Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior

Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior
Factors Contributing to Political Behavior
How Good Am I at Playing Politics?

Impression Management
 Conformity
Agreeing with someone else’s opinion to gain his or her approval is a form of
ingratiation. Example: A manager tells his boss, “You’re absolutely right on your
reorganization plan for the western regional office. I couldn’t agree with you
more.”
 Favors
Doing something nice for someone to gain that person’s approval is a form of
ingratiation. Example: A salesperson says to a prospective client, “I’ve got two
tickets to the theater tonight that I can’t use. Take them. Consider it a thank-you
for taking the time to talk with me.”
 Excuses
Explanations of a predicament-creating event aimed at minimizing the apparent
severity of the predicament is a defensive IM technique. Example: A sales
manager says to her boss, “We failed to get the ad in the paper on time, but no
one responds to those ads anyway.”
 Apologies
Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and simultaneously seeking to
get a pardon for the action is a defensive IM technique. Example: An employee
says to his boss, “I’m sorry I made a mistake on the report. Please forgive me.”
 Self-Promotion
Highlighting one’s best qualities, downplaying one’s deficits, and calling attention
to one’s achievements is a self-focused IM technique. Example: A salesperson
tells his boss, “Matt worked unsuccessfully for three years to try to get that
account. I sewed it up in six weeks. I’m the best closer this company has.”
 Enhancement
Claiming that something you did is more valuable than most other members of
the organizations would think is a self-focused IM technique. Example: A
journalist tells his editor, “My work on this celebrity divorce story was really a
major boost to our sales” (even though the story only made it to page 3 in the
entertainment section).
 Flattery
Complimenting others about their virtues in an effort to make oneself appear
perceptive and likeable is an assertive IM technique. Example: A new sales trainee
says to her peer, “You handled that client’s complaint so tactfully! I could never
have handled that as well as you did.”
 Exemplification
Doing more than you need to in an effort to show how dedicated and hard
working you are is an assertive IM technique. Example: An employee sends e-
mails from his work computer when he works late so that his supervisor will know
how long he’s been working.
The Ethics of Behaving Politically
Although there are no clear-cut ways to differentiate ethical from unethical

politicking, there are some questions you should consider. For example, what is
the utility of engaging in politicking? Sometimes we do it for little good reason.
Finally, does the political activity conform to standards of equity and justice?
Sometimes it is difficult to weigh the costs and benefits of a political action, but its
ethicality is clear.
Unfortunately, powerful people can become very good at explaining selfserving
behaviors in terms of the organization’s best interests. They can persuasively
argue that unfair actions are really fair and just. Our point is that immoral people
can justify almost any behavior. Those who are powerful, articulate, and
persuasive are most vulnerable to ethical lapses because they are likely to be able
to get away with unethical practices successfully. When faced with an ethical
dilemma regarding organizational politics, try to consider whether playing politics
is worth the risk and whether others might be harmed in the process.
Summary and Implications for Managers
If you want to get things done in a group or an organization, it helps to have

power. Here are several suggestions for how to deal with power in your own work
life:
● As a manager who wants to maximize your power, you will want to increase
others’ dependence on you. You can, for instance, increase your power in relation
to your boss by developing knowledge or a skill she needs and for which she
perceives no ready substitute. But you will not be alone in attempting to build
your power bases. Others, particularly employees and peers, will be seeking to
increase your dependence on them, while you are trying to minimize it and
increase their dependence on you. The result is a continual battle.
● Few employees relish being powerless in their job and organization. Try to
avoid putting others in a position where they feel they have no power.
● People respond differently to the various power bases. Expert and referent
power are derived from an individual’s personal qualities. In contrast, coercion,
reward, and legitimate power are essentially organizationally derived.
Competence especially appears to offer wide appeal, and its use as a power base
results in high performance by group members. The message for managers seems
to be “Develop and use your expert power base!”
● An effective manager accepts the political nature of organizations. By
assessing behavior in a political framework, you can better predict the
actions of others and use that information to formulate political strategies that
will gain advantages for you and your work unit.
● Some people are significantly more politically astute than others,
meaning that they are aware of the underlying politics and can manage
impressions. Those who are good at playing politics can be expected to get higher
performance evaluations and, hence, larger salary increases and more
promotions than the politically naïve or inept. The politically astute are also likely
to exhibit higher job satisfaction and be better able to neutralize job stressors.
● Employees who have poor political skills or are unwilling to play the politics
game generally relate perceived organizational politics to lower job satisfaction
and self-reported performance, increased anxiety, and higher turnover

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Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior

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Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior

Factors Contributing to Political Behavior

How Good Am I at Playing Politics?

The Ethics of Behaving Politically

Although there are no clear-cut ways to differentiate ethical from unethical

Summary and Implications for Managers

If you want to get things done in a group or an organization, it helps to have

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