Patterns of Political Behavior

Fundamentals

Political behavior in organizations varies along a number of dimensions. One major distinction is between political behaviors that are viewed as either legitimate or illegitimate within the organization. Even though political behavior is nonsanctioned behavior, some forms such as symbolic protests or forming coalitions may be accepted within the culture of an organization as everyday behavior, whereas other behaviors such as threats or open rebellion are viewed as going beyond acceptable behavior. A second major distinction is between political behaviors that are internal or focused within the organization such as obstructionism or reprisals and external behaviors that go outside the boundaries of the organization in an attempt to gain new resources as in contacting the media or a regulatory agency. Hierarchy is a central feature of organizations, and a third important distinction is between vertical political behaviors that involve influence processes between superiors and subordinates, such as bypassing the chain of command and mentor-protégé relationships and lateral behaviors among peers such as exchanging favors.

Over the past three decades, empirical research on political behavior in organizations has examined a wide range of organizational decision making, some unexpected. Information technology projects, often known for their delays and cost overruns, can be effectively managed through the use of non-threatening and nonpossessive political behaviors. Organizational strategic planning is coming to be understood as an area where competing objectives, preferences, and priorities are natural and legitimate. Hiring and selection interviews have also proven to be a fruitful area for inquiries into how political behavior can either improve or reduce the effectiveness of hiring decisions. Pay and promotion decisions have been studied and have led to recommendations for human resource professionals to take political behaviors into account. The role played by political behavior in the implementation of information technology has been studied. Even studies of accounting, that presumably most rational business specialty, have shown the impact of political behavior in setting accounting standards. Disputes as to what is good accounting may be settled by political processes when technical and theoretical foundations are exhausted.

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