The aim of this study is to contribute to a conceptualization of organizational politics that underscores the possibility of developing positive political behavior at the workplace. In this respect, we seek to provide a context of re-evaluating the normative foundations of organizational politics. Normative issues are critically discussed in the context of mainstream ethical theories that illuminate the interaction of ethics and political behavior. More specifically, it is argued that a deontological framework is of particular importance for the proper management (...) of negative political behavior, whereas a virtue-ethics context can be employed so as to foster positive political behavior at the workplace. Finally, the implications of this approach for organizational life and HRM processes and practices are taken into consideration. (shrink)

This paper posits that ethical leadership increases important organizational and individual outcomes by reducing politics in the workplace. Specifically, we propose that perceptions of organizational politics serve as a mechanism through which ethical leadership affects outcomes. We further argue that the modeled relationships are moderated by political skill. By means of data from 136 matched pairs of supervisors and subordinates employed by a state agency in the southern US, we found support for our predictions. Specifically, we found that perceptions of (...) organizational politics fully mediated the relationship between perceptions of ethical leadership and helping and promotability ratings. In addition, political skill was found to moderate the direct and indirect effects. (shrink)

The goal of this article is attempting to establish a research tradition of Chinese relationalism on the methodological grounds of constructive realism. Two of Ho’s key concepts, person-in-relations and persons-in-relation, are carefully examined and reinterpreted. Three of my theoretical models, namely, my Face and Favor model , Confucian ethics for ordinary people , and a conflict resolution model , are conceived of as microworlds for illustrating an account of person-in relations in Chinese culture. The manifestation of Confucian ethics for ordinary (...) people in one’s lifeworld results in the phenomenology of persons-in-relations as depicted by Fei’s differential order or Hsu’s psychosociogram. Applying constructive realism to my models and using the result as a framework for studying Chinese social behavior constitutes Chinese relationalism. (shrink)

This study investigates the complexities in the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and performance ratings by examining the moderating effect of impression management on that relationship. Expectancy theory was employed to better understand the moderating effect. We proposed that two kinds of impression management tactics occurred: supervisor-focused and job-focused, respectively. It was hypothesized that increased exercise of impression management would mitigate the negative effects of perceptions of organizational politics and performance ratings. Data were collected from 290 full-time employees of (...) ten state-owned enterprises in Taiwan. Hierarchical moderated regression analysis of data revealed that the job-focused tactics exerted a significant moderating effect on the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and performance ratings. When perceptions of organizational politics are low, employees who engage in high levels of job-focused impression management tactics are more likely to gain better ratings than those who employ low-level tactics. (shrink)