Sociology

1. Abstract and Operational Hypotheses
This research proposal intends to use applied research as an assessment on this topic. My interest is the relationship between leaders and followers in an organizational environment. In particular, I am interested in examining how organizational politics affect employee morale and the overall productivity of an organization. The operational hypothesis is that organizational politics have an effect on employee morale and output.

Organizational politics has both a positive and negative effect on the morale of employees and the overall production performance levels of an organization (Lencioni, 2006). In this study, the needs assessment strategy is proposed. A needs assessment provides a systematized exploration of things as they stand and also the expected way in which they ought to be. The things being referred to here deal with organizational andor individual performance.

In conducting a needs assessment, the first task is to find out the current performance of the organization and workers as compared to the existing set standards. So a needs assessment is useful in indicating the current scenario of activities and then desired ends of an individual or organization. In a sense, this study brings out the gap that exists between the current needs, wants and objectives, and those that are desired. In a nutshell, it helps to set the difference between the actual needs and wants or perceptions. It is necessary to know the current state of events and the desired level on the same so as to be guided through the pursuit of the intended goals (Reich, 2008). In respect to the above realization, a needs assessment is mandatory before the research is done as it provides the basis upon which the study is to be built.

2. Literature review
Earlier studies into organizational politics have treated the subject of politics as a perceptual construct (Cropanzano and Kacmer, 1995).  That is to imply that politics is an element of subjective evaluation. This kind of evaluation is also a form that is developed from personal experiences. One aspect of work experience that is bound to shape perception is the relationship between leaders and workers (Fairholm, 2009). This relationship will affect the morale and thus the work output level of individual employees. In the end, the organizational output will be affected on this very basis.

Individuals that perceive their relationship with the leadership to be rough are likely to be demoralized (Bolman and Deal, 2003). A demoralized worker, as indicated above, is bound to suffer a negative urge to underperform. Consequently, the organization stands to lose if organizational politics are allowed to permeate the work place. Other individual workers are demoralized by the fact that there exist others that exact favorable treatment from the leadership of an organization (Dobson and Dobson, 2001). This may be in the form of being assigned less work, gaining from job promotions, or securing other favors that are not uniformly made available to the rest of the employees. This is thought to have a negative effect on the employees that feel relegated to oblivion corners at the expense of one or few individuals (Zalenik, 1970). This lowers group morale as individuals do not aspire to be used while unappreciated. The end result is low productivity.

All pieces of literature that have been reviewed in relation to office politics are indicating a negative correlation between office politics and employee morale at the place of work. Morale is in turn viewed as an important ingredient in the execution of work. If the morale of workers is low then their performance is set to decline. A declining performance does not augur well for any organizations goal attainment objective.

Office politics is based on the use of power assigned to an individual within an employing environment. Such power may be used to obtain an advantage at the work place for a certain group of individuals within the working area. It is thought that such power is in most instances abused notably because it rests outside the legitimate provision within an organization. The major benefits to office politics is that it can be used to gain tangible or intangible benefits like pseudo-authority. This authority can be used to influence the behavior of other employees (Provis, 2004). In a sense, the major objective of office politics is to gain undue advantage.

Office politics may also be used in reference to the way in which co-workers act amongst each other. It can attain positive or negative regards. All that causes office politics lie in the manipulative intent by a section of top management employees (Vigoda and Drory, 2006). This is supposedly in pursuit of goals that always differ in terms of approaches though similarities may be found.

The work place is a competitive environment where goal achievement is given much attention regardless of the methods used in a bid to realize those aims. To give an illustration, if six people in an organization apply for the same position, it may be a very competitive spectacle. This may need that the best of the candidate gets to win the spot. However, the best individual may not be the one that wins because of office politics. In such a scenario, the one individual that has well oiled connections may stand a bigger chance in winning the race. It should be noted that if employees believe that promotions and the award of duties and tasks is not on the basis of competency but on political connections, their output levels are likely to be affected. They will not give their all as they understand that this may not yield recognition at the work place. Consequently, office politics would have undermined the performance of a whole organization. Office politics do not serve organizational goals but rather individual goals. It also wastes so much time and resources in a bid to gain the support of a good number of supporters as office politics rely on being able to control a considerable section of an organization. Office politics is also thought to have quite serious consequences especially on the strategy of formation, budget setting, leadership and performance management (Fairholm, 2009). In simple terms, playing office politics forms a basis for distraction from execution of office tasks.

3. Research Problem
It is therefore hypothesized that
Hypothesis 1 Job politics at the work place has a negative relationship with organizational goals in reference to output.
Hypothesis 2 organizational de-politicization has a positive relationship with employee morale.
Hypothesis 3 employee morale has a positive relationship with performance levels.
It is on the basis of these hypotheses that this study is hinged on. On the basis of the first hypothesis, it should be clear at the end of the study whether job politics lead to a hindrance in the pursuit of organizational goals. Secondly, the view that making the work place political can create a positive environment for enhancing employee morale is also put into perspective. Finally, the perception that employee morale has an effect on output as observed by Dubrin (2008) is put into scrutiny. All the above hypotheses create a perception of politics in an organization and how it affects the performance in relation to output levels. The research problem is thus premised on the idea that office politics undermine individual and organizational performance.

In this study the use of a needs assessment procedure is adopted because it is the best suited procedure as it gives a description of the currency of events and further gives the hypothesized nature on the same at the end of the exercise.

2.1 Sampling Procedure
According to Patton, (1990), the identification of the correct or suitable sampling procedure is positively correlated to the accuracy of the research findings. From the onset, it should be noted that this research is qualitative in nature and therefore the use of an appropriate sampling procedure shall be emphasized. Hence, this research study shall use systematic random sampling procedure to determine the sample for this study. This method has the merit of being easy to use while at the same time ensuring for accuracy in determining the sample size.

2.2 Data Collection
In any form of scientific research, there is need to collect data before an analysis is carried out. The methods of collecting the data must be in tandem with the requirements of the scientific methods. That is the reason why in this research the use of both primary and secondary sources of data is taken. The use of secondary sources is very important in providing the basis upon which a research is built. On the converse, primary sources offer new information to back up the research.

This study shall involve the use of both primary and secondary methods of data collection. Administration of questionnaires shall be used as the primary method of collecting data in relation to the research question. This shall be supplemented by the use of probing to allow for the collection of accurate and valid data. Additional information shall also be obtained from secondary sources such as books and related previous studies into this area. The use of secondary source of information has the merit of providing in-depth information on the topic under study which in turn helps the researcher to come up with responsive recommendations.  The collected data shall be analyzed and represented through the use of score tables, pie-Charts and graphs.

3.0 Data Collection Procedure
3.1 Instrument
This study is to use mailed survey. In respect to that, a questionnaire to measure all the variables under study was developed. Political perception was measured using Wayne and Stuarts (2004) 15 items. Job dissatisfaction was measured using Ranjits (2005) instrument. Employee morale was measured using 24 items. These items were personalized from HYPERLINK httpbooks.google.combooksqinauthor22DrCRKothari22sourcegbs_metadata_rcad7 Kotharis (2008) piece of work. Respondents were requested to show an indication on the extent to which they agree with the items. In this regard, a five-point Likert scale with and 5 indicating strongly agree and 1 indicating strongly disagree. The employee morale was measured using one item asking respondents to rate their agreement with the declaration that they will offer their best in their duties.

3.2 Sample
The sample is made up of employees from a UK finance company that was witnessing a turnaround after making substantial losses. The choice of this organization was arrived at because it fulfils all the conditions that are necessary for a high level of organizational politics. The loss the company had experienced is believed to have been behind major big resource constraints. This in effect led to a condition of uncertainty. This atmosphere of conflict pitting the employee and employer that was pervading the organization, to confirm it, about 100 employees, a good number from the management level quit their jobs due to political infighting during the year 2002.

Questionnaires were mailed to all 460 employees. Of the total sent, 190 useful responses were received. This represented a response rate of 42 per cent on approximation. The mean in years of service of the respondents is 12 years. The non-managerial employees bracket make up 59 per cent. Finally, employees at the branch level comprise 51 per cent and the remainder was from the head office.

3.3 Data Analysis
The dependability of the variables used is shown in Table 1. All of the variables are found to be bearing an acceptable Cronbach Alpha. The correlation between the different variables is shown in Table 2. The structured equation modeling was used to test the association between morale, job dissatisfaction, and output, intention to quit and POP (political perception).

Table 1 Reliability Measures of Variables Used
 
Variables                Total items    Cronbach Alpha
 
Perception of Politics        15            0.848
Job dissatisfaction            6            0.748
Morale                         4            0.705
Output                        24            0.944
 
Table 2 Person Correlation between Variables
  Variables           POP        Job dissatisfaction    morale    output
 
Morale          -0.474
                (Pop  0.000)
Job dissatisfaction 0.462       -0.547
                (Pop  0.000)    (p  000)
Output           -0.523         0.641         -0.487
                 (Pop  000)    (p  0.000)   (p  0.000)
Intention to       0.271        -0.224         0.239        -0.325
Quit             (pop 0.000)     (pop 0.002)     (pop 0.001)    (pop  0.000)

3.4 Discussion
The analysis of data is necessary so as to confirm or to refute a stand on an issue. From the data analysis, it is inferred that the hypothesized state is the case in practice. The study confirms that organizational politics have an effect on morale and output at the individual level and organizational level. This hypothesized position is thus confirmed as expected from the postulates of both theory and earlier researches into the system. Though, some holes may exist as in regards to the validity of the findings given the nature of the subjectivity that affects human beings, this study may serve as another dimensional approach that is tentative on the issue area.

One way of doing an analysis on office politics may involve a view on it as a series of games. These games should be analyzed and given a description in reference to the kind of games given the play off. Interpersonal games are normally played between peers, for example, the game of No Bad News. In this game, there is suppression of negative formation and the stake involves the risk of upsetting someone. Leadership games are played between the supervisor and juniors. Office politics can result to a supervisor setting an employees against others in the work place.

4.0 Validity and Reliability
All the variables used hold an acceptable Cronbach Alpha. This is a pointer to the highlight of their reliability. Through correlation measures, the variables can be tested for the same. Through use of the structured equation modeling, the relationship between the different variables can be examined.
Limitations are inherent in several aspects of learning. The major ones centre on time and both financial and material resources. As a result it is worthy that the anticipated and rising limitations be considered. Limitations should serve as a warning so that measures are put in place in advance to counter their effects on the research exercise.

One of the anticipated limitations during this research study is attributed to the fact that some respondents might not provide reliable and truthful information. This limitation carries the potential effect of greatly reducing the validity and reliability of the field study findings. In order to overcome this challenge, the researcher shall request the respondents to be as truthful as possible. Also, the research shall be based on the principle of voluntary provision of information by the respondents and thereby reduce the likelihood of collecting biased information. The second limitation that the researcher anticipates to be encountered with is the issue of insufficient resources in terms of man-power and finances. Time constraint is the other limitation to which this study is exposed since this research shall require at least one year to be completed. The use of questionnaires in data collection requires that enumerators be used in the exercise. This is due to the complexities involved in their administration. In respect to that, the kind of resources required is not easily available, a contributing factor to the high costs. Another tricky aspect concerns drawing up of the questionnaires as it takes expertise to come up with a standardized questionnaire that will be useful in the data collection exercise.

Another serious limitation on the part of the findings is that the basis on which they rest is on subjective attributes. This means that the respondents can give misleading information on certain issues either intentionally or incidentally, however this should be checked for by trying to harmonize the data. But such an attempt to harmonize may fail to achieve the actual results because the final harmonized data may be a reflection of the researchers preferences.

The major strengths of this needs assessment design is that it enables one to understand the current state of affairs, the desired state of affairs, and consequently the gap between the two. Validity is the kind of support that is derived from theory and interpretations. If the study supports the intended conclusion then the design is appropriate in handling the question at hand. The evaluation of the design in relation to conclusion is given precedence.

In theory, political machinations and undue influence at the work place have the net effect of undermining productivity as they negatively affects the performance levels of the workers (Pfeffer, 1993). This study also points to the same position. It basically hints that political networks at the work place inherently harbor ill for the progress of any organizational entity. It is in reference to this that the research design has been taken to be valid and reliable. The construct validity, content validity and criterion validity have been reflected in this study.

Conclusion
On the basis of this study, office politics has been found to be a major form of distraction that embeds the office space. Its consequences do not augur well with the goals of an organization as the individuals that engage in it, do so only for selfish gains. However, further studies are necessary to lend support to this research or identify gaps in the study area.