Living with organizational politics: An exploration of employees' behavior

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Dhar, Rajib Lochan

Affiliations: Sector 4/F, Qtr no. 1112, Bokaro Steel City, Jharkhand, India. Tel.: +91 06542 275236; E-mail: rajiblochandhar2000@yahoo.co.in or rajiblochandhar2000@gmail.com

Abstract: Objective: This study aims to explore the employee's perception of organizational politics, the phase that they go through while working and the ways they adopt to cope with it. Participants: Participants were working as employees in three automobile manufacturing companies having offices in Pune, India. They were selected via randomized quota sampling to reflect a mix of age, positions, genders and experience within the organization. Methods: Data collection was done through qualitative methods which included in-depth interviews with 26 employees. Analysis of the data was done using the coding process. Results: Findings of this study led to the emergence of four major themes i.e. (a) The Perceived threat, (b) Attitude towards players, (c) Coping Strategies and (d) Intentions to leave. Conclusions: Based on the study findings, the researcher concludes that politics is being perceived as an evil and is negatively affecting the morale of the employees. Hence, it is imperative that the organizational forerunners and department heads continue to use research findings to get to know the culture prevailing in the organization and understand the emotional status and feelings that employees develop while working in such an environment.

Keywords: Perception, qualitative, interview, attitude and intention

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2011-1216

Journal: Work, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 153-164, 2011