Politics in organizations: History, construct specification, and research directions

Politics in Organizations: Theory and Research Considerations

Volumn , Issue , 2012, Pages 3-26

  Ferris, Gerald R ^a   Treadway, Darren C ^b  

^a FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84887376033     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book    
DOI: None     Document Type: Chapter

References (105)

1. Allen, R., Madison, D., Porter, L., Renwick, P., & Mayes, B. (1979). Organizational politics: Tactics and characteristics of its actors. California Management Review, 22, 77-83.
2. Andrews, M.C., & Kacmar, K.M. (2001). Discriminating among organizational politics, justice, and support. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22, 347-366.
3. Andrews, M.C., Kacmar, K.M., & Harris, K.J. (2009). Got political skill? The impact of justice on the importance of political skill for job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1427-1437.
4. Bacharach, S.B., & Lawler, E.J. (1980). Power and politics in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
5. Baldridge, J.V. (1971). Power and conflict in the university. New York: Wiley.
6. Blalock, H.M. (1984). Contextual effects models: Theoretical and methodological issues. Annual Review of Sociology, 10, 353-372.
7. Bolino, M.C., & Turnley, W.H. (1991). Measuring impression management in organizations: a scale development based on the Jones and Pittman taxonomy. Organizational Research Methods, 2, 187-206.
8. Brass, D.J. (1984). Being in the right place: A structural analysis of individual influence in an organization. Administrative Science Quarterly, 29, 518-539.
9. Brass, D.J., & Burkhardt, M.E. (1993). Potential power and power use: An investigation of structure and behavior. Academy of Management Journal, 36, 441-470.
10. Buchanan, D. (2008). You stab my back, I'll stab yours: Management experience and perceptions of organizational political behavior. British Journal of Management, 19, 49-64.
11. Burns, T. (1961). Micropolitics: Mechanisms of institutional change. Administrative Science Quarterly, 6, 257-281.
12. Cappelli, P., & Scherer, P. (1991). The missing role of context in OB: The need for a meso-level approach. Research in Organizational Behavior, 13, 55-110.
13. Carnegie, D. (1936). How to win friends and influence people. New York: Simon & Schuster.
14. Chanlat, J. (1997). Conflict and politics. In A. Sorge & M. Warner (Eds.), Handbook of organizational behavior (pp. 472-480). London: International Thomson.
15. Cropanzano, R.S., & Kacman, K.M. (Eds.). (1995). Organizational politics, justice, and support: Managing the social climate of the workplace. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.
16. Cyert, R.M., & March, J.G. (1963). A behavioral theory of the firm. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
17. DeLuca, J.R. (1999). Political savvy: Systematic approaches to leadership behind the scenes. Berwyn, PA: Evergreen Business Group.
18. Drory, A., & Romm, T. (1990). The definition of organizational politics: A review. Human Relations, 43, 1133-1154.
19. DuBrin, A.J. (2009). Political behavior in organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
20. Eden, D. (2002). From the editors. Academy of Management Journal, 45, 841-846.
21. Emerson, R. (1962). Power-dependence relations. American Sociological Review, 27, 31-41.
22. Ferris, G.R., Adams, G., Kolodinsky, R.W., Hochwarter, W.A., & Ammeter, A.P. (2002). Perceptions of organizational politics: Theory and research directions. In F. Yammarino & F. Dansereau (Eds.), Research in multi-level issues, Volume 1: The many faces of multilevel issues (pp. 179-254). Oxford, UK: JAI Press/Elsevier Science.
23. Ferris, G.R., Bowen, M.G., Treadway, D.C., Hochwarter, W.A., Hall, A.T., & Perrewé, P.L. (2006). The assumed linearity of organizational phenomena: Implications for occupational stress and well-being. In P. Perrewé & D. Ganster (Eds.), Research in occupational stress and well-being (pp. 205-232). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.
24. Ferris, G.R., Davidson, S.L., & Perrewé, P. L. (2005). Political skill at work: Impact on work effectiveness. Mountain View, CA: Davies-Black Publishing.
25. Ferris, G.R., Fedor, D.B., Chachere, J.G., & Pondy, L.R. (1989). Myths and politics in organizational contexts. Group and Organization Studies, 14, 83-103.
26. Ferris, G.R., Fedor, D.B., & King, T.R. (1994). A political conceptualization of managerial behavior. Human Resource Management Review, 4, 1-34.
27. Ferris, G.R., & Hochwarter, W.A. (2011). Organizational politics. In S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 435-459). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
28. Ferris, G.R., Hochwarter, W.A., Douglas, C., Blass, F.R., Kolodinsky, R.W., & Treadway, D.C. (2002). Social influence processes in organizations and human resources systems. In G.R. Ferris & J.J. Martocchio (Eds.), Research in personnel and human resources management (pp. 65-127). Oxford, UK: JAI Press/Elsevier Science.
29. Ferris, G.R., King, T.R., Judge, T.A., & Kacmar, K.M. (1991). The management of shared meaning: Opportunism in the reflection of attitudes, beliefs, and values. In R.A. Giacalone & P. Rosenfeld (Eds.), Applied impression management: How image making affects managerial decisions (pp. 41-64). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
30. Ferris, G.R., & Mitchell, T.R. (1987). The components of social influence and their importance for human resources research. In K.M. Rowland & G.R. Ferris (Eds.), Research in personnel and human resources management (Vol. 5, pp. 103-128). Greenwich, CT: JaI Press.
31. Ferris, G.R., Munyon, T.P., Basik, K.J., & Buckley, M.R. (2008). The performance evaluation context: Social, emotional, cognitive, political, and relationship components. Human Resource Management Review, 18, 146-163.
32. Ferris, G.R., Perrewé, P.L., Anthony, W.P., & Gilmore, D.C. (2000). Political skill at work. Organizational Dynamics, 28, 25-37.
33. Ferris, G.R., Russ, G.S., & Fandt, P.M. (1989). Politics in organizations. In R. Giacalone & P. Rosenfeld (Eds.), Impression management in the organization (pp. 143-170). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
34. Ferris, G.R., Treadway, D.C., Kolodinsky, R.W., Hochwarter, W.A., Kacmar, C.J., Douglas, C., et al. (2005). Development and validation of the political skill inventory. Journal of Management, 31, 126-152.
35. Ferris, G.R., Treadway, D.C., Perrewé, P.L., Brouer, R.L., Douglas, C., & Lux, S. (2007). Political skill in organizations. Journal of Management, 33, 290-320.
36. French, J.R.P., & Raven, B. (1959). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright & A. Zander (Eds.), Group dynamics (pp. 150-167). New York: Harper and Row.
37. Gandz, J., & Murray, V. (1980). The experience of workplace politics. Academy of Management Journal, 23, 237-251.
38. Gergen, K.J. (1985). The social constructionist movement in modern psychology. American Psychologist, 40, 266-275.
39. Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday anchor Books.
40. Griffin, M. (2007). Specifying organizational contexts: Systematic links between contexts and processes in organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28, 859-863.
41. Higgins, C.A., Judge, T.A., & Ferris, G.R. (2003). Influence tactics and work outcomes: A meta-analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24, 89-106.
42. Hochwarter, W.A., Ferris, G.R., & Hanes, T.J. (2011). Multi-study packages in organizational science research. In D.J. Ketchen Jr. & D.D. Bergh (Eds.), Research methodology in strategy and management (Vol. 6). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
43. Hochwarter, W.A., Ferris, G.R., Laird, M.D., Treadway, D.C., & Gallagher, V.C. (2010). Nonlinear politics perceptions-work outcomes relationships: A three-study, five-sample investigation. Journal of Management, 36, 740-763.
44. Hochwarter, W.A., Kacmar, C.J., Perrewé, P.L., & Johnson, D. (2003). Perceived organizational support as a mediator of the relationship between politics perceptions and work outcomes. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63, 438-465.
45. Johns, G. (1999). A multi-level theory of self-serving behavior in and by organizations. In R.I. Sutton & B.M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 21, pp 1-38). Stamford, CT: JAI Press.
46. Johns, G. (2001). In praise of context. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22, 31-42.
47. Johns, G. (2006). The essential impact of context on organizational behavior. Academy of Management Review, 31, 385-408.
48. Jones, E. (1990). Interpersonal perception. New York: Freeman.
49. Jones, E.E. (1964). Ingratiation: A social psychological analysis. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
50. Jones, E.E., & Pittman, T.S. (1982). Toward a general theory of strategic self-presentation. In J. Suls (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on the self (pp. 231-261). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
51. Kacmar, K., & Baron, R. (1999). Organizational politics: The state of the field, links to related processes, and an agenda for future research. In G.R. Ferris (Ed.), Research in personnel and human resources management (Vol. 17, pp. 1-39). Stamford, CT: JAI Press.
52. Kacmar, K., & Carlson, D. (1997). Further validation of the Perceptions of Politics Scale (POPS): A multi-sample approach. Journal of Management, 23, 627-658.
53. Kapoutsis, I., Papalexandris, A., Nikolopoulos, A., Hochwarter, W.A., & Ferris, G.R. (2011). Political skill and job performance prediction: Politics perceptions as a contextual moderator in two-studies. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 78, 123-135.
54. Katz, D., & Kahn, R. (1978). The social psychology of organizations (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley.
55. Kipnis, D., Schmidt, S.M., & Wilkinson, I. (1980). Intraorganizational influence tactics: Explorations in getting one's way. Journal of Applied Psychology, 63, 440-452.
56. Leary, M. (1995). Self-presentation: Impression management and interpersonal behavior. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
57. Lee, F., & Tiedens, L.Z. (2001). Is it lonely at the top? The independence and interdependence of power holders. Research in Organizational Behavior, 23, 43-91.
58. Luthans, F., Rosenkrantz, S.A., & Hennessey, H.W. (1985). What do successful managers really do? An observation study of managerial activities. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 21, 255-270.
59. Lux, S., Ferris, G., Brouer, R., Laird, M., & Summers, J. (2008). A multi-level conceptualization of organizational politics. In C. Cooper & J. Barling (Eds.), Handbook of organizational behavior (pp. 353-371). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
60. Lykken, D. T. (1968). Statistical significance in psychological research. Psychological Bulletin, 70, 151-159.
61. Machiavelli, N. (1940). The prince. New York: Modern Library.
62. Madison, D., Allen, L., Porter, L., Renwick, P., & Mayes, B. (1980). Organizational politics: An exploration of managers' perceptions. Human Relations, 33, 79-100.
63. Mayes, B., & Allen, R. (1977). Toward a definition of organizational politics. Academy of Management Review, 4, 672-677.
64. McIntyre, M.G. (2005). Secrets to winning at office politics: How to achieve your goals and increase your influence at work. New York: St. Martin's Press.
65. Mintzberg, H. (1983). Power in and around organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
66. Mowday, R.T., & Sutton, R.I. (1993). Organizational behavior: Linking individuals and groups to organizational contexts. Annual Review of Psychology, 44, 195-229.
67. Packer, M.J. (1985). Hermeneutic inquiry in the study of human conduct. American Psychologist, 40, 1081-1093.
68. Perrewé, P., Zellars, K., Ferris, G., Rossi, A., Kacmar, C., & Ralston, D. (2004). Neutralizing job stressors: Political skill as an antidote to the dysfunctional consequences of role conflict stressors. Academy of Management Journal, 47, 141-152.
69. Pfeffer, J. (1981). Power in organizations. Boston: Pitman.
70. Pfeffer, J. (1992). Managing with power: Politics and influence in organizations. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
71. Porter, L., Allen, R., & Angle, H. (1981). The politics of upward influence in organizations. In L.L. Cummings & B.M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 3, pp. 109-149). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
72. Ranker, G., Gautrey, C., & Phipps, M. (2008). Political dilemmas at work: How to maintain your integrity and further your career. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
73. Reardon, K.K. (2005). It's all politics: Winning in a world where hard work and talent aren't enough. New York: Doubleday.
74. Reardon, K.K. (2000). The secret handshake: Mastering the politics of the business inner circle. New York: Doubleday.
75. Riley, P. (1983). A structurationist account of political culture. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 414-437.
76. Rosen, C., Chang, C., & Levy, P. (2006). Personality and politics perceptions: A new conceptualization and illustration using OCBs. In E. Vigoda-Gadot & A. Drory (Eds.), Handbook of organizational politics (pp. 29-52). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
77. Rosen, C., Chang, C., Johnson, R., & Levy, P. (2009). Perceptions of the organizational context and psychological contract breach: Assessing competing perspectives. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108, 202-217.
78. Rousseau, D.M., & Fried, Y. (2001). Location, location, location: Contextualizing organizational research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22, 1-13.
79. Sanders, T. (2005). The likeability factor. New York: Crown Publishers.
80. Scarr, S. (1985). Constructing psychology: Making facts and fables for our times. American Psychologist, 40, 499-512.
81. Schlenker, B. (1980). Impression management: The self-concept, social identity, and interpersonal relations. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing.
82. Sederberg, P. (1984). The politics of meaning: Power and explanation in the construction of social reality. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
83. Shell, G.R., & Moussa, M. (2007). The art of woo: Using strategic persuasion to sell your ideas. New York: The Penguin Group.
84. Shore, L.M., Tetrick, L.E., Taylor, M.S., Coyle Shapiro, J.A.-M., Liden, R.C., McLean Parks, J., et al. (2004). The employee-organization relationship: A timely concept in a period oftransition. In J.J. Martocchio & G.R. Ferris (Eds.), Research in personnel and human resources management (Vol. 23, pp. 291-370). New York: Elsevier.
85. Silvester, J. (2008). The good, the bad, and the ugly: Politics and politicians at work. International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 23, 107-148.
86. Smith, A., Plowman, D., Duchon, D., & Quinn, A. (2009). A qualitative study of high-reputation plant managers: Political skill and successful outcomes. Journal of Operations Management, 27(6), 428-443.
87. Stengel, R. (2000). You're too kind: A brief history of flattery. New York: Simon & Schuster.
88. Strong, M., Jeanneret, P., McPhail, S., Blakley, B., & D'Egidio, E. (1999). Work context: Taxonomy and measurement of the work environment. In N. Peterson, M. Mumford, W. Borman, P. Jeanneret, & E. Fleishman (Eds.), An occupational information system for the 21st century: The development of the O NET (pp. 127-145). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
89. Treadway, D., Adams, G., & Goodman, J. (2005). An evaluation of political sub-climates: Predictions from social identity, structuration, and symbolic interactionism. Journal of Business and Psychology, 20, 201-209.
90. Treadway, D.C., Adams, G.L., Ranft, A.L., & Ferris, G.R. (2009). A meso-level conceptualization of CEO celebrity effectiveness. Leadership Quarterly, 20, 554-570.
91. Treadway, D.C., Ferris, G.R., Perrewé, P.L., Hochwarter, W.A., Witt, L.A., & Goodman, J.M. (2005). The role of age in the perceptions of politics-job performance relationship: A three-study constructive replication. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 872-881.
92. Treadway, D., Ferris, G., Duke, A., Adams, G., & Thatcher, J. (2007). The moderating role of subordinate political skill on supervisors' impressions of subordinate ingratiation and ratings of interpersonal facilitation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 848-855.
93. Treadway, D.C., Breland, J.W., Williams, L.A., Williams, L., & Yang, J. (in press). Political skill, relational control, and the relational self in the process of relational leadership. In M. Uhl-Bien & S.M. Ospina (Eds.), Advancing relational leadership theory: A conversation among perspectives: Leadership horizons series. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
94. Treadway, D.C., Breland, J.W., Williams, L.M., Yang, J., & Shaughnessy, B.A. (2010). It's all in how you use it: The interactive effects of political skill and narcissism on social network positioning. Manuscript under review.
95. Treadway, D.C., Breland, J.W., Williams, L.M., Cho, J., Yang, J., & Ferris, G.R. (in press). Social influence and interpersonal power in organizations: Roles of performance and political skill in two studies. Journal of Management.
96. Treadway, D.C., Ferris, G.R., Douglas, C., Hochwarter, W.A., Kacmar, C.J., Ammeter, A.P., & Buckley, M.R. (2004). Leader political skill and employee reactions. The Leadership Quarterly, 15, 493-513.
97. Treadway, D.C., Ferris, G.R., Duke, A.B., Adams, G., & Thatcher, J.B. (2007). The moderating role of subordinate political skill on supervisors' impressions of subordinate ingratiation and ratings of interpersonal facilitation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 848-855.
98. Tsui, A.S. (1999). From the editor. Academy of Management Journal, 42, 589-590.
99. Van Maanen, J., Sorensen, J.B., & Mitchell, T.R. (2007). The interplay between theory and method. Academy of Management Review, 32, 1145-1154.
100. Vigoda-Gadot, E. (2003). Developments in organizational politics: How political dynamics affect employee performance in modern work sites. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
101. Vigoda-Gadot, E., & Drory, A. (Eds.). (2006). Handbook of organizational politics. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
102. Voyer, J. (1994). Coercive organizational politics and organizational outcomes: An interpretive study. Organization Science, 5, 72-85.
103. Weber, M. (1947). The theory of social and economic organizations. New York: Oxford Press.
104. Weber, M. (1954). Max Weber on law in economy and society (E. Shils & M. Rheinstein, Trans.). New York: Simon and Schuster.
105. Whetten, D. (2009). An examination of the interface between context and theory applied to the study of Chinese organizations. Management and Organization Review, 5(1), 29-55.