Effect of Politics in Organization

Effect of Politics in Organizations

Organizational Theory and Behavior

Project on Effect of Politics in Organization

Acknowledgement

First of all we would like to thanks toAllah on this occasion.

We also want to show our gratitude toour loving parents and humble teacherswho make us able to be at this position.

We also thankful to Mr Khawaja Asif Butt who help us in completion of this

project and gives us useful information.Bundle of Thanks to our honorable

teacher Madam Salma Atif, who give usa chance to enhance our abilities and

skills.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER NO 1:

INTRODUCTION OF THE SUBJECT

CHAPTER NO 2:

INTRODUCTION TO TELECOM INDUSTRY

PTCL INTRODUCTION AND PROFILE, COMPANY PROFILE

VISION, MISSION, CORE VALUES

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

ETISALAT AND PTCLORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT CYCLE

CORPORATE AND COMMERCIAL INITIATIVES

SWOT ANALYSIS

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

ANALYSIS OF EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

ANALYSIS OF INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER NO 3:

INTRODUCTION OF THE SUBJECT

LITERATURE REVIEW OF ARTICLES

INTERVIEW

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

CHAPTER NO 4:

ATTACHED ARTICLES WITH TWO POINT SUMMARY

CHAPTER NO 5:

Pictures of visit to the Organization

CHAPTER NO 6:

Pictorial Representation of topic

Appendices

Introduction of the subject

Politics in Organization: Essentially when we focused on the use of power to affect decision making in an organization or on behaviors by members that are self-serving and organizationally non sanctioned For our purposes, we shall define political behavior in organizations as activities that are not required as part of one’s formal role in the organization but that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization. This definition encompasses key element from what most people mean when they talk about organizational politics. Political behavior is outside one’s specified job requirements. The behavior requires some attempt to use one’s power bases. In addition, our definition encompasses efforts to influence the goals, criteria, or processes used for decision making when we state that politics is concerned with “the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization.” Our definition is broad enough to include varied political behaviors such as withholding key information from decision makers, joining a coalition, whistle blowing, spreading rumors, leaking confidential information about organizational activities to the media, exchanging favors with others in the organization for mutual benefits, and lobbying on behalf of or against a particular individual or decision alternative.

A final comment relates to what has been referred to as the “legitimate – illegitimate” dimension in political behavior. Legitimate political behavior refers to normal everyday politics – complaining to your supervisor, by passing the chain command, forming coalitions, obstructing organizational policies or decisions through inaction or excessive adherence to rules, and developing contacts outside the organization through one’s professional activities. On the other hand, there are also illegitimate political behaviors that violate the implied rules of the games. Those who pursue such extreme activities includes sabotage, whistle-blowing , and symbolic protests such as wearing unorthodox dress or protest buttons and groups of employees simultaneously calling in sick. The vast majority of all organizational political actions are of the legitimate variety. The reason are pragmatic The extreme illegitimate forms of political behavior pose a very real risk of loss of organizational membership or extreme sanctions against those who use them and then fall short in having enough power to ensure that they work.

Introduction of Telecom Industry

Since the independence of Pakistan, basic telecom services were being provided by a monopolist, previously called as Telephone and Telegraph department (T&T). The department was being run by the government and played multiple roles as regulator, policy maker, operator and service provider in the country. The T & T department was later converted into a corporation. Although the corporation was earning huge profits from the services, it was re-investing the same profits into the sector for the provision of more telecom service but the investment was not enough. Further, with the technological advancement, more and more telecom services were becoming available but there was not enough money available with the corporation to install new telecom systems for the provision of modern services. Resultantly, a digital divide prevailed in Pakistan keeping it behind its neighbors and other comparable countries in terms of telecom access. Cellular mobile services in Pakistan commenced in 90s when two cellular mobile telephone licenses were awarded to Paktel and PakCom (Instaphone) for provision of cellular mobile telephony in Pakistan. Currently there are six cellular players in the market. The Telecom Sector has contributed 2 percent towards the overall GDP growth with revenues of over PKR 235bn.

PTCL(Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited)

Introduction & Profile Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) is proud to be Pakistan’s most reliable and largest converged services carrier providing all telecommunications services from basic voice telephony to data, internet, video-conferencing and carrier services to consumers and businesses all over the country.

Whether it is an office in the largest city of Pakistan or a home in a small village, we are present in every corner of Pakistan to serve our customers.

Company Profile: PTCL is the largest telecommunications provider in Pakistan. PTCL also continues to be the largest CDMA operator in the country with 0.8 million V-fone customers. The company maintains a leading position in Pakistan as an infrastructure provider to other telecom operators and corporate customers of the country. It has the potential to be an instrumental agent in Pakistan’s economic growth. PTCL has laid an Optical Fiber Access Network in the major metropolitan centers of Pakistan and local loop services have started to be modernized and upgraded from copper to an optical network. On the Long Distance and International infrastructure side, the capacity of two SEA-ME-WE submarine cable is being expanded to meet the increasing demand of International traffic.

With the promulgation of Telecommunication (Re-Organization) Act 1996, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority was established as the Telecom Regulatory body. Following the open licensing policy in BUY @ PKR 45.40 accordance with the instructions of Government of Pakistan and in exercise of powers conferred by Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organization) Act 1996, the basic telephony was put under exclusivity and PTCL was given a seven years monopoly over basic telephony which ended by December 31, 2002. The year 2006-07 in the telecom sector witnessed a phenomenal growth in the mobile phone sector in Pakistan, which doubled its subscriber base to 60 million. The Teledensity increased from 26% to 40%, helping to spread the benefits of communication technology across the country. PTCL's mobile phone subsidiary Ufone's subscriber base grew by more than 87%, from 7.49 million to 14 million.

The year also witnessed the entry of major telecom companies, most notably China Telecom and Singtel, into the market. Restructuring and re-engineering are in their final stages along with the implementation of ERP system. From the end customer's perspective, a major initiative was put in place in the shape of 'Broadband Pakistan' service launch as a first step towards providing its customer with more value added service and convenience. With this offering, the PTCL not only bringing the benefit of high speed Internet access to subscribers in major cities but will also generate new revenue streams for future growth. The company also continued to invest in infrastructure development and addition of network capacity with a view to enhance services and to expand its reach across the country.

Since then, PTCL has been working vigorously to meet the dual challenge of telecom development and socio-economic uplift of the country. In keeping with the convergence of technologies in the telecom sector PTCL’s mobile and internet subsidiaries were created in 1998.

Ufone, the country’s second largest mobile service provider, boosted its operations by rolling out the country’s largest ever expansion of its network, worth US$ 525 million. The new investment aims to expand capacity and coverage in existing and new cities, as well as providing high speed cellular mobile and wireless data services. By mid-2008 the two major expansions will give Ufone coverage in over 4,500 cities, towns and villages, and all major highways in the country.

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) is the largest telecommunication company in Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan sold 26% shares and control of the company to Etisalat in 2006.

VisionTo be the leading Information and Communication Technology Service Provider in the region by achieving customer satisfaction and maximizing shareholders' value'.

The future is unfolding around us. In times to come, we will be the link that allows global communication. We are striving towards mobilizing the world for the future. By becoming partners in innovation, we are ready to shape a future that offers telecom services that bring us closer.

MissionTo achieve our vision by having:

An organizational environment that fosters professionalism, motivation and quality

An environment that is cost effective and quality conscious

Services that are based on the most optimum technology

 "Quality" and "Time" conscious customer service

Sustained growth in earnings and profitability

Core Values

Professional Integrity

Customer Satisfaction

Teamwork

Company Loyalty

Organizational Structure

Etisalat and PTCL

In 2006, Pakistan's Privatization Commission held open bidding to sell 1.326 billion shares, along with management control of PTCL. The Etisalat International Pakistan, a 100 % owned subsidiary of Emirates Telecommunications Corporation - Etisalat was the highest bidder for a 26 per cent stake in PTCL with a $1.96 (116 rupees) per share offer. Etisalat takes pride in being a partner in progress wherever it goes. To realize the dream of human progress, Etisalat is ever ready to harness new technologies, build new partnerships and embrace the future as it comes. This is the vision that drives Etisalat and directs the Etisalat-PTCL interaction.

Subsequent to the takeover of management control by Etisalat International Pakistan, PTCL continues its drive to transform into a modern, customer-focused communication and information provider with a new vigour and commitment. By focusing on customer satisfaction, partnering with innovation, investing in training and human resources and enhancing its infrastructure, PTCL is evolving continuously.

PTCL is one of the largest employers in the country with its work force spread all over the country to provide an essential service to the people of Pakistan. The changed telecom environment requires PTCL to bring about changes in its corporate culture to thrive more in the new environment.

Organizational Management Cycle

Corporate and Commercial Initiatives As part of the transformation of PTCL, the management initiated work on the re-branding of the Company as a modern and customer-centric national carrier. Externally changing the logo was carried out to reflect the commitment to the customers and the modernizing of the infrastructure. Internally it gave employees a new zeal to stimulate the mindset change from a technology and operations focused company to a competitive carrier that has customer services as its hallmark.

PTCL made several investments in infrastructure development and added network capacity to enhance services and expand its reach across the country. The market in Pakistan is extremely competitive and PTCL has the largest nationwide installed network infrastructure capability including switching, transmission, fibre optic backbone, co-location and international capacity. This gives PTCL a unique position in terms of providing to carriers and individual consumers alike.

With the introduction of Vfone, the new CDMA-based WLL platform of PTCL, is poised to become the largest fixed wireless telephony network in Pakistan. On the wireless broadband front, a major upgrade of the WLL CDMA network was rolled out in order to provide wireless broadband services in 17 major cities.

Broadband Pakistan offers DSL services with unmatched reliability, affordability and connectivity. Customers have the option to packages with varying speeds from 512Kb to 2Mb with unlimited downloads. Broadband customer service is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week at 1236 with highly trained and professional representatives.

As part of offering converged services, expanding its service portfolio and improving customer retention and acquisition, PTCL initiated the multi-channel Inter Protocol Television (IPTV) project during 2006-07. This will be a landmark addition to the PTCL service portfolio and will enable the company to provide Triple Play (voice, video and data) services over a single fixed line connection. With IPTV the customer will be provided with a single interface to satisfy his communication and entertainment needs along with single billing.

Keeping in mind customer convenience, PTCL is actively engaged in bringing an array of bill payment options to its customers. PTCL customers now have the flexibility to choose between dropping a cheque in a drop box at a location near them to sending their payments through mail at a nearby post office.

PTCL has also offered a dedicated service to provide billing information to its valued subscribers who can simply dial '1200' to access instant billing information of the required PTCL service. With the introduction of this service, customers no longer need to personally visit customer service centers to find out what their bill amounts are and the automated service is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to further facilitate customers.

Moreover, PTCL has introduced a variety of valued added services for its customers while a number of others are in the pipeline. Alongside the many packages and services PTCL is continually seeking ways to facilitate its customers of which payment cards and electronic modes of payments are just a part.

On the technical front, PTCL has laid an Optical Fibre Access Network in the major metropolitan centres of Pakistan and local loop services have started to be modernized and upgraded from copper to an optical network.

PTCL has invested in the capacity of two SEA-ME-WE submarine cables to meet the increasing demand of international traffic. Additionally, PTCL is also part of a consortium that will put in place a high-capacity fiber-optic submarine cable that stretches from India to Italy and France via the Middle East, named I-ME-WE, to provide effective resilience to the existing cable systems (SMW3 & SMW4).

PTCL has also signed an agreement with Huawei Technologies Pakistan and Hewlett Packard (HP) to jointly launch the ‘Network Operation Center’ project which has state-of-the-art fault detection and resolution technology. This project would establish one main network operation center and three regional ones with the implementation of an alarm management system across the entire PTCL network in an integrated manner.

Beyond improved packages and new products, PTCL, as a socially responsible corporate entity, has been pursuing different social causes touching on areas of culture, sports, music, environment and general welfare by supporting different initiatives.

As such, PTCL’s CSR activities and new ventures are warmly welcomed.

Swot Analysis

STRENGHTS

Largest operational network and infrastructure within ICT (Information & Communication Technologies) segment.

An integrated Monopoly Market Leadership in Local loop, Wireless local loop (WLL) and Fixed Telephony. PTCL (Ufone) is market challenger in GSM segment. Competitors still depend on PTCL network either directly or indirectly. Experienced Telecom Resources PTCL, Ufone’s profitability increased by 49.2 percent to Rs.977 million as compared to

Rs.655 million in the corresponding period last.

WEAKNESS

Not been able to nurture its growth around customer services oriented strategy. Internal organizational and business processes issues. Monopolistic culture has further added to its complexities. Paknet, the internet service provider arm of ptcl continues to incur losses due to poor

management and lack of network optimization. Ptcl-v, the fixed wireless phone service is poor. Over employment & low productivity. Slow decision making including external interferences. Corporate culture akin to government departments.

OPPORTUNITIES

Low teledensity of Pakistan. Have vast infrastructure and real estate assets which can be leveraged further. Global connectivity reliability has been improved, PTCL is expanding the long distance

and infrastructure side through spreading out two sea-me-we submarine cables. Partnership with new entrants in a deregulated environment. Scope for efficient/cost effective operations.

THREATS

Increased competition in long distance continues to exert pressure. VOIP use is increasing despite ambiguous and discriminatory policies. Exposure to market competition. Migration to Cellular Networks. Ability to Attract and Retain Quality Professionals. Reduction in International Settlement Rates.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

I. PTCL LAND LINE:

Since the deregulation of the telecom sector, a large number of foreign investors opted for licenses in LL, LDI and cellular operations, identifying Pakistan as an emerging market. Investors entered the market forcefully in the cellular segment, introducing heated competition for PTCL. In this situation PTCL's counter strategy for landline service, during the year 2007-08 was aimed to increase ARPU, acquire new subscribers and contain churn.

To increase operations, PTCL shifted from its conventional duration based charging system to value based options, like 'Pakistan Package' that offered 5,000 minutes for on-net nationwide calls at Rs. 199/month. PTCL also launched 'International Plus' package to facilitate cost effective international calls at unmatchable rates alongside offering Voice messaging and Phone n Net services, adding more value to the landline service. To increase customers' base, 'order on phone' was introduced, allowing customer to apply for a new connection by simply calling 0800-80800. To tackle the churn PTCL established an outbound call center to reach out to potential customers with an objective to attain higher level of brand loyalty.

II. PTCL V-FONE:

PTCL V-Fone (WLL Service) was another major area of focus for PTCL during the year. A few prominent measures taken in this area during the year were launching of free home delivery service. No line rent package was launched in September 2007. In June 2008, 30 seconds billing was introduced contributing as an effective customer retention tool. PTCL has expanded the network to provide coverage in all large and small cities including over 10,000 villages in rural areas of Pakistan.

As Vfone becomes the Wireless substitute to landline in un-served areas, it will be a robust line for voice, data and fax services for use at home and in the office. In business markets it will be positioned as the CDMA cellular extension to add trunk lines to the ever expanding business PABXs. Vfone will be spearheading the launch of the new postpay and pre-pay tariffs with no line-rent to meet the market demand. The tariff will include new post-pay unlimited local and nationwide calling packages to bring traffic back to PTCL’s networks to stabilize the revenues. After the initial launch, the Company aims to retain the momentum by offering different bundled packages for voice to increase the subscriber base, including specifically targeting the rural areas where copper infrastructure does not exist.

On Wireless broadband front, a major upgrade of PTCL WLL CDMA network is underway to provide Wireless broadband services in 17 major cities.

III. PTCL BROADBAND:

The first major product initiative taken towards a changing PTCL during the year 2006-07, was the launch of PTCL’s Broadband service under the theme of ‘Broadband Pakistan’ by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The service was launched on PTCL’s new state of the art Broadband infrastructure that was added to our network during the last three quarters of 2007 with the initial capacity of over 100,000 subscribers.

PTCL achieved unprecedented success as it added over 10,000 customers within the first 120 days of its launch while historically it had taken four years collectively for all the other operators to achieve 30,000 customers in Pakistan! The hallmark of PTCL service was the removal of the traditional barriers such as the upfront costs of installation and customer premises equipment and added bandwidth download. This high customer take up also reflected on the Company’s trusted image in the eyes of the nation. The service is already available in the five largest cities of Pakistan and will be expanded into another dozen cities during the coming year.

IV. PTCL SMART SERVICE:

PTCL introduced a service that put PTCL on the path of a paradigm shift. Branded under 'PTCL Smart Line', the service included Interactive Television, Broadband and voice Telephony all at the same time on PTCL's telephone line. The 'Smart TV', for the first time offered TV viewers

the power to control the TV channels interactively. This included the ability to rewind and pause live TV channels, block / unblock any TV channel for parental lock and search through video on demand content.

V. PTCL EVO:

PTCL EVO 3G Wireless Broadband is Pakistan’s fastest wireless internet which offers its customers “superior 3G internet experience”. Evo Wireless Broadband is enabling the wireless broadband revolution in Pakistan with flexibility to roam freely like never before.

So whether you are Going on a field trip, business trip or a family reunion downloading a song, an image rich presentation or the latest episode of your favorite t.v show with PTCL EVO, we let you experience the evolution of broadband revolution at its best. Just plug and play or work at home, in the office or anywhere in between with the unsurpassed & amazing speed of up to 3.1Mbps, backed by the country’s largest Wireless service provider.

ANALYSIS OF EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Pakistan followed a gradual approach to liberalize its telecom market. During 1990s, as a first step, market was opened for value added services and competition was introduced in cellular mobile sector as four licenses were issued (Mobilink, PTML, Paktel and Instaphone). The government monopoly was retained in fixed line services, however, PTCL legal monopoly ended with effective from 31st December 2002. The government announced Telecom Deregulation Policy and Cellular Mobile Policy in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The telecom regulatory, issued new licenses for Long distance International (LDI) and Local Loop Fixed (LLFixed), Wire Local Loop (WLL) and Cellular Mobile. With the issuance of new licenses the market is now open for full competition in all segments of the sector.

ANALYSIS OF INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Being a public limited company whose majority shares are controlled by the Government of Pakistan, PTCL is responsible to provide telecommunication services in the country on affordable prices while ensuring that the telecom services become accessible throughout the country. Since exclusivity of PTCL has ended on 1st Jan 2003, the telecom sector of Pakistan has entered into a new era and PTCL is slowly moving towards competition in the basic telecom services. The company’s policy objectives are as follows:

Increase service choice for all consumers of telecom services at competitive and affordable prices

Increase private investment in the telecom sector and encourage local telecom manufacturing/service industry

Enhance long run benefits to the Government’s financial position by expanding the taxablerevenue base.

Accelerate expansion of telecom infrastructure to extend telecom services to unserved andundeserved areas.

Encourage fair competition among service providers, while maintaining leadership in the telecom sector

Maintain consistency with the Pakistan IT and internet promotion policy of low prices for Bandwidth and Internet access.

LITERATURE REVIEW OF ARTICLES

INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE TOPIC

Essentially when we focused on the use of power to affect decision making in an organization or on behaviors by members that are self-serving and organizationally non sanctioned For our purposes, we shall define political behavior in organizations as activities that are not required as part of one’s formal role in the organization but that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization. This definition encompasses key element from what most people mean when they talk about organizational politics. Political behavior is outside one’s specified job requirements. The behavior requires some attempt to use one’s power bases. In addition, our definition encompasses efforts to influence the goals, criteria, or processes used for decision making when we state that politics is concerned with “the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization.” Our definition is broad enough to include varied political behaviors such as withholding key information from decision makers, joining a coalition, whistle blowing, spreading rumors, leaking confidential information about organizational activities to the media, exchanging favors with others in the organization for mutual benefits, and lobbying on behalf of or against a particular individual or decision alternative.

A final comment relates to what has been referred to as the “legitimate – illegitimate” dimension in political behavior. Legitimate political behavior refers to normal everyday politics – complaining to your supervisor, by passing the chain command, forming coalitions, obstructing organizational policies or decisions through inaction or excessive adherence to rules, and developing contacts outside the organization through one’s professional activities. On the other hand, there are also illegitimate political behaviors that violate the implied rules of the games. Those who pursue such extreme activities includes sabotage, whistle-blowing , and symbolic protests such as wearing unorthodox dress or protest buttons and groups of employees simultaneously calling in sick. The vast majority of all organizational political actions are of the legitimate variety. The reason are pragmatic The extreme illegitimate forms of political behavior pose a very real risk of loss of organizational membership or extreme sanctions against those who use them and then fall short in having enough power to ensure that they work.

ARTICLE NO1

Hiring a Family Member and Office Politics can get out of control, but there are some steps you can take to keep the madness in check.

In today’s world it is become a routine of employees of an organization to engage in Office politics. Office politics is all about tittle-tattle like she said this and he said this and someone whom does not deserve got the promotion. But what happens if the boss suddenly brings in a family member to help and get him/her involved in the organizational activities. Politics in Organization may get rise when a family member is hired. Especially if they are appointed on the authority position, this can generate a very tense atmosphere and uncomfortable working environment.

Suppose that if you are the boss and have to take into consideration the effects of hiring a family member may disturb your workforce. For the reason that family member sometimes make mess unintentionally and sometimes even intentionally. And it can be hard for the people working with you to accept that you are trying to be impartial to both sides. Because on one side you will have a family member that expects you to side with them over any trouble they are involved because you have relation with them. And On the other side you have trustworthy employees that hope you will side with them but think that you won’t. In this kind of situation you just stuck in the middle possibly finding some way to get rid of it. Hiring family member after a business has become victorious is different than if they had been there since the beginning. If they are hired at the start then they will be considered a part of the team. Because they helped the company to achieve the levels of success, but hiring family member after success has become a truth in that case family member trying to benefit from everyone else’s efforts.

There is some couple of steps that should be taken to avoid this kind of potential situation. Bring the family member to work and let them meet with your employees. Let your family member make that all important first impression on your employees. Then you can ask your workers for advice. Get some input before you thrust someone new in their midst. Being a boss you should be assure that to whom you hiring. You can’t afford family members who assume that they can do anything because they are directly related to boss, this sort of situation happen often. And if this thing happens then it could be a cause of bringing your organization upside down. You do not want an employee around that thinks they can abuse their position. Having family work for you can be a good thing but you must be extra attentive when you are about to hire them.

ARTICLE NO2

Organizational Politics for People Who Hate Politics

Politics exist in every organization. Sometimes it is good for the organization and sometime it’s bad. It is good in a sense that it creates competition between employees within the organization and due to this competition they start working efficiently which is a positive point for the organization. When workers will do well then for sure they will also get some rewards in return.

Politics also has a bad impact on organization. It may make feel workers that their value is zero in organization. No importance is given to their ideas. Sometimes organizations have to lose their best employees due to politics between them. Many powerful employees in organizations try to degrade other employees. New workers feel difficult to adjust in organization.

Workers have to manage their inner politics first. They are working for the organization not for the other workers. They have to think before acting. Now-a-days it is our routine that we think about the action when it is performed. We have to analyze advantages and disadvantages before performing any action. We have to explore possible paths for increasing our self-awareness for practical and learning purposes.

Close and trusting relationships are essential for health and political success. In a working place relationships are created suddenly when someone feels political advantage. These relationships are maintained according to the advantages and it enhances your working skills.

Every organization has their culture which shows how work is done in that organization? How each and every staff member is treated by their upper level staff? How importance is given to them? And what type of working environment they have? When we are working in a hierarchy of organization its culture is more powerful than us. We can influence it but not control it. Before doing any work we have to see our limitations. We have to do our work in our limits. Always find the solutions that respect your limitations and organizations culture.

An effective worker accepts the political nature of the organization. By assessing behavior in a political framework, you can better predict the actions others and use that information to formulate political strategies that will gain advantages for you and your work unit.

ARTICLE NO3

How to Deal with Office Politics

Office politics subsists in every organization and can be found at each level of position. In some organizations office politics is just harmless gossips but some time it ends with the job termination. Some employees try to gain advantages from office politics for success. But always try to avoid such politics which has some effect on your carrier.

Most of the employees play office politics to gain advantages such as: power over others; to get promotion which they don’t deserve; to gain competitive advantage or to avail other unethical benefits.

Sometimes people get involved in office politics without knowing, so it is almost impossible to avoid it. So try to use tricks for surviving from this politics.

Try to be positive and be sincere with your work and try to help your co-workers, it will show positive feeling towards your boss and your colleagues.

Close and trusting relationships are essential for health and political success. In a working place relationships are created suddenly when someone feels political advantage. Try to make strong relationship with your colleagues; it will make them aware that you are honest and sincere with them. It will reduce the chances of you to be target by the office politics.

You are in an office for work not for gossips. Gossiping is a huge waste of time and you may catch up by your boss while gossiping which may create some negative feeling in boss mind and that must have a bad impact on your job carrier.

Try to work hard and put your actual effort while doing your work that your work will speak itself that you have worked really hard. Try to be cool, calm and sweet when you are talking and working with your colleagues. Compliment others where possible. It will help you to win the heart of your colleagues.

Give credit to your colleagues for the work done in organization and show them that they are very hard working and the current status of organization is just because of them. This will create a bridge of trust between you and your colleague.

Always speak wisely. Do not use bad language as it shows bad impact on others. Never join others when they are saying some bad words about some of your other colleagues or about your organization because maybe for saving themselves and in try to impress the boss they ruin you. Never believe anything without verification. In organizations very kind of gossips are circulating which often are not true. Make yourself aware about what is happening around you.

Always try to maintain good relationships with your seniors without thinking that what type of person he is. Always follow the directions given by your boss. Don’t ever try to cut his

way. If you have a good relationship with your boss than he will definitely look after you and help you in facing office politics.

ARTICLE NO4:

The New Face of office Politics

Politics is Power. It is practiced on day to day basis and is found almost every where. Power is very important and every one wants power, as long as you are powerful you are satisfied and successful. Eldred, a 56 year old teacher and consultant, says “People in organization demonstrate power in every conversation, every decision and every interaction “

Politics, one way or the other is very important to be in the organization, as if it isn’t there a person will never progress and will never come to know where exactly he or she is lacking behind from others, it in other words makes a person stronger to compete in a political envoirment. Practicing politics simply means increasing the option for effective results.

As we know politics is every where, every organization does have politics to some extend, so if a person is trying to be a part of any organization, he/she should be skillful enough to deal with issues leading to conflicts, or should have enough knowledge to handle the situation sensibly.

Politics also require networking that is unless and until there is a proper association with people; no one is going to be active in politics. When a person is new in an organization, there are hardly some people one get to know in early days, so socializing with people and getting to know them helps a lot, like this we get to know about different attitudes of different people as well.

Power and Politics are interrelated; Politics is about getting aware of the strengths and weaknesses of a particular envoirment, and then handling and maintaining the relationships. I n an organization, the major role that rules is of Power. Every person understands the language of power; if you are powerful you can survive easily, and can do what you want to do.

Article no 5:

USING OFFICE POLITICS IN YOUR ADVANTAGE

This article is about how to use office politics as a source of our advantage factor. It is mostly seen that the self-promoting people seek a fast track to the top but when competition comes between people who are interested in a promotion, then the ones who are political savvy wins. These people are interpersonally skilled; they know what to say, when and to whom.

Although, politics is considered to be a low-down dirty means of getting ahead, and is mostly seen as a negative aspect of human relations, but still it is a great equalizer in terms of gender, (i.e.) both male and female, who ever is good at it, have an edge.

Women, being in minority, come in more notice. In work place they should worry about how the will be labeled. How women walk, talk, dress, with whom they are more socializing, all comes in notice. The truth is that at work people are going to label you anyway, so one should be bold enough to tackle such scenarios.

Workplace politics is often constructive as well as destructive. Many people, especially women feel uncomfortable about developing favor banks, they prefer more to be judged on their merits rather than what favor they have done for someone. Whether male or female, to see that you deserve recognition and/or advancement you should know how to manage your career in terms of politics.

Visit and Interview at the organization

Organization: PTCL

Location of visited place: PTCL Headquarters G8/4 Islamabad

Person Interviewed: Mr Khawaja Asif Butt

Question (1): According to you what is power, and what are the reasons of conflicts or politics?

Answer: Power is very important and everyone wants power, as long as you are powerful you are satisfied and successful. Conflicts are more found in the middle-management, they are the main people creating it people in this management want to make their job permanent and also they also strive for better salary and this creates a feeling of competition amongst them. This competition leads them to get involved in organizational politics. Professional clashes are the main reason of politics in an organization.

Question (2): Are there any issues PTCL is facing, with any decision made by the company?

Answer: PTCL was privatized by ATISALAT in 2005, since then the technical department, on which PTCL relies the most for his revenue, is not satisfied. According to them the government has not made a good decision in privatizing the company, because it was worth itself before.

When the engineers had a hold over the company, it was far successful, earning revenue of Rs. 34 Arabs, and now it earns revenue of Rs. 10 Arabs only. The (HR) department, the Finance department, the marketing department are vast in their areas but no use of it, because no services for the customers. This creates conflicts.

Question (3): If your relative or near one is a part of PTCL and you get a job there on their approach, what are the consequences?

Answer: Giving preference to the one with approach is old trend in PTCL, but after the privatization in 2005, it is found more in PTCL that people with the approaches are more facilitated, they are given ease and comfort in their work, which compel other employees in things like backbiting, leg pulling, creating gossips around, which slowly and gradually turns out to be a reason of a conflict between different groups.

Question (4): How long does the approach helps you?

Answer: As long as your near one is the part of the company, and is posted to some high designation or good post, you can enjoy all the opportunities but after that if the person retires or anything happens due to which he had to leave his post, the facility of that approach declines as well, and then the survival and adjustment becomes very difficult in such a political scenario, where every other person is busy in leg pulling, back biting and making fake stories about what is going on in the company.

Question (5): If you are new in PTCL, how difficult is it to adjust in this company?

Answer: If you are new in PTCL, it is upon you how you adjust because politically it isn’t easy as people will pull you down and will never let you grow, so if you are that politically strong only then you could be able to survive in a certain envoirment. Politics is everywhere and if you want to be a part of any organization, you have to be strong enough to face such situations, until and unless you are stable enough to take a stand, if you are working as contractual, people will strive hard to make you loose your job. As long as you a re permanent, you become stable and then hardly people can pull you off your job.

Question (6): What is the environment of PTCL? can we call it a true cooperate culture?

The environment of PTCL is very good. The employees are very co-operative to eachother. No, but it can be categorized in the cooperate culture with some exceptions.Answer from the local office:They don’t really about the term. But what we see there it was atypical culture which you can see in every Govt. organization of Pakistan. Use ofPunjabi language,chit chat with co-workers in office timing.

Question (7):What techniques are used in the PTCL for the performance evaluation?

Ans: ) The performance evaluation done in the PTCL on the basis of cooperation, communications ability, initiative, punctuality and technical (work skills) competence.

Question (8): How you motivate your employees?

PTCL give to its employees a no. of incentives so that they do their work efficiently.The incentives like pension, Disability Pension, Death Benefits, Loan Facility(Car & motorcycle loan), Provident Fund, Maintenance, Pick & Drop, Accommodation.

Question (9): Is the discrimination in the facilities and pays of have any adverseAffect on the performance of employees?

Ans: He said no it’s not true. So actually he tried to avoid the answer.

Question (10): The quota system is not a reason to affect your performanceadversely?

Ans: No, it’s a rule apply by the Govt. and it is necessary to give all the provinces a sharein the jobs opportunities at PTCL.

Question (11):As per our information there is a problem of overstaffing in the PTCL,so in these conditions how we can say that PTCL’s employees are efficient?

Ans: No, the perception is not true. We have a very efficient workforce.

Conclusion & Recommendations:

After getting all the desired information and critically analyzing the organization we After getting all the desired information and critically analyzing the organization welike to recommend and conclude our thinking and findings in following points. like to recommend and conclude our thinking and findings in following points.

¨ PTCL is an overstaffed Organization so there will be Restructuring of the PTCL is an overstaffed Organization so there will be Restructuring of the organization or Downsizing. organization or Downsizing.

¨ PTCL should be up to the International standards i.e. 166 lines/employee PTCL should be up to the International standards i.e. 166 lines/employee (lineman). (lineman) so that they may feel positive about their organization.

¨ Staffing will have to be on Merit and Fair rather than on Personnel links and Staffing will have to be on Merit and Fair rather than on Personnel links and unfair means. unfair means.

¨ The employees at PTCL have lackness in motivation so the organization has to The employees at PTCL have lackness in motivation so the organization has to set challenging tasks and jobs for them to make them active and energetic. set challenging tasks and jobs for them to make them active and energetic.

¨ The compensation system should be equivalent to the other multinational and The compensation system should be equivalent to the other multinational and international organizations working in Pakistan in the same field and industry. international organizations working in Pakistan in the same field and industry.

¨ Along with the domestic Trainers, PTCL will have to hire External Trainers from Along with the domestic Trainers, PTCL will have to hire External Trainers from France, Germany, China, and Switzerland so that they will able to train their France, Germany, China, and Switzerland so that they will able to train their employees in Pakistan on International standards and with modern Education employees in Pakistan on International standards and with modern Educationand Technology. and Technology.

¨ There are only 38 dispensaries for 56,000 PTCL employees all over the There are only 38 dispensaries for 56,000 PTCL employees all over the Pakistan that is less so they will have to increase the number of Dispensaries Pakistan that is less so they will have to increase the number of Dispensaries¨ Promotions in PTCL should be on the basis of achievements, skills, Promotions in PTCL should be on the basis of achievements, skills, performances, behavior, attributes, rather than on seniority. performances, behavior, attributes, rather than on seniority.

¨ After getting training the employees should be on the right place for which After getting training the employees should be on the right place for whichthey were trained for. they were trained for.

Pictorial representation of Topic

Politics in Organizations

Appendices

Sites Visited

http://www.ptcl.com.pk

http://www.pakboi.gov.pk/html/PTCL_restructuring.html

http://www.telecomfoundation.com/files/projects.htm

http://www.ptcl.com.pk/download/ptcl_org_chart.pdf

http://www.ptcl.com.pk/w_human_resourses.html

http://www.ptcl.com.pk/news/may 17_tele_challenges.html

http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/moitt/news/current/moit03042004.pdf

http://www.ptcl.com.pk/directors_report_2007.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Telecommunication_Company

www.thenews.com.pk