical role in organizational productivity. An organization productivity and success is dependent on many factors, both tangible and intangible. Human, technical and conceptual skills come in handy. Power, politics and culture are the human skills that are also known as soft skills that are central to an organization’s productivity. This paper seeks to explore the influence of politics and power in McDonalds Corporation, and examine how leadership conduct and culture can advance a company’s culture
Impact of Politics and Power
McDonalds Corporation is known for leadership in the fast-food industry, given its long history in the field. The corporation is a worldwide name and is known for being a market leader in the fast-food industry across the globe. McDonalds was a market leader in sales and profitability until 2019 when its sales took a U-turn towards a decline. At about the same time, the top leadership at McDonald’s was experiencing ups and down following the popularized news about its then chief executive officer consensual relationship with an employee, together with the chief operations officer. The top leadership in any organization are a symbol of power, and they highly esteemed by the public. They represent the face of any organization. As such, any action by the leadership is regarded as part of the company’s culture. McDonald’s sales started dwindling since 2019, and the issue of power and politics cannot be eliminated from the issue.
A top official in a company is a symbol of power. As earlier highlighted, former McDonald’s corporation CEO Steve Easterbrook was involved in a consensual relationship with a junior employee, which was against the company’s culture that prohibited sexual relationships among employees. If the top leadership could be engaged in such practices, how about the rest of the staff. How could the practice have infiltrated to the rest of the workers? A culture of abuse and disregard for workplace policies could have influenced the organization’s culture such that workers had little regard for customers and general quality of services that led customers to look for alternatives, thereby resulting in decreased sales.
Sources of power
There are different kinds of power that that are at play in organizations. French and raven have offered five main types of power notably reward power, legitimate power, coercive power, referent power and knowledge power (Piccolo, 1). The management at McDonald’s corporation can use connection power to benefit the sales division and increase the company’s performance. Piccolo (1) notes that connection power goes beyond the French and Raven’s typology, and it depicts the ability to use connections inside and outside the organization to get things done. Connection power is beneficial to the since it evokes intrinsic motivation whereby people act on it because they want to, and not because they have to. Connection power is not limited to formal interactions as it stems from both formal and informal interactions with others that form relationships and networks.
Connection power may be divided into three main categories; reciprocal, association and information power. Association power is the power gained through relationship with other powerful people through networking. Reciprocity power stems from reciprocal alliances with others, and the alliance is created when someone does a favor for somebody else, creating an obligation to return the favor. Information power is the power obtained from being in possession of valuable information (Piccolo, 1).
McDonald’s corporation can use the connection power to make employees reach out and relate to influential people with an aim of attracting them to come and dine at McDonald’s outlets to increase sales. The connection power has a multiplication effect in that if an employee brings 10 clients who are served and are delighted with the services, they can reciprocate by bringing their friends. Suppose each of the ten customers brings 10 of their friends or family, the net effect is that McDonald’s will serve 100 people. If the 100 people then network and bring in others and are rewarded with free breakfast or lunch as a way of McDonald’s exercising reciprocal power, then the connection impact will see McDonald’s sales increase exponentially. The management should use connection power and its constituents of information power, association power and reciprocal alliances.
Leadership Behavior and Culture
Organizational politics occur since there is inadequate capability of official structures to meet the performance requirements of the business. As a result, an informal structure that epitomizes the manner in which work actually gets done arises (Piccolo, 1). Formal systems prescribe how work processes are coordinated and structured by serving as behavior coordinators that drive business results. Nonetheless, they are limited in their ability to describe precisely what people need to do to get their work done. As such, the informal systems emerge to fill in the gaps. Piccolo (1) notes that informal systems are patterns of networks and relationships that are generated on a daily basis, and they reside in personal connections and relations that employees develop as they interact in work environments.
While the informal system is important to get work done, it may also be used for less positive purposes. This arises when employees use relationships and connections for personal advantage or cause harm to others in what is known as the self-interested politics. Examples of self-directed politics are such as scapegoating, coalition building, favoritism and using information as a political tool. People perceive the same political climate differently depending on the amount of status and power they hold. A person with a lot of power and is highly connected may perceive the climate as positive and beneficial whereas an individual with less power might feel powerlessness and consider the organizational climate as demoralizing and dysfunctional.
It is important for an employee to manage his or her power and navigate the political landscape prevailing in the organization to avoid being powerless. Although this cannot always be done in certain workplaces with toxic environments, it might be navigated by managing one’s attitude and behavior. Employees who are cynical about power and non-political may be let out of decision making or fail to get promoted. Employees who are overly political and misuse their power can be regarded as self-driving or unscrupulous. Ultimately, they will lose trust and authority (Piccolo, 1).
The Influence of Leadership
The significance and involvedness of management behavior in influencing organizational structure and performance cannot be underestimated. The decline in sales at McDonald’s corporation could be partially attributed to the leadership behavior. The news about the CEO involvement in consensual relationships with junior staff behavior presents an organization in negative light because a CEO is not just an ordinary staff, but a face of the organization. A corporate-insider further revealed that Easterbrook, the former McDonald’s CEO was reproached for engaging in sexual dealings with several of other McDonald’s staffs and concealing these acts. The Wall Street Journal further reported that Easterbrook disregarded the complaints involving the misconduct of other officials to the human resources (Kelly, 2). A culture of favoritism prevailed at McDonald’s as former supervisors and workers highlighted how they were left out of advancement prospects because they were not part of “after-hours” social group among HR executives (Kelly, 2). These report is in line with the above observations of the perception of politics and the whereby people who are nonpolitical are left out of promotions and other important decisions.
In view of the above, there is no doubt that the leadership behavior of the present McDonald’s CEO and other executives infiltrated a culture of favoritism and other malpractices that were perhaps notable to other staff and the general public. The current leadership has an uphill task of redeeming the lost image of the human resources team and the executive team because they are the face of the organization.
