Assessing performance: The impact of organizational climates and politics on public schools' performance

This study examines multiple organizational climates and their relationship with politics and performance in public organizations. We argue that four types of climates (participative, innovative, leadership and service) impact employees' performance and public service outcomes, and that perceptions of organizational politics mediate these relationships. A theoretical model is suggested and examined empirically in a field study of 2102 teachers from 108 public schools and three major districts in Israel. Standard regressions and hierarchical linear model statistics are used to examine several hypotheses about the relationship between climate, micro-level performance and macro-level performance. The findings, both micro- and macro-level based, indicate that multiple climates in the school environment are positively related to teachers' satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, perceptions of politics and such micro-level performance indicators are also related to school level achievements.