Business Politics is a tricky game, the outcome depends greatly on who you are dealing with. The term “Business Politics” was coined in 1982 by the Canadian academic defined the term; “a mixture of economics, law and politics.” Business Politics is a general term used to describe any relationship between business personnel, politicians, and public policy makers in public policy arenas such as industry, immigration, business laws, taxation, trade relations, and foreign-policy affairs. The term has since become a popular term for an entire field of study that studies and categorizes different types of relationships that exist between business and public policy makers and public policy. Business Politics as a subject matter was first introduced in the Oxford University Press book; “Business Politics: A Review of the Relationship Between Public Policy and Business.”
The study of business politics has been divided into two main categories. The first category focuses on identifying specific conflicts over policy, objectives, interests, and goals between business and government officials. The second main category is organizational behavior as a set of psychological processes that cause organizations to take action. Organizations that exhibit powerful organizational behaviors toward other organizations are said to have “business politics.” These behaviors can be described as a set of inter-organizational pressures or threats that cause members of an organization to form a consensus or otherwise to respond to one another rather than abstract or blanket public policies.
Covert operations in politics are also a type of politics. These are practices where politicians or other officials manipulate the legal framework of a country or society for their own ends. These are considered to be unlawful covert political actions. Covert politics is often characterized by the use of deception or the illusion of public visibility for the purpose of gaining power or public approval through the use of manipulative techniques. For example, prominent public figures may use well-known news organizations to smear their opponents instead of bringing out the facts.
A book that looks into the relationship between business and government officials and how they are able to co-exist with each other in a healthy business environment is called Coercion: The Art of Public Service. This book was written by two eminent German scholars, Henric Hurst and Giacomo Luciani. They created an intriguing discussion by looking at the case of organized crime in Italy during the years of World War II. Their research exposed both the collaboration of businessmen and politicians in order to secure business interests and the perils that could come from this sort of collaboration. Their book discusses such topics as mafia wars, the role of organized crime in public life, and the ways in which business needs dictate political priorities.
Business and politics are also intertwined with each other in the realm of organizational behavior. Organizational behavior, or the way people interact and work within a group, is affected by the political climate and the cultural assumptions about it. Different institutions are prone to different political orientations and business organizations in different industries adopt specific norms that affect their employees, clients and other co-workers. This book looks closely at how various political factors can bring out organizational behavior and examines the role that public policies have to play.
Among the many books that have been dedicated to business and politics, the one that stands out is Business and Politics in the New Economy by Henric Hurst and Giacomo Luciani. Other great books that deal with business and politics include: Review of Business Cards: An Introduction (Rudolph de Haan, 2021), The Battle for Workplace Power (eds), The Conservative Revolution in the United States (Rajesh Gopalakrishnan and James P. Doyle, 2021), The Republican Revolution in America (Rajesh Gopalakrishnan and James P. Doyle, 2021), Why We Think We Are Worth It (Rajesh Gopalakrishnan and Kamala Markandya, 1999), What’s Your Value? (Karanja J. Ghosh, forthcoming), The Essence of Corporate Risk (P. Peter Tsang, forthcoming), and Thinking Like a Moneyman (Carlo Carbonell and Carlo DiClemente, forthcoming). The book Business and Politics in the New Economy by Henric Hurst and Giacomo Luciani is a very good primer on the subject. The only criticism would be that it could use more research regarding how political factors affect companies and business decision making. This review, however, does not overshadow the overall value of the book as a serious guide to business and politics.
