Influence tactics and perceptions of organizational politics: A longitudinal study

This study explores a longitudinal design to address the assumption that influence tactics and perceptions of organizational politics are, in fact, related. Furthermore, this research examines the proposed intermediate linkages and process issues that are involved in this relationship. Influence tactics, which represent actual organizational politics (OP), are argued to be an important predictor of perception(s) of organizational politics (POPS). The research tests whether the relationship between influence tactics and POPS is direct or mediated by met expectations (ME) and person-organization fit (POF). A total of 303 employees and managers in two major Israeli public organizations were surveyed at two points in time. To allow conclusions on causality among research variables, the study applied a longitudinal design where influence tactics were measured at time 1 and POPS, ME, and POF were measured 6 months later. ME was found to mediate the relationship between influence tactics and POPS while no such conclusion could be drawn for POF. Implications of the results are described as directions to future research on influence and politics in organizations.