Political skill reduces the negative impact of distrust

Perceived organizational politics, organizational disidentification and counterproductive work behaviour: moderating role of external crisis threats to work

Purpose

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.

Design/methodology/approach

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

Findings

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.

Practical implications

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.

Originality/value

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.

Forty years of political skill and will in organizations: a review, meta-theoretical framework and directions for future research

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the scholarship on political skill and political will so that the authors might inspire future work that assesses these constructs individually and in tandem.

Design/methodology/approach

The “political skill” and “political will” concepts were introduced about 40 years ago, but they only have been measured and produced empirical results much more recently. Since that time, substantial research results have demonstrated the important roles political skill and political will play in organizational behavior. This paper provides a comprehensive review of this research, draws conclusions from this work and provides a meta-theoretical framework of political skill and political will to guide future work in this area.

Findings

Scholarship in this area has developed quite rapidly for political skill, but less so for political will. The authors hope that recent developments in a political will can set the stage for scholars to create a theoretical and empirical balance between these two related constructs.

Originality/value

The authors corral the vast and widespread literature on political skill and will and distill the information for scholars and practitioners alike.

The Effect of Political Skill on Relationship Quality in Construction Projects: The Mediating Effect of Cooperative Conflict Management Styles

Negative consequences can arise if interpersonal conflicts in construction projects are not handled properly. This study aims to investigate the relationship among political skill, cooperative conflict management styles, and relationship quality. Multiple regressions were used to test the hypothesis based on 206 items of data collected from construction project practitioners in China. Results demonstrate the mechanism of action among political skill, conflict management styles, and relationship quality and verify the mediating effect of cooperative conflict management styles, providing enlightenment for future research on conflict management.

A contingency perspective on employees' voice behavior in response to career plateau beliefs

With a conceptual basis in conservation of resources theory, this paper investigates the relationship between employees' career plateau beliefs and their voice behavior, using parallel arguments that reflect resource-conservation versus resource-acquisition logics. The career plateau beliefs–voice behavior link, whether negative or positive, might be invigorated when employees encounter adversity in the workplace, such as due to work pressures (work overload and work–family conflict) or because of how their organization makes decisions (organizational politics and organizational underperformance). Survey data from employees in the Canadian information technology sector provide empirical support for the resource-acquisition logic: career plateau beliefs enhance employees' propensity to offer ideas for organizational improvement, particularly if they suffer from excessive workloads or conflicting work–family demands, perceive organizational decision making as political, and are unhappy about their organization's performance. These novel insights point to the critical role of a stagnated career in triggering, instead of dampening, proactive voice behaviors.

Recruiter political skill and organization reputation effects on job applicant attraction in the recruitment process

Purpose

Researchers have identified various recruiter and organization characteristics that individually influence staffing effectiveness. In extending contemporary research, the purpose of this paper is to address a straightforward question unexamined in previous research, namely, does recruiter political skill interact with organization reputation to influence applicant attraction in the recruitment process? Specifically, the authors hypothesized that for recruiters high in political skill, as organization reputation increases, applicant attraction to the organization increases. Alternatively, for recruiters low in political skill, as organization reputation increases, there is no change in applicant attraction to the organization.

Design/methodology/approach

Three studies were conducted to create the experimental manipulation materials, pilot test them and then conduct tests of the hypotheses. Study 1 created and tested the content validity of the recruiter political skill script. Study 2 reported on the effectiveness of the recruiter political skill experimental manipulation, whereby a male actor was hired to play the part of a recruiter high in political skill and one low in political skill. Finally, Study 3 was the primary hypothesis testing investigation.

Findings

Results from a 2×2 between-subjects experimental study (N=576) supported the hypotheses. Specifically, high recruiter political skill and favorable organization reputation each demonstrated significant main effects on applicant attraction to the organization. Additionally, the authors hypothesized, and confirmed, a significant organization reputation × recruiter political skill interaction. Specifically, findings demonstrated that increases in organization reputation resulted in increased applicant attraction to the organization for those exposed to a recruiter high in political skill. However, the effect was not for a recruiter low in political skill.

Research limitations/implications

Despite the single source nature of data collections, the authors took steps to minimize potential biasing factors (e.g. time separation, including affectivity). Future research will benefit from gathering multiple sources of data. In addition, no experimental research to date exists, examining political skill in a laboratory context. This finding has important implications for the growing research base on political skill in organizations.

Practical implications

First impressions are lasting impressions, and it is very costly to organizations when recruiters lose good candidates due to the failure to make a memorable and favorable impression. This paper supports the use of political skill in the recruitment process and highlights its capability to influence and attract job applicants to organizations successfully.

Originality/value

Despite its scientific and practical appeal, the causal effects of political skill on important work outcomes in an experimental setting have not been formally investigated. As the first experimental investigation of political skill, the authors can see more clearly and precisely what political skill behaviors of recruiters tend to influence applicant attraction to organizations in the recruitment process.