Search results

This study examined the moderating effect of perceived control on the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and two outcome variables: job stress and intent to quit. Survey data from 103 employees of a company in Malaysia were analyzed using moderated multiple regression. The results showed that perceived politics had adverse effects only on employees with low perceived control. Specifically, in a work environment that is perceived to be political, employees with low levels of perceived control reported experiencing more job stress and expressed greater intention to quit their job than did employees with high levels of perceived control. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to unpack the relationship between employees’ perceptions of organizational politics and their counterproductive work behaviour, by postulating a mediating role of organizational disidentification and a moderating role of perceived external crisis threats to work.

The empirical assessment of the hypotheses relies on survey data collected among employees who work in a large banking organization.

Perceptions that organizational decision-making is marked by self-serving behaviour increase the probability that employees seek to cause harm to their employer, because they feel embarrassed by their organizational membership. This mediating role of organizational disidentification is especially prominent when they ruminate about the negative impact of external crises on their work.

This study details an important danger for employees who feel upset with dysfunctional politics: They psychologically distance themselves from their employer, which then prompts them to formulate counterproductive responses that likely make it more difficult to take on the problem in a credible manner. This detrimental dynamic is particularly risky if an external crisis negatively interferes with their work functioning.

This study adds to prior research by detailing an unexplored but relevant mechanism (organizational disidentification) and moderator (external crisis threats) by which perceived organizational politics translates into enhanced counterproductive work behaviour.

Research on perceptions of organizational politics has mostly explored the negative aspects and detrimental outcomes for organizations and employees. Responding to recent calls in the literature for a more balanced treatment, we expand on how positive and negative organizational politics perceptions are perceived as stressors and affect employee outcomes through their influence on the social environment. We propose that employees appraise positive and negative organization politics perceptions as either challenge or hindrance stressors, to which they respond with engagement and disengagement as problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. Specifically, employees who appraise the negative politics perceptions as a hindrance, use both problem- and emotion-focused coping, which entails one of three strategies: (1) decreasing their engagement, (2) narrowing the focus of their engagement, or (3) disengaging. Although these strategies result in negative outcomes for the organization, employees’ coping leads to their positive well-being. In contrast, employees appraising positive politics perceptions as a challenge stressor use problem-focused coping, which involves increasing their engagement to reap the perceived benefits of a positive political environment. Yet, positive politics perceptions may also be appraised as a hindrance stressor in certain situations, and, therefore lead employees to apply emotion-focused coping wherein they use a disengagement strategy. By disengaging, they deal with the negative effects of politics perceptions, resulting in positive well-being. Thus, our framework suggests an unexpected twist to the stress process of politics perceptions as a strain-provoking component of employee work environments.

This study aims to examine the relationship between perceived organizational politics and emotional intelligence, and their interplay in the context of work attitudes/behaviors.

A sample of 368 employees was used to test a mediation effect of perceived organizational politics on the relationship between emotional intelligence on the one hand, and job satisfaction, turnover intentions and negligent behavior on the other.

Perceived organizational politics was found to mediate the relationship between emotional intelligence and all three outcomes.

Emotional intelligence training may be a powerful tool that organizations and human resource managers can employ to reduce perceived organizational politics and enhance work attitudes and performance.

This research broadens the scope through which the intersection between emotion and organizational politics can be viewed, taking it beyond the role of both felt emotion and affective disposition. The findings show that emotional intelligence directly affects perceptions of politics, and indirectly affects employees' work attitudes and behaviors, through a mediation effect of perceived politics.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the catalytic impact of perceptions of politics in organizations on the relationship between perceived unfairness and deviant behavior at work.

To test the proposed research model, the authors collected field data in a public sector university located in Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan. A two-wave questionnaire was distributed to 400 employees. In the first wave, the questionnaire was used to collect data on participants’ perceptions of perceived injustice and organizational politics. After two weeks, the second wave of data collection was conducted by sending another questionnaire to the same respondents to collect data on their organizational and interpersonal deviance.

Empirical findings revealed that perceived interactional injustice results in interpersonal deviance, and perceived distributive and procedural injustice results in organizational deviance. Moreover, the direct relationship between perceived injustice and deviant behaviors was stronger when the perception of politics factor was high.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to test the detrimental effect of perception of politics on deviance in a public organization in Pakistan.

This paper aims to test the effects of perception of organizational politics (POPS) on work outcomes–work engagement, innovative work behaviour and turnover intention. Mediating role of work engagement and the moderating role of locus of control (LOC) on perceived organizational politics–outcome (innovative work behaviour and turnover intention) relationship was investigated.

Data were gathered from a sample of 302 full-time managerial employees in India. Results suggest that perceived organizational politics is significantly related to intention to quit and innovative work behaviour, and this relationship is partially mediated by work engagement. LOC moderates the organizational politics–work outcomes (work engagement and innovative work behaviour) relationship.

The current research demonstrates that availability of a work environment, where there are unfair decisions, nepotism and favoritism, is an impediment to engagement, innovative work behaviour and retention of managers. It behooves of top management therefore focusing on reducing POPS and subsequent deficits in motivation by providing clear feedback regarding which behaviours their organization desires.

The study focused on POPS as reported by the employees and not on actual political behaviours. As the study did not cover all sectors, the results of this study should be interpreted with caution.

The study extended the current research stream of perceived organizational politics research to one of the underrepresented developing Asian countries, India. The study also contributes in terms of its sample characteristics. Managerial employees working across different sectors, served as the setting of our empirical study.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effect of organizational politics on the relationships between work engagement, in-role performance and organization citizenship behavior – organization (OCBO).

Theoretical hypotheses were tested using a sample of 107 supervisor-subordinate dyads in China. Outcome variables, such as in-role performance and OCBO, were rated by supervisors.

Contrary to the established literature on positive work engagement-work outcomes relationships, the findings supported the prediction that work engagement was negatively related to supervisor-rated in-role performance and OCBO when the organizational is perceived as highly political.

The sample size for this study is relatively small. In addition, the authors measured organizational politics from employees’ perspectives, which might not reflect reality objectively. Furthermore, the data were collected at a single time point, so causal relationships could not be validated.

When employees perceive the work environment as political, organizations need to be aware of non-work factors that may influence supervisors’ evaluation of employee performance to ensure they do not demotivate and discourage highly engaged employees.

Considerable research has shown that work engagement is positively related to in-role performance and OCBO. The present study, however, challenges and extends previous research by suggesting that work engagement can lead to low supervisor evaluation of in-role performance and OCBO when the organization is perceived to be political.

This study investigated employee cynicism and workplace ostracism as pathways through which perceived organizational politics (POPs) is related to counterproductive work behavior (CWB) targeted at individual coworkers (CWB-I) and the organization (CWB-O).

Data were collected from 794 university employees in Southeastern, Nigeria at three-point of measurements.

Results of the Structural Equation Modelling showed that POPs positively predicted CWB-I but did not predict CWB-O directly. POPs positively predicted both employee cynicism and workplace ostracism. Employee cynicism did not predict CWB-I and CWB-O, but workplace ostracism positively predicted both CWB-I and CWB-O. Moreover, whilst POPs did not predict both CWB-I and CWB-O through employee cynicism; workplace ostracism partially mediated the relationship between POPs and the two dimensions of CWB.

The relationship between POPs and CWB has been documented in the literature, but whether affect-laden processes (employee cynicism and workplace ostracism) explain this relationship is new. Conducting the study in a context previously neglected extended our understanding of the indirect relationship between POPs and CWB.

The purpose of this paper is to inspect the influence of organizational climate on the social desirability of political behaviour of employees. It also examines perception of politics and perceived behavioural choice as the underlying mechanisms that mediate the relationship between organizational climate and social desirability of political tactics. Finally, the paper studies the influence of desirability of politics on frequency of use of political tactics.

The study uses data (n = 234) collected from a large public sector organization in India. The inter-relationships are tested empirically using structural equation modelling.

The findings suggest that organizational climate significantly influences the social desirability of political tactics such that positive climate leads to lower social desirability of political tactics. Also, perception of politics and perceived behavioural choice mediate the relationship between organizational climate and desirability of political tactics. Finally, the social desirability of political tactics positively and significantly influences frequency of political tactics used.

Because of the nature of the study, generalization must be made with caution since it has been conducted in an Indian public sector organization, and errors due to measurement method could be present. The study provides a better understanding of the relationship between organizational climate and political behaviour and clarifies the mediating role of perception of politics and behavioural choices. It also elucidates the need for organizations to accept the active role of employees in determining the nature of workplace politics.

The study establishes political perceptions and perceived behavioural choice as important mediators between climate and political behaviour, fostering in-depth research into the environmental aspects of public sector organizations. It also establishes employees as autonomous members of the organization who make political choices by taking into account their organizational contexts, a concept much newer to highly formalized and codified public sector organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of perceived organizational politics on the relationship between electronic human resource management (e-HRM) use and e-HRM macro-level consequences.

The paper uses a cross-sectional survey of HR professionals, line managers and information technology specialists. A purposive stratified sampling technique is employed. The analyses of data make use of regression and process macro in SPSS analysis.

The effect of e-HRM use on e-HRM macro-level consequences is partially mediated by perceived organizational politics.

Organizations can invest in e-HRM use alongside other HR practices such as, emotional intelligence training, to reduce the negative effects of perceived organizational politics and in the process enhance employee attitudes and performance.

The study enriches the scope through which the interaction between e-HRM use and perceived organizational politics is viewed. The study was conducted in Zimbabwe, demonstrating that the indirect effect of e-HRM use on e-HRM macro-level consequences is not limited to developed economies.