Webology, Volume 18, Special Issue on Computing Technology and Information

Management, September, 2021

Relationship between Organizational Politics and Organizational

Commitment
Adams Bello
Delta State Ministry of Information, Department of Planning, Research and Statistics, Delta State,
Nigeria. E-mail: [email protected]

Shadrach Omofowa
Global Business School, Nigeria. E-mail: [email protected]

Chijioke Nwachukwu
Horizons University Paris, France.
Department of Financial Technologies, South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
E-mail: [email protected]

Anh Viet Ho Nguyen*

Faculty of Business Administration, Van Lang University, Vietnam.
Email: [email protected]

Received March 11, 2021; Accepted June 28, 2021

ISSN: 1735-188X
DOI: 10.14704/WEB/V18SI04/WEB18128

Abstract

The relationship between organizational politics and organizational commitment is examined

in this study examines A survey research method was adopted. 245 staff were randomly
selected for the study. Regression analysis was employed for testing the hypotheses
formulated. The results indicate that “Go along to get ahead” has a positive relationship with
organizational commitment. Pay and promotion policies influence organizational commitment
and General political behavior” positively influence organizational commitment. The study
concludes that firms should pay attention to organizational politics because it promotes
commitment among workers.

Keywords

Organizational Politics, Organizational Commitment, Pay and Promotion Policies.

Introduction

In recent years, several studies have been done on how organizational politics affect
various facets of employee’s behavior (e.g., Bouckenooghe, Zafar & Raja, 2015; Tlaiss,

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2013). Many scholars believe perceived organizational politics affect greater to the job
attitude of workers directly or indirectly. “Organizational politics” is a type of unofficial
power relation that involves the human resource engagement directly or indirectly in
struggles of power. These activities are mostly aimed at fostering personal interests or
avoiding negative results for all the organizations (Kacmar & Ferris, 1991). Extant studies
suggest that all organizations have some level of political element (e.g., Yang, 2009; Witt
et al., 2004). As per study of Porter et al. (1974), organizational commitment is defined
“the relative strength of an individual’s identification with and involvement in a particular
organization”. A workplace that supports the commitment of employees is important to
achieve organizational success (Nwachukwu et al., 2020). Perceived organizational
politics and organizational commitment have been extensively studied (Jam et al.2011;
Yilmaz, Ozer and Gunluk, 2014) which are important for organizational success. Yet,
little is known on how organizational politics affect organizational commitment in
Nigeria. By the review and findings from the existing literature, some gaps have been
indicated with organizational politics and organizational commitment relationships. Some
scholars (e.g., Saxena & Puri, 2015) note that organizational politics and its influence on
commitment have received little attention. This study aims to contribute to scholarship by
addressing this gap. Specifically, we aim to examine the effect of organizational politics
on organizational commitment in a Higher Education Institution (Delta State polytechnic,
Ogwashi-Uku). The following questions will assist in achieving the study objective:

• What is the relationship between ‘’Go along to get ahead’’ and organizational
commitment?
• To what extent do pay and promotion policies influence organizational
commitment?
• Does general political behavior affect organizational commitment?

Literature Review

Theoretical Framework

One theoretical perspective that accounts for commitments in an organization is the

Equity Theory-according to Stacy Adams. This theory simply states that people at the
workplace compare their effort to their reward or the reward they are receiving to that of
another organization to know if they are equitably or fairly-treated. They will be
motivated if they perceive fair treatment. The workers will not be motivated if they
perceive inequity. A person experience inequity when he/she perceived that his/her
contribution is more than that of his peers (Adams, 1963). This shows that the feeling of

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being equitably or inequitably treated by a worker is based on this perception.

Organizational politics may present conflicts and inequality in the organization. This
inequity may harm organizational commitment. When people feel that management is
treating them unfairly or neglecting their interests, they may show low commitment to the
organization.

Concept of Organizational Politics

Ferris, Russ and Fandt (1989) depict politics is pronounce in every organization, but many
enablers and outcomes are still unexplored. Organizational politics is a subjective
phenomenon which factors like past experiences, demographic characteristics,
organizational, environmental and social factor has their relations and influence (Ferris &
Kacmar, 1992). Organizational politics may manifest in form of “nepotism”, “cronyism”,
“elitism”. Organizational politics may lead to threats, thereby raising the stress levels of
employees. Perception of organizational politics entails three variables; “go along to get
ahead”, “general political behavior”, and “pay and promotion policies”. “Go along to get
ahead” implies intentionally being silent to keep vested interests or valued results from
loss. General political behavior involves “influencing others and the course of events in
the organization to protect their self-interests, meet their own needs, and advance their
own goals” (Sinha, 2008). In any event, the Managing Change Competency reveals
outcomes seen as negative that can stem from unchecked political behavior (Sinha, 2008).
Reward system influence the political behavior of employees (Muhammad & Nasreen,
2014). When individuals observe that engaging in organisational politics lead to better
reward, they are likely to engage in it (Muhammad & Nasreen, 2014).

Concept of Organizational Commitment

Organizational commitment is viewed as a force connecting an employee to an

organization (Meyer et al., 2006). Organizational commitment is perhaps a pervasive
issue in organizational studies because it influences workplace performance.
Organizational commitment is a connection of an individual to organization. Affective
commitment is understood as an emotional organisational attachment (Colakoglu et al.,
2010). Normative commitment is relating to a person’s feelings of obligation for
organisational remain. Continuance organizational commitment suggests that people do
not leave a company because of poor working conditions and inability to seek the other
employment (Colakoglu et al., 2010).

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Organizational Politics and Organizational Commitment

Mabasa, Letsoalo and Mabasa (2016) affirm that perceived organizational politics foster
organizational commitment. The effect of organizational politics has higher influence on
organizational commitment in female academic supporting staff compared to men
(Mabasa, Letsoalo & Mabasa, 2016). In Lahore, Pakistan, Gull and Zaidi (2012) submits
that a higher level of politics will result to low job satisfaction level and vice versa. They
have concluded that management should give attention to human resources to ensure that
politics do not become destructive. Delle (2013) examines the impact of perception of
organizational politics on turnover intentions and employee job involvement in Ghana
with the findings of negatively organizational on employee job involvement. Rong and
Cao (2015) establish a theoretical study based on the cultural background of the Chinese
of a relationship among the perception of organizational politics, perceived support in the
organisation, organizational commitment, and employment engagement and the study
finds perception of organizational politics is negatively relative to work engagement.
Fuller et al. (2006) argue that the leader’s behavior promotes organizational politics and
employee attitudes towards the job. Hu (2010) observed that organizational politics
negatively influence organizational commitment. Mabasa et al. (2016) report that
employee’s affective commitment and continuance commitment are both impacted by
organizational politics.

Figure 1 Research model

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And the hypothesis will be established as follow:

H1. A significant relationship exists between Go along to get ahead and

organizational commitment.
H2. There is a significant relationship between Pay and promotion policies and
organizational commitment.
H3. A significant relationship exists between General political behavior and
organizational commitment.

Methodology

This study is done with the survey design. The respondents of this study were selected
from 4 departments in the school of Business which include Business administration,
Marketing, Accounting, and Human resource. Two hundred and twenty-five (245) staff
were selected from a population of 490 using the stratified random sampling technique.
The sample size was determined using Taro Yamane's sample size formula thus n = N/ (1
+ N (e) 2)

Where n = sample size sought; e = level of significance and N = population size

Working reveals the desired sample size, thus: n = 490 (1 + 490 (0.05) 2)
Consequently, sample size is n = 245

Instruments

The questionnaire measuring organizational politics perceptions has been adapted from
Kacmar and Baron (1999) Perceptions of Organizational Politics Scale (POPS). Three
dimensions was employed to assess organizational politics: ‘’General Political Behavior’’
(2 items), ‘’Go along to get ahead’’ (4 items), ‘’Pay and Promotion Policies’’ (4 items).
The Cronbach alpha for general political behavior subscale = 0.77, go along to get ahead
= 0.78, and pay and promotion policies = 0.73. 12 items have been used to assess
organizational commitment. The Cronbach alpha are = 0.76. The Cronbach alpha results
suggest that the instrument is reliable and consistent. A 5-point Likert scale ranging from
‘’strongly agree’’ (5) to ‘’strongly disagree’’ (1) was used to measure the cariables.

Data Analysis

The demographic information has been analysed using frequency and simple percentages.
The study hypotheses have been tested using multiple regression analysis. SPSS package
has been used for data analysis.

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Findings and Discussions

Regression Results

Table 1 Model Summary

Adjusted Std. Error of the Durbin
Model R R Square
R Square Estimate Watson
a
.852 .726 .682 1.516 2.11
Predictors: (Constant), General Political Behavior, Go Along to Get Ahead, Pay and
Promotion Policies

Table 2 ANOVAa
Model Sum of Df Mean Square F Sig.
Square
Regression 1868.986 4 467.247 .003a
Residual 1362.209 205 6.645 70.316
Total 3231.195 209
a. Predictors: (Constant), General Political Behavior, Go Along to Get Ahead, Pay and
Promotion Policies
b. Dependent Variable: Organizational Commitment

The table shows that the independent variables organizational politics measured by
‘’General Political Behavior’’, ‘’Go Along to Get Ahead’’, ‘’Pay and Promotion
Policies’’, significantly explain organizational commitment, F (4.205) = 70.316, p< .005.
Further, the result suggests that 72.6% of the constructs of independent variables-
organizational politics (General Political Behavior, Go Along to Get Ahead and Pay and
Promotion Policies) significantly account for variation in organizational commitment
(p=0.000<0.05).

Table 3 Multiple Regressions of dimensions of organizational politics and organizational

commitment
Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients Sig.
Model T
B Std. Error Beta
(Constant) 75.965 1.825 .539 .591

1 General Political Behavior .434 .020 .417 5.14 .000

Go Along to Get Ahead .331 .040 .288 2.16 .001
Pay and Promotion Policies .396 .039 .341 2.22 .004
Dependent Variable: Organizational Commitment

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The coefficient table 3 shows that “Go along to get ahead” has a significant relationship
with organizational commitment. The regression analysis result for “Go along to get
ahead” exhibited a positive relationship with organizational commitment (β = .417,
p = 0.000).). Given the result, H1, a significant relationship is existing between Go along
to get ahead and organizational commitment is supported. The coefficient table 3 shows
how “Pay and promotion policies” influences organizational commitment with (β = .288,
p = 0.001). Since the exact level of significance (.001) is less than the probability of
committing a type one error (0.05). Hypothesis 2 implying that is a significant
relationship exists between “Pay and promotion policies” and organizational commitment
is accepted. From the coefficient table 3, the regression analysis result “General political
behavior” exhibited a positive relationship with organizational commitment (β = .341,
p = 0.004). This result affirms hypothesis 3 that there is a significant relationship between
General political behavior and organizational commitment. These results are consistent
with several studies (e.g., Hu, 2010; Mabasa, Letsoalo, Mabasa, 2016; that support the
significant effect of organizational politics on organizational commitment. These results
negate (Rong and Cao, 2015; Jam et al., 2011) that perceived organizational politics is not
significantly related to organizational commitment.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions

Organizational politics represents is characterized by the direct engagement or the indirect

engagement tactics and struggles of power. This study shed light into organizational
politics and organizational commitment. We reasoned that politics is an important part of
every organisation which must be properly managed in HEIs in Nigeria. This study
suggest that organizational commitment is influenced by their perceptions of
organizational politics. “Go along to get ahead” has a significant relationship with
organizational commitment. “Pay and promotion policies” influences organizational
commitment. “General political behavior” exhibited a positive effect on organizational
commitment.

Recommendations

From the above analysis, there are some of recommendations as follows:

• Management should streamline the activities of influential group existing in various

departments such that it does not hamper but ensures employees commitment and
that politics do not become destructive.

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• Management should design a manual that would enable supervisors to take prompt
action in the event of destructive polities.

Limitation and Suggestions for Further Studies

The study focused on the subject in one higher education institution in Nigeria. Scholars
should explore the phenomenon in various contexts. The mixed-method approach may
send out better understanding of the subject. Given the inconsistency in the literature,
introducing contingent factors ((moderating and mediating variables) may help to clarify
this inconsistency. Nonetheless, the study adds to organizational behavior research in
Nigeria.

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