Examining the link between political skill and subordinate's performance: The role of LMX as a moderator

Abstract

The present research investigates the role of LMX in moderating the effects of Subordinates’ political skill (PS) on task performance and Subordinates’ political Skill on citizenship performance (OCB). In the present study, the authors hypothesized that, Political Skill would demonstrate strong positive effects on task and citizenship performance under conditions of low leader member exchanges. Hierarchical regression analysis of a field sample 185 supervisors – subordinates’ dyads (236 individuals) in administration departments of 14 different multinational organizations supported our hypotheses by indicating that, when the relations within dyads are mature, based on mutual trust and loyalty, subordinate’s task and citizenship performance were preserved high no matter individuals’ political skill. Additional, subordinates’ political skill played significant role on individuals’ job performance only in low LMX environments.