The strategic actor in French organizational context: initial development of the French political engagement inventory

Abstract

The examination of cultural differences between French and American organizations allowed us to better understand people’s political engagement in the French organizational context. This paper examines the political engagement construct within the French organizational context and reports a research that aimed at validating the French Political Engagement Inventory (FPEI). Two studies examined the consistency of the factorial structure and the construct validity of the FPEI across three French samples. These procedures resulted in coming up with 18 items measuring French political engagement through four dimensions: Interpersonal influence skill, engagement in formal structure knowledge, engagement in continuous training, and engagement in strategic (informal) relationships knowledge. Results showed that the political engagement construct was: (a) positively related to self-monitoring, coalition, upward appeal, assertiveness, rationality, exchange influence tactics; (b) negatively related to trait anxiety; and (c) unrelated to ingratiation influence tactic. This research helped better understand how actors strategically engage in their organizations when they attempt to serve self-interests at work. Implications for the research of French political engagement are discussed.