A Critical Review of Literature on Organizational Politics and Work Outcomes

Abstract

There is not an organization on earth that does not have to deal with politics, only that the degree of organizational politics varies from one organization to another. It is true that organizations have some sort of internal political struggle that can rip it apart. Therefore dealing with this struggle awareness of the landscape, players and rules in which the political game is played must be taken keenly. This is because in one sphere of our life or another are we not both users and recipients of power? For instance a visit to any factory tea-break, office lunch gathering, or faculty meeting would seem to indicate that we are all familiar with office politics and bureaucratic gamesmanship. The concept of organizational politics is key social influence process that can be either functional or dysfunctional to employees and organizations. The relationship between perception of organizational politics, job satisfaction and employee turnover are of paramount importance towards overall organizational success. Social exchange theory, equity theory and theory of procedural justice theory are the different theories which have been postulated in the area of organizational politics. This paper aims at understanding employees' reaction to organizational politics and its relationship between perception of organizational politics, job satisfaction, employee turnover intentions and organizational conflicts.