Introduction
Political power is present in organizations; it is used to influence decisions and interests. Under certain power comparisons, the subject of political power has restrictive power for society and other organizations (Neal & Tansey, 2010, p. 33). The subject of political power has a certain restrictive ability and power for the object of the political power or action, which is embodied in the political process of realizing some principles or interests of the subject of the political action or power. It is widely believed that political power is a special embodiment of power in the political field.
The common concept of political power mainly consists of the following elements:
- Firstly, the subject of political power is named by its role in its active position or dominant condition. There is no denying that the role which is positive or dominated by others is the object of political power or action. Generally speaking, the subject of political power is mainly the state, and the subject of the political power of a company or an enterprise is the general manager or ordinary manager. However, according to the common sense of political power, the subject and the object can be changed.
- Secondly, political power has its aims and interests. It is accepted that the subject of the political power or action is to realize the aim or target of the subject. The aim is mainly interest and value, which is expressed in various aspects and possesses the fundamental significance for the subject of political power or action (Papadopoulos, 2009, p. 951). The aim constructs the internal driving force of the political power dominating the subject’s awareness of the political power to obtain the interest and value that the subject aims to get.
- Thirdly, political power is a kind of force that can influence people’s decisions. As we know, the dominant trait of political power can be aggression by abusive power or can be expressed by the law of the country, the principles or rules of the company, or by the political order and the punishment and prize of the company. In summary, political power can punish people not only by fortune but also by their belief in something (Hoddie, 2009/2010, p. 725). More detailed, e.g., the manager of a company can also make good use of the consulting knowledge and competence to take better control of the management in their workplace. However, with the development of social life and other organizational patterns, some form of social-relational theory has emerged. Hence, the paper aims to explore this problem and the extent to which these new understandings could assist the subject of political power.
Social Relational Theory
Social relational theory connotes that disparate people form a kind of relationship in the process of production and co-existence. The social relationship can be divided into two categories, namely the materialized social relationship and idealized social relationship. Of the two categories, a productive relationship is the most basic and dominant relationship in all relationships. The materialized relationship means that people from a mutual relationship are in the process of production. The productive relationship dominates a kind of aspect of the productive relationships that constitutes a certain social-economic basis. The idealized relationship denotes that a certain productive relationship decides other social relationships such as political relation, legal relation, ethical relation which constitute a certain high level of the society’s interaction. There is no doubt that social relationship covers up all kinds of fields in social life. It is can be seen everywhere and can be found in every corner. We can say that each saying and each action of a human being cannot live without the category of social relation (Newman, 2009, p. 539).
Marx even pointed that the nature of human beings is the sum of all relations which denotes that the social relation originates from a human being. The contact among people enhances the kinds of complex relations which are known as social relations (Jeannot, 2010, p. 214). From the relation between the couple, social relation is composed of the relation between individuals, the relation between individual and the community. It can also be the relations among communities, relations between the community and the state. As we also know, a company is a small group, which consists of a variety of relations. From the perspective of relations, social relation involves an array of aspects such as economic relation, political relation and legal relation. Hence every decision and each order will be undoubtedly dealt with depending on social relationships which can also be applied in a company (Koc-Menard, 2009, p. 357).
The Relation Between the Political Power of a Manager and Social Relations
Political power of a manager in a company is great and the manager can use power independently. There are three sources of the political power of the manager of a company. The first source of political power is regulated by law, the second is the rules and regulations of the company, and the third is empowered by the board of directors. For example, the legal political powers of the manager are as follows;
- Be responsible for the production and operation of the company and carry out decisions of the board of directors
- Organize and carry out the running plan of the company and make the decision of investment
- Draw up the internal management setup of the company
- Draft the basic management system of the company
- Make the specific regulations of the company
- Be responsible for recruiting human resources and be in charge of vice manager and people who are responsible for finance
- Be responsible for other political power or actions empowered by the rules or regulations of the company and by the board of directors
If we say a person has great power, the person is said to have absolute power for the resources of the field. In a unit, the general manager is in charge of the political power of the resources of the whole company which consists of salary, good environment, good work positions, prizes, bonus and special purpose vehicle. According to the observed relationship of political power and social relation we can see that political power is controlled by people and the emergence of social relationships is because of a human being. There is no doubt that the use of political power is affected by the social relation in the company For example if the manager is a good friend of an ordinary colleague the use of a special purpose vehicle may be this ordinary colleague who may not have good performance in the daily work life. another example is when a manager of a company arranges his or her relative in an important position of the company, and an annual bonus of the company will be given to this relative, a better environment of the company will also be given to this relative, there will undoubtedly emerge a kind of mess and disorder, which will in turn influences the total operation of the company and order of the company management of the company.
From the theoretical perspective, we should not abuse political power or carry out political activities. However, in practice, no one denies the fact that people would like to choose friends or relatives as partners and as the beneficial party which is also very natural in people’s minds. Hence, there is a kind of phenomenon that in an array of units or companies there are a bunch of friends or relatives working. It is known to us all that the social-relational net is very deep. If a small company or a private firm has many relatives working there, it may become a centre of power abuse. Which is to run counter to the modern management system hence, the social relation challenges the political power of the manager. How to change this condition?
No one doubts that we should adopt an array of measures ranging from law to regulations to prevent and stop the fact that the social relation challenges the political power or action from developing. There are several conditions to improve the phenomenon, which are as follows;
- Firstly, people say that excellent managers are the core of the business world. The first trait that the manager should possess is good characteristics which is the coveted thing of the successful manager
- Secondly, a successful manager is the deciding role of the company. Credit is the core of the business circle. The manager should have these kinds of traits to attach more importance to the term of social-relational theory. And what the manager needs is to better understand the disadvantages of the social-relational theory
- Thirdly the manager should set up good and elegant career ethnic. No one denies that the professional manager of a company should be responsible for the safety, progress, economic development and good benefits of the company.
Some people say that social relation is the enemy of political power. The conscience of the manager in a company is the real coordinator of the political power. It is believed that if the manager of a company obeys the market principles and abuse the political power will undoubtedly bring loss and negative effects to the company and in turn to society.
It is widely accepted that the manager should not only be in charge of the company but also the society. The condition which can harm the society and company’s benefits is the last choice that the manager of a company should choose. A successful manager should be a successful person and have good ethnicity to make great benefits for the company. The abuse of political power will undoubtedly cause disorder and mess of the company Hence the manager of a company should be fostering a kind of sense of the disadvantage of abuse of the political power.
Conclusion
The social relation is developed with the advancing of human beings; the world is a humane society especially the developing country attaches more importance to the social relation. It is widely believed that the existence of everything is necessary; it also applies in the case of social relations. If we say that the social relation prevents the society or the company from developing and the social relation is bad for the society or the company, we would be wrong. Human beings are the producers in society which is attributed to a lot of human traits and where people get together in harmony. Hence we can say that social relationship is an important role in the development of society. However, if the social relation is attached too much importance such as when carrying out political power or action the manager or the head of the company has no choice. This puts too much on the term of the social relation and ignores the regular ethnicity of the manager which will prevent the development of the company and harm the interests of other colleagues.
In summary, the paper finds that social relation is suitable for society. However social relation challenges the use of political power and therefore people who control absolute power should pay more attention to this fact. And people advocate that the subject of political power has a certain restrictive ability and power for the object of the political power or action which is embodied in the political process of realizing some principles or interests of the subject of the political action or power. When carrying out political actions, the interests of other people should also be taken into consideration.
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