May 20, 2020
Time:
11:00 am
Faculty Lounge, 4th floor, SDSB
The Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB) is organising the following PhD Management Dissertation Defence: “Political Skill and Self Serving Counterproductive Work Behaviors: A Power Perspective” by Fariha Zahid, Candidate PhD Management.
Date: May 20, 2020
Time: 11:00 am
Venue: Faculty Lounge, 4th floor, SDSB building.
The proceedings will also be accessible through Zoom. Click here to access the Zoom meeting
Dissertation Defence Committee
Dr. Arif Nazir Butt ‐ Supervisor & Chair – SDSB
Dr. Muhammad Abdur Rahman Malik – Member SDSB
Dr. Muhammad Adeel Zaffar ‐ Member SDSB
Dr. Abdul Karim Khan – Member (UAEU)
Dr. Shafay Shamail ‐ Member (LUMS)
Dr. Anwar Khurshid – External Examiner (NAMAL Institute)
Abstract
The extant scholarship on political skill characterises it as a social savvy, personal style construct, which is associated with positive personal and organisational outcomes. However, this study takes a counter-intuitive view to the generally accepted positive notion of political skill and highlights its potential dark side. Taking insights from its earliest conceptualisation, rooted in power and politics domains, this study demonstrates that despite being a positive interpersonal resource, political skill can also produce dysfunctional outcomes in the form of self-serving counterproductive work behaviors. Borrowing insights from approach and inhibition theory of power as an overarching framework and building on Pfeffer’s assumption of political skill being an effective tool to achieve power in organisations, this study adds to the body of knowledge in organisational politics. It also bears significant implications for the research in power and counterproductive work behaviours. Results from a sample of 250 employees from the private sector of Pakistan revealed that political skill is indirectly related to counterproductive work behaviour through power and this relationship was found to be moderated by perceptions of organisational politics and ethical culture as important boundary conditions. The study informs managers about the possible pitfalls of having more political skill and necessitates the keen appreciation of the context, which plays an extremely important role in bringing out its dark side. Contributions and implications of this research, strengths, and limitations, and directions for future study are discussed.
