Dana Sumpter Discusses Impacts of Internal Office Politics with Nikkei

“Internal politics will continue to be inevitable and will continue to evolve in response to changes in work styles and social norms. As the focus is on rectifying social injustice, business owners and managers should reduce toxic office politics and create a culture of mutual support.”

Dana Sumpter, Associate Professor of Organization Theory and Management, elaborated on a November 2022 study conducted by Pepperdine Graziadio Business School that surveyed 800 company employees about the actual state of internal politics in response to the drastic changes in the office environment due to the corona disaster. Half of these were managers. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said that office politics are "pervasive" at work.

When asked about changes in the past two years as work from home has become more prevalent, 49% said office politics haven't gone away. 25% predicted that office politics would get worse. In terms of office politics seen at work, "spreading rumors" and "spreading cheats" topped the list at 34%. “Battle of blame” (29%) and “betrayal” (27%) followed.

Regarding office politics, 59% of respondents viewed it negatively, saying that it "damaged relationships with colleagues" and "made it difficult to work as a team." Only 15% were positive about office politics. 25% said neither.

Internal politics are also putting pressure on them. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they had considered leaving their jobs because of company politics. Only 25% had quit the company. Females (29%) had a higher proportion than males (19%).

The full article is available here.