Handbook of Organizational Politics

Citation

Vigoda-Gadot, E. (2007), "Handbook of Organizational Politics", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 15 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2007.04415gae.002

Handbook of Organizational Politics

Handbook of Organizational Politics

Eran Vigoda-Gadot, Amos DroryEdward Elgar2006

The Handbook of Organizational Politics presents the interpersonal influence and power wielded, consciously or unconsciously, in an organizational setting to achieve desired outcomes.

Politics is investigated from multiple vantage points to provide insight into the dynamics that help employees, middle managers and leaders to get ahead while advancing organizational goals and their personal agenda. Ultimately, the book is about outcomes and performance that affect individuals, groups and organizational stakeholders.

The first section presents a microanalysis of individuals and their role in the workplace, beginning with an investigation of the significance of organizational politics in leadership roles, perceptions of politics resulting from the mediation of leadership styles and employee performance, as well as the effect of agreeableness and extraversion on political influence. It then delves into personality variables, resulting in a multiplicity of attitudes and behaviors, before launching into an in-depth examination of the role of perception in creating positive or negative collective outcomes. Highlighting inter-group and intra-group political processes, it culminates with an assessment of contextual factors in impression management and manipulation.

The second section evaluates ethical considerations in organizational politics, surveying the impact of values and morals on organizational trust and commitment through analysis of the relationship between perceptions of politics and perceptions of justice.

The third section dives deeper into this phenomenon by exploring the mental and physical consequences resulting from emotional stress involved in organizational politics. Three definitions of stress in this context are presented: an environmental event capable of producing negative reactions; a cognitive appraisal of being overwhelmed by environmental demands; and a response to adverse working conditions. In addition, emotions are proposed as the intermediary link between perceptions of organizational politics and attitudinal and behavioral outcomes.

The fourth section attends to aspects of organizational politics evident in strategy, change and decision making, building upon earlier chapters to create an integrated view of the big picture, from job performance to organizational democracy.

The final section elevates the discussion to the professional’s perspective, designed to support human-resource specialists and management consultants tasked with optimizing performance and results through proper management of power and influence by presenting practical methods to address lack of concern or awareness of issues associated with the use of power in organizations.

The Handbook of Organizational Politics is highly recommended for those who seek a greater understanding of the dynamic influence of power and authority in organizations, as well as those who seek to harness the power inherent in organizational politics to fuel their advancement.

Reviewed by Judy Bullock, University of Phoenix, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

A longer version of this review appeared in Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 28 No. 5, 2007.