Fundamentals of Management, 8th ed

LEADING THE WAY (Continued)

political behavior

The activities carried

out for the specific

purpose of acquiring,

developing, and

using power and

other resources to

obtain one’s

preferred outcomes

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Part 4: Leading

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Although political behavior is difficult to study because of its sensitive nature, one

early survey found that many managers believed that politics influenced salary and

hiring decisions in their firm. Many also believed that the incidence of political behavior

was greater at the upper levels of their organization and lesser at the lower levels. More

than half of the respondents felt that organizational politics were bad, unfair, unhealthy,

and irrational, but most suggested that successful executives have to be good politicians

and be political to get ahead.

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