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                                                         THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP ON ORGANISATIONAL POLITICS 
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                                                                                                           BY 
                                                                                                          CHARLES A ROBB
                              
             THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP ON ORGANISATIONAL POLITICS 
                              
                            BY 
                        CHARLES A ROBB 
                              
                              
                              
                In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of 
                              
                              
                              
                  MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 
                              
                           (MBA) 
           
           
                            In 
                              
                              
                  The faculty of Business and Economic Sciences  
                              
                            At the  
                              
                              
                 NELSON MANDELA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY 
                              
                              
                        Promoter: Prof. D Berry 
                              
                              
                         November 2011 
                   DECLARATION 
                    
                   DEPARTMENT OF ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATION  
                   EXAMINATION SECTION – NORTH CAMPUS 
                   PO Box 77000 
                   Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 
                   Port Elizabeth, 6013 
                   Tel.: +27 (0) 41 504 3206 / 504 3392 
                   Fax. +27 (0) 41 504 9206 / 504 3064 
                    
                                         DECLARATION BY STUDENT 
                                                       
                   NAME:      Charles Arthur Robb 
                    
                   STUDENT NUMBER:        20143503 
                    
                   QUALIFICATION:  Masters in Business Administration 
                    
                   TITLE:     Impact of Leadership on Organisational Politics 
                     
                   DECLARATION:   
                   In  accordance  with  Rule  G4.6.3,  I  hereby  declare  that  the  above-mentioned 
                   treatise  is  my  own  work  and  that  it  has  not  previously  been  submitted  for 
                   assessment to another University or for another qualification. 
                    
                   SIGNATURE:       ……………………………….. 
                    
                   DATE:            ……………………………….. 
                                                      i 
                    
          ABSTRACT 
          Today‘s  workforce  consists  of  employees  with  diverse  personalities,  cultural 
          backgrounds,  nationalities,  needs  and  wants,  thus  creating  new  challenges  for 
          today‘s leaders. 
          One  of  the  primary  functions  of  leadership  is  the  management  of  employee 
          perceptions that influence organisational outcomes. Among these perceptions the 
          perception of politics is an influential type of organisational phenomenon. 
          There is no denying the fact that leadership greatly affects the performance of 
          organisations.  According  to  DuBrin  (2010:8),  an  overview  of  research  on 
          managerial  succession  conducted  over  a  20  year  period  provides  support  that 
          leadership  has  an  impact  on  organisational  performance.  The  analysis  of  the 
          research found that leaders might be responsible for somewhere between 15 per 
          cent and 45 per cent of a firm‘s performance. 
          From  the  above  mentioned  research,  it  can  be  seen  that  the  importance  of 
          leadership cannot be underestimated when regulating the effect of politics in the 
          working environment and to achieve the company goals and objectives. 
          Part of the challenge today‘s leaders face is to help employees to see the different 
          perspectives of political actions as a positive force, rather than seeing these as 
          negative processes that cause internal competition for resources, recognition and 
          promotions.  
          Company  politics  does  not  have  to  be  about  back  stabbing,  internal  rivalry, 
          manipulation for power and lack of trust. With the development of proper skills and 
          personal and organisational goals, positive organisational politics provides the real 
          foundation  for  competitive  advantage  to  benefit  the  employee  as  well  as  the 
          organisation. 
          The main purpose of this research paper is to identify the influence of leadership 
          on organisational politics. The first step was to complete a literature study on the 
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