The roles of political skill and political will in job performance prediction: a moderated nonlinear perspective

Hard, soft or ambidextrous? Which influence style promotes managers’ task performance and the role of political skill

“…These four dimensions together may help actors to adopt any behavioral, affective, and cognitive manifestation and hence increase their effectiveness Harris et al, 2016).…”

“…It comprises four underlying dimensions (i.e., social astuteness, networking ability, interpersonal influence and apparent sincerity), with each describing a unique capability, that altogether work to ensure the attainment of personal and organizational goals, without seeming manipulative and coercive, even within ambiguous work settings (Ferris et al, 2005;Harris, Maher, & Ferris, 2016). Social astuteness reflects the ability to map the terrain by noticing contextual cues along with the needs and aspirations of others, which are necessary in the selection of the appropriate mode of influence (e.g., soft versus hard).…”

Political Will, Political Skill, Network Resources and Personal Reputation: A Serial Two-Mediator Model

“…Although political will is a concept proposed by Mintzberg (1983; almost four decades ago, it received relatively limited attention from researchers compared to its twin concept: political skill (Harris, Maher, and Ferris, 2016). Nevertheless, we notice that interest in political will literature is increasing with each day, which is one of the critical cornerstones of organizational politics literature.…”

“…Granger et al (2020) state that the theory not only integrates political knowledge but also provides a useful framework for distinguishing political structures related to political skill, political will, and political savvy. In this context, the related theory links under its umbrella social capital theory (Bolender et al, 2015), firm's behavioral theory and network perspec tives (Wei et al, 2012), guanxi (Wei et al, 2010), LMX and social change theories (Brouer, Teradway, and Ferris, 2013), thus joining the study of working relations with political skill within the context of social networks (Harris, Maher, and Ferris, 2016). However, as the motivating factor in the process of creating political knowledge (Yang et al, 2019), political will is considered by many to be the "missing part" in the theory of political influence.…”

“…Whereas political skill refers to an ability that allows employees to take advantage of ambiguous situations, political will is closely linked to one's motivation to do so (Hochwarter et al, 2020, p. 21). Harris et al (2016) state that the theory of political influence provides a context in which political skill and political will are addressed together, and which has the potential to make a significant contribution to much future research by extending political characteris tics in the field of organizational politics research (Ferris et al, 2019). This study is critical both in terms of revealing its relationship with the social capital theory under the umbrella of "political influence" and in the use of political will, which is thought to be a significant deficiency in the process of creating political know ledge.…”