Organizational Politics2

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Linkages between Organizational Politics,

(Un)ethical Leadership and Job Stress

Presented By

Group 6

Section F

Pranav Upadhyay 10FN-080

Prashant Pandey 10FN-083

Praveer Phatnani 10IT- 022

Rohit Mantri 10DM-126

Saswata Banerjee 10FN-136

Sharad Bajaj 10IB-054

Under the guidance of our respected Professor

Dr. R.K. Agrawal



Linkages between Organizational Politics, (Un)ethical Leadership and Job Stress

ContentsContents ....................................................................................................................................... ii 1.Executive Summary .................................................................................................................. 1

Introduction: Background of the Study ......................................................................................... 2

Objective of the Study .............................................................................................................. 3

Scope of the Study ................................................................................................................... 3

Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 3

Existing Systems ...................................................................................................................... 4

Brief Profile and History of the Industry under Observation .......................................................... 5

Overview .................................................................................................................................. 5

Structure ................................................................................................................................... 5

Opportunities ............................................................................................................................ 6

Future ....................................................................................................................................... 6

Organization under Study ......................................................................................................... 6

Infosys Technologies Ltd. ..................................................................................................... 6

Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 7

Overall Regression Result ........................................................................................................ 7

Overall Correlation Result ........................................................................................................ 9

Regression Analysis for Employees (<2 Years of Experience) ............................................... 10

Correlation Analysis for Employees (<2 Years of Experience) ............................................... 11

Regression Analysis for Employees (>2 Years of Experience) ............................................... 12

Correlation Analysis for Employees (>2 Years of Experience) ............................................... 13

Interpretation .......................................................................................................................... 14

Block Diagram ........................................................................................................................... 17

Recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 18

Sources and References ........................................................................................................... 19

Appendix .................................................................................................................................... 20

8.1 Survey Questionnaire ....................................................................................................... 20

IMT Ghaziabad | PGDM 2010-2012 | Section F | Group # 6 Page ii




1. Executive SummaryJob stress is the harmful physical and emotional response that occurs when there is a poor match between job demands and the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Job stressis also associated with various biological reactions that may lead ultimately to compromisedhealth, such as cardiovascular disease, or in extreme cases, death. The project studies theimpact of some of the factors which have an impact on job stress. The factors that have beentaken into consideration are as follows:

• Organizational politics

• (Un)ethical leadership

Organizational politics deals with pursuit of individual agendas and self-interest in anorganization without regard to their effect on the organization's efforts to achieve its goals.

Ethical leadership focuses on how leaders use their social power in the decisions they make,actions they engage in and ways they influence others.

The project uses a survey questionnaire with questions pertaining to each of the variables i.e.(Un)ethical Leadership, Politics in Organizational politics and Job Stress. Added to the abovefactors, the project takes into consideration the age, gender and work-experience of theemployees who have undergone the survey. These questions were designed to know the levelof each of the variables given above on a scale of 1 to 5. The values, hence, were then used tocarry regression analysis.

The organization chosen for the study is “Infosys Technologies Ltd”. Infosys is one of the

leading companies of India in Information Technology (IT) and consulting with revenues of over US$ 4.8 billion (FY 10). The IT sector is one of the leading sectors that report a high level of jobstress among its employees. The project aptly conducts its survey in this industry which has anemployee burnout more than any other industry.

Overall, the project examines linkages between above mentioned factors on individuals thatmight lead to job stress, a serious concern that affects the productivity of employees and go onto relate itself with job satisfaction.

IMT Ghaziabad | PGDM 2010-2012 | Section F | Group # 6 Page 1




Introduction: Background of the StudyLet us first understand the key terms used in the project:

Job Stress:

Job stress can be defined as a physical or psychological stimulus that can produce mentaltension or physiological reactions, when there is a poor match between job demands and thecapabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Stress related disorders encompass a broadarray of conditions, including psychological disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, post-traumaticstress disorder) and other types of emotional strain (e.g., dissatisfaction, fatigue, tension, etc.),maladaptive behaviors (e.g., aggression, substance abuse), and cognitive impairment (e.g.,concentration and memory problems). In turn, these conditions may lead to poor workperformance or even injury.

Organizational politics:

Organizational Politics can be defined as pursuit of individual agendas and self-interest in anorganization without regard to their effect on the organization's efforts to achieve its goals. It ischaracterized by:

• Attempts to influence others using discretionary behaviours to promote personalobjectives.

• Discretionary behaviours − neither explicitly prescribed nor prohibited

Outcomes of organizational politics:Job Stress: Psychological stress arises when people face situations that they appraise as taxingor exceeding their resources and endangering their wellbeing - (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984).

Job satisfaction: Job satisfaction is a positive emotional state that arises when people appraisetheir job or job experiences (Locke, 1976, p. 1300).

Ferris et al. (1989) suggested that an increase in perceived organizational politics is associatedwith a decrease in job satisfaction.

Turnover intention: Turnover intention refers to employees’ thoughts of quitting their present job.Because people tend to view organizational politics as undesirable, they are unlikely to want toremain permanently in a workplace they perceive to be politically charged. Employees maychoose to withdraw physically or psychologically. One physical form of withdrawal is to quit the

job. Not all employees, however, have the immediate luxury of such an option.

Ethical leadership:





Ethical leaders are characterized as honest, caring, and principled individuals who make fair andbalanced decisions. Ethical leaders also frequently communicate with their followers aboutethics, set clear ethical standards and use rewards and punishments to see that thosestandards are followed. Finally, ethical leaders do not just talk a good game— they practicewhat they preach and are proactive role models for ethical conduct.

Superficially it appears that it is good to have an ethical leadership approach in an organizationas it helps reduce the politics and which in turn leads to low job stress and higher productivityand a pleasant working environment. On the other hand, an unethical leadership could lead toincreased politics and higher job stress. In this case, the productivity, innovative ideas comingfrom employees and motivation can be very low.

The rewards to organizations supporting ethical cultures may include increased efficiency indaily operations and decision making, employee commitment, product quality improvements,customer loyalty, and improved financial performance.

Objective of the Study

The objective of this study is to find out how job stress is related to organizational politicsand unethical leadership. We have established relationship between independentvariables and dependent variable. In addition to these variables total years of experiencehas also been included. The independent and dependent variable in our study are:

Dependent Variable: Job stress.

Independent Variables: Organizational politics, Unethical leadership, Total years of experience.

Scope of the Study

The scope of the study is to show if each independent variable (Organizational politics,Unethical leadership, and Total years of experience) and dependent variables (Jobstress) are correlated with each other. Using the statistical techniques we havedetermined the correlation between these variables.

The study also includes to what extent the independent variables affect the dependentvariable viz. Job Stress.

MethodologyThe data has been collected through the use of a survey questionnaire which had certainchoices linked to numerical values. The survey questionnaire was sent to the employeesvia email. The sample was taken from the company under study i.e. Infosys TechnologiesLtd. All the questions were clubbed under three heads to represent the variables under the study. The sum of each of the numerical values is done for each question under eachindependent variable and also for each question of the dependent variable (Job Stress).





The questionnaire consisted of two sections each consisting standard set of testedquestions. Please refer the appendix for the questions.

Existing Systems

To deal with job related stress, Infosys has the following system in place:

• Open communication to improve interactions and camaraderie at the workplace.

• In-house counseling centers employing psychologists to counsel the employees.

• Off-site picnics, games, and inter-departmental competitions.

• Awards and recognition programs to motivate high performers.

• Yoga and meditation programs





Brief Profile and History of the Industry under Observation

OverviewThe Indian Information Technology industry accounts for a 5.9% of the country's GDP andexport earnings as of 2009, while providing employment to a significant number of workforces. More than 2.3 million people are employed in the sector either directly or indirectly, making it one of the biggest job creators in India and a mainstay of the nationaleconomy. In March 2009, annual revenues from outsourcing operations in India amounted toUS$50 billion and this is expected to increase to US$225 billion by 2020. The most prominentIT hub is IT capital Bangalore. India's growing stature in the information age enabled it toform close ties with both the United States of America and the European Union. However, therecent global financial crisis has deeply impacted the Indian IT companies as well as global

companies.

India's IT Services industry was born in Mumbai in 1967 with the establishment of Tata Groupin partnership with Burroughs. The first software export zone SEEPZ was set up here wayback in 1973, the old avatar of the modern day IT Park. The IT industry of India got a major boost from the liberalization of the Indian economy. India's software exports have grown at anannual average rate of more than 50% since 1991.

Structure

The structure of the IT industry is quite different from other industries in the Indian economy.The IT industry of India is hugely dependent on skilled manpower. Primarily a knowledgebased industry. The industry structure in the IT sector has four major categories. These are:

• IT services

• IT enabled services

• Software products

• Hardware

Another categorization in the structure of India's IT industry is related to the market. Thereare two major market classifications - the domestic market and the export market. The exportmarket, dominates the IT industry accounting for 75% of the revenue.





Opportunities

According to NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies),'Strategic Review 2007’ report, direct employment is expected to exceed $1.6 million. Theseopportunities are mainly due to following factors:

Global Market and Outsourcing: The market is large and rapidly changing-from a mix of legacy client server to web / package-based services. Market openings are emerging acrossI.T. services, software products, I.T. enabled services and E-businesses, and creating anumber of new opportunities for Indian companies.

Domestic Demand: The corporate, government and consumer sector of the Indian domesticmarket offers a U.S. $18 billion opportunity by 2008 to software and services companies.

E-Commerce/E-Business: India not only has a huge opportunity to service this market butalso has a unique opportunity to address the needs of the NRI community around the world.

Future

There is a clear imbalance between the demand and supply of IT professionals with the resultthat this sector offers one of the highest remuneration packages. It is expected that the IndiaSoftware Industry will generate a total employment of around four million people, whichaccounts for 7 per cent of India's total GDP, in the year 2010. Global giants such asMicrosoft, SAP, Oracle, and Lenovo have already established their captive centers in India.These companies recognize the advantage India offers, as compared to other competingcountries such as China or South Korea, and also the fact that it is among the fastest growingIT markets in the Asia-Pacific region. The number of job opportunities in the sector is onlyexpected to grow further.

Organization under Study

Infosys Technologies Ltd.Infosys is an information technology Services Company headquartered in Bangalore, India. Itis one of the largest IT companies in India with 114,822 employees (including subsidiaries) asof 2010. It has offices in 30 countries and development centres in India, China, Australia, UK,Canada and Japan.

In 2009 and 2001, it was rated as the Best Employer in India by Business Today. Infosys wasrated best employer to work for in 2000, 2001, and 2002 by Hewitt Associates. Infosys wonthe Global MAKE (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises) award, for the years 2003, 2004and 2005, being the only Indian company to win this award and is inducted into the GlobalHall of Fame for the same.





Data AnalysisThe data has been collected for the independent and dependent variables. The individual meanscore is then calculated for each of the section. This yielded the aggregate level of UnethicalLeadership, Role of politics and job stress for an individual. While calculating the score, thescale adhered to was:

• High S score signifies higher Job Stress

• High L score signifies higher Unethical Leadership

• High P score signifies higher Organizational Politics

This data along with some of the background variables like age, years of experience, etc. were

consolidated and regression analysis was run. The questions were jumbled and they could becategorized under three types.

Overall Regression Result





Multiple R 0.5505R Square 0.3030Adjusted R Square 0.1763Standard Error 2.7154Observations 27.0000

ANOVA

df SS MS F Significance

F Regression 4.0000 70.5276 17.6319 2.3913 0.0817Residual 22.0000 162.2131 7.3733Total 26.0000 232.7407

Column1Coeffici

entsStandard

Error t Stat P-value Lower 95%Upper

95%Lower 95.0%

Upper 95.0%

Intercept 18.8653 12.9197 1.4602 0.1584 -7.9286 45.6591 -7.9286 45.6591L 0.0753 0.1153 0.6530 0.5205 -0.1638 0.3144 -0.1638 0.3144P 0.1209 0.0595 2.0304 0.0546 -0.0026 0.2444 -0.0026 0.2444A -0.0867 0.5222 -0.1660 0.8696 -1.1697 0.9963 -1.1697 0.9963Y -0.3433 0.5654 -0.6071 0.5500 -1.5158 0.8293 -1.5158 0.8293

SUMMARY OUTPUT

Regression Statistics

Table 4.1: Overall Regression Result





Overall Correlation Result

S score L score P score Age Total ExperienceS score 1.000000L score 0.307669 1.000000P score 0.447973 0.390512 1.000000Age -0.301873 -0.168707 -0.038770 1.000000Total Experience -0.295641 -0.057832 -0.007846 0.877163 1.000000

Table 4.2: Overall Correlation Result

Correlation value interpretation

• Value between -0.3 to +0.3 implies no correlation or very weak correlation

• A value between 0.3 to 0.7 and -0.3 to -0.7 implies weak degree of correlation

• A value between 0.7 to 1.0 and -0.7 to-1.0 implies strong correlation

• Negative value indicates negative correlation whereas positive value indicates positivecorrelation.

Thus the Stress equation obtained using multivariate regression analysis is given as below:

S = 18.86 + 0.075L + 0.12P - 0.086A - 0.343Y

We have segregated the responses in terms of number of years of experience because we wantto analyze whether the number of years of experience has any impact on the relationshipbetween Job Stress and Organizational Politics.





Regression Analysis for Employees (<2 Years of Experience)

Table 4.3: Regression Analysis for Employees (<2 Years of Experience)





Correlation Analysis for Employees (<2 Years of Experience)

S score L score P score AgeTotal

ExperienceS score 1.000000L score 0.307669 1.000000P score 0.447973 0.390512 1.000000Age -0.301873 -0.168707 -0.038770 1.000000Total Experience -0.295641 -0.057832 -0.007846 0.877163 1.000000

Table 4.4: Correlation Result for Employees (<2 Years of Experience)

Thus the Stress equation obtained for Employees (<2 years of experience) using multivariateregression analysis is given as below:

S = 16.59 + 0.106L + 0.139P - 0.076A - 0.336Y







Correlation Analysis for Employees (>2 Years of Experience)

S score L score P score AgeTotal

ExperienceS score 1.000000L score 0.307669 1.000000P score 0.447973 0.390512 1.000000Age -0.301873 -0.168707 -0.038770 1.000000Total Experience -0.295641 -0.057832 -0.007846 0.877163 1.000000

Table 4.6: Correlation Result for Employees (>2 Years of Experience)

Thus the Stress equation obtained for males using multivariate regression analysis is given as below:

S = 18.85 + 0.052L + 0.142P - 0.102A - 0.334Y





Interpretation• From the overall regression analysis, we infer that the job stress is directly related to the

Unethical leadership and Organization Politics. The correlation factor is 0.307 and 0.447for Unethical leadership and Organization Politics respectively. This indicates thatalthough job stress increases with increase in Unethical leadership and OrganizationPolitics, the relationship between them is not so strong. So our inference is that there arelots of other forces except Unethical leadership and Organization Politics in action whichleads to job stress.

• The correlation factor between Job Stress with Years of experience and age of theindividual is -0.301 and -0.295 respectively which shows that they are inversely related.This is expected and the results reinforce this theory. As the employee gains experience

in the organization, there is a possibility that his stress level decreases and hisOrganization Citizenship Behavior improves. He understands the work culture of theorganization in a better way and thus, his acceptance level increases and probably hisperception of politics becomes broader.

• We expected that the relationship between the job stress for employees having morethan two years of experience will be weaker than for employees having less than twoyears of experience. However our result shows that the relationship is more or less thesame. Thus, the entry level employee and employee with work experience in a similar

way towards organizational politics.

• The correlation factor between the Unethical leadership and Organization Politics is0.3905 which shows a moderately strong relation between them.





Figure 1: From the above we find that with reduction in Unethical Leadership there is correspondingreduction in Organizational Politics and Vice Versa.

Figure 2: From the above we find that with reduction in Unethical Leadership there is correspondingreduction in Job Stress and Vice Versa.





Figure 3: From the above we find that with reduction in Organizational Politics there iscorresponding reduction in Job Stress and Vice Versa.





Block Diagram

Figure 4: Figures explaining the relationship between (Un)ethical Leadership, Organizational Politicsand Job Stress





Recommendations• To ensure procedural and interactional justice good performers should be recognized

and awarded fairly.

• To reduce job ambiguity, management should ensure that employees are clear abouttheir work objectives, roles and responsibilities.

• Management should also have clear and consistent policies and practices, includinghuman resource policies on promotion and compensation.

• There should be proper feedback mechanism to identify the stress levels of employeesand to identify the reasons for stress.





Sources and References

• Organizational Behavior, 13th Edition by Stephens P Robbins

• Business Statistics by Naval Bajpai

• Statistical Techniques in Business and Economics by Douglas A Lind, William GMarchal, Samuel A Wathen

• www.en.wikipedia.org

• Ethical leadership: A review and future directions by Michael E. Browna and Linda K.Treviñob

• "Situational Antecedents and Outcomes of Organizational Politics Perceptions" - JuneM.L. Poon


http://www.en.wikipedia.org/

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/




Appendix

8.1 Survey Questionnaire

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a student of PGDM Programme at IMT Ghaziabad, one of the premier management

institutes in India. We request you to spare about 8-10 minutes to complete this questionnaire.

This questionnaire is being administered as part of our course project on organizational

behavior. It will help you to look at some of the values of your organization. No questions of

personal nature are asked, neither is any proprietary information requested. The information

supplied in this questionnaire will be kept in the strictest confidence, and is meant for academic

purposes only.

With Regards,

Student of PGDM

IMT Ghaziabad

Section 1:

QuestionsReponse

sName of Unit/Division/Department __________ Age __________ Sex __________ Marital Status (Married or Not Married) __________ Educational Qualification __________ Total experience (Years) __________ No. of years in current organization __________ Age of the firm __________ Your position in the firm __________ Your Responsibilities __________ No. of employees in the firm __________ You report to (Supervisor's designation) __________









Section 2

Instructions

Given below are some statements that indicate some organizational values. After reading a

statement, tick the number which indicates how much the spirit contained in the statement is

valued in your organization. Please be frank.

You are required to one of the following options:

Always/ Often/ Sometimes/ Rarely/ Never

Questions

Reponse

s1 Employees are encouraged to speak out frankly even when they arecritical of well-established ideas __________ 2 Individuals are stabbing each other in the back to look good in frontof others __________ 3 My superior is open to criticisms and disagreements __________ 4 Since I have worked at this organization, I have never seen the payand promotion policies applied poltitically __________ 5 None of the raises I have received have been consistent with thepolicies on how raises should be determined __________ 6 People in this organization attempt to build themselves up by tearingothers down __________ 7 I have no intention of quitting my job __________ 8 My job negatively affects my health __________

9 I work under a lot of tension __________ 10 My superior goes out of his way to help subordinates __________ 11 People do what's best for them, not what's best for the organization __________ 12 My superior protects his subordinates from external criticisms __________





13 People are working behind the scenes to ensure that they get theirpiece of the pie __________

QuestionsReponses

14 My superior coaches and counsels the subordinate wheneverrequired __________ 15 My superior goes beyond self interest for the good of theorganization __________ 16 Telling others what they want to hear is sometimes better thantelling the truth __________ 17 There has always been an influential group in my department thatno one ever crosses __________ 18 There is no place for "yes-men" around here; good ideas aredesired even when it means disagreeing with superiors __________ 19 Agreeing with powerful employees is the best alternative at thisorganization __________ 20 It is best not to rock the boat at this organization __________ 21 Sometimes it is easier to remain quiet than to fight the system __________ 22 It is safer to think what you are told than to make up your ownmind __________ 23 Promotions around here are not valued much because how they aredetermined is so political __________ 24 My superior pursues the organizational goals with single-mindeddevotion __________

25 I am usually exhausted at the end of the work day __________ 26 My superior appreciates those subordinates who want to performbetter __________ 27 People spend too much time sucking up to those who can helpthem __________





28 My superior provides rewards and sanctions for worthwhilecontribution of subordinates __________ 29 When it comes to pay raises and promotion decisions, policies areirrelevant __________ 30 My superior moves ahead with determination amidst difficulties __________

QuestionsReponses

31 Individuals are stabbing each other in the back to look good in frontof others __________ 32 My superior does what he/she says __________ 33 I confide in my seniors without fear that they will misuse the trust __________ 34 I often feel stressed at work __________ 35 My morale related to my job performance is generally low __________ 36 I have ample opportunity of growth in my organization __________ 37 Many employees are trying to maneuver their way into the group __________ 38 I plan to look for another job __________

Documents

Organizational Politics2