Bolman and Deal
Political Frame Notes
From Bolman and Deal: All direct quotes:
Chapter Nine
Pages 185-186
The political frame does not blame politics on such individual characteristics as selfishness, myopia, or incompetence. Instead, it asserts that interdependence, divergent interests, scarcity, and power relations inevitably spawn political activity.
Page 186: Political Assumptions
1. Organizations are coalitions of diverse individuals and interest groups.
2. There are enduring differences among coalition members in values, beliefs, information, interests, and perceptions of reality.
3. Most important decisions involve allocating scarce resources—who gets what.
4. Goals and decisions emerge from bargaining, negotiation, and jockeying for position among competing stakeholders.
Page 188:
A coalition forms because of interdependence among its members; they need one another, even though their interest may only partly overlap. The assumption of enduring difference implies that political activity is more visible and dominant under conditions of diversity than of homogeneity. Agreement and harmony are easier to achieve when everyone shares similar values, beliefs, and culture.
The concept of scarce resources suggests that politics will be more salient and intense in difficult times.
Power in organizations is basically the capacity to get things done. Pfeffer (1992, p.30) defines power as the “potential ability to influence behavior, to change the course of events, to overcome resistance, and to get people to do things they would not otherwise do.”
The final proposition of the political frame emphasizes that goals are set not by fiat at the top but through an ongoing process of negotiation and interaction among key players.
Page 191
Cyert and March, 1963: “relational concepts”: implicit rules that firms use to make decisions more manageable: 1. Quasi-resolution of conflict: organizations break problems into pieces and farm pieces out
From Bolman and Deal: All direct quotes:
Chapter Nine
Pages 185-186
The political frame does not blame politics on such individual characteristics as selfishness, myopia, or incompetence. Instead, it asserts that interdependence, divergent interests, scarcity, and power relations inevitably spawn political activity.
Page 186: Political Assumptions
1. Organizations are coalitions of diverse individuals and interest groups.
2. There are enduring differences among coalition members in values, beliefs, information, interests, and perceptions of reality.
3. Most important decisions involve allocating scarce resources—who gets what.
4. Goals and decisions emerge from bargaining, negotiation, and jockeying for position among competing stakeholders.
Page 188:
A coalition forms because of interdependence among its members; they need one another, even though their interest may only partly overlap. The assumption of enduring difference implies that political activity is more visible and dominant under conditions of diversity than of homogeneity. Agreement and harmony are easier to achieve when everyone shares similar values, beliefs, and culture.
The concept of scarce resources suggests that politics will be more salient and intense in difficult times.
Power in organizations is basically the capacity to get things done. Pfeffer (1992, p.30) defines power as the “potential ability to influence behavior, to change the course of events, to overcome resistance, and to get people to do things they would not otherwise do.”
The final proposition of the political frame emphasizes that goals are set not by fiat at the top but through an ongoing process of negotiation and interaction among key players.
Page 191
Cyert and March, 1963: “relational concepts”: implicit rules that firms use to make decisions more manageable: 1. Quasi-resolution of conflict: organizations break problems into pieces and farm pieces out