DEVELOPMENT OF POLİTİCAL TACTİCS SCALE – UNİVERSİTY/ FACULTY VERSİON

Organizations that are the building blocks of the modern world are a dynamic playground consisting of informal communities and each employee engages in a power struggle as a political actor (actor) at various levels (Erol, 2015). Therefore, regardless of role or status, the competitiveness of each employee as an actor in policy games (Vecchio, 1988) is a situational reality (Mintzberg, 1983; Pfeffer, 1992). In addition, these efforts of the employees towards power are conceptualized as organizational (in-organization) policies in the literature (Kocel, 2003; Islamoglu and Boru, 2007). Political behaviour, which is the mode of implementation of organizational policy, is the power-based behaviours that are not included in the employee's role description, but which make it more advantageous in the organization (Mintzberg, 1985; Pfeffer, 1992; Kacmar and Ferris, 1993). Political tactics, which are the strategic aspect of political behaviour, include all kinds of influence initiatives designed to maximize the individual gain of the employee despite the others (Bolman and Deal, 2017). Although different classifications were made in the literature in order to define the political tactics used in organizations, this study was based on the political tactical classification of Robert P. Vecchio (1988). This classification consists of the following dimensions: “(A) Ingratiating, (B) Networking, (C) Information management, (D) Impression management, (E) Coalition building, (F) Scapegoating, (G) Increasing indispensability”. In this study, it was aimed to develop the “Political Tactics Scale – University/ Faculty Version”. The sample of the study consisted of a total of 772 faculty members working at state universities in Turkey. For this purpose, firstly within the scope of the study, the item pool was created within the context of the theoretical structure of Vecchio. Then the content validity with Lawshe Analysis, structural validity with explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity using CR, Cronbach’s Alpha and AVE values, and discriminant validity using MSV and ASV values were tested and then developed the measurement model. Finally, the internal consistency of the measurement model was calculated using Cronbach's Alpha values, and structure reliability with the CR values which is a value based on factor loadings and errors variance obtained from CFA was examined, later item analyses were performed. As a result of the analyses, it was seen that the “Political Tactics Scale – University/ Faculty Version” gave valid and reliable results in the mentioned samples.

Keywords

organizational politic, political behavior, political tactic, scale development