Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 5, 1071-1082 2024 Publisher: Learning Gate DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i5.1807 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate * Correspondence: zulkiflee@uum.edu.my Does the leadership style influence the office politics in performance appraisal? Empirical study from Malaysian financial sector Zulkiflee Daud1*, Hosam Azat Elsaman2, Mazli Mutazam3, Mohd Rashdan Sallehuddin4, Nasiruddin Haron5, Mohd Abidzar Zainol Abidin6 1,2,3,4,5,6School of Business Management, College of Business, University Utara Malaysia 06010, Sintok, Kedah; zulkiflee@uum.edu.my (Z.D.) hosam_azat_e@cob.uum.edu.my (H.A.E.) mazli@uum.edu.my (M.M.) rashdan@uum.edu.my (M.R.S.) nasir3780@uum.edu.my (N.H) m.abidzar.zainol@uum.edu.my (M.A.Z.A.). Abstract: Employees play a pivotal role in the Malaysian financial industry, as this sector requires individuals capable of meeting the demands of the global financial market and enhancing Malaysia's position as a leading international financial hub. Consequently, employees' behavior and practices can significantly impact the institution's reputation. Previous research has identified office politics as a detrimental factor in organizational performance, prompting this study to investigate the impact of leadership styles on organizational politics within the context of performance appraisal. A survey was conducted through the distribution of questionnaires among 274 officers and clerical staff, selected using proportionate stratified random sampling from a Malaysian government financial institution based in Kuala Lumpur. Of the distributed questionnaires, 105 were completed and deemed usable. The study identified three reliable dimensions of politics in performance appraisal: acquiring benefits, human relations, and control. In examining leadership styles, the study found that the integrative leadership style was the only reliable dimension. Correlation analysis revealed that integrative leadership style generally correlates significantly and negatively with politics in performance appraisal. Specifically, integrative leadership style had a significant negative impact on the human relations and control dimensions. Regression analysis further indicated that integrative leadership style significantly and negatively influenced only the control dimension of performance appraisal politics. The study discusses the implications of these findings for future research and practice, as well as the limitations of the current study. Keywords: Exploratory factor analysis; Industrial relations; office politics errors; Integrative leadership, Performance appraisal, 1. Introduction The rapid growth of work system requires adequate human resources; hence employees are crucial in the financial industry as this industry needs individuals who can complement the needs of the global financial market and contribute to strengthening Malaysia's position as an international financial hub (Ibrahim et al., 2020). The critical stakeholders of a financial institution are their employees; thus, their conduct and practices can expose the institution to reputational risk (Ali & Kasim, 2019). On the meantime leadership represents a psychological contract between a leader and his followers that he will try his best to guide them, to protect them and to treat them fairly and with justice (Samsudin, 2018). Leadership can be defined as a dynamic relationship based on mutual understanding and common purpose between leaders and employees in which both are moved to higher levels of motivation and moral development as they affect organizational objectives and intended change, at the same time, leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9212-3784 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5554-8052 https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6210-939X https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1413-3118 https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7800-2894 https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5036-4696 1072 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 5: 1071-1082, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i5.1807 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate motivations (Maharani et al., 2020). Moreover, in appraising employee’s performance, leader must refer to employee’s key performance index and avoid any discrimination in performance appraisal, behavior such as politics that involves the exploitation of power may direct to unjust result and create conflict in industrial relations (Weissenberger, 2010). Organizational politics, often referred to as office politics, involves the strategic manipulation of power and authority to foster relationships and achieve desired outcomes, often at the expense of others. In essence, it can be seen as using underhanded tactics to meet objectives. Organizational politics involves the exercise of personal or positional power within an organization to gain advantages that extend beyond one's formal authority. These advantages may include access to tangible resources or intangible benefits such as enhanced status or pseudo-authority, which can influence the actions and decisions of others. Both individuals and groups may participate in such political behavior within the organizational context., the organizational politics become a disease in performance management (Daud et al., 2023). Amit and Manjari (2007) maintained that politics in performance management may fulfill the assessors’ short-term goals but it hurts the employee in the long run by jeopardizing performance culture, demoralizing genuine performers and discrediting pay for performance policies. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the influence of leadership styles. 1.1. Integrative Leadership Styles Transparency in organizational policies and rules and regulations are vital to create satisfaction among employees in their job and this notion eliminates any uncertainties in execution of performance management so that all employees will satisfy with the result of their performance appraisal (Prasetya and Kato, 2011). Various studies on organizational politics including Rozhan Othman (2009) and Labedo (2006) have found that organizational politics drove job ambiguity and created negative trust climate, as well as bias in performance management may happen when the superior perceives that everybody may make a same mistake, hence judging employee’s performance this kind of bias may also direct to the perception of political game by employee towards the employer. In determining styles in leadership, this study employed Blake and Mouton leadership styles. Blake and Mouton’s dual dimensional model for handling interpersonal conflict has given rise to several theoretical approaches dealing with modes or styles in conflict management for example Thomas and Kilmann (1974) and Rahim (1983), as well as empirical research designed to evaluate these styles for example Munduate, Ganaza, Peiro, Euwema (1999). Integrative style of leadership or the 9,9 style of leadership according to quadrant suggested by Thomas and Kilmann (1974) and Rahim (1983) is a synergistic theory of behavior. In interpersonal conflict management, Rahim (1983) has defined this style as integration resolution style. Effective integration between managers and subordinates in organizational politics is possible by involving subordinates’ ideas in determining the conditions and strategies of work. There are the needs of people to think, applying mental effort in productive work and establishing mature relationships to accomplish organizational requirements. The basic aim for integrative style is to promote the conditions that integrate creativity, high productivity and high morale through concerted team actions. The integrative manager believes that mutual understanding and agreement on organizational goals are the means to be attained for work direction (Blake & Mouton, 1968). As per Blake & Mouton (1968) the Integrative manager is responsible to plan, direct and control his subordinates’ works in an attempt to reach organizational mission, he gets relevant facts from his employees, establishes goals and setting up workers’ responsibilities, then when conflicts occur, the integrative manager will identify the problem, revising goal and assists worker who needed help to remove road blocks, also in the implementation of tasks, the manager will make follow-up by evaluating how the job went and when the job has been done effectively, thus the integrative manager will give recognition on a team basis as well as recognizing outstanding individual contributions. 1.2. Performance Appraisal 1073 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 5: 1071-1082, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i5.1807 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate Recently, performance appraisal becomes one of the important functions in managing human resources. This performance is called contextual performance and refers to outcomes of employees’ behaviors that are needed to support the organization’s strategies and mission (Witt, Kacmar, Carlson, Zivnuska, 2002). Furthermore, this human resource management activity indicates the performance of employee in comparing with his key performance index. To accomplish the multiple goals of performance appraisals, most organizations are leaning toward a continuous program of performance management that is particularly important to both the professional success of an organization and the personal advancement of its employees (Guest, 1997). Although performance appraisal helps organization to indicate the level of performance of employees and assists in order to determine the corrective actions if the performance showed by the employees was deviate from their key performance index, this activity is questionable in terms of its fair and justice (Saeed and Shahbaz, 2011). Performance appraisal outcomes are often affected by various biases that compromise the fairness and accuracy of evaluations. These biases include unclear standards, where performance criteria are vague; the halo effect, where one positive trait overly influences overall ratings; central tendency, in which raters avoid extreme scores and rate most employees as average; strictness and leniency, reflecting consistently harsh or lenient evaluations; and stereotyping, where appraisals are influenced by generalized assumptions about individuals rather than their actual performance. (Dessler, 2005). As these biases involve discrimination and manipulation of power, they may create politics in performance management (Longenecker, Sims and Gioia, 1987). Hence, this study attempts to investigate the existence of organizational politics in performance management. 1.3. Office Politics Contextual performance refers to outcomes of behaviors that are needed to support the social fabric of the organization (Witt, Kacmar, Carlson, Zivnuska, 2002). Ferris and Kacmar, (1992) stated that evidence from previous research have showed that personal experience and perceptions have supported a general belief that behavior in and of organizations is often political in nature. Parker, Dipboye, Jackson (1995) have indicated that among the human resource practices that are always influenced by politicking activities are career development opportunities, reward and recognition and cooperation among work groups. They added, the perception of organization politics is truly a significant dimension of individuals’ perception of their work environment. Such perception could lead to a decrease on Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) (Parker, Dipboye, Jackson, 1995). This politicking behavior influences the distribution of advantages and disadvantages in organization (Robbins, 2001). Modern organizations are described as political systems that are characterized by diversity, scarcity of resources, groups or personal interests, and disagreements that result in conflict (Ladebo, 2006). As maintained by Chang Rosen, Levy (2009), perceptions of organizational politics have indirect effects on turnover intentions and performance through more immediate outcomes for example strain and morale. The research demonstrated that if the activities are perceived as political based on favoritism and self-interest, then it may have extensive negative effects on organization members. Chang Rosen, Levy (2009) also indicated that employees’ respond negatively to work conditions that indicate politics. Parker also found the same result, Dipboye, Jackson (1995), by using zero-order correlation, the authors judged that perceiving the organizational as political was associated with a variety of negative outcomes including: a. having lower overall satisfaction, b. believing that the organization does not value high work standards, challenging work and integrity, c. evaluating senior management as ineffective d. perceiving that the organization does not support innovation and e. believing that employees are not loyal to the organization Employees hold diverse views regarding organizational politics. While politics often carry a negative perception (Dhar, 2009), it can also be instrumental in securing cooperation from subordinates or peers to accomplish tasks, as it involves persuasion (Chang, Rosen, Levy, 2009; Robbins, 2001). 1074 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 5: 1071-1082, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i5.1807 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate Political influence processes may also serve to preserve the status quo even when change is necessary. The impact of political behavior on an organization, whether beneficial or detrimental, often hinges more on perceptions than on objective reality (Parker, Dipboye, Jackson, 1995). Perceptions and reactions to organizational politics may be influenced by cultural factors, suggesting that theories of organizational politics should account for the cultural context of each study. In organizations with limited resources, heightened levels of politicking are often observed, as key actors compete to secure a fair share of those scarce resources for themselves and their units (Ladebo, 2006). 1.4. Office Politics in Performance Appraisal Ferris and Kacmar, (1992) stated that evidence from previous research have showed that personal experience and perceptions have supported a general belief that behavior in and of organizations is often political in nature. Parker, Dipboye, Jackson (1995) have indicated that among the human resource practices that are always influenced by politicking activities are career development opportunities, reward and recognition and cooperation among work groups. They added, the perception of organization politics is truly a significant dimension of individuals’ perception of their work environment. As performance appraisal involves communication between superior and subordinates, this function may affect by organizational politics. Performance appraisal must be seen as fair because this result from performance appraisal is used to plan other human resource management functions. Results from performance appraisal is used for career development, compensation management, and planning training programs for employees as well as its motivational effect on workers’ performance (Ikemefuna and Chidi, 2012). As maintained by Chang Rosen, Levy (2009), perceptions of organizational politics have indirect effects on turnover intentions and performance through more immediate outcomes for example strain and morale. The research demonstrated that if the activities are perceived as political, for example based on favoritism and self-interest, then it may have extensive negative effects on organization members. This finding has been supported by a study performed by Lee and Peccei (2011) where this study has found that in political environment, the level of employees’ individual organizational citizenship behavior (OSBI) is low. Employees will not trust the performance appraisal result if organizational politics become the main issue in an organization. This has been maintained by Sharabi, Arian and Simonovich (2012) in their comparative study between a high-tech workers and public workers in Israel where lack of transparency which is due to organizational politics made the employees especially in public sector were not satisfied with promotion activity and performance appraisal. Hence, in general, it can be said that employees will respond negatively to work conditions, for instance performance appraisal that influenced by politics. 1.5. Integrative Leadership Style, Office Politics and Performance Appraisal Employees expect a just performance appraisal by their immediate leader. It can be said that the perception of employees toward their leader’s decision on performance appraisal may affect the interaction between them. Thurston Jr. and McNall (2009) indicated that it has been a long time since justice in performance appraisal has been discussed. They suggested that the leaders must have a knowledge and understanding on the expectation of employees on performance appraisal system so that they can modify the performance appraisal to be a fair tool that represents employees’ performance. Gupta and Kumar (2013) exhibited that distributive and informational justice perception amongst employees toward performance appraisal decision effected their work engagement and well-being. Gupta and Kumar (2013) also have suggested due-process for a fair performance appraisal including (a) adequate notice – the management has to establish, distribute and explain performance standard; and giving timely feedback on performance appraisal result, (b) fair hearing – leaders must conduct a formal review meeting which an employee is notify regarding how the appraisal result was derived and (c) performance appraisal result must base on appropriate evidence. Vigoda-Gadot (2006) has tested the 1075 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 5: 1071-1082, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i5.1807 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate effect of leadership on employees’ performance with organizational politics as mediating variable. The researcher has found that leadership style has direct effect with performance. Blake and Mouton (1964) who created managerial grid theory established dual dimensions in determining managerial styles namely concern of production and concern of others. Thomas and Kilmann (1974) then utilized these dimensions in measuring modes in handling interpersonal conflict. They produced dual dimensional ideas, namely cooperative and assertive. Seeing that Thomas and Kilmann’s (1974) dual dimensional of handling interpersonal was relevant, Rahim (1983) has adapted these dimensions and established his dual dimensional “concern for self” and “concern for others”. Rahim (1983) integrated these dimensions to develop five leadership styles for managing conflict: obliging, integrative, compromising, dominating, and avoiding. 2. Research Objectives In the previous study (Daud, Elsaman and Rashdan, 2023) indicated office politics as an activity that may ruin employee-employer relationships and turn the office ecosystem unharmonious, then we assessed the dimensions of organizational politics as one more error in the employee’s performance appraisal. For that reason, this study main objective to recommend the potential solution to that error, therefore the research integrative leadership style from Malaysian financial sector dimensions proposed as a potential problem solver to this dilemma. Hence, the research objective can be illustrated as follow • To conceptualize the factors of office politics in performance appraisal. • To examine the relations between integrative leadership style and performance appraisal. 3. Research Framework After reviewing the recent and extant literature the research framework can be crafted the relation between the five dimensions leadership styles adopted of Raheem (1983) and three dimensions for office politics in performance appraisal. Figure 1. The research conceptual flowchart. 4. Research Methodology 4.1. Design, Population and Sampling This study utilized a quantitative research approach, employing parametric tests to examine the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Primary data were collected through questionnaires. The sampling process began by defining the sampling frame, followed by stratification of samples. Once stratified samples were identified, respondents were selected through random 1076 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 5: 1071-1082, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i5.1807 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate sampling. Questionnaires were distributed to evaluate respondents' perceptions of the variables measured. The study adopted various instruments from existing sources, and the reliability of the questionnaire items was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha (α). Items were clustered into appropriate dimensions within each variable, and factor analysis was conducted to validate the items that represented the dimensions of each variable. The population comprised officers and administrative staff from a Malaysian government financial sector headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, totaling 900 potential respondents. According to the sampling determination table by Krejcie and Morgan, a sample size of 274 was established, with 105 responses obtained and deemed usable. 4.2. Research Instrument The study was conducted among administrative staff and officers within a Malaysian government- linked company, with a population size of 900. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sampling determination table, a sample size of 274 was selected using disproportionate stratified random sampling. A total of 274 questionnaires were distributed, of which 105 were completed and usable. The research employed a 4-point Likert scale, known as a forced-choice scale, to capture respondents’ levels of agreement. Hughes (1969) and Roach (1971) noted that this scale can produce a negative bias, as it compels respondents to choose between descriptive items with equal bias components, thereby controlling overall response bias (Bartlett, 1983). To assess office politics in performance appraisal, the study used the Questionnaire of Political Considerations in Performance Appraisal (QPCPA) by Tziner, Latham, Price, and Haccoun (1996), which comprises 25 items with a Cronbach Alpha of 0.97. Poon (2004) validated this instrument, finding it highly reliable (Cronbach Alpha > 0.8). The Rahim’s Organizational Conflict Index (ROCI-II) by Rahim and Magner (1995) was also used to measure the five conflict-handling styles outlined by Rahim (1983), as these styles are relevant in understanding conflicts stemming from performance appraisal politics. The ROCI-II demonstrated test-retest reliability ranging from 0.60 to 0.83 at p < 0.0001 (Rahim & Magner, 1995). 4.3. Factor Analysis Factor analysis was employed to identify discriminant and convergent factors of the items in the QPCPA and ROCI-II instruments (Hair, Jr., Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 1998). This method reduces a large number of variables into a smaller set of factors (Zikmund, 2003), using R factor analysis to identify latent dimensions. Prior to conducting factor analysis, reliability and normality tests were performed. The QPCPA scored a Cronbach Alpha of 0.780, and the ROCI-II scored 0.849, indicating acceptable reliability according to Meyers, Gamst, and Guarino (1998). 4.4. Factor Identification To determine the number of factors, the study employed the latent root criterion, examining eigenvalues. According to Hair Jr., et al. (1998) and Meyers, et al. (2006), factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 are significant, and a satisfactory factor solution should account for at least 60% of the total variance. Factor rotation was used to achieve a clearer and more meaningful factor solution. Following factor analysis, the reliability of the identified factors was reassessed. Table 1 shows the Cronbach Alpha values for office politics in performance appraisal after factor analysis. The first factor, renamed "Acquire Benefit," initially included nine items with a Cronbach Alpha of 0.595, which improved to 0.760 after removing Item QCPCA 22. The second factor, "Human Relation," consists of five items with a Cronbach Alpha of 0.827, reflecting superior-subordinate relationships. The third factor, "Control," includes three items with a Cronbach Alpha of 0.725. These three factors were found to reliably represent office politics in performance appraisal. 1077 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 5: 1071-1082, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i5.1807 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate Table 1. Reliability test computed after factor analysis. Office politics & performance appraisal Cronbach alpha (α) Factor 1 [Acquire Benefit] 0.760 Factor 2 [Human Relations] 0.827 Factor 3 [Control] 0.725 Table 2 exhibits eigenvalues for Leadership Styles variable. This result indicates 3 extracted factors. These factors scored eigenvalue greater than 1. Table 2. Eigenvalue for managerial styles total variance explained Component Initial eigenvalues Total % of Variance Cumulative % 1 5.302 48.202 48.202 2 1.348 12.259 60.460 3 1.184 10.759 71.220 4 0.789 7.174 78.393 5 0.622 5.656 84.049 6 0.555 5.046 89.094 7 0.384 3.490 92.584 8 0.274 2.491 95.075 9 0.256 2.325 97.400 10 0.209 1.904 99.304 11 0.077 0.696 100.000 Table 3. Cronbach alpha computed for leadership styles. Factor Cronbach alpha (α) after factor analysis Factor 1 [integrative Style] 0.899 Factor 2 0.683 Factor 3 0.651 Exhibited by table 3, factor 1 consists with 6 items of integration style including “My supervisor tries to integrate his ideas with his subordinates to come up with a decision jointly”. This factor scored .899 for Cronbach Alpha. Hence, this factor is reliable for representing managerial styles. Factor 2 encompasses 1 item integration style and 2 items obliging styles. Because of this factor scored .683 for Cronbach Alpha, therefore, this factor is not reliable for further analysis. The final factor of managerial style consists with 2 items of obliging style. Unfortunately, by referring to Cronbach Alpha value, the value for this factor was not reliable for further analysis. 5. Data Analysis In the case-wise analysis, 18 cases were removed from the sample. The R² value represents the regression coefficient between the predicted and actual values of the dependent variable. As shown in Table 4, the R² value is 0.771, indicating that 77.10% of the variance in office politics in performance appraisal is explained by the variables human relations, control, acquire benefits, and integrative management style.Table 4 also shows that the F-value, F (7, 69) = 29.841, is significant at the ρ < 0.05 level. This result demonstrates a significant relationship between the weighted linear combination of the independent variables and the dependent variable. Table below exhibits coefficients table: 1078 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 5: 1071-1082, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i5.1807 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate Table 4. Coefficients table for office politics in performance appraisal (Control). Dependent variable usage (Standardized Beta) Integrative management style -.535* F value = F (7,69) 29.841* R2 0.771 The t-test and significance levels enable researchers to evaluate the unique contribution of each variable in predicting the dependent variable. As presented in Table 4, Integrative Management Style was found to significantly predict office politics in performance appraisal. The analysis indicated that the direction of the prediction was negative, suggesting that Integrative Management Style reduces the occurrence of office politics in performance appraisal. 6. Discussion and Conclusion This study extracted that only integrative leadership was performed in managing employees’ performance. Meaning that, both parties superior and subordinate, will struggle to fulfill one’s objective in managing performance. The superior wants the top management to look on him as a good leader if his subordinates show good results in performance appraisal. While the subordinates struggle to get a good result in performance appraisal for recognition and promotion purposes. Referring to regression analysis results, integrative leadership style only affected control dimension of politics in performance appraisal. The effect was negative. This brings a meaning that the more integrative style being performed, the less control in politics in performance appraisal will happen. As being discussed, control dimension in politics in performance appraisal indicates that superior will use performance evaluation to motivate or to threat his subordinates in his attempt to make his department more productive and he will be looked as a good leader. Therefore, this particular leadership style is less concerns to subordinates’ attitude and more concerned with what the superior needs. Thus, in performing control in performance appraisal, the superior will perform dominating rather than integrative style. This becomes the possible explanation of the negative effect of integrative style on control in politics in performance appraisal. 7. Conclusion Realizing that in nowadays office situation, politics becomes an issue that always being talked about. Employees always talked about inequity, discrimination and leader’s manipulation of power. This situation also happens in performance appraisal. Some leaders, because they want to impress top management that he has managed his department efficiently, tends to give high marks to all his subordinates. Hence, biases happen in evaluating employees’ performance for instance stereotyping, halo effect, similar to me error and leniency. This study has resulted that there were three significant forms of politics in performance appraisal. These forms are acquiring benefit, human relation and control. As been indicated, organizational politics may occur in form of positive and negative base on the leader’s objective. A leader may always want to be looked good by top management even though not all his subordinates achieving the targeted performance (the leader only relies on few good performers in his department for his department achieving the desired performance) or he wants top management to evaluate his leadership base on the quality and productivity of all his subordinates. Hence, all forms of politics in performance appraisal can be seen in both forms, positive and negative. Usually, performance appraisal is commonly used to control employees’ attitude and behavior towards increasing their productivity and performance. The control factor can occur in executing politics in performance appraisal. As this factor can be used to recognize and even threat employees, it 1079 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 5: 1071-1082, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i5.1807 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate also can be manifested in positive and negative forms. In positive form, control in politics in performance appraisal can be manifested when the superior evaluates his subordinate performance according to the real performance showed along the evaluation year. If the subordinate did not show appropriate behavior and attitude, the superior will enforce and motivate the subordinate to behave in order to achieve desired performance. A disciplinary action will be enforced if the subordinate not showing appropriate performance. In negative form of control in politics in performance appraisal, the leader will make enforcement to his department to show a good performance. In this situation, the leader only relies on subordinates who perform at their best performance and ignore the poor performer. As long as his department achieves level of productivity as indicated by top management, he will assume that he will be looked at as efficient leader by the top management. The positive form of control will increase work commitment and leader’s social obligation while the negative form of control, as this form of politics in performance appraisal ignore the concept of equity will reduce job satisfaction, creative work and productivity amongst good performers. Office politics exist when leaders manifest their power and authority by exercising political games. Even though politics in organization is needed in maintaining status quo for leaders, a bad political game in the office will create negative behavior amongst subordinates. It becomes a working culture either in private or public sector in Malaysia where subordinates will always follow instructions directed by their superior in order to portray that they are good follower which will guarantee to sustain their job. The bad political game in an office will restrict the creativity of employees and this will make them become insipid. Generally, employees always perceive that objecting to a superior’s instruction will create bad relationships and construct stress between them and their superior in industrial relations. Copyright: © 2024 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). References [1] Ali, A. 1988. Scaling an Islamic Work Ethic. The Journal of Social Psychology. 128(5). Pp 575-583. [2] Amit Dhiman and Manjari Singh. 2007. Appraisal Politics: Revisiting from Assessors’ Perspective. Vikalpa. Volume 32 No 1. Pp 75-87. [3] Aris, K, Fatimah H.M.H, Juwariyah, J., Nordin, Y., 2012. Stres Dalam Perkhidmatan Awam: Impaknya Kepada Prestasi dan Kesejahteraan Pegawai Awam. Jurnal Psikologi & Kaunseling Perkhidmatan Awam. Jun 2012 Bil 7. Pp 1 – 34. [4] Avolio, B.j., Bass, B.M. and Jung, D.I. 1999. Re-examining the Components of Transformational and Transactional Leadership Using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. Vol 72. Pp 441-462. [5] Baker, T. L., Hunt, T. G., & Andrews, M. C. (2006). Promoting ethical behavior and organizational citizenship behaviors: The influence of corporate ethical values. Journal of Business Research, 59(7), 849-857. [6] Bartlett, C.J. (1983). What’s The Different Between Valid and Invalid Halo? Forced-Choice Measurement Without Forcing a Choice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68 (2), 218-226. [7] Bass, B.M. and Avolio, B. J. 1993. Transformational Leadership and Organizational Culture. Public Administration Quarterly. Spring (1993). Pp 112-121. [8] Bernardin, H.J. (1987). Development and Validation of a Forced-Choice Scale to Measure Job-Related Discomfort Among Customer Service Representatives. Academy of Management Journal, 30 (1), 162-173. [9] Blake, R.R., & Mouton, J.S., 1968. Corporate Excellent Through Grid Organization Developmen, Houston, Texas: Gulf Publishing Company. [10] Blake, R.R., Mouton, J.S., Barnes, L.B., & Greiner, L.E. (1964). Breakthrough in Organizational Development. Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dis. 1964, 133-155. [11] Chang, C-H, Rosen, C.C., Levy, P.E. 2009. The Relationship between Perceptions of Organizational Politics and Employee Attitudes, Strain, and Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Examination. Academy of Management Journal. Vol. 52 No 4. Pp 779-801. [12] Cho, J., & Dansereau, F. (2010). Are transformational leaders fair? A multi-level study of transformational leadership, justice perceptions, and organizational citizenship behaviors. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(3), 409-421. [13] Coates, J.F. 1994. Organizational Politics: A Key to Personal Success. Employment Relations Today. Autumn 1994. Pp 259-262. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 1080 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 5: 1071-1082, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i5.1807 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate [14] Cohen, A. (2006). The relationship between multiple commitments and organizational citizenship behavior in Arab and Jewish culture. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69(1), 105-118. [15] Cyril, O.I., Christopher, O.C. 2012. Workers’ Perception of Performance Appraisal in Selected Public and Private Organizations in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria. International Journal of Human Resource Studies. Vol. 2, No. 3. Pp 80- 97. [16] Daud, Z, H.A Elsaman, Sallehuddin, M.R. 2023. The Office Politics Error as a New Dimension in Performance Appraisal Implementations: A Case Study and Conceptual Model in Malaysian Financial Sector. Acta Innovations. No. 48. Pp 48-60. doi: https://doi.org/10.32933/ActaInnovations.48.4 [17] Daud, Z. Ismail, S.A. Rashdan, M.S. Husin, M.F. 2018. Office Politics as an Element of Office Ecosystem. Journal of Social Sciences Research. 2018 (Special Issue 6). Pp 547-552. [18] Daud, Z. Saiful Azizi, I. Mohd Rashdan, S. Rusli, A. 2019. Office Ecosystem: The Effect of Personal Attribute on Employees’ Perception on Office Politics. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change. 5(2). Pp 502- 513. [19] Daud. Z, A. Saiful, M.R. Sallehuddin. 2021. The Effect of Personality on Office Politics Perception: An Experience from Malaysian Government Agencies, International. Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change. 15 (2021) 469– 482. [20] Davies, R.S. (2005). Designing Useful Likert Scale to Measure Average Group Response. Paper Presented to American Evaluation Association Nov 2005. [21] Dessler, G. 2005. Human Resource Management. Prentice Hall Inc. New Jersey. USA [22] Dhar, L.R. 2011. Living With Organizational Politics. Work. Vol 40. Pp 153-164. [23] Dhar, R. L. 2009. Living with Organizational Politics: An Exploration of Employee’s Behavior. International Journal of Management and Innovation. Vol 1 Issue 1. Pp 37 – 56. [24] Drory, A. 1993. Perceived Political Climate and Job Attitudes. Organization Studies. Vol. 14 No 1. Pp 59-71. [25] Drory, A. and Romm, T. 1988. Politics in Organization and its Perception within the Organization. Organization Studies. Vol 9 Issue 2. Pp 165-179. [26] Elsaman, H. Dayanandan, R., Daud, Z., Akrabi, S.A. 2024. Navigating Fintech Innovation: Performance, Trust and Risk Factor in UAE’s Banking Sector. JOURNAL OF EASTERN EUROPEAN AND CENTRAL ASIAN RESEARCH. Vol.11 No.2. pp 332-341. [27] Faruk, S. Daud, Z. Ismail, S.A. 2019. Organizational Justice and Psychological Employment Contract Breach: The Mediating Effect of Trust. Opcion. 35 (Special Issue 21). Pp 113-128. [28] Faruk, S. Daud, Z. Ismail, S.A. 2019. Perceived Organizational Support and Psychological Employment Contract Breach: A Proposed Model on the Mediating Effect of Trust. International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering. 8(2 Special Issue 3). Pp 314-318. [29] Ferris, G. R., Kacmar, K. M. 1992. Perceptions of Organizational Politics. Journal of Management. Vol. 18 No. 1. Pp 93-116. [30] Gay, L.R., & Diehl, P.L. (1996). Research Methods for Business and Management. Singapore: International Edition. Simon & Schruster (Asia) Pte. Ltd. [31] Gerald R. Ferris, Timothy P. Munyon, Kevin Basik, M. Ronald Buckley. 2008. The performance evaluation context: Social, emotional, cognitive, political, and relationship components. Human Resource Management Review 18 146– 163. [32] Guest, D. E. (1997). Human resource management and performance: a review and research agenda. International journal of human resource management, 8(3), 263-276. [33] Hair. J.F. Jr., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L., & Black, W.C. (1998). Multivariate Data Analysis. 5th Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. [34] Harris, R.B., Harris, K.J., Harvey, P. 2008. A Test of Competing Models of the Relationships Among Perceptions of Organizational Politics, Perceived Organizational Support, and Individual Outcomes. The Journal of Social Psychology. Vol. 147 No 6. Pp 631-655. [35] Hater J.J. and Bass, B.M. 1988. Supervisors’ Evaluations and Subordinates’ Perceptions of Transformational and Transactional Leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology. Vol 73 No 4. Pp 695-702. [36] Huges, G.D. (1969). Some Confounding Effects of forced-Choice Scales. Journal of Marketing Research, 6(May 1969), 223-226. [37] Ikemefuna, C.O and Chidi, C.O. 2012. Workers’ Perception of Performance Appraisal in Selected Public and Private Organizations in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria. International Journal of Human Resource Studies. Vol 2 no 3. Pp 80-97 [38] Ismail, S.A. Daud, Z. Zaini, A.F.A. 2019. The Influence of Leadership in the Relationship of Perceived Perception of Organizational Politics in Islamic Financial Organization Based at Malaysia. Jurnal Pengurusan. 56. [39] K. Michele Kacmar, Daniel G. Bachrach, Kenneth J. Harris and Suzanne Zivnuska. 2011. Fostering Good Citizenship Through Ethical Leadership: Exploring the Moderating Role of Gender and Organizational Politics. Journal of Applied Psychology 1, Vol. 96, No. 3, 633–642. [40] Kacmar, K.M., Bozeman, D.P., Carlson, D.S, and Anthony, W.P. 1999. An Examination of the Perception of Organizational Politics Model: Replication and Extension. Human Relations. Vol 52 no 3. Pp 383-416. https://doi.org/10.32933/ActaInnovations.48.4 1081 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 5: 1071-1082, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i5.1807 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate [41] Kiewitz, C., Restobog, S.L.D., Zagenczyk, T., and Hachwarter, W. 2009. The Interactive Effects of Psychological Contract Breach and Organizational Politics on Perceived Organizational Support: Evidence from Two Longitudinal Studies. Journal of Management Studies. Vol 46 No 5. Pp 806-834. [42] King, L.M., & Hunter, J.E. (1980). Halo In a Multi-Dimensional Forced-Choice Performance Evaluation Scale. Journal of Applied Psychology, 65(5), 507-516. [43] Kinicki, A., & Williams, B.K. (2006). Management: A Practical Introduction. 2nd Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill International. [44] Kirchmeyer, C. 1990. A Profile of Managers Active in Office Politics. Basic and Applied Social Psychology. Vol 11 no 3. Pp 339-356. [45] Krejcie, R.V. and Morgan, D.W. 1970. Determining Sample Size for Research Activity. Educational and Psychological Measurement. Vol 30 pp 607-610. [46] Kwantes, C. T., Karam, C. M., Kuo, B. C. H., & Towson, S. (2008). Culture's influence on the perception of OCB as in- role or extra-role. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 32(3), 229-243. [47] Ladebo, O. J. 2006. Perceptions of Organizational Politics: Examination of a Situational Antecedent and Consequences among Nigeria’s Extension Personnel. Applied Psychology: An International Review. Vol 55. No 2. Pp 255-281. [48] Lee, J and Peccei, R. 2011. Discriminant validity and interaction between perceived organizational support and perceptions of organizational politics: A temporal analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, issue 84, 686–702 [49] Li, N., Liang, J., & Crant, J. M. (2010). The Role of Proactive Personality in Job Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Relational Perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(2), 395-404. [50] Liu, Y., Ferris, G.R., Zinko, R., Perrewe, P.L., Weitz, B., and Xu, J. 2007. Dispositional Antecedents and Outcomes of Political Skill in Organizations: A Four-Study Investigation with Convergence. Journal of Vocational Behavior. Vol. 71. Pp 146-165. [51] Lord, R.G. 1977. Functional Leadership Behavior: Measurement and Relation to Social Power and Leadership Perceptions. Administrative Science Quarterly. Vol 22. Pp 114-133. [52] Mahdiuon, R., Ghahramani, M., & Sharif, A. R. (2010). Explanation of organizational citizenship behavior with personality. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 178-184. [53] McClelland, D.C and Boyatzis, R.E. 1982. Leadership Motive Pattern and Long-Term Success in Management. Journal of Applied Psychology. Vol 67 no 6. Pp 737-743. [54] McClelland, D.C. and Franz, C.E. 1992. Motivational and Other Sources of Work Accomplishment in Mid-Life: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of Personality. Vol 60 No 4. Pp 679-707. [55] Meierhans, D., Rietmann, B., & Jonas, K. (2008). Influence of Fair and Supportive Leadership Behavior on Commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behavior. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 67(3), 131-141. [56] Motowidlo, S. J. (2000). Some Basic Issues Related to Contextual Performance and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Human Resource Management. Human Resource Management Review, 10(1), 115-126. [57] Mutazam, M., Daud, Z. 2021. The Effect of Monitoring on Authentic Leadership Amongst Administrator in Malaysian Public Universities. Global Journal Al-Thaqafah. 11(1). Pp 49-61. [58] Nye, L.G., Witt, L.A. 1993. Dimensionality and Construct Validity of the Perceptions of Politics Scales (POPS). Education and Psychological Measurement. 53 Autumn. Pp 821-829. [59] Ochieng, C.O., & Zumbo, B.D. (2001). Examining of a Variable Ordering Index in Linear Regression Models: An Assesment of the Relative Pratt Index in Likert Data. Paper Presentation at The First Annual Bob Conry Conference on Measurement Evaluation and Research and Methodology. The University of British Columbia, Coach House Green College. February 9th, 2001. [60] Oguz, E. (2010). The relationship between the leadership styles of the school administrators and the organizational citizenship behaviors of teachers. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9, 1188-1193. [61] Paine, J. B., & Organ, D. W. (2000). The Cultural Matrix of Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Some Preliminary Conceptual and Empirical Observations. Human Resource Management Review, 10(1), 45-59. [62] Parker, C.P., Dipboye, R.L., Jackson, S.L., 1995. Perceptions of Organizational Politics: An Antecedents and Consequences. Journal of Management. Vol 21 No 5. pp 891-912. [63] Philips, A. S and Bedeian, A.G. 1994. Leader-Follower Exchange Quality: The Role of Personal and Interpersonal Attributes. Academy of Management Journal. Vol 37 No.4. Pp 990-1001. [64] Poon, J.M.L. 2004. Effect of Performance Appraisal Politics on Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention. Personnel Review. Vol 33 Iss 3. Pp 322-334. [65] Prasetya, A and Kato, M. 2011. Employees’ Perception towards the Performance Assessment System and Salary System: A Case Study at PT. Telkom Indonesia, Malang Regional Office. IPEDR vol.7. pp 20-24 [66] Pressley, M. M., Blevins, D. E. 1984. Student Perceptions of ‘Job Politics’ as Practiced by Those Climbing the Corporate Career Ladder. Journal of Business Ethics. Vol 3 (1984). Pp 127-138. [67] Roach, D.E. (1971). Diagnostic Forced-Choice Scale for First Line Supervisors. Personnel Journal, 50(3), 226-236. [68] Robbins, S.P. (2005). Organizational Behavior. 11th Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. [69] Robbins, S.P. 2001. Organizational Behavior. 9th Edition. Prentice Hall International Inc. New Jersey. USA. 1082 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 5: 1071-1082, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i5.1807 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate [70] Rozhan Othman. 2009. Organizational Politics: The Role of Justice, Trust and Job Ambiguity. Singapore Management Review. Vol 30 No 1. Pp 43-53. [71] Rubin, R. S., Bommer, W. H., & Bachrach, D. G. (2010). Operant leadership and employee citizenship: A question of trust? The Leadership Quarterly, 21(3), 400-408. [72] Saeed, M.K and Shahbaz, N. 2011. Employees’ Perceptions about the Effectiveness of Performance Appraisals: The Case of Pakistan. SIU Journal of Management, Vol.1, No.1. pp 58-75. [73] Safuan, M.M.T. 2012. A Study on the Relationship between Perceived Discrimination and Performance Management System: A Case Study of a Financial Institution in Malaysia. A Master Research, UUM. [74] Salamon, M. (2000). Industrial Relations: Theory And Practice. 4th Edition. Great Britain: Prentice Hall. [75] Salem, M. Al-Tuhain and David, D.V.F. 2011. An Exploratory Study of Organizational Politics in Kuwait. Thunderbird International Business Review. Vol 53 No 1. Pp 93-104 [76] Sandra, L. and Jordan, P. (2009). Testing an Explicit and Implicit Measure of Motivation. International Journal of Organizational Analysis. Vol 17 no 2. Pp 103-120. [77] Schmalt, H.D., (1999). Assessing the Achieving Motive Using the Grid Technique. Journal of Research in Personality. Vol 33. Pp 109-130. [78] Sekaran, U. (1992). Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach. 2nd Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [79] Shamrahayu, A. Aziz. 2011. Tiga Tugas Hakiki Pendidik Universiti. http://www.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/Tigatugashakikipendidikuniversiti/Article. Retrieved on 26/6/2011. [80] Sharabi, M., Arian, O. and Simonovich, J. 2012. High-Tech and Public Sectors Employees’ Perception of Factors Influencing Promotion. International Journal of Business and Social Sciences. Vol 3 No 1. Pp 128-135. [81] Sharma, B.R. and Mohapatra, M. 2009. Personal and Situational Factors as Predictors of Managerial Motivation. The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations. Vol 44 No 3. Pp 426-440. [82] Sisson, D.E. (1948). Forced-Choice: The New Army Rating. Personnel Psychology, 1, 365-381. [83] Sogra, K.J, Shahid, A.I and Najibullah, S. 2009. Organizational Outcomes of the Employees’ Perceptions of performance Appraisal Politics: A Study on Executive of MBA Students in Bangladesh. South Asian Journal of Management. Vol 16 No 3. Pp 43-60. [84] Testa, M. R. (2009). National culture, leadership and citizenship: Implications for cross-cultural management. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(1), 78-85. [85] Tziner, A., Latham, G.P., Price, B.S., Haccoun, R. 1996. Development and Validation of a Questionnaire for Measuring Perceived Political Considerations in Performance Appraisal. Journal of Organizational Behavior. Vol 17. Pp 179-190. [86] Valle,M. and Perrewe, P.L. 2000. Do Politics Perceptions Relate to Political Behaviors? Test of an Implicit Assumption and Expanded Model. Human Relations. Vol. 53 No 3. Pp 359-385. [87] Varman, R. and Bhatnagar, D. 1999. Power and Politics in Grievance Resolution: Managing Meaning of Due Process in an Organization. Human Relations. Vol 52 No 3. Pp 349-379. [88] Vigoda-Gadot, E. 2007. Leadership Style, Organizational Politics, and Employees’ Performance. Personnel Review. Vol 36 issue 5. Pp 661-683. [89] Waldman, D.A., Bass, B.M., and Einstein, W.O. 1987. Leadership and Outcomes of Performance Appraisal Processes. Journal of Occupational Psychology. Vol 60. Pp 177-186. [90] Ward, L.C., Thorn, B.E., Clements, K.L., Dixon, K.E. and Sanford, S.D. 2006. Measurement of Agency, Communion and Emotional Vulnerability with the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. Journal of Personality Assessment. Vol. 86 No 2. Pp 206-216. [91] Weissenberger, B. 2010. How to Win at Office Politics. http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/feb2010/ca20100222_142589.htm. Retrieved on 22 March 2011). [92] William, B.W Jr., & Davis, K. (1996). Human Resource Management 5th Edition. USA: McGraw Hill. [93] Witt, L.A., Kacmar, K.M., Carlson, D.S., Zivnuska, S., 2002. Interactive Effects of Personality and Organizational Politics on Contextual Performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior. Vol 23. pp 911-926. [94] Witt, L.A., Treadway, D.C., Ferris, G. R., 2004. The Role of Age in Reactions to Organizational Politics Perceptions. Organizational Analysis. Vol 12. No. 1, pp 39-52. [95] Yulk, G. 1989. Managerial Leadership: A Review of Theory and Research. Journal of Management. Jun89 Vol 15 Issue 2. Pp 251-289. [96] Zanzi, A., Arthur, M.B., and Shamir, B. 1991. The Relationship between Career Concerns and Political Tactics in Organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior. Vol 12. Pp 219-233. [97] Zeinabadi, H. (2010). Job satisfaction and organizational commitment as antecedents of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) of teachers. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 998-1003. [98] Zikmund, W.G. (2003). Business Research Methods 7th edition. Ohio: Thomson Learning. http://www.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/Tigatugashakikipendidikuniversiti/Article.%20Retrieved%20on%2026/6/2011