The Influence of Organizational Politics on Job Satisfaction of Lecturers of Higher Institutions in Katsina State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study is aimed at examining the influence of organizational politics on job satisfaction of lecturers of higher institutions in Katsina State Nigeria. The study was anchored on power dynamics theory. The theory looks at the relationships and interactions among individuals within an organization with different levels of power and influence. The theory suggest that organizational politics is driven by the pursuit of power and influence in an organization. Additionally, employees exhibit political behavior in order to obtain power, maintain power and sometimes challenge existing power structure.  The study was guided by two objectives from which two research questions and two null hypotheses were generated and analyzed Three hundred and eighty participants were used in this study. The study used, organizational politics and job satisfaction questionnaires to get the needed data. All the questionnaires were adopted and adapted.  Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data gathered using Special Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0. Descriptive statistics was employed to screen the data collected and analyze the personal information of the respondents while multiple regression analysis assisted in testing the hypotheses generated.  The findings indicate that all the three sub-scales of organizational politics influence job satisfaction (JS) The sub-scales explained 39% of job satisfaction of the respondents. Additionally, among the sub-scales of organizational politics pay and promotion makes the statistically strongest unique contribution in predicting teachers’ Job satisfaction (β- .36), followed by go along and get ahead (β- .27).  Based on the findings the study recommends that there is need for head teachers of higher institutions to discourage negative organizational politics in order to enhance lecturers’ job satisfaction.  In addition, there is need for head teachers to ensure fairness to all lecturers on issues related to pay and promotion in order to boost their satisfaction. The findings add to the existing literature on organizational behaviors especially in Nigeria where little was written on the area.