Organization Development Commons^™

Organizational Politics: Harmful Or Helpful?, Laura Porter Soares

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Politics play a role in almost every organization – churches, schools, sports teams, and even volunteer organizations. However, the place where politics can directly impact people on a daily basis is the workplace.

Literature on organizational politics has historically focused on a negative view of politics. More recently, however, researchers have discovered that workplace politics is not inherently negative and can even include positive traits. This shift primarily began with the work of Gotsis and Kortezi in 2010 and 2011. As researchers sought to expand the perspective, they argued that organizational politics has the potential to be positive, as well. …