Antecedents of organizational politics perceptions in Kuwait business organizations

Purpose – This paper aims to examine three sets of antecedents of organizational politics perceptions: organizational antecedents, job work context antecedents, and personal antecedents. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected from 206 full‐time Arab employees of seven Kuwaiti companies and four industries (financial services, investment, real estate, and communication). Findings – Results of multiple regression analysis showed job/work context factors and hierarchical level to be significant predictors of perceptions of organizational politics. However, contrary to the findings of previous research, formalization and centralization did not have a significant effect on organizational politics perceptions. Research limitations/implications – The potential for common method variance that may be associated with the use of a single source, self‐report methodology of data collection represents a limitation. Practical implications – The study is very useful in raising the level of awareness of managers, at various levels of the organization, of the potential consequences of their political behavior to their employees. Originality/value – This study expands such research on organizational politics in a different cultural setting, one that is characterized by lower individualism and higher power distance.