Organizational politics and workplace deviance in unionized settings: Mediating role of job stress and moderating role of resilience

Abstract

Background: Politics and political behaviors are a vicious and bitter reality in an organiza-tion’s life. Although under investigation for more than three decades, the literature lacks sufficient studies investigating culture-specific potential factors which have the potency to moderate the poisonous consequences of organizational politics. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of organizational politics and deviance in unionized settings with the moderating role of resilience in unionized employees in higher power distance culture. Methods: A cross-sectional design was followed for data collection. The population of this study was low-ranked employees having union identity and working in the largest power distribution company of Pakistan. Stratified sampling was applied, and eight strata’s were considered on the basis of geographical distribution, a total of 400 questionnaires were distributed among the employees of eight circles, fifty from each. Smart PLS.3.2.0 was used to analyze data through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) under measurement and structural models. Conclusion: From a theoretical perspective, this study confirmed that employees tend to show interpersonal deviance when they experience organizational politics, but organizational politics does not promote organizational deviance. Under stress, the individual also shows a slightly higher level of interpersonal deviance as compared to organizational deviance. However, the moderating role of resilience has not been proved in this study. Research limitations and future directions have also been discussed.