ABSTRACT
People think and want to act differently because they come from different national cultures and different subcultures within organisations and because they are unique individuals with their own agendas in life and in organisations. This chapter draws extensively, but not wholly, on the approach to organisational politics that is presented by Gareth Morgan in a chapter of his fascinating book Images of Organization. Each person has their own interests that they are trying to further. Life would be easy if each person only had one interest, but most people will have a number of conflicting interests. Internal stakeholder interests: the policies and behaviours of organisations are not just a result of the resolution of internal conflicting interests, but are also the result of the interests of internal stakeholders. Conflict arises whenever interests collide. Power is the medium through which conflicts of interest are ultimately resolved. Power influences who gets what, when and how.
