Organizational Politics

Organizational politics are informal, unofficial, and sometimes behind-the-scenes efforts to sell ideas, influence an organization, increase power, or achieve other targeted objectives.

Brandon, R., & Seldman, M. (2004). Survival of the savvy: High-integrity political tactics for career and company success. New York: Free Press; Hochwarter, W. A., Witt, L. A., & Kacmar, K. M. (2000).

Perceptions of organizational politics as a moderator of the relationship between conscientiousness and job performance. 

Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 472–478. 

Politics has been around for millennia. Aristotle wrote that politics stems from a diversity of interests, and those competing interests must be resolved in some way. “Rational” decision making alone may not work when interests are fundamentally incongruent, so political behaviors and influence tactics arise.