Perceptions of Organizational Politics Research: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

Research examining the influence of perceptions of organizational politics (POPs) is currently at a nexus—capable of recognizing its previous contributions but also with an eye toward the future. Scholars credit much of the maturation over the past 30 years to Ferris, Russ, and Fandt’s seminal model. Despite the ever-increasing number of publications attributed to this topic, and model, opportunities to bridge and expand the current research base remain plentiful. We begin this review by differentiating POPs from political behavior and constructs considered overlapping conceptually. We then describe the evolution of two models responsible for guiding POPs research and conclude our review by summarizing meta-analytic studies investigating antecedents and outcomes of POPs. Doing so allows us to identify gaps currently impeding development and to recommend relevant approaches to extend research. Following this review, we introduce event systems theory as a guiding framework for integrating and expanding the knowledge base. This structure allows scholars to recast POPs as a discrete phenomenon capable of being evaluated in terms of its novelty, disruption, and criticality. Theoretically, this approach allows for greater precision in identifying causes and consequences of POPs, and it provides insight into how such perceptions emerge and evolve. Last, we discuss future research opportunities intended to improve understanding of this pervasive phenomenon, and we encourage much-needed future research examining the dynamics of POPs in contemporary work settings.

“Who Champions or Mentors Others”? The Role of Personal Resources in the Perceived Organizational Politics and Job Attitudes Relationship

“…The debates on POP have generated several opinions among scholars on the basis that contextual factors or personal resources have a significant link with stressful environments characterized by POP. In other words, they are essential variables that might influence the association between POP and job outcomes (Hochwarter et al, 2020 ). Therefore, this study further extends the POP literature by considering the moderating role of WE in the association between POP and attitudes.…”

“…Undoubtedly, employees will inevitably have perceptions about the context of the political environment in an organization (Hochwarter et al, 2020 ). These perceptions entail negative and positive outcomes, since perceptions permeate within the corridors of an organization (Asrar-ul-Haq et al, 2019 ).…”

Political Will, Political Skill, Network Resources and Personal Reputation: A Serial Two-Mediator Model

“…Political skill alone does not suffice to predict political behavior (Mintzberg, 1983). In an environment in which political uncertainty prevails -which provides an impor tant opportunity for political action -individuals want to obtain higher opportunities by risking their social capital in order to increase their reputation with a high political will (Hochwarter et al, 2020). Without political will, political skill is immobile and does not work (Maher et al, 2018).…”

“…From the political perspective, research on both organizational and career theories is highly prevalent in the last forty years (Pfeffer, 1981;Mintzberg, 1983;Inkson, 2004;VigodaGadot and Drory, 2016). Although there is a large amount of empirical research in the literature in the areas of influence and impression management (Lee et al, 2017), perceptions of organizational politics (Hochwarter et al, 2020), and political skill (Munyon et al, 2015), scholars only recently empirically measure the concept of politi cal will (Kapoutsis et al, 2017), which is one of the critical elements of organizational politics, and it is a widely and conceptually mentioned concept in the literature. Despite it having no such broad historical background as political skill in explaining the theory of political influence, political will is expected to have an essential contri bution to it.…”

Peran Knowledge Sharing Sebagai Mediator Perceived Organizational Politics Dengan Innovative Work Behavior

“…Para ahli memberi respek yang tinggi terhadap tingkat kedewasaan konsep politik organisasi, lebih dari 30 tahun, yang diperkenalkan oleh Ferris, Russ, dan Fandt (Hochwarter et al, 2020). Ada dua alternatif untuk memahami politik dalam organisasi.…”