The Crime Fighting Task Force: An Exercise in Organizational Politics

Authors

  • R. Bruce McAfee
  • Robert A. Herring

Abstract

Few exercises have been developed that focus on political behavior in organizations. This paper describes an exercise that teaches participants about political tactics and their underlying hidden agendas. In the exercise, students are divided into two groups: members of a Crime Fighting Task Force and observers. The committee members discuss how to combat crime while the observers watch for political tactics and then meet to pool their observations. Ultimately the exercise is debriefed in terms of political tactics, hidden agendas, group decision making and the relationship between the three of these.

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Published

1993-03-09