Some issues are more likely to stimulate political activity (ex: budget allocation vs. evaluations) o In general , scarce resources, uncertainty , and important issues provoke political behaviour o *** organizational change can also provoke political behaviour  Highly political climates result in lowered job satisfaction & organizational support, and increased turnover intentions. Also, it takes a toll on older workers’ performance (but not younger) Machiavellianism: The Harder Side of Politics  Machiavellianism: a set of cynical belief about human nature, morality, and the permissibility of using various tactics to achieve one’s ends. It’s a stable personality trait. Characteristics: - act very much in their own self-interest, even at the expense of others - cool and calculating, especially when others get emotional - high self-esteem and self-confidence

BU288 Lecture 19 Ch. 12. Power, Politics, and Ethics Tues. Nov. 20. 2012. - form alliances with powerful people to achieve their goals  outmanoeuvre and defeat people  high Machs are more likely to lie to achieve goals, & to argue that morality can be compromised  High Machs assume people are excessively gullible and do not know what’s best for themselves  in interpersonal situations, high Mach acts in a practical manner, assuming that ends justify means.  High Machs insulate themselves from the negative social consequences of their tactics. They can identify situations in which their favoured tactics will work. Such situations have characteristics: - High Mach can deal face to face with those he/she is trying to influence - Interaction occurs under fairly emotional circumstances  the emotions distract the person - Situation is fairly unstructured, with few guidelines for appropriate forms of interaction  High Machs are rational to create a social structure that facilitates their goals at the expense of others. They’re skilled at getting their way when power vacuums / novel situations confront a group.  Ex: a small business whose president suddenly dies is a novel, emotional, and unstructured situation. The decision making body would be small enough for face-to-face influence and coalition formation. Defensiveness – Reactive Politics (Blake Ashforth and Ray Lee)  Another form of political behaviour is more reactive in that it concerns the defence or protection of self-interest. The goal is to reduce threat to one’s own power by avoiding actions that do not suit one’s own political agenda or avoiding blame for events that may threaten one’s political capital.  Many defensive behaviours can accomplish the mission of not taking action: 1) Stalling: moving slowly when someone asks for cooperation is the most obvious way of avoiding taking action without actually saying no. With time, demand for cooperation may disappear.