430 CHAPTER 13 Power and Politics

to others who are active politickers or, conversely, because they feel additional
pressures from entering into and competing in the political arena.57 Politics
may lead to self-reported declines in employee performance, perhaps because
employees perceive political environments to be unfair, which demotivates
them.58 Not surprisingly, when politicking becomes too much to handle, it can
lead employees to quit.59
When employees of two agencies in a recent study in Nigeria viewed their
work environments as political, they reported higher levels of job distress and
were less likely to help their co-workers. Thus, although developing countries
such as Nigeria are perhaps more ambiguous and more political environments
in which to work, the negative consequences of politics appear to be the same
as in the United States.60
Researchers have also noted several interesting qualifiers. First, the politics–
performance relationship appears to be moderated by an individual’s under-
standing of the “hows” and “whys” of organizational politics. “An individual who
has a clear understanding of who is responsible for making decisions and why
they were selected to be the decision makers would have a better understand-
ing of how and why things happen the way they do than someone who does
not understand the decision-making process in the organization.”61 When both
politics and understanding are high, performance is likely to increase because
the individual will see political actions as an opportunity. This is consistent
with what you might expect among individuals with well-honed political skills.
But when understanding is low, individuals are more likely to see politics as a
threat, which can have a negative effect on job performance.62
Second, political behavior at work moderates the effects of ethical leader-
ship.63 One study found that male employees were more responsive to ethical
leadership and showed the most citizenship behavior when levels of both poli-
tics and ethical leadership were high. Women, on the other hand, appear most
likely to engage in citizenship behavior when the environment is consistently
ethical and apolitical.
Third, when employees see politics as a threat, they often respond with
defensive behaviors—reactive and protective behaviors to avoid action, blame,
or change.64 (Exhibit 13-5 provides some examples of these behaviors.) And
defensive behaviors are often associated with negative feelings toward the job
and work environment.65 In the short run, employees may find that defensive-
ness protects their self-interest, but in the long run it wears them down. People
who consistently rely on defensiveness find that, eventually, it is the only way
they know how to behave. At that point, they lose the trust and support of their
peers, bosses, employees, and clients.

How Good Am I at Playing Politics?

S A L
In the Self-Assessment Library (available on CD and online), take assessment
SELF-ASSESSMENT LIBRARY II.C.3 (How Good Am I at Playing Politics?).

Impression Management
7 Apply impression
We know people have an ongoing interest in how others perceive and evaluate
management techniques.
them. For example, North Americans spend billions of dollars on diets, health
club memberships, cosmetics, and plastic surgery—all intended to make them
more attractive to others.66 Being perceived positively by others should have
benefits for people in organizations. It might, for instance, help them initially
to get the jobs they want in an organization and, once hired, to get favorable
 Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior 431

Exhibit 13-5 Defensive Behaviors

Avoiding Action
Overconforming. Strictly interpreting your responsibility by saying things like “The rules
clearly state . . . ” or “This is the way we’ve always done it.”
Buck passing. Transferring responsibility for the execution of a task or decision to
someone else.
Playing dumb. Avoiding an unwanted task by falsely pleading ignorance or inability.
Stretching. Prolonging a task so that one person appears to be occupied—for example,
turning a two-week task into a 4-month job.
Stalling. Appearing to be more or less supportive publicly while doing little or nothing
privately.

Avoiding Blame
Buffing. This is a nice way to refer to “covering your rear.” It describes the practice of
rigorously documenting activity to project an image of competence and thoroughness.
Playing safe. Evading situations that may reflect unfavorably. It includes taking on only
projects with a high probability of success, having risky decisions approved by superiors,
qualifying expressions of judgment, and taking neutral positions in conflicts.
Justifying. Developing explanations that lessen one’s responsibility for a negative outcome
and/or apologizing to demonstrate remorse, or both.
Scapegoating. Placing the blame for a negative outcome on external factors that are not
entirely blameworthy.
Misrepresenting. Manipulation of information by distortion, embellishment, deception,
selective presentation, or obfuscation.

Avoiding Change
Prevention. Trying to prevent a threatening change from occurring.
Self-protection. Acting in ways to protect one’s self-interest during change by guarding
information or other resources.

evaluations, superior salary increases, and more rapid promotions. In a political

context, it might help sway the distribution of advantages in their favor. The
process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of
them is called impression management (IM).67
Who might we predict will engage in IM? No surprise here. It’s our old
friend, the high self-monitor.68 Low self-monitors tend to present images of
themselves that are consistent with their personalities, regardless of the ben-
eficial or detrimental effects for them. In contrast, high self-monitors are good
at reading situations and molding their appearances and behavior to fit each
situation. If you want to control the impression others form of you, what IM
techniques can you use? Exhibit 13-6 summarizes some of the most popular and
provides an example of each.
Keep in mind that when people engage in IM, they are sending a false mes-
sage that might be true under other circumstances.69 Excuses, for instance, may
be offered with sincerity. Referring to the example in Exhibit 13-6, you can
actually believe that ads contribute little to sales in your region. But misrepre-
sentation can have a high cost. If you “cry wolf” once too often, no one is likely
to believe you when the wolf really comes. So the impression manager must be

defensive behaviors Reactive and impression management (IM) The

protective behaviors to avoid action, process by which individuals attempt
blame, or change. to control the impression others form
of them.
432 CHAPTER 13 Power and Politics

Exhibit 13-6 Impression Management (IM) Techniques

Conformity
Agreeing with someone else’s opinion to gain his or her approval is a form of
ingratiation.
Example: A manager tells his boss, “You’re absolutely right on your reorganization plan
for the western regional office. I couldn’t agree with you more.”
Favors
Doing something nice for someone to gain that person’s approval is a form of
ingratiation.
Example: A salesperson says to a prospective client, “I’ve got two tickets to the theater
tonight that I can’t use. Take them. Consider it a thank-you for taking the time to talk
with me.”
Excuses
Explanations of a predicament-creating event aimed at minimizing the apparent severity
of the predicament is a defensive IM technique.
Example: A sales manager says to her boss, “We failed to get the ad in the paper on time,
but no one responds to those ads anyway.”
Apologies
Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and simultaneously seeking to get a
pardon for the action is a defensive IM technique.
Example: An employee says to his boss, “I’m sorry I made a mistake on the report. Please
forgive me.”
Self-Promotion
Highlighting one’s best qualities, downplaying one’s deficits, and calling attention to
one’s achievements is a self-focused IM technique.
Example: A salesperson tells his boss, “Matt worked unsuccessfully for three years to try
to get that account. I sewed it up in six weeks. I’m the best closer this company has.”
Enhancement
Claiming that something you did is more valuable than most other members of the
organizations would think is a self-focused IM technique.
Example: A journalist tells his editor, “My work on this celebrity divorce story was really a
major boost to our sales” (even though the story only made it to page 3 in the
entertainment section).
Flattery
Complimenting others about their virtues in an effort to make oneself appear perceptive
and likeable is an assertive IM technique.
Example: A new sales trainee says to her peer, “You handled that client’s complaint so
tactfully! I could never have handled that as well as you did.”
Exemplification
Doing more than you need to in an effort to show how dedicated and hard working you
are is an assertive IM technique.
Example: An employee sends e-mails from his work computer when he works late so that
his supervisor will know how long he’s been working.

Source: Based on B. R. Schlenker, Impression Management s(Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1980); M. C. Bolino, K. M. Kacmar, W. H. Turnley,
and J. B. Gilstrap, “A Multi-Level Review of Impression Management Motives and Behaviors,” Journal of Management 34, no. 6 (2008),
pp. 1080–1109; and R. B. Cialdini, “Indirect Tactics of Image Management Beyond Basking,” in R. A. Giacalone and P. Rosenfeld (eds.),
Impression Management in the Organization (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1989), pp. 45–71.

cautious not to be perceived as insincere or manipulative.70 Consider the effect

of implausible name-dropping as an example of this principle. Participants
in a study in Switzerland disliked an experimental confederate who claimed
to be a personal friend of the well-liked Swiss tennis star Roger Federer, but