Recently, a research paper titled “Socialization as a Political Arena: A Multi-Agent Interactionist Perspective to Understand Political Skill and Newcomer Socialization Rates” by Professor Deng Yingxin from the Department of Organization and Human Resource Management at the School of Management, along with collaborators, was published online in the Academy of Management Journal, a top international journal in the field of management. Assistant Professor Deng Yingxin from Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) and Professor Lin Weipeng from the School of Management at Shandong University are the co-first authors of the paper. Other co-authors include Assistant Professor Song Yifan from Texas A&M University, Professor Wang Mo from the University of Florida, Professor Cai Di from Shandong University, and doctoral student Liu Jia. Beijing Institute of Technology is the first author affiliation, and the research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. This is the first time a BIT faculty member has published as the first author in this journal.

 

Organizations typically comprise individuals with diverse backgrounds and varying interests. In such environments, personal achievements and career success depend not only on hard work and intelligence but also on interpersonal acumen. This underscores the necessity for employees to possess strong political skills—the ability to accurately interpret and effectively influence others in organizational settings—for career success. In the field of political skills research, interactions with supervisors ("vertical interpersonal interaction") and colleagues ("horizontal interpersonal interaction") are crucial mechanisms through which employees’ political skills facilitate career success. However, previous studies often focus on one interaction mechanism while neglecting the other, resulting in a lack of consensus on how political skills function through different mechanisms to produce varied outcomes.

 

This study focuses on the context of newcomer socialization (the process by which new employees understand their roles, master core skills, and integrate into the organization) and explores how newcomers use their political skills to frequently interact with different organizational members (supervisors vs. senior employees) to accelerate their socialization process. Specifically, the study investigates the differential effects of vertical and horizontal interpersonal interaction mechanisms in newcomer socialization, aiming to address theoretical issues and create new theoretical consensus.

 

Through a four-phase large-sample longitudinal study and two supplementary two-phase repeated measures studies, the researchers found that newcomers with high political skills frequently interact with both supervisors and senior employees, but the effects of these interactions differ. Frequent interactions with supervisors help newcomers achieve a high level of initial adaptation (though not necessarily sustained improvement), while frequent interactions with senior employees facilitate sustained improvement in adaptation levels (though not necessarily promoting initial adaptation). Moreover, a pro-social organizational atmosphere enhances these mediation effects. To further uncover the nature of this management phenomenon, supplementary interviews with newcomers were conducted to help construct the theoretical mechanisms underlying the differential impacts of frequent interactions with different targets (supervisors vs. senior employees) on dynamic socialization outcomes.

 

The study reveals the unique explanatory value of each interpersonal interaction mechanism, helping to reconcile different theoretical perspectives on the role of political skills. By exploring the distinct nature and effects of "vertical interpersonal interaction" and "horizontal interpersonal interaction," the study provides novel theoretical explanations for how political skills influence interpersonal interactions and how newcomers achieve rapid socialization. Additionally, the findings offer practical insights for newcomer adaptation, training, and development, and for organizations aiming to foster a positive and healthy cultural atmosphere.

 

The Academy of Management Journal (AMJ) is the flagship journal of the Academy of Management (considered one of the top three traditional management journals alongside AMR and ASQ), a UTD-24 journal (one of the 24 leading business journals identified by the University of Texas at Dallas), a TAMUGA top 8 journal (one of the top management journals identified by Texas A&M University and the University of Georgia), an FT-50 journal (one of the top 50 business journals globally according to the Financial Times), and an ABS/AJG 4* journal (the highest rating in the Academic Journal Guide by the Association of Business Schools in the UK).

 

Paper details:

Deng, Y., Lin, W., Song, Y., Wang, M., Cai, D., & Liu, J. (2024). Socialization as a political arena: A multi-agent interactionist perspective to understand political skill and newcomer socialization rates. Academy of Management Journal. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2022.0669