ASSIGNMENT 3
POSITION PAPER: POWER, POLITICS,
AND CULTURE
worth 250 points Power and politics greatly influence an organization’s culture. In business, the
culture can make or break an organization’s productivity. In this assignment,
you’ll analyze the ways power and politics have influenced an organization’s
culture. You’ll apply best practices you learned in course resources and your
own research to make recommendations for improving this
organization’s culture. PREPARATION
Using the same organization from the first two assignments, imagine the CEO
has now requested your task force investigate the influence of power and
politics on the corporate culture. You have been asked to prepare a position
paper that presents and supports your recommendations to
improve the culture.
Prepare for this assignment by delving into the organization’s culture and identifying the resources you, the task force leader, will use to create your
research-supported position paper. Use at least two quality resources such as
the course textbook, company website, business websites (CNBC, Bloomberg,
etc.), resources from the Strayer Library, and/or outside sources.
Note: Wikipedia and web-based blogs do not qualify as credible resources. INSTRUCTIONS
Develop your position paper, addressing the following components:
1. Influence of Politics and Power
Explain how politics and power-play may have influenced the
organization’s culture.
2. Sources of Power
Explore the sources of power and describe how management could
use this influence to benefit your department and improve
organizational performance.
3. Leadership Behavior and Culture
Make recommendations that support how the study of power and
politics could influence leadership behavior and improve the
organization’s culture.
4. Leadership Influence
Discuss the importance and complexity of leadership behavior. How
does it influence organizational structure and performance?
5. Executive Summary
Prepare an executive summary that presents your recommendations
for ways in which the organization could build a stronger culture.
Note: An executive summary is a condensed version of your full
report. It should summarize briefly all the main points in concise
paragraphs. It should be written clearly and should use
language appropriate for the audience. PROFESSIONAL AND APA FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS
Your assignment must follow these general APA formatting requirements:
Be typed (five to seven pages recommended, excluding cover and
reference pages), double-spaced, using Times New Roman font
(size 12) with one-inch margins on all sides
Include a References List
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the
student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date
Include in-text citations following APA style, using attributive tags
and signal verbs
Cite at least two credible sources POINTS: 250 Criteria 1. Influence of
Politics and
Power
Weight: 20% ASSIGNMENT 3: POSITION PAPER: POWER, POLITICS, AND CULTURE
Unacceptable
Below 70% F
Does not
explain how
politics and
power-play
may have
influenced the
organization’s
culture. Fair
70-79% C Proficient
80-89% B Exemplary
90-100% A Partially
explains how
politics and
power-play may
have influenced
the organization’s culture.
Identifies some
issues but
does not fully
explore them or
make a strong
connection to
their impact.
Uses little
research
support. Satisfactorily
explains how
politics and
power-play may
have influenced
the organization’s culture.
Identifies some
core issues and
connects them
to the impact
on the culture.
The explanation uses
research
support Completely
explains how
politics and
power-play may
have influenced
the organization’s culture.
Accurately
identifies the
core issues and
strongly connects them to
the impact on
culture. The
explanation is
well-supported
by research. 2. Sources of
Power
Weight: 20% 3. Leadership
Behavior and
Culture
Weight: 20% Does not identify the sources
of power or
describe how
management
could use this
influence to
enhance organizational performance. There is
no reference to
research Partially identifies the sources of power
and describes
how management could use
this influence
to enhance
organizational
performance.
Not all key
concepts are
identified and
there is a loose
connection to
performance.
There is little
research
support. Satisfactorily
identifies the
sources of
power and
describes how
management
could use this
influence to
enhance organizational performance. Most
key concepts
are accurately
identified and
there is a connection to
enhanced performance with
research
support. Completely
identifies the
sources of
power and
describes how
management
could use this
influence to
enhance organizational performance. Uses
relevant key
concepts and
makes valid
connections to
enhanced
performance
that are
well-supported
by research Does not identify the sources
of power or
describe how
management
could use this
influence to
enhance organizational performance. There is
no reference to
research Partially recommends how the
study of power
and politics
could influence
leadership
behavior and
impact the
organization’s
culture, but the
recommendations are unclear
or unrealistic.
There is no clear
connection to
the impact on
culture. There is
little or no
research
support. Satisfactorily
identifies the
sources of
power and
describes how
management
could use this
influence to
enhance organizational performance. Most
key concepts
are accurately
identified and
there is a connection to
enhanced performance with
research
support. Provides excellent recommendations as to
how the study of
power and politics could influence leadership
behavior and
impact the organization’s
culture. Recommendations are
credible and
relevant with a
strong connection to the
impact on
culture backed
by well-supported research. 4. Leadership
Influence
Weight: 20% 5. Executive
Summary
Weight: 10% Does not
recommend
how the study
of power and
politics could
influence leadership behavior
and impact the
organization’s
culture. There is
no reference to
research. Partially recommends how the
study of power
and politics
could influence
leadership
behavior and
impact the
organization’s
culture, but the
recommendations are
unclear or
unrealistic.
There is no
clear connection to the
impact on
culture. There
is little or no
research
support. Satisfactorily
recommends
how the study
of power and
politics could
influence leadership behavior
and impact the
organization’s
culture. Recommendations are
clear and
mostly realistic;
there is a connection to the
impact on
culture.
Research support is evident. Provides excellent recommendations as to
how the study
of power and
politics could
influence leadership behavior
and impact the
organization’s
culture. Recommendations are
credible and
relevant with a
strong connection to the
impact on
culture
backed by
well-supported
research. Does not
discuss how the
importance and
complexity of
leadership
behavior
influences
organizational
structure and
performance.
There is no
reference to
research. Partially
discusses how
the importance
and complexity
of leadership
behavior influences organizational structure
and performance. Some
key concepts
are missing
and there is
little or no
research
support. Satisfactorily
discusses how
the importance
and complexity
of leadership
behavior
influences
organizational
structure and
performance.
Most key concepts are presented with
research
support. Thoroughly
discusses how
the importance
and complexity
of leadership
behavior
influences
organizational
structure and
performance.
Relevant key
concepts are
presented with
strong research
support. 6. Write
Professionally
Using Quality
Resources
Weight: 10% Writing does not
meet minimum
standards. Tone
is not professional. Communication is
wholly lacking
in logic, clarity,
and/or consistent formatting.
Contains many
spelling,
mechanical,
formatting,
citation, and/or
grammatical
errors.
References are
not provided. Writing is satisfactory. Professional tone is
developing.
Shows moderate logic, clarity, and/or consistent formatting. May contain more than
a few spelling,
grammar,
mechanical,
formatting, or
citation errors.
Does not meet
the required
number of
references;
some or all
references are
of poor quality. Writing could
be improved,
but meets
acceptable
standards. Tone
is professional.
Shows logic,
clarity, and
consistent
formatting. May
contain few or
no spelling,
mechanical,
and/or grammatical errors.
There may be
minor formatting or citation
errors.
Meets the
number of
required references; all references are
high-quality
choices Writing is excellent. Tone is
professional
and sophisticated. Shows logic,
clarity, and
consistent
formatting.
Contains no
spelling,
mechanical, or
grammatical
errors. Is free of
formatting and
citation errors.
Exceeds
number of
required references; all references are
high-quality
choices
