Search

This study examined a restricted nonlinearity perspective of the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics (POPs) and work outcomes (i.e., job satisfaction and job performance), dependent upon the level of employee loyalty. Consistent with prior work, we conceptualized POPs as a demand that can have positive effects on job satisfaction and performance, up to certain levels, before negative effects are observed as levels of POPs continue to increase to more extreme levels. Drawing upon the transactional theory of stress, we then argued that this relationship would hold for more loyal employees. However, we hypothesized that these relationships would take a more linear and negative form for less loyal employees. Data analyses of a sample of 177 financial services employees offered mixed support for our hypotheses, replicating prior work that showed a nonlinear, inverse-U-shaped relationship between POPs and job satisfaction, and demonstrating an inverted U-shaped relationship between POPs and both satisfaction and performance for more loyal employees, but not for less loyal employees. We discuss contributions to theory and research, limitations, directions for future research, and practical implications.

PurposeDrawing upon cognitive control theory, we examine the effects of self-regulation failure (SRF) on the relationships between perceptions of organizational politics (POPs) and tension, exhaustion, satisfaction, work effort, perceived resource availability and performance/contribution.Design/methodology/approachWe test hypotheses across three unique studies (Study 1: 310 employees from various occupations; Study 2: 124 administrative/support employees; Study 3: 271 Chinese hotel managers) using hierarchical moderated regression analyses.FindingsAcross studies, results suggest that POPs had a minimal impact on work attitudes, behaviors and health-related outcomes when SRF was low. However, employees experiencing high SRF reported adverse consequences in high POPS settings.Research limitations/implicationsThese studies relied on self-report data. However, we implemented design features to mitigate potential concerns and analytic techniques to determine method effects. This paper contributed to the POPs literature by explaining how SRF and POPs interact to impact meaningful work outcomes.Practical implicationsLeaders should receive training to help them identify and address indicators of SRF. Leaders can also implement intervention programs to help calm employees who experience SRF.Social implicationsLeaders should receive training to help them identify and address indicators of SRF. Leaders can also implement programs to help assist employees who demonstrate adverse effects from SRF.Originality/valueThis paper integrates the research on SRF and politics to examine the collective impact these variables have on workers. Our three-study package also addresses the call for more studies to examine how politics operate across cultures.

The very nature of perceived injustice cuts to the heart of employees' cognition, attitudes and behaviours in the workplace. Yet, researchers and practitioners are woefully uninformed about what drives the subjectivity of unfairness perceptions. Using an integration of fairness heuristic and uncertainty management theories as a theoretical foundation to drive our hypothesis development, we conducted a multi-study investigation to examine individual-level correlates of unfairness expectations and perceptions in the context of newcomer organisational entry. Across two studies, we found support for the positive association between prior unfairness experiences (i.e. global unfairness heuristic) and expectations of unfairness (i.e. anticipatory injustice) at work. As an extension, Study 2 examined and found support for the interactive effect of global unfairness heuristics and competency-related beliefs (i.e. self-efficacy) on the formation of anticipatory injustice. Furthermore, Study 2 documented both direct and indirect associations between employees' global unfairness heuristic, anticipatory injustice, perceived injustice, job satisfaction and counterproductive work (CWB) behaviours. Overall, our work sheds light on the importance of perceiver-specific factors for better informing the complex, idiosyncratic nature of perceived work unfairness. We discuss theoretical contributions, future research directions and practical implications.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the effects of recruiter friendliness and both verifiable and non-verifiable job attributes in the recruitment process.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 498 participants watched a videoed simulation of a recruitment interview and completed a questionnaire. Three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the interaction and main effect hypotheses.FindingsApplicant reactions were more favorable with a friendly recruiter. The more favorable the verifiable job attribute information (JAI), the more favorable the applicant reactions were to the employment opportunity. Compared to applicants who received negative or no non-verifiable JAI, applicants who received positive or mixed non-verifiable JAI were more attracted to the recruiter, perceived the employment opportunity as more desirable, and were more willing to pursue the employment opportunity. Reactions were most favorable in the positive non-verifiable JAI condition, less favorable in the mixed condition, and least favorable in the negative condition. Surprisingly, the “no information” mean was above the negative information condition.Originality/valueThis fully crossed 2 × 3 × 4 experiment simultaneously examined 2 levels of recruiter friendliness, 3 levels of verifiable job attributes and 4 levels of non-verifiable job attributes. The five dependent variables were attraction to the recruiter, attraction to the employment opportunity, willingness to pursue the employment opportunity, the perceived probability of receiving a job offer and the number of positive inferences made about unknown organizational characteristics. Previous research examining the effects of employment inducements and job attributes were conducted in field settings where it is difficult to control the amount and favorability of JAI applicants receive.

As organizational diversity becomes increasingly common, human resource departments must learn to effectively manage heterogeneity through the development of inclusionary practices. Although HR diversity and inclusion (D&I) practices seem like an adequate solution to workplace diversity, employee past experience and anticipatory justice regarding the fairness of HR initiatives may offer an explanation as to why such practices are not always successful at leading to positive perceptions and outcomes across employees. To begin to address this question, we use theory on uncertainty management to describe the role of cognitive biases on recollections of past experiences, and the role of anticipatory justice on fairness perceptions. Moreover, we argue for several moderators of the past experience—justice expectations and of the justice expectation—justice perceptions relationships. The contributions of this proposed framework are discussed as are directions for future research and practical implications.

Despite the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States (U.S.) and an increasing number of out gay and lesbian business leaders, we have little knowledge of the role played by leaders’ same-sex sexual orientation in the leadership process. To fill this important research void, we drew from a recent theoretical model on leaders’ sexual orientation and conducted four experimental studies designed to test and retest whether leaders’ same-sex sexual orientation affects followers’ leadership perceptions and conformity to influence attempts, and how the intersectionality of leaders’ same-sex sexual orientation with leaders’ gender orientation and follower characteristics may modify the influences of leaders’ same-sex sexual orientation on the follower outcomes. Based on over 2,100 working adults in the U.S., the results of the four studies, where leaders were depicted as charismatic, indicate that leaders’ same-sex sexual orientation could have negative impacts on the follower outcomes. However, same-sex sexual orientation leaders did not suffer double stigma penalization by having additional marginalized identities (e.g., also being women). Female followers were more supportive of same-sex sexual orientation leaders than male followers. Our research advances knowledge of and responds to calls for more research attention to leader sexual orientation in the leadership process. Research and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Organizational politics has been an oft-studied phenomenon for nearly four decades. Prior reviews have described research in this stream as aligning with one of three categories: perceptions of organizational politics (POPs), political behavior, or political skill. We suggest that because these categories are at the construct level research on organizational politics has been artificially constrained. Thus, we suggest a new framework with higher-level categories within which to classify organizational politics research: political characteristics, political actions, and political outcomes. We then provide a broad review of the literature applicable to these new categories and discuss the possibilities for future research within each expanded category. Finally, we close with a discussion of future directions for organizational politics research across the categories.

Human resource management (HRM) research has documented the importance of high performance work practices (HPWPs) to organizations, and recent efforts have argued for increasing attention to the role of line manager implementation of HPWPs. To date, research in this area has focused largely on the organizational or employee implications of HPWP implementation, ignoring the process through which implementation affects outcomes. In this article, we use theory on impression formation to describe the perceptual process through which line manager implementation of HPWPs facilitates the formation of different employee impressions of manager leadership styles. We argue that this process is contingent upon employee attributions of implementation intent, which are influenced by the interaction of employee affective and attributional tendencies with line manager implementation style (i.e., political skill). Our conceptualization of this process contributes to HRM research by demonstrating the benefits of integrating it with leadership theory, as well as identifying the role of interpersonal perceptual processes in the effects of HPWPs.

To date, few empirical studies have confirmed the long-accepted notion that politically skilled individuals discriminately and strategically employ or avoid particular political behaviors in the workplace. The purpose of this multi-study investigation is to evaluate political skill and political will as antecedents of configurational impression management strategies. The configurations of impression management tactics found by Bolino and Turnley (2003) are confirmed using hierarchical and K-means cluster analysis, and discriminant analysis is employed to demonstrate the effects of political skill and political will in the prediction of impression management configurations. Consistent with the two-component model of impression management (Leary & Kowalski, 1990), the results of these studies suggest that political will and political skill represent the cognitive processes that enable impression management configuration selection. Post-hoc analyses illustrate that there may be slight differences in usage of some impression management tactics directed at specific targets (in two of our four samples). Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how a cognitive process, transcendence, moderates the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics (POPs) and several work outcomes.Design/methodology/approachParticipants across two studies (Study 1: 187 student-recruited working adults; Study 2: 158 information technology employees) provided a demographically diverse sample for the analyses. Key variables were transcendence, POPs, job satisfaction, job tension, emotional exhaustion, work effort, and frustration.FindingsResults corroborated the hypotheses and supported the authors’ argument that POPs lacked influence on work outcomes when individuals possessed high levels of transcendence. Specifically, high levels of transcendence attenuated the decreases in job satisfaction and work effort associated with POPs. Additionally, transcendence acted as an antidote to several workplace ills by weakening the increases in job tension, emotional exhaustion, and frustration usually associated with POPs.Research limitations/implicationsThis study found that transcendence, an individual-level cognitive style, can improve work outcomes for employees in workplaces where POPs exist. Future studies should use longitudinal data to study how changes in POPs over time affect individuals’ reported levels of transcendence.Practical implicationsAlthough it is impossible to eliminate politics in organizations, antidotes like transcendence can improve individuals’ responses to POPs.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to utilize an individual-level cognitive style to examine possible options for attenuating the effects of POPs on individuals’ work outcomes.

PurposeThis research examines how perceived supervisor political support (SPS) moderates the relationship between perceived supervisor narcissistic rage (SNR) and relevant employee work outcomes.Design/methodology/approachAcross three studies (Study 1: 604 student-recruited working adults; Study 2: 156 practicing lawyers: Study 3: 161 municipality employees), employees provided ratings for SPS, SNR and ratings of their job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), depressed work mood and work neglect.FindingsResults supported the authors’ argument that SPS moderates the relationship between SNR and work outcomes. Specifically, SNR was associated with unfavorable outcomes only when SPS was low. When SPS was high, SNR had little effect on job satisfaction, OCBs, depressed mood and neglect.Research limitations/implicationsResults affirm that supervisor characteristics considered toxic do not always provoke adverse reactions when considering other leader features simultaneously.Practical implicationsSupervisors capable of offering political support can positively influence subordinate attitudes, behaviors and well-being even when other aspects of their personality potentially initiate antagonism.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine SNR features and informal support activities concurrently.

The other articles in this special issue of Human Resource Management Review present meta-analyses of specific topic areas, or articles on methodological issues associated with meta-analyses, within the human resources management field. Ours is a bit different in that we do not present actual meta-analytic results, but instead conduct a thorough review of the field in order to identify areas where meta-analyses have not been conducted. Then, we discuss why such analyses have not been provided, suggestions for how we might like to see research proceed in such areas, and also implications for theory development in these areas of the field. We conclude our paper with some additional thoughts on issues to keep in mind as we seek to utilize meta-analysis to its fullest potential, and thus yield the best results possible.

The focal article on subtle discrimination provided by Jones, Arena, Nittrouer, Alonso, and Lindsey (2017) examines questions about the difference between overt and subtle discrimination and the conditions under which discrimination might vary by subtlety, formality, and intentionality. The authors suggest that a dynamic perspective of subtle discrimination would provide a more comprehensive understanding of its correlates. This article addresses two concerns regarding the authors’ proposition to move toward a dynamic model of subtle discrimination. The first concerns definitional issues and overlapping continuums that need to be more clearly distinguished in the model. The second addresses the lack of a theoretically derived process model.

We argue in this paper that overqualified employees represent an underutilized human resource that has the potential to be leveraged in impactful ways to enhance both personal and organizational effectiveness. Our proposed framework suggests that if organizations provide opportunities for employees to engage in career development experiences (i.e., job crafting, informal leadership, mentoring relationships), politically skilled overqualified employees will capitalize on these opportunities and utilize their additional knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience to make unique contributions, providing valued human resources to the organizations. Furthermore, the politically skilled overqualified employees' capitalization on opportunities to undertake career development opportunities will results in positive outcomes for both the employees (i.e., increased job satisfaction and reputation) and the organization (i.e., increased organizational commitment). Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Despite its widespread media acclaim and recognition as a strategic imperative, the role of grit in organizational research remains unclear. This ambiguity resulted from inconsistent empirical findings, thus triggering a pessimistic outlook for the construct across disciplines. To address these issues, we suggest that such confusion and lack of construct and predictive validity stem from not only methodological issues but also a lack of theoretical sophistication. In this article, we address methodological issues, focusing mainly on construct and criterion-related validity, by showing how traditional definitional components of grit are absent in existing measures. Next, we address theoretical issues impeding progress by developing a new work motivation conceptualization of the construct. To do so, we focus primarily on noncognitive ability, purpose-driven long-term goal setting, and task strategy (i.e., short-term goal) adaptation. Finally, we develop an organizing framework examining how, and under what conditions, work-related goal setting manifests, highlighting grit’s distinction from other historically related constructs. Coupled with the assumption that individuals hold higher order organizational goals toward which they are passionate, our organizing framework includes feedback mechanisms accounting for grit’s developmental properties over time. Finally, we acknowledge significant areas for future research and potential practical implications.

The role of political skill in stressor and strain processes has thus far produced inconsistent and conflicting results. Consequently, the present investigation sought to help reconcile these inconsistencies by estimating the meta-analytic effect sizes of political skill in stressor and strain processes. In contrast to prior meta-analytic results, we find that political skill is negatively related to general job stressors, role conflict, role ambiguity, and the strain response of burnout. Post-hoc analyses suggest that the stress tolerance demands of work moderate the relationship between political skill and job tension. Contributions of this study, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

Drawing from social/political influence, leader–member exchange (LMX), and social comparison theories, the present two-study investigation examines three levels of LMX differentiation (i.e., individual-level, meso-level, and group-level LMX differentiation) and further tests a model of the joint effects of political skill and LMX differentiation on LMX, relative LMX, and employee work outcomes. In Study 1, we used data from 231 employees and found support for the interactive effect of political skill and individual perceptions of LMX differentiation on LMX quality. We also found partial support for the moderating role of individual-level LMX differentiation on the indirect effects of political skill on self-rated task performance and job satisfaction via LMX. In Study 2, we used data from 185 supervisor–subordinate dyads and examined both meso-level and group-level LMX differentiation via a multilevel moderated mediation model. Results supported the moderating role of group-level LMX differentiation and group mean LMX on the indirect effects of political skill on supervisor-rated task performance and contextual performance/citizenship behavior as well as job satisfaction via relative LMX. Overall, the results suggest that politically skilled employees reap the benefits of LMX differentiation, as they enjoy higher absolute LMX and relative (i.e., to their peers) LMX quality.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the moderating effect of perceived resource availability on the relationship between work passion and employee well-being (i.e., job satisfaction and job tension) and performance (i.e., job performance and citizenship behaviors) using self-determination theory. Design/Methodology/Approach Data were obtained through surveys distributed via an online platform (Sample 1) and to employees of three professional organizations: a municipal agency (Sample 2), an engineering firm (Sample 3), and an advertising organization (Sample 4). Findings The interaction between employees’ work passion and their perceptions of available resources was associated with employees’ well-being and performance, such that greater work passion was associated with positive outcomes when resources were perceived as available. Conversely, heightened work passion was associated with job tension and fewer positive benefits when perceived available resources were low. Implications Work passion is often touted by employers as a valuable characteristic for employees, but, as these findings suggest, there are conditions that must be met in order for employees to experience positive well-being and performance outcomes. This information will likely prove invaluable for those employers seeking to best support their passionate employees. Originality/Value Research into the area of work passion is small but growing, and this study provides valuable insight into a key boundary condition for the effectiveness of passion: perceived resource availability. Additionally, this study identifies circumstances in which passionate employees actually experience a negative work outcome. Further, the multiple samples and constructive replication employed help provide confidence and a strong empirical foundation for the results.

Charismatic rhetoric represents an important tool for leaders to articulate their respective visions. However, much of the research to date on this construct has yet to consider how the eight separate dimensions of charismatic rhetoric may be used in conjunction with one another to form distinctive profiles of charismatic leadership influence. Thus, the present investigation explored the interplay of the individual dimensions using content analysis of the 1960–2012 United States presidential debates. Cluster analysis revealed the emergence of four distinctive rhetorical strategies, one of which was more strongly related to the prediction of influence success as measured by presidential election outcomes. Results suggest that conceptualizing charismatic rhetoric as a multidimensional profile construct represents a valuable area for subsequent research on charismatic rhetoric, and several possible directions are suggested.

Using an experimental design across three studies and four samples, we investigated the effects of employment qualification level (i.e., underqualified, adequately qualified, or overqualified) on hiring recommendations, and how the relationship was influenced by person–job (P-J) fit and underemployment attributions. In Study 1, we tested and found support for the strength and effectiveness of the employment qualification level manipulation. In Study 2, the results demonstrated that overqualified applicants received higher ratings on objective P-J fit, subjective P-J fit, and hiring recommendations than underqualified applicants. Also, overqualified applicants were rated higher on objective and subjective P-J fit than adequately qualified applicants. However, the results indicated no significant differences between adequately qualified and overqualified applicants on hiring recommendations. Finally, P-J fit was found to fully mediate the employment qualification level–hiring recommendation relationship, but only subjective P-J fit (i.e., and not objective P-J fit) was a significant mediator. In Study 3, we assessed the potential effects of underemployment attribution (i.e., internal-controllable vs. external-uncontrollable) on interviewer hiring recommendation. Results demonstrated that applicants who made an external-uncontrollable attribution for their overqualification were perceived negatively and received lower ratings on hiring recommendations than applicants who made an internal-controllable attribution for their underemployment. Furthermore, the underemployment attribution-hiring recommendation relationship was found to be fully mediated by subjective (but not objective) P-J fit. Contributions of these results to theory, research, and practice, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test the interactive effects of grit (e.g. supervisor and employee) and politics perceptions on relevant work outcomes. Specifically, the authors hypothesized that supervisor and employee grit would each demonstrate neutralizing effects when examined jointly.Design/methodology/approachThree studies (N’s=526, 229, 522) were conducted to test the moderating effect across outcomes, including job satisfaction, turnover intentions, citizenship behavior and work effort. The authors controlled for affectivity and nonlinear main effect terms in Studies 2 and 3 following prior discussion.FindingsFindings across studies demonstrated a unique pattern differentiating between grit sources (i.e. employee vs supervisor) and outcome characteristic (i.e. attitudinal vs behavioral). In sum, both employee and supervisor grit demonstrated neutralizing effects when operating in politically fraught work settings.Research limitations/implicationsDespite the single source nature of data collections, the authors took steps to minimize potential biasing factors (e.g. time separation, including affectivity). Future research will benefit from multiple sources of data as well as a more expansive view of the grit construct.Practical implicationsWork contexts have grown increasingly more political in recent years primarily as a result of social and motivational factors. Hence, the authors recommend that leaders investigate factors that minimize its potentially malignant effects. Although grit is often challenging to cultivate through interventions, selection and quality of work life programs may be useful in preparing workers to manage this pervasive source of stress.Originality/valueDespite its practical appeal, grit’s impact in work settings has been under-studied, leading to apparent gaps in science and leadership development. Creative studies, building off the research, will allow grit to maximize its contributions to both scholarship and employee well-being.

We examine socioanalytic theory from a leadership perspective and extend this research to examine the mediating mechanisms through which leader getting ahead motive and social competence influence leader effectiveness outcomes. A first-stage moderated mediation model was tested and supported, positioning the Leader Motive to Get Ahead × Political Skill interaction as influencing perceived institutional effectiveness and follower satisfaction with one’s leader through leader initiating structure behavior. This research both supports the relevance of socioanalytic theory for predicting leadership outcomes and extends socioanalytic theory to examine a mediating mechanism through which the interaction of the leader getting ahead motive and social competencies affects relevant performance outcomes. Contributions, strengths and limitations, directions for future research, and practical implications are discussed.

The implementation of effective human resource (HR) practices typically rests with line managers. This paper uses social context theory to propose that line manager HR implementation is influenced by organizational culture, climate, and political considerations. Subsequently, HR implementation is anticipated to drive employee outcomes. This model's implications and future research directions also are discussed.

This quantitative review explored the political skill construct and its predictive ability across a number of organizational outcomes. First, we extended the Ferris et al. meta-theoretical framework of political skill. Next, incorporating meta-analysis, we found political skill is positively related to self-efficacy, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, work productivity, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), career success, and personal reputation, and negatively related to physiological strain. Political skill was not significantly related to psychological strain or perceptions of organizational politics. Using meta-regression and dominance analyses, political skill predicted task performance after controlling for the Big Five personality characteristics and general mental ability. In a test of indirect relationships, our results suggest that personal reputation and self-efficacy partially mediate the political skill–task performance relationship. Finally, in a post hoc test of political skill dimensions, we found that networking ability, interpersonal influence, and apparent sincerity (but not social astuteness) predicted task performance. Our findings provide a comprehensive assessment of theory and research to date on political skill and extend theoretical foundations to stimulate new inquiry into the operation of this important construct.

Historically, organizational politics and political leader behavior have been framed and characterized negatively, as self-serving and counter-productive. However, scholars have noted that political acts can achieve positive ends, and have called for further discussions of positive forms of political leadership. Continuing in this recent stream of research on positive perspectives on organizational politics, a framework of leader political support is proposed, suggesting that the positive features of leader political behavior, and testable propositions are developed. The leader political support construct is defined and its antecedents are explicated utilizing a social capital perspective. Additionally, social exchange theory is used to explain the consequences of leader political support. Contributions to both leadership and organizational politics literatures and directions for future research are discussed.

Purpose – Although individual difference variables are important in the prediction of leadership effectiveness, comparatively little empirical research has examined distal and proximal traits/characteristics that help managers lead effectively in organizations. The aim of this paper is to extend previous research by examining whether and how specific distal, narrow personality traits and the more proximal characteristic of political skill are related to decisiveness, a specific competency of leadership effectiveness, as rated from direct reports and peers. Design/methodology/approach – Self-report data on political skill and personality traits (i.e. perceptiveness and affability) from 225 practicing managers from the US, together with other-report (i.e. peer and subordinate) ratings of their leadership effectiveness (i.e. decisiveness) were used to test the mediating effects of political skill. Findings – Results show that political skill (i.e. the social astuteness dimension) mediated the relationships between narrow personality traits and evaluations of leadership effectiveness as rated by some, but not other rater sources. Specifically, the social astuteness dimension of political skill mediated the relationship between perceptiveness and decisiveness ratings from direct reports but not for ratings from peers, and the full political skill composite measure mediated the relationship between affability and decisiveness ratings from peers but not for ratings from direct reports. Research limitations/implications – Limitations include the availability of only two narrow personality traits, which constrained the scope of the possible mediation tests of all individual dimensions of political skill. Practical implications – Political skill is shown to be a more proximal predictor of leadership effectiveness than personality dimensions. Thus, political skill should be considered over personality for emerging leaders. Further, differences in ratings due to source (i.e. peer and subordinate) indicate the need for organizational leaders to consider the source when evaluating effectiveness reports. Originality/value – This study is one of the first to integrate the Ferris et al. model of political skill and the Zaccaro et al. distal-proximal trait model of leadership effectiveness.

Summary Although the passion that people demonstrate at work would appear to be a topic of considerable interest and importance to organizational scholars and practitioners, we know virtually nothing about it. In response, we introduce the work passion construct, discuss what we currently understand, and provide needed directions for future research. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study examined two potential mediators through which leaders transmit their position power into an effectiveness outcome. Drawing upon recent work integrating trait, situational, and behavioral theories of leadership effectiveness, we hypothesized and tested a model specifying that the interactive effects of leader position power and leader political skill on follower satisfaction would be mediated by followers’ perceptions of leaders’ initiating structure and consideration behaviors. Specifically, this model indicates that leaders who are both in powerful positions and politically skilled are perceived to initiate more structure and demonstrate more consideration for their followers than their nonpolitically skilled counterparts, which, in turn, positively impacts followers’ satisfaction (i.e., an indication of subjective leadership effectiveness). Utilizing 190 leaders and 476 followers, we found support for the hypothesized model. Contributions to various literatures, strengths, limitations, and practical implications are discussed.

PurposeReputation has many positive outcomes, but little is known about how individuals manage their personal reputation at work. This study aims to investigate the relationships between job performance and political skill on personal reputation.Design/methodology/approachNinety‐eight triads from a Midwestern manufacturer provided data. Employees rated their political skill, supervisors rated the employees' job performance, and coworkers rated the employees' personal reputation. The white‐collar respondents were mostly Caucasian, female, middle aged, and moderately tenured in their position. The data were analyzed with regression analysis.FindingsThe results illustrated positive political skill‐personal reputation and job performance ‐personal reputation relationships. Job performance was positively associated with personal reputation for politically skilled employees, but not for individuals low in political skill.Research limitations/implicationsJob performance was evaluated by employees' supervisors, but less subjective, quantitative measures of job performance would be helpful.Practical implicationsPolitical skill training and/or mentoring relationships may help individuals manage their personal reputation at work.Social implicationsThis study focused on personal reputation in a work environment. However, the results also may be useful to individuals in a variety of organizations (e.g. schools, clubs, churches).Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to investigate how individuals manage their personal reputation in a work setting. Unlike previous research that used self‐evaluations of personal reputation, this study uses peer evaluations, which is more appropriate for the construct.

The present investigation was a three-source test of the intermediate linkages in the leader political skill–leader effectiveness and follower satisfaction relationships, which examined transformational and transactional (i.e., contingent reward behavior) leader behavior as mediators. Data from 408 leaders (headmasters) and 1429 followers (teachers) of state schools in the western part of Germany participated in this research. The results of mediation analyses, based on bias-corrected bootstrapping confidence intervals, provided support for the hypotheses that political skill predicts both transformational and transactional leader behavior, beyond other established predictors, and that transformational and transactional leader behavior mediate the relationships between leader political skill and leadership effectiveness. The contributions to theory and research, strengths and limitations, directions for future research, and practical implications are discussed.

There has been no more fundamental concept in the field of industrial and organizational (I–O) psychology than “employability,” whereby individuals seek to gain and retain jobs with organizations, and organizations desire to attract and keep quality employees. Indeed, theory, research, and practice in the field continually have sought to identify the best predictors of performance and career success. Expansion of the predictor and criterion domains has been a focus of scholarly and practical concern for at least the past couple of decades, as we have realized that the fundamental nature of work, jobs, and organization have changed considerably in U.S. organizations.

The recruitment and selection of human resources represent the most important activities in which organizations of all types engage. However, there is much scholars still need to know about the predictors of recruitment effectiveness. Using a sample of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) university football coaches ( N = 175) and their recruiting outcomes, the authors hypothesized that recruiting effectiveness is specifically affected by the individual qualities of the recruiters, in addition to the past performance of the team under the current head coach. The results supported the hypothesis, demonstrating that the interaction of recruiter political skill and head coach performance explained significant variance in recruitment effectiveness. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.

PurposeA labor union's strength is a crucial factor when considering outcomes such as its constituents' empowerment. One of the most important goals of any labor union is to achieve increased balance‐of‐power between the labor and management groups; hence, union strength is an accomplishment of this fundamental aim. It follows that stronger unions, measured by their perceived effectiveness in dealing with management, will contain more empowered constituents. Previous union‐related research typically considered employee empowerment at the group‐level of analysis (e.g. improved work rules, pay, and benefits for entire groups of employees). The purpose of this paper is to propose and test hypotheses on the relationship between perceived union strength, a micro‐ or workplace‐level analog of union bargaining power, and perceptions of shared leader‐member expectations using supervisor‐subordinate dyads as a unit of analysis.Design/methodology/approachWorking adults across the USA were sampled (n=347), through the use of a survey software company that makes survey panels commercially available. Respondents were racially/ethnically diverse, with a mean age of about 41 years (range of 18 to over 62 years), and slightly more females than males (about 65 percent female). Also, about 13.5 percent were members of a labor union.FindingsEmployees who belonged to more powerful unions (i.e. compared to employees who belonged to less powerful unions) demonstrated increased shared‐leadership expectations with their supervisors. In support of Hypothesis 1, non‐union employees also possessed increased shared leadership expectations in comparison to union workers where the union was perceived as weak. As proposed in Hypothesis 2, unions perceived as strong produced more empowered constituents relative to unions perceived as weak. Finally, non‐union employees did not appear to differ in shared‐leadership expectations from employees perceiving strong unions, contrary to Hypothesis 3.Originality/valueA contribution of the present study is to show that unions also have significant connections with supervisor‐subordinate relations (i.e. shared leadership), and that simply having a unionized workplace does not guarantee increased employee empowerment; unions must also be strong.

In this essay, we further delineate the defining characteristics of theory as well as what constitutes a theoretical contribution in organizational research cultivated by our collective experiences in the field. Additionally, we offer our views regarding the fragmented state of thinking that currently exists, how this view has come about, as well as available remedies. Unfortunately, an accurate and honest treatment requires the realization that many of the problems facing the field are not likely be solved without radical shifts in its philosophy. In our identification of issues and subsequent discussions, we err on the side of candor, which may offend some readers. Others may simply view our beliefs as unduly cynical. However, our intention throughout this essay is merely to “call-em-like-we-see-em” and not to overstate the case or elicit strong emotions or negative reactions. On the other hand, we view it as a disservice to simply reiterate the “party line,” which presents an existing knowledge base that is both robust and accommodating. Clearly, it is neither.

Team-based work structures are increasingly used in organizations as a viable means of improving performance. However, there is relatively little research on the practices of staffing teams and the implications of such practices with regard to a firm's competitive advantage. In this paper, we evaluate methods of team staffing from a strategic human resource management perspective. Included in this discussion is an extrapolation of individual approaches to team staffing, which include staffing individuals to build a team, and cluster hiring, which refers to organizational efforts to acquire and fit a pre-existing team with a new role. In particular, we evaluate how individual and cluster hiring modes influence the competitive advantage of organizations, linking human resource management practices with strategic outcomes, and presenting testable propositions to guide future research and practice in team staffing.

Promotions in organizations traditionally have represented the principal measure of career success, and they tend to be based on evaluations or judgments of employees' promotability made by supervisors. Yet theory and research on the antecedents of promotability judgments have presented an inconsistent and ambiguous picture of just what factors are best predictive of such evaluations. In the present investigation, longitudinal data obtained from supervisors of professional employees were used to rigorously test the relative influence of task and contextual performance on judgments of promotability. Results indicate that task and contextual performance not only explain unique variance in judgments of promotability but also interact, such that subordinates who excel in task performance and in the job dedication aspect of contextual performance are judged more suitable for promotion than subordinates who excel in one but not in the other. Implications of results are discussed and future research directions a...

Political skill is a social effectiveness construct with a demonstrated capacity to predict job performance. However, because performance prediction research in this area to date has made exclusive use of self-reports of political skill, and due to frequent distrust of self-ratings of constructs in important personnel decisions, there is a need to investigate how multiple alternative sources of political skill and job performance measures relate, thus raising both theoretical and methodological issues. In three studies, employing a triadic data collection methodology, and utilising both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, this research tested the hypotheses that employee political skill, measured from the perspective of employees' assessor A, will positively predict job performance rated by assessor B (i.e. Hypothesis 1a), and vice versa, that employee political skill measured by assessor B will predict job performance ratings measured by assessor A (i.e. Hypothesis 1b).

Personal reputation has been argued to demonstrate important influences on work outcomes. However, substantive research on personal reputation is relatively scarce. This two-study investigation empirically supports and extends existing theory regarding the temporal development of personal reputation (i.e., antecedents and consequences), and thus contributes to a more informed understanding of both the construct and criterion-related validity of this important construct. Study 1 is conducted longitudinally, in order to assess the development of personal reputation over time, which is undertaken to demonstrate the effects of human capital and social effectiveness as antecedents of reputation. Study 2 complements and extends the first study by conducting a field investigation examining the effects of time, human capital, and social effectiveness as antecedents of personal reputation, while also exploring the reputation consequences of autonomy, power, and career success. Our findings suggest that human capital, time, and social effectiveness play a part in the development of a reputation. Furthermore, career success, power, and autonomy were shown to be outcomes of the reputation construct. Contributions and strengths of this investigation, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Socioanalytic theory postulates that job performance ratings are predicted by basic social motives moderated by social competency. The two motives are the motive to get along with others and the motive to achieve status and power. The present two-study investigation assessed these motives as work values and collected supervisors' job performance and promotability assessments. Social competency was assessed as political skill at work. The results provided strong and consistent support for the hypotheses, thus providing a more direct test of socioanalytic theory and extending it to demonstrate effects beyond overall job performance ratings on contextual performance and promotability assessments. Contributions and implications of these results, strengths and limitations, directions for future research, and practical implications are discussed.

Political skill is the capacity to understand others in working life effectively, and to apply such knowledge to induce others to act in ways that add to one's personal or organizational goals. The present investigation reported the results of 2 studies designed to examine the job performance prediction effectiveness of political skill when investigated in conjunction with general mental ability (GMA) and personality characteristics. The results demonstrated that political skill accounted for a significant proportion of job performance variance beyond GMA and personality variables cross-sectionally in Study 1, and predictively (i.e., using a 1-year timeframe) in Study 2 examining effects on multiple dimensions of job performance. The implications of these results, strengths, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

We developed a two-study, cross-national, constructive replication to examine the role of organizational politics perceptions as a contextual moderator of the political skill – job performance relationship. Specifically, we hypothesized that high levels of political skill would demonstrate its strongest positive effects on job performance when politics perceptions were perceived as low. Conversely, we hypothesized that political skill would demonstrate no relationship with job performance under conditions of high politics perceptions. Across studies conducted both in the United States and Greece, the hypothesis received strong support. In settings characterized by lower perceived politics, high levels of political skill predicted significant increases in job performance, whereas these effects were attenuated in environments characterized by high perceived politics. Contributions and implications of this research, strengths and limitations, and directions for future study are discussed.

The current two-sample investigation, which incorporated Conservation of Resources (COR) and Person-Environment (P-E) fit theories, investigated the interaction effects of felt accountability × P-E fit on the work outcomes of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, depressed mood, and work intensity. Consistent with the conceptual underpinnings of felt accountability as either a threat or opportunity, satisfaction, work intensity, and organizational commitment increased in settings possessing both heightened answerability and high levels of P-E fit. Further, individuals reported a reduction in depressed mood when heightened accountability was coupled with high P-E fit perceptions. These findings were consistent across samples providing evidence of generalizability. Implications, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

This two-sample investigation examined the influence of perceived resources on the form and magnitude of the relationships between accountability for others (AFO) and job tension and job satisfaction. Employing resource theory, we hypothesized that the non-linear relationship between AFO and job tension would surface only for individuals high in perceived resources, whereas the association between these constructs would be positive and linear for individuals low in perceived resources. A similar relationship was hypothesized for AFO and job satisfaction in which the non-linear effect would arise for individuals high in perceived resources, and negative linear effects would emerge for those low in perceived resources. Data from two samples (N= 201; N= 182) provided support and replication for the hypotheses. Implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed.

Observing others entitlement behavior can create a stressful work context fraught with accompanying strain consequences. The present investigation examined the interactive effects of perceived entitlement behavior by others and political skill on job tension in three samples (N = 440, 167, and 140, respectively) designed to establish a consistent pattern of results. Specifically, perceived entitlement behavior by others was hypothesized to predict heightened levels of job tension in the absence of political skill. Conversely, for those with high levels of political skill, perceived entitlement behavior by others was predicted to demonstrate little relationship with job tension. Across samples, hypothesized relationships received support, as political skill was found to be a significant moderator of the perceived entitlement behavior by others--job tension relationship. Scholarly and practical implications, strengths and limitations, and future research directions are discussed.