TY - JOUR AB - Purpose Whether an organization’s political behaviour is positively related to its performance has been a long-standing question. Most studies elaborating on this issue, although rich in detail, primarily have been limited to case studies, apart from a niche set of studies in international business. This study aims to explore this question through a survey study of managers and executives from around the world, across a range of industries.Design/methodology/approach The study explores the link between politics, the ability of a firm to speedily reach the market and its growth rate through a study of 382 executives from across the world. It also investigates alternative explanations of slow speed to market due to power centralization, decision-making layers and conflict.Findings The results show that politics – the observable but often covert actions through which executives influence internal decisions – has a direct negative effect on a firm’s ability to reach the market first and on its growth rate. That is, not only is politics time-consuming but it may also have a detrimental impact on the selection of the best growth opportunities.Originality/value Politics does have a negative impact on growth; it slows down a firm’s growth and its ability to reach the market. This study eliminates possible alternative explanations of a slow pace to market: slower companies are not so because they have too many decision-making layers but because they use consultative processes in resource-allocation decisions, or because of conflict. VL - 27 IS - 4 SN - 2059-6014 DO - 10.1108/RIBS-09-2017-0073 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/RIBS-09-2017-0073 AU - Garbuio Massimo AU - Lovallo Dan PY - 2017 Y1 - 2017/01/01 TI - Does organizational politics kill company growth? T2 - Review of International Business and Strategy PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 410 EP - 433 Y2 - 2024/03/29 ER -