Politics: Power in Action

Organizational Politics
- focused on the use of power to affect decision making
in an organization or on behaviors by members that are self-
serving and organizationally non-sanctioned.
 Politics: Power in Action

Political Behavior
- activities that are not required as part of a person’s
formal role in the organization but that influence, or attempt to
influence, the distribution of advantages and disadvantages
within the organization.
 Politics: Power in Action

Legitimate political behavior

- refers to normal everyday politics

Illegitimate political behavior

- extreme political behavior that violates the implied
rules of the game
The Reality of Politics
Politics is a fact of life in organizations.
The Reality of Politics
 The Reality of Politics
Resources in organizations are
also limited, which often turns
potential conflict into real
conflict.

If resources were abundant,

then all the various
constituencies within the
organization could satisfy their
goals.
 The Reality of Politics

Most of the “facts” that are used

to allocate the limited resources
are open to interpretation.
 “Political “Label “Effective Management” Label
• Blaming others • Fixing responsibility
• Creating conflict • Encouraging change and
innovation
• Forming coalitions • Facilitating teamwork
• Scheming • Planning ahead
• Overachieving • Competent and capable
• Ambitious • Career minded
• Cunning • Practical minded
• Arrogant • Confident
• Perfectionist • Attentive to detail
Causes & Consequences of
Political Behavior

Factors Contributing to Political Behavior

• Individual Factors
• Organizational Factors
 Causes & Consequences of
Political Behavior
Individual Factors
• High self-monitors
• Internal locus of control
• High Mach personality
• Organizational investment
• Perceived job alternatives

Favorable Outcomes
Organizational Factors Political Behavior • Reward
• Reallocation of resources Low High • Averted punishments
• Promotion opportunities
• Low trust
• Role ambiguity
• Unclear performance evaluation
system
• Zero-sum reward practices
• Democratic decision making
• High performance pressures
• Self-serving senior managers
Figure 14-4. Factors That Influence Political Behavior
 Individual Factors
• HIGH SELF-MONITORS
• INTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL
• HIGH MACH PERSONALITY
• ORGANIZATIONAL INVESTMENT
• PERCEIVED JOB ALTERNATIVES
 Individual Factors

THE HIGH SELF MONITOR

• More sensitive to social cues
• Exhibits higher levels of social conformity, and
• More likely to be skilled in political behavior
 Individual Factors

INDIVIDUALS WITH AN INTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL

• More prone to take a proactive stance
• Attempt to manipulate situations in their favor
 Individual Factors

HIGH MACHIAVELIAN PERSONALITY

• Will to manipulate, and
• Desire for power – is comfortable using politics as a
means to further his or her self-interest
 Individual Factors

ORGANIZATIONAL INVESTMENT
• The more a person has invested in the organization in
terms of expectations of increased future benefits, the
more that person has to lose if forced out and the less
likely he or she is to use illegitimate means.
 Individual Factors

PERCEIVED JOB ALTERNATIVES

• The more alternative job opportunities an individual has
– due to a favorable job market or the possession of
scarce skills or knowledge, a prominent reputation, or
influential contacts outside the organization – the more
likely that individual is to risk illegitimate political actions.
 Organizational Factors
• DECLINING RESOURCES
• PROMOTION OPPORTUNITIES
• LOW TRUST
• ROLE AMBIGUITY
• UNCLEAR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION SYSTEM
• ZERO-SUM REWARD PRACTICES
• DEMOCRATIC DECISION MAKING
• HIGH PERFORMANCE PRESSURES
• SELF-SERVING SENIOR MANAGERS
 Organizational Factors

DECLINING RESOURCES
• People may engage in political actions to safeguard
what they have
• Stimulate conflict and increase politicking
 Organizational Factors

PROMOTION OPPORTUNITIES
• Encourages people to compete for a limited resource
• Try to positively influence the decision outcome
 Organizational Factors

LOW TRUST
• The higher the level of political behavior, and
• The more likely that the political behavior will be of the
illegitimate kind.
 Organizational Factors

ROLE AMBIGUITY
• Means that the prescribed behaviors of the employee
are not clear.
 Organizational Factors

UNCLEAR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION SYSTEM

• Subjective performance criteria
• Single outcome measure
• The amount of time that elapses between an action and
its appraisal
 Organizational Factors

ZERO-SUM REWARD PRACTICES

• Also called Win/Lose Approach
• Treats the reward “pie” as fixed so that any gain one
person or group achieves has to come at the expense of
another person or group.
 Organizational Factors

DEMOCRATIC DECISION MAKING

• Managers in these organizations are being asked to
behave more democratically.
• They are told that they should allow employees to
advise them on decisions and that they should rely to a
greater extent on group input into the decision process
 Organizational Factors

HIGH PERFORMANCE PRESSURES

• The more pressure that employees feel to perform well,
the more likely they are to engage in politicking.
 Organizational Factors

SELF-SERVING SENIOR MANAGERS

• When employees see the people on top engaging in
political behavior, especially when they do so successfully
and are rewarded for it, a climate is created that supports
politicking.
HOW DO PEOPLE RESPOND
TO ORGANIZATIONAL
POLITICS