Dynamics of interpersonal competition in organizations

The competition behaviour of individuals, which is one of the subjects of social psychology discipline, is a significant phenomenon in organizational behaviour due to its influences on the relations in the working life and organizational outcomes. However, there have not been many studies which focus directly on competition behaviour in organizational life. The aim of this study is to be able to explain the context determining interpersonal competition relations and phenomena that constitute the dynamics of competition relations in organizations. Semi-structured interview method has been used in the research carried out according to the qualitative design, and some observations have been made during the phase of data collection. The sample of research is made up of 40 people who work in the field of sales and marketing, in which the interpersonal struggle comes to the forefront in the private sector organizations. By applying content analysis to the data set which has been developed from the interview texts, thirteen sub-themes and four main themes which shed light on the dynamic of competition relations within the organization have been reached: Organizational and managerial practices (performance-target press, manager behaviours), individual gains (economic gains, career gains, psychological gains), tactics which provide competitive advantage (closeness, ingratiation, exclusion, unethical behaviours) and competitive attitudes (self-comparison, self-improvement, empowerment, competitive personality). The collected findings have been evaluated by comparing them with the results of previous research in the literature, and have been discussed in terms of their contribution to the field of organizational behaviour. Keywords: Interpersonal Competition Relations, Context of Competition, Organizational Behaviour