Emotion and power (as social influence): Their impact on organizational citizenship and counterproductive individual and organizational behavior

Emotion and power as manifested in forms of social influence have been studied throughout millennia, and have recently enjoyed intense scientific scrutiny. However, their joint effects on important classes of discretionary behaviors in work organizations have not been well elaborated. This paper provides a theoretical framework derived from past research within which these joint effects are described, and offers hypotheses to guide future research. A primary theme is that emotion and social influence, when considered at individual, dyadic and organizational levels, have a reciprocal causal relationship and jointly affect organizational behavior, especially behavior that is largely discretionary, including organizational citizenship and counterproductive work behavior (OCB and CWB), as well as counterproductive organizational behavior (COB).     

A field study of corporate employee monitoring: Attitudes, absenteeism, and the moderating influences of procedural justice perceptions

Managers are responsible for creating and enforcing company policies governing organizational practices, and one practice that is on the rise in organizations involves monitoring of employees for security purposes. The research literature on security behaviors has focused almost exclusively on compliance with or obedience to such policies; however, compliance with prescribed behaviors is not complete in terms of organizational performance. People may comply with policies with which they disagree, but harbor resentments and exhibit counterproductive and even destructive behaviors in protest. We conducted a field study of organizational monitoring policies and practices using factors from the threat control model and found that perceptions of threat, self-efficacy, and trust in the organization were key factors in attitudes about monitoring, and that these factors interacted with employee perceptions of organizational procedural justice such that high perceptions of organizational procedural justice moderated negative attitudes toward corporate monitoring, and better attitudes about monitoring was found to associate with reduced employee absences from the job.     

“I want it all and I want it now!” An examination of the etiology,expression, and escalation of excessive employee entitlement

Excessive entitlement is a pervasive and pernicious social issue, one that has considerable significance for human resource management. Despite its implications for work settings, relatively little research has examined this construct through a management lens. In this paper, a definition of excessive entitlement is offered and a model describing how it is expressed and encouraged in organizational settings is proposed. Key human resource functions drawn from the practitioner literature on employee entitlement (recruitment and socialization tactics, performance appraisal and reward structure; Wellner, 2004) are situated as interacting with employee trait levels of excessive entitlement to trigger counterproductive work behaviors. To the extent counterproductive behaviors are rewarded, the psychological correlates of excessive entitlement will spiral in an upward fashion, ultimately reinforcing trait expression. In contrast, ignoring or punishing the behavioral outcomes of excessive entitlement will prompt “regulation,” whereby individuals disavow their entitled attitudes or “retribution,” which may include retaliation, disengagement, and turnover. The implications of this work, along with strategies for advancing the study of excessive entitlement in work settings, are discussed.     

The perceived fairness of work–life balance policies: A UK case study of solo‐living managers and professionals without children

The ability to reconcile work and private life is a matter relevant to all employees, though not all may seek “balance.” Research indicates that organisational work–life balance policies and flexible working arrangements often focus on the needs of working parents, with one potential outcome being “family‐friendly backlash,” or counterproductive work behaviour from those without caring responsibilities. This paper analyses data from 36 interviews with childless solo‐living managers and professionals, exploring perceptions of fairness in relation to these policies. In contrast to previous studies, despite recognising a strong family‐care orientation in employer provisions, perceptions of unfair treatment or injustice were not pronounced in most cases, and thus there was little evidence of backlash/counterproductive work behaviour. The paper uses and develops organisational justice theory to explain the findings, emphasising the importance of situating individual justice orientations within perceived organisational policy and wider regulatory contexts. It also emphasises the importance of evaluating fairness of work–life balance policies and flexible working arrangements in relation to other aspects of the employment relationship, notably opportunities for career development and progression.     

How to turn workplace boredom into something positive. A theoretical framework of the ‘bright sides’ of boredom

The management literature describes workplace boredom and related behaviors mostly as counterproductive. However, within the psychological literature, boredom is studied as a functional emotion, stressing a positive aspect in this unpleasant state. This article introduces this positive approach toward boredom to the management literature. Specifically, we provide a comprehensive theoretical model and testable propositions regarding how to foster the positive effects of employees' boredom in the workplace. Based on Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, we argue that boredom is the result of job demands. However, in combination with the right job resources, boredom can actually lead to productive coping behaviors (i.e., task-unrelated thought, changing task engagement, and other task engagement). We identify three traditional and three boredom-specific job resources presenting managerial measures that facilitate positive outcomes of boredom. These job resources are located at the level of tasks, work organization, interpersonal and social relations, as well as the organizational level.     

Implementing multiple perspective feedback: An integrated framework

Despite the recent popularity of multiple perspective feedback systems, there is little theory to guide research in this area and to promote the successful implementation of multiple perspective feedback in organizations. By integrating organizational development and individual performance perspectives, a theoretical framework is developed that illustrates the mechanisms by which feedback can lead to improved individual, work group, and organizational performance. According to this framework, when the structure and systems of the organization are congruent with the goals of the feedback program, feedback positively influences individual performance determinants (e.g., declarative knowledge, motivation). This leads to improved individual performance, which contributes to desired organizational outcomes. Based on this framework, practical questions that should be addressed before a feedback process is implemented are presented.     

Accounting for personal disposition and organizational context: connecting role ambiguity,public service motivation,and whistle-blowing in federal agencies

Abstract

Organizational psychologists and HRM scholars have long argued that prosocial organizational behaviors enhance organizational performance. However, prosocial behaviors are motivated by both self-interested and altruistic intent. Moreover, some have recognized that the factors that encourage shifts between egoistically and altruistically motivated prosocial behaviors may result from inherent tensions between individual disposition and situational contexts. As such, this study draws from literature examining prosocial behavior to evaluate whether work situations with clear task expectations dampen the extent to which prosocial personal dispositions diminish egoistically motivated prosocial behavior. Findings from a series of structural equation models reveal that altruistic dispositional traits diminish egoistic motives for engaging in one specific prosocial behavior, whistle-blowing. However, findings also reveal that work situations characterized by clear task expectations dampen the negative effect of altruistic dispositions on egoistically motivated whistle-blowing. Our findings imply that managers can adjust organizational contexts to capitalize on the enhanced benefits resulting from altruistically motivated prosocial behaviors.     

Overlooked issues in the conceptualization and measurement of counterproductive work behavior

The current paper addresses three important yet generally overlooked issues regarding the conceptualization and measurement of counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). First, we argue that the field would benefit from the adoption of situation-specific CWB measures that are tailored to the organization or occupation being studied. Such an approach would ensure that CWB measures include sample-relevant behaviors and exclude irrelevant behaviors. Second, we discuss several potential sub-dimensions of CWBs that should be examined in future research. These sub-dimensions include: 1) legal vs. illegal activities, 2) hostile vs. instrumental aggression, and 3) task-related vs. non-task-related counterproductive behaviors. Finally, we consider the relevance of the bandwidth-fidelity principle to the measurement of CWBs.     

The Buffering Effect of Perceived Organizational Support on the Relationship Between Work Engagement and Behavioral Outcomes

The present study examined the commonly held assumption that a low level of work engagement leads to higher turnover intentions and employee deviant behavior. Employee survey results (n = 175) from a manufacturing organization in the United Kingdom showed that employee work engagement correlates negatively with lagged measures of turnover intentions and deviant work behavior directed toward the organization. The results suggest that perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between work engagement and turnover intentions and deviant behaviors directed toward the organization, such that perceived organizational support compensates for relatively low levels of work engagement. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Organizational goals and values: A socialization model

Research on the content of socialization has incorporated multiple content areas into one general framework. However, it has been suggested that the organizational content areas actually assess different constructs, thus, researchers should examine the content areas independently. The purpose of this article is to present a model of socialization that focuses on the antecedents and outcomes of socialization in one specific content area: organizational goals and values. The model suggests that an individual's agreement with the organization's values (work value congruence) and the importance of the individual's own work values interact to determine the outcomes of socialization to the organizational goals and values. When there is low work value congruence, the individual may engage in detrimental behaviors if the individual has a strong belief in his/her own values.     

Theorizing about the deviant citizen: An attributional explanation of the interplay of organizational citizenship and counterproductive work behavior

We present an attribution-based explanation about how helpful organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and harmful counterproductive work behavior (CWB) are positively related under some circumstances. Attributions concerning controllability and locus of causality are important factors. Controllability attributions for OCB-eliciting demands, such as coworker lack of performance, organizational constraints, or supervisor expectations, can lead to CWB. Conversely, controllability and internal attributions for one's own CWB can lead to OCB.     

Chain liability in multitier supply chains? Responsibility attributions for unsustainable supplier behavior

When it becomes publicly known that products are associated with suppliers that engage in unsustainable behaviors, consumers protest, as Nestlé, Zara, and Kimberly Clark, among others, have learned. The phenomenon by which consumers hold firms responsible for the unsustainable behavior of their upstream partners suggests the notion of “chain liability.” This study aims to generate insights into the antecedents and consequences of such consumer responsibility attributions. Using data from four vignette-based survey experiments, the authors find that the chain liability effect increases if an environmental degradation incident (1) results from supplier behavior rather than force majeure, (2) results from a company decision rather than the decision of an individual employee, and (3) is more severe. Responsibility attributions do not differ with varying organizational distance from the supplier, firm size, strategic importance of the supplied product, or the existence of environmental management systems. The chain liability effect also creates strong risks for the focal firm; higher responsibility attributions increase consumers’ anger and propensity to boycott. Therefore, firms should work to ensure sustainable behavior throughout the supply chain, to protect them from chain liability.     

The Spiraling and Spillover of Misconduct: Perceived Workplace Bullying,Subclinical Psychopathy,and Businesspersons’ Recognition of an Ethical Issue

Workplace bullying can potentially spiral into numerous counterproductive behaviors and negative organizational outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which increased perceptions of workplace bullying were associated with stronger expressions of (subclinical) psychopathic traits and weakened ethical decision making. Data were collected from national and regional samples of selling and business professions using a self-report questionnaire that contained relevant measures and an ethics scenario, and structural equation modeling was employed to investigate the proposed relationships. Findings indicated that perceived workplace bullying operated through psychopathy to influence the recognition of an ethical issue (or full mediation). The implications of these findings are discussed, along with the study’s limitations and suggestions for future research.     

Predicting On-the-Job Substance Abuse with a Written Integrity Test

This paper explores definitions and predictors of employee substance abuse, using 173 employed undergraduates who completed a prominent written integrity test and a self-report of work behaviors, including on-the-job (OTJ) alcohol and drug abuse. Approximately 21% of participants reported recent OTJ abuse and were significantly more likely than nonabusers to exhibit other counterproductive work behaviors. Validity coefficients for the integrity test's Employability Index (r = –.25) and Drug Avoidance Scale (r = –.39) suggest that such measures can reduce OTJ abuse, but the procedure's effectiveness may be limited by the high rate of false negatives. We discuss suggestions for improving psychological testing to reduce OTJ abuse.     

“Imagine That—A Wildcat at Biomed!” Organizational Justice and the Anatomy of a Wildcat Strike at a Nonunion Medical Electronics Factory

Although the occurrences of wildcat strikes are inextricably linked to violations of organizational justice, only a minimal amount has been written with respect to the relationship between the occurrence of organizational injustice and the presence of employee collective action. And while research on wildcat strikes in unionized settings is fairly extensive, there has virtually been no treatment of nonunion wildcat strikes in the scholarly literature. This paper presents an industrial ethnographic account of a nonunion wildcat strike in terms of analyzing the conditions and process under which a breakdown in organizational justice leads to employee collective action. In analyzing this nonunion wildcat strike, Sheppard, Lewicki, and Minton's seven propositions are utilized to understand the conditions under which a breakdown of organizational justice increases the likelihood of the occurrence of employee collective action (Sheppard, B. H., Lewicki, R. J., & Minton, J. W. Organizational Justice: The Search for Fairness in the Workplace. New York: Lexington Books, 1992). The paper concludes with a discussion of an inexpensive human resource management practice that can be implemented for achieving some type of organizational justice in order to minimize the occurrence of nonunion wildcat strikes.     

Organizational tenure and mastery-avoidance goals: the moderating role of psychological empowerment

Mastery-avoidance (MAv) goals are recognized to be detrimental as they arouse counterproductive work-related behaviors. In the current literature, MAv goals are assumed to be more predominant among newcomers and longer-tenured employees. The alleged relationship provides important implications but yet has received scant empirical attention. In response, this study examines the proposed U-shaped curvilinear relationship between organizational tenure and MAv goal orientation. In addition, the potential moderating role of psychological empowerment on this curvilinear relationship is investigated. Based on data from 655 certified accountants, the results support the existence of the hypothesized curvilinear relationship. Also, it revealed that for employees who experience higher levels of psychological empowerment, the U-shaped relationship between organizational tenure and MAv goal orientation becomes flattened. Implications and future research are discussed.     

论组织不公与反生产行为的关系

反生产行为(CPB)是员工在工作中违反组织规章制度,故意危害组织及其利益相关者的行为。许多研究表明,组织不公是导致员工反生产行为的一个重要因素。文章总结了近几年关于组织不公和反生产行为(CPB)的相关研究,指出了目前研究中存在的问题,并据此提出了未来的研究趋势。     

工作中心度与组织承诺的关系研究

工作中心度对员工的工作行为有着重要的影响。本文利用在11家企业调查的229份问卷数据,采用多元回归的统计方法分析工作中心度、领导行为、组织承诺三者的关系。研究表明,工作中心度高的员工对他们的组织有更高的承诺。企业领导者可以通过了解员工的工作中心度来预测其组织承诺,其中对感情承诺的预测力最强;个体的工作中心度在一定程度上是不可改变的量,采取适合员工不同工作中心度的领导行为,能有效提高员工对组织的承诺,降低离职率。这是更具人本化的企业管理。     

Team familiarity—Boon for routines,bane for innovation? A review and future research agenda

Teams play a vital role in achieving an organization's goals, so achieving high levels of team familiarity is regarded as essential to HRM strategies. This paper aims to stimulate the debate on team familiarity: the effectiveness, antecedents, outcomes, and theoretical underpinnings. Our systematic literature review uses a VOSviewer-based bibliometric analysis, combined with qualitative thematic analysis. The current dominant viewpoint is that team familiarity leads to positive performance outputs at work, higher team performance and organizational success. Existing studies also agree that familiarity enhances team cognition and takes time to develop. However, we reveal that existing studies use a limited range of theoretical underpinnings, remain vague on the meaning of “time” and “how long it takes for teams to become familiar”, and avoid critical discussions on potential counterproductive outcomes that may lead to a decline in team performance. Based on these gaps, we suggest advancing the team familiarity literature and provide ideas for future research. Overall, we argue that whereas team familiarity is favorable for routine and structured contexts, it might be less effective for innovative task environments. Our future research agenda also suggests 1) advancing the theoretical underpinnings around team relationships, social roles, and team formation; 2) engaging in discussion on the key antecedent “time”, with longitudinal studies to reveal which moments matter most in devolving team familiarity; 3) considering positive social outcomes for individuals and groups; and importantly, 4) contributing fresh knowledge on potential counterproductive outcomes and U-shaped developments in innovation work.