Organizational climate and organizational politics: understanding the role of employees using parallel mediation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to inspect the influence of organizational climate on the social desirability of political behaviour of employees. It also examines perception of politics and perceived behavioural choice as the underlying mechanisms that mediate the relationship between organizational climate and social desirability of political tactics. Finally, the paper studies the influence of desirability of politics on frequency of use of political tactics. Design/methodology/approach The study uses data (n = 234) collected from a large public sector organization in India. The inter-relationships are tested empirically using structural equation modelling. Findings The findings suggest that organizational climate significantly influences the social desirability of political tactics such that positive climate leads to lower social desirability of political tactics. Also, perception of politics and perceived behavioural choice mediate the relationship between organizational climate and desirability of political tactics. Finally, the social desirability of political tactics positively and significantly influences frequency of political tactics used. Research limitations/implications Because of the nature of the study, generalization must be made with caution since it has been conducted in an Indian public sector organization, and errors due to measurement method could be present. The study provides a better understanding of the relationship between organizational climate and political behaviour and clarifies the mediating role of perception of politics and behavioural choices. It also elucidates the need for organizations to accept the active role of employees in determining the nature of workplace politics. Originality/value The study establishes political perceptions and perceived behavioural choice as important mediators between climate and political behaviour, fostering in-depth research into the environmental aspects of public sector organizations. It also establishes employees as autonomous members of the organization who make political choices by taking into account their organizational contexts, a concept much newer to highly formalized and codified public sector organizations.