Political will, political behavior and career success: The role of political climate and supervisor political support

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Competition for positions in higher education institutions cannot be separated from the political approach taken by individuals. Political behavior as a factor in achieving individual career goals in higher education institutions was studied. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the antecedents of political behavior and their effect among leaders in State Islamic Universities in West Java, revealing the interaction between organizational political climate and supervisory political support. METHODS: A systematic sampling method was used, with a sample size of 427 leaders of State Islamic Universities. Data were analyzed by using Hierarchical Regression Analysis (HRA) to test the hypotheses using STATA 13 software. RESULTS: Results indicated perception of political will was significantly and positively related to political behavior. Organizational political climate also had a significantly moderating effect on the correlation between political will and behavior. Political behavior effect on career success was largely positive, and the relationship between the perception of political behavior and career success was moderated by supervisory political support. CONCLUSIONS: Government support for employee careers could take the form of the promotion of political behavior, strengthened by supervisory political support. Fostering political behavior among employees, by utilizing organizational political climate as an environmental factor would increase both individual and organizational success.