Perception of organizational politics, knowledge hiding and organizational citizenship behavior: the moderating effect of political skill

Abstract

PurposeBased on the conservation of resource (COR) theory, this study investigates the association between the perception of organizational politics and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) while considering the mediating role of knowledge hiding and moderating role of political skill in this process.Design/methodology/approachData were collected in a time-lagged survey in two waves with a three-week interval from frontline employees and their peers working in private sector banks in India. The hypothesized relationships were ascertained using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.FindingsThe results revealed a negative association between the perception of organizational politics and OCBs targeted at co-workers (OCBI), organization (OCBO) and customers (OCBC), both directly and indirectly, via knowledge hiding. Additionally, the negative indirect effect of the perception of organizational politics on OCB facets, via knowledge hiding, is buffered for individuals with high levels of political skill.Originality/valueThe current study portrays a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics between the perception of organizational politics and OCB, with a particular emphasis on identifying the unidentified factors that may impact this liaison.

The joint effects of supervisor knowledge hiding, abusive supervision, and employee political skill on employee knowledge hiding behaviors

“…Accordingly, we argue that politically skilled employees can adjust their behavior so that they do not hide knowledge in response to destructive supervision. This assumption concurs with findings that indicated that political skill buffers the effects of social stressors on helping (De Clercq et al , 2019) and CWB (Yang and Treadway, 2018), including knowledge hiding (Kaur and Kang, 2022).…”

A moderated-mediation analysis of performance appraisal politics perception and counterproductive work behavior

“…The present study also shows that PS negatively moderates the negative relationship between PAPP and CWB via POJ, which is in line with prior findings that PS is an effective individual characteristic to ensure survival in organizational political setting ( Sajjad et al, 2017 ; Crawford et al, 2019 ; Bhattaral, 2021 ; Atshan et al, 2022 ; Kaur and Kang, 2022 ). The successful harmony of employees requires many skills and abilities to fit the work, including PS ( Al-Abrrow et al, 2019 ; Atshan et al, 2022 ).…”

“…This highlights that enhancing PS is one way to diminish CWB. The organization may consider opting for process-focused training methods or programs to develop PS among their employees ( Kaur and Kang, 2022 ). Organizations should also pay more attention to recruiting and promoting talents with high PS.…”

“…Individuals with relatively high PS scores are characterized by social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, and apparent sincerity ( Templer, 2018 ; Kwon, 2020 ). PS relieves the negative reactions of employees such as pressure and tension ( Munyon et al, 2015 ), emotional labor ( Sajjad et al, 2017 ), job dissatisfaction ( Atshan et al, 2022 ), and knowledge hiding ( Kaur and Kang, 2022 ), and it also makes the employee more likely to achieve positive supervisor ratings. When appraisees with high PS are inclined to harmonize with others and value face, they seem to excel in utilizing their PS to deal with the performance appraisal politics ( Kwon, 2020 ) and “to effectively navigate these turbulent waters” ( Ferris et al, 2003 , p 406).…”

“…Politically skilled employees have a highly developed self-regulatory capacity (García-Chas et al, 2015;Xue et al, 2020), as well as the ability to achieve goals by influencing 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.928923 those around them (Kranefeld et al, 2020). Prior studies have confirmed that individual PS significantly alleviates the negative outcomes of organizational politics (Sajjad et al, 2017;Crawford et al, 2019;Bhattaral, 2021;Atshan et al, 2022;Kaur and Kang, 2022) and is helpful for the appraisee to achieve more positive supervisor ratings in the performance appraisal process (Kwon, 2020).…”