POWER, POLITICS & CULTURE 1
Power, Politics and Culture
Name
Institution
Instructor
Course
Date
, POWER, POLITICS & CULTURE 2
1. Influence of Politics and Power:
Politics and power play a crucial role in organizational culture. The harsh working culture
at Amazon can be attributed to the influence of politics and power. Organizations, including
Amazon, are political structures. Amazon, like other organizations, functions by allocating
authority and establishing a stage for the exercise of power by its executives, managers, and
employees. In this case, employees that are highly motivated to gain and exploit power derive a
familiar and welcoming environment at the company whereas those that are less motivated to
gain and use power may experience an unfamiliar and inhospitable working environment at
Amazon (Abraham, 1979).
The interplay between politics and power can either create a positive or negative
organizational culture. In the case of Amazon, the interplay between politics and power among
its managers and employees may have influenced its harsh work culture. Resources are often
scarce within organizations, which must be allocated however limited (Bauer & Erdogan, 2010).
In this case, individuals such as managers at Amazon may conflict on how to apportion such
resources and thus, they may innately attempt to gain the resources for themselves or their
coalition groups leading to politics at the organization (Bauer & Erdogan, 2010). Because the
managers have to make choices that meet their limited resources including efficiency and
increased productivity, they may use their influence and power to exert pressure on the
employees to achieve unrealistic goals despite the availability of limited resources. This may
lead to punitive working conditions for the employees to meet the individual agenda or self-
interest of the managers.
Additionally, power and political struggles among managers and employees may have led
to the harsh work culture at Amazon. The managers at Amazon may want employees to work
Power, Politics and Culture
Name
Institution
Instructor
Course
Date
, POWER, POLITICS & CULTURE 2
1. Influence of Politics and Power:
Politics and power play a crucial role in organizational culture. The harsh working culture
at Amazon can be attributed to the influence of politics and power. Organizations, including
Amazon, are political structures. Amazon, like other organizations, functions by allocating
authority and establishing a stage for the exercise of power by its executives, managers, and
employees. In this case, employees that are highly motivated to gain and exploit power derive a
familiar and welcoming environment at the company whereas those that are less motivated to
gain and use power may experience an unfamiliar and inhospitable working environment at
Amazon (Abraham, 1979).
The interplay between politics and power can either create a positive or negative
organizational culture. In the case of Amazon, the interplay between politics and power among
its managers and employees may have influenced its harsh work culture. Resources are often
scarce within organizations, which must be allocated however limited (Bauer & Erdogan, 2010).
In this case, individuals such as managers at Amazon may conflict on how to apportion such
resources and thus, they may innately attempt to gain the resources for themselves or their
coalition groups leading to politics at the organization (Bauer & Erdogan, 2010). Because the
managers have to make choices that meet their limited resources including efficiency and
increased productivity, they may use their influence and power to exert pressure on the
employees to achieve unrealistic goals despite the availability of limited resources. This may
lead to punitive working conditions for the employees to meet the individual agenda or self-
interest of the managers.
Additionally, power and political struggles among managers and employees may have led
to the harsh work culture at Amazon. The managers at Amazon may want employees to work
