Empire-building

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In political science, empire-building refers to the tendency of countries and nations to acquire resources, land, and economic influence outside of their borders in order to expand their size, power, and wealth.

In business, empire-building is demonstrated when an individual or small group attempts to gain control over key projects and initiatives in order to maximize their job security and promotability. Project leadership hoards potential credit and prestige the project can produce. Because this approach prevents other people in the organization from contributing in a meaningful manner, and alternative or competing projects to address the project's goals are destroyed regardless of their merit, the company suffers as a whole, the projects fail, and the goals of the project are achieved only partially, inadequately, or not at all. This sort of behaviour is supposed to be stopped by upper management, but is nevertheless very common.