Military Workplace Politics

Findings

Demographics

The research made use of fifty US military personnel evenly distributed from the various military bass across the US. Among the respondents who turned up in the study, 70% consisted of males while 30% were female. 90% of the members of the military were from active duty, 10% were from the reserve. The research population included the top rank as well as junior military personnel, term of service notwithstanding. It was expected of them to provide information on the effect of politics on military leadership.

Experience With Military Workplace Politics

All the respondents related some experience with military workplace political behaviors, most of who confessed to having considered quitting service at some point in their carrier as a result of mistreatment and abject unfairness on political grounds. The analysis of experiences of petty tyranny in the scale of the military camps gave an indication of insignificant variations regarding military workplace politics on gender, and race. Respondents that were in reserves recounted minimal experiences of negative effects of military workplaces politics (M = 58.34, SD = 37) than did the respondents in active duty (M = 134, SD = 43.2), with a significant components difference (F = 4.93, p = .016). the respondents of higher ranks such as the major general reported more negative effects of the workplace from their superiors (M = 130.5, SD = 59.2) than it was experienced by the respondents without ranks (M = 118.3, SD = 54.9) Table 1 bears a reflection of negative leadership behaviors that are most frequently experienced in a military workplaces politics. Not much non-contingent punishment problem responses were reported by the respondents.

Most frequently experienced effects of politics in military leadership

60% of the interviewed respondents who had served long enough in the military had a belief that they had been overlooked for promotion or advancement into higher positions by leadership because they were not their favorites. 20% of such respondents were of contrary opinion whereas the remaining 20% had not experienced this scenario as most of them were in their early years of service, probably too early for promotion, and therefore had not attempted to seek higher positions.

Of those who took part in the study, a larger majority had a feeling that it was crucial for them to be liked by their leaders to attract their mentorship for rising into leadership positions themselves, while a negligible fraction of the respondents did not believe that they had to win their bosses affection in order to gain their mentorship to rise into a higher carrier level. in fact, a respondent pointed out that it would be easier to rise to a higher position if the immediate leader did not like and therefore cared little about what you did, as it will hit them with a dumbfound surprise.

40% of the respondents reported having experienced a carrier mentor in their service life who did not relate cordially with his or her superiors most probably due to envy and jealousy, but on slim grounds, due to fear that they would share command secrets with the subordinates. Of the remaining 60% of the respondents, a majority was serving their early years in the military and had therefore not been keen to identify any peculiar relationships among the superiors while the rest did not comment on that issue.

67% of the respondent reported having been involved in scenarios where their carrier education progress was thwarted by leaders who had personal treasons against them. 30% of the respondents reported that their leadership, as well as commander, did not block the progress of anyone with carrier education ambitions irrespective of personal squabbles, while the rest had no idea of how their leadership would react if they requested for such an opportunity.

A two-thirds of the respondents believed that the manner in which a person got along with his or her peers mattered a lot when it came to being selected for promotions and carrier advancements, school as well as other related opportunities that are crucial for leadership development. However, a minority of the respondents believed that opportunity within the military docket seemed to surpass the number of those who are in pursuit of it. 

Discussion

The findings of this study have identified exploratory as well as preliminary evidence for the proposition that politics permeating the behavior of soldiers in operations has a great impact on their civil-military relationship during their operation life (Byers, 1974). The findings expose increased margins of maneuvering behavior among the militants to ascend to higher carrier altitudes. Soldiers should strive to improve at handling their hybrid responsibilities, which contain reputational demolition by deviant antecedents, and the way of capitalizing on strengths accruing from exposure to the opportunity to be more effective (Hilsman, 1957). The political attraction may involve personnel without sufficient competent qualities to forge wise behaviors enough to maintain being on the safe side even if they possess proper education and training. In conclusion, this phenomenon of military workplace politics poses challenges that do not have any easy solutions (Etzioni, A., & Janowitz, 1960). As it appears, there is a likelihood of strategic corporals that are in operations being drawn into command, competence notwithstanding, and this will germinate a chronic risk whose mitigation would remain a nemesis.

References

Byers, R. (1974). Kurt Lang, Military Institutions and the Sociology of War. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1972, pp. 337. - Bergt Abrahamsson, Military Professionalization and Political Power. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1972, pp. 184. Canadian Journal Of Political Science, 7(1), 183-185. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008423900038208

Etzioni, A., & Janowitz, M. (1960). The Professional Soldier: A Social and Political Portrait. Political Science Quarterly, 75(4), 638. https://doi.org/10.2307/2145838

Hilsman, R. (1957). Soldiers and Scholars: Military Education and National Policy. By John W. Masland and Laurance I. Radway. (Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1957. Pp. xx, 530. $7.50.) - The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations. By Samuel P. Huntington. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 1957. Pp. xiii, 534. $7.50.). American Political Science Review, 51(4), 1091-1094. https://doi.org/10.2307/1952455