Research on the Relationship between Job Characteristic and Political Skill

• Main Authors: CHEN, TSE-LU, 陳澤祿
• Other Authors: LIN, CHIEH-YU
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/02172471364536723378

博士 === 長榮大學 === 經營管理研究所 === 102 === Political skills can be viewed as a kind of interpersonal social skills. The thesis aims to analyze the relationship between job characteristics and political skills. There are two parts in the present study. The first part is to explore how job characteristics influence political skill utilization through the point of view of social network; and the second part is to investigate the difference in political skill utilization between public and private sectors. The job characteristics include five dimensions: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. There are four dimensions in political skills: social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, and apparent sincerity. The questionnaire survey was used in the study, and two sets of samples (n1=244, n2=177) were analyzed. The study used the first sample set (n1=244) to develop a 15-item political skill measurement scale from the 40-item political skill inventory pool. The measurement of job characteristics was developed based on the Job Diagnostic Survey. Subsequently, the study used the second sample set (n2=177) to examine the relationship between job characteristics and political skills. The two sets of samples were used together to investigate difference in political skill utilization between public and private sectors. Research findings reveal that employees are more likely to utilize political skills when they perceive higher in skill variety, task identity as well as task significance, and lower in autonomy and feedback of job characteristics. The utilization of political skills is significantly higher in public sectors than in provate sectors. The thesis contributes to the literature by taking job characteristics as the antecedent of political skills. The research results can provide some suggestions for managers in job design that may facilitate the management of political skills.