ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses three discourses on organisational politics (OP) and relates them to organisational change—micro-, meso- and macro-politics. It argues that each has limitations because the politics they consider are embedded within the status quo. A micro-, meso- and macro-politics distinction is employed as a heuristic device to represent the different ways in which OP have been understood in the literature. The chapter examines the politics of self, which is evident in how the change agents sought to legitimise and elevate themselves. It proposes the interrelationship between local and national level politics, how this was represented through the media and how it impacted on the change programme. A focus on macro-politics considers the impact of the wider political environment on organisations and introduces new ‘external’ players. In relation to the chess metaphor, this can be compared to focusing on how the building or lighting impacts on the chess players.
