Interpersonal competition in organization: an investigation of antecedents

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the antecedents of the competitive pressure felt by individuals in organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The data for this study are obtained from workers from multiple firms in various industries.

Findings

The results indicate that employees have a strong feeling of competitive anxiety and a sense of rivalry when their tasks are interdependent to one another, when they have a competition-oriented personality and when the relative evaluation scale is used for performance appraisal. The perceived proportion of performance pay only increased the sense of rivalry, while it did not increase the competitive anxiety. Also, intrinsic motivation and transformational leadership help mitigate both competitive anxiety and sense of rivalry.

Practical implications

The author recommends that managers utilize these factors to maintain an appropriate level of competition depending on their organizations' needs.

Originality/value

The original value of this study lies in its attempt to examine how competitive mindset is developed among interpersonal relationships in organizations.

Citation

Lee, H.-W. (2020), "Interpersonal competition in organization: an investigation of antecedents", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 41 No. 8, pp. 1363-1383. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-06-2019-0294