Workplace behaviours deviant workplace behaviors management essay

Table of Contents

Introduction

Overview:

Deviant behavior can be described as any activity that violates the rules and regulations and norms of the particular organization that may cause bad effects. The literal meaning of deviance is something different from what most people consider to be acceptable. The behaviors that are not acceptable in the society are considered deviant behaviors. Here since we are talking about the organizations so deviance may include humiliating colleagues, use of abusive language, violence etc. Organizations try their level best to give their employees a healthy atmosphere and establish teamwork to grow so as to maximize their productivity and achieve their goals. High level of corporations and positivity is ensured to create a friendly corporate culture. In spite of all these sometimes situations develops that a person does voluntary things at times which has a very harmful effect on the organization as a whole. It ruins the atmosphere of the company and the targeted goals cannot be achieved. I will be basically discussing factors that lead to the deviant behaviors and their consequences on the work environment.

Background of the topic:

Apart from many other problems faced by the organizations such as minimizing costs, earning profits, managing to cater to the changing needs of the customers more complex problems are also being faced by the organization today which is deviant work place behaviors. Deviant behaviors have been there the whole time, however now due to globalization and flexible technological environment there has been a tremendous increase in various ” abnormal behaviors”. Increased competition, stress and lust for power and money are at its peak in the organizations these days also serve as obstacles in the working environment. These deviant acts significantly affect employee’s performance and their morale and comes in their way when they try to excel. Thus these issues need to be addressed so that these problems can be overcome and create better healthier environment in corporate organizations.

Importance of the study with respect to the world:

This study is very important with respect to the world as a whole as deviant workplace behaviors have tremendously grown not only in Pakistan but all over the world. We need to understand the negative impacts of such behaviors all across the world as well as understanding the ways to counter these problems arising due to it so we could use implement them in Pakistan. As, these problems are not just subjected to Pakistan but are also being experienced by other nations as global competition has increased thereby increasing stress which is a major contributor to deviant behaviors.

Importance of study with respect to target population:

This study is very important with respect to employees working in various organizations who are operating in a very competitive environmentin Pakistan. This study will try and understand the effects of these changing behaviors from different organizations situated in different areas of Lahore between the ages of 25 to 50 years to find the basic root of problem arising through these deviant acts.

Research Questions:

What are the basic reasons of arising deviant workplace behaviors in organizations in Pakistan? What are the adverse effects and impacts of these behaviors in various organizations in Pakistan?

Literature Review

Muafi (2003) conducted a research on the causes and effects of deviant workplace behaviors. The basic objective of the research was to have insights into the manufacturing firms which particularly faced negative deviant workplace behaviors. The purpose of this study was to identify the causes and after effects of deviant workplace behaviors. The research highlights the key deviant behaviors such as intentions to quit, dissatisfaction among the employees, uninformed leaves and robbery and theft as well. The methodology used in this research was a sample of 101 operational workers from a company SIER Indonesia. Likert scale was used to determine the variables in the research. The results provided a strong impact on the relation between the effects and the results of the deviant acts. Variables such as intentions to quit, dissatisfaction among the employees have positive impact on deviant workplace behavior, while deviant workplace behavior has negative results on the performance of the individual. Maureen and Marshall (2002) conducted a research which highlights the relationship between injustice and organizational sabotage. The fundamental reason behind the research was to identify the principal cause of sabotage is perceptions of organizational injustice. Organizational justice is an integral factor for understanding workplace deviance. The research technique used were self-reports from the individuals. On the basis of the reports the trained raters rated the accounts on the basis of firstly the cause of the sabotage, secondly target of sabotage whether individual or the entire organization, thirdly who was harmed by it and lastly how severe was the sabotage. To assess all these factors PRL which is Proportional Reduction in Loss coefficient was tested. The results strongly suggested that injustice existed according to every individual’s perception. David and Cremer (2011) conducted a research so as to determine how mistreated employees are linked with workplace deviance. The fundamental reason behind the research was to determine that whether employees who are mistreated and respond negatively to leader mistreatment and are more likely to indulge themselves in deviant behavior or not. Various techniques were used including pilot studies, field studies and also an experiment. Students were recruited from online websites such as Zoomerang. com. Later full time and part time workers were invited to participate, with control variables being job specific and self efficacy. The results of the research showed that although leader mistreatment motivates employees to retaliate to their leaders, however leader mistreatment is a particularly strong factor for those employees who are unaware of their intellectual abilities and competencies in the job. Patrick and Kobomlee (2004) conducted a research to determine the influence of and workplace deviant behavior on overall organizational environment on business performance. The fundamental reason behind the research was to identify three distinguishable components of work behaviors in the job performance and to highlight the issue by investigating the extent to which the prevalence of overall commitment in the organization and deviant behaviors within a business enterprise is related to its overall performance. Data was obtained from two samples of employees firstly from 36 branches of an Australian fast-food chain, whereas the second sample was taken from staff. Supervisors of each branch provided the ratings. Also the questionnaires were administered over a month time period. Results indicated that workplace deviant behaviors were negatively associated with business unit performance. Sandral and Bennet (2012) worked on to develop a theory of deviant workplace behaviors using different techniques. The primary purpose of the research was to carry out a systematic study of deviance to further increase the understanding of workplace deviance because previous researches addressed only particular issues in deviance behaviors. The methodology used in the research was different sample were taken in which respondents including male and female were recruited from various universities of U. S who had some prior experience of corporate sector. Respondents were asked to describe scenarios in which they saw someone indulging themselves into abnormal organizational acts. The research findings suggested that workplace deviance research should address social forms of organization of deviance. Karl and Bradfield (2005) conducted a study to test a model that used balancing the justice within the organization variables and the various personality traits that had a negative effect so as to elaborate on different types of deviant employee behavior. In their research they proposed a method that linked undesirable perceptions of various kinds of injustice mainly procedural, distributive, and interactional justice for different types of deviant acts. To further test the data a survey was distributed to individuals working for a government agency and employees of paper manufacturing company. Surveys were supervised and collected by the assistants of the researchers. Later responses to the survey were analyzed using statistical techniques such as equations to evaluate the research data. Results showed that research data fits the findings well and finding did support their hypothesis. Joanne and Galperin (2006) studied the events resulting from workplace bullying and the increased legal pressure on organizations to decrease harassment. The purpose of this research was to examine how workers perceive that their organization’s is willing to finish bullying and how well they perceive and respond to anti-bullying policies. Two studies were conducted, a quantitative study as well as qualitative study. Also large survey sample and several in depth interviews were taken from recent graduates who had average work experience. Results suggest that workers who are the targets of bullying and those who are not the targets vary in their perceptions, opinions and responses. Results of this study suggest that victims are less adaptable to the anti-bullying policies than the non-victims. Also the results suggests bullying occurs too frequently and its costs are too high to be ignoredBennett and Carr (2009) conducted a study to determine relationships between abusive supervision on employees and workplace deviance. It focused on variables such as intentions to quit for analysis. For the purpose of the research data was collected from employees from three organizations. Sample one included managers of a fast food restaurant. Sample two data was collected from workers at US hospital. Respondents included staff, nurses, medical assistants, and other hospital workers. Whereas the data for Sample three was collected from employees of a government agency in US. The results suggested that abusive supervision is very much linked with employees therefore intentions to quit are higher. Jackie and Wellen (2004) conducted a research on individual deviance to collective deviance: A social influence model of the spread of deviance in organizations. The primary research objective was to highlight the critical role of the factors play in developing corrupt activities. Also the paper explores the different psychological processes that strongly influence individuals to commit deviant acts. For this purpose data was collected from employees from different organizations and regression analysis was done. However in the conclusions and findings section various general ideologies were suggested which were applicable on all the firms so as to minimize this prevailing phenomena. Gabriel and Bamikole (2011) conducted a research on organizational determinants of workplace deviant activities. This research was done in Nigeria. This study examines the relationship between employee’s actions and deviant acts in the workplace. For the research purpose 696 employees filled the surveys. The results supported the research data. In the findings male respondents results were very different from the female in terms of deviant variables such as political deviance, personal aggression etc. Multiple regression analysis was done which revealed that organizational variables such as supervision, various works are significant determinants of workplace deviant behaviors among workers. Earn and Vigoda (2002) conducted a research to study the relation among variables such as politics, job stress, and aggressive behavior to politics prevailing in the organizations. The fundamental goal of the research was to first to have an overview of the researches on job stress and politics within an organization. For this purpose of the research three samples were used to determine direct and indirect relations between variables. Participants were Israeli employees who showed that firstly job stress was an involuntary response to politics within the organization thus leading to aggressive behaviors being committed by the employees. Aron and Bolin (2001) conducted a research on the relationship between bad attitudes and behavior for employee abnormal acts. The primary purpose of the research was to gain an insight of the employee deviance which is challenging for businesses. In the study, four different variables were used to predict four types of deviant employee behavior. For the collection of data sample of fast food restaurant was taken. Various tests such as variances, reliability coefficients, and inter-correlations were run among the variables. The results showed that variables have a significant relationship with the behavior of the employees in the organization thus every variable having a positive effect. Stefan and Mary (2009) conducted a research on how management balances the linkage between bad supervision and organizational deviance. As far as the methodology was concerned, two studies were carried pout to test this research. They had a sample of 1200 graduates of a university. Study one, used survey data from 379 employees of various industries and found that the direct relationship exists between abusive supervision and organizational deviance. For study 2 participants were recruited with the website by the name Zoomerang. com. Study two, used survey data from 1477 respondents from various industries, found that the positive relationship between bad supervision. Daniel and Milan (2002) conducted a research to determine the social weakening of the commitment among employees. The primary goal of the research was to examine the relationship between social weakening and behavioral results of employees. As far as the methodology is concerned the sample for the research was taken from national police force in Slovenia, also a fifteen page questionnaire was circulated. Later multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses. Also Correlations and descriptive statistics for all variables were calculated. Results suggested as predicted, social undermining was significantly associated with employee outcomes. Steven and Mathieu (2002) studied the relationship between ethics to deviantWorkplace behavior. The purpose of the research was to perform a literature review of the existing studies that were already conducted relating to the causes and their implications of workplace deviance in relations to the ethics in that particular organization. The research was measured by a questionnaire which was later circulated among respondents. The results of the study clearly indicated that deviant behaviors are significant in the organization therefore steps must be taken to resolve these issues.

Conclusion

The conclusion that I derive from the literature reviews is that behavior and attitude play a major role in an institution or an organization because it is our acts that define us. Acting a deviant person will limit the opportunities for growth and create serious problems such as health diseases, permanent depression, stress and emotional instability. Therefore in order to make sure that such acts are avoided and atmosphere remains friendly and corporative. Personality testing and other methods can be adopted to ensure the organization integrity and the reliability of the employees. These methodologies will help to improve the recruitments and selection process and jot down the candidates that are best suited for the job as well as the culture of the organization resulting in increased productivity. Different areas were researched in with reference to deviant workplace behaviors while coming up with numerous theories and hypothesis and using a number of methodologies to come up with different and unique results for each. This literature review has helped me a lot in understanding the impacts, implications and in depth analysis of my topic for the thesis.

Methodology

Research Type:

In order to conduct the research, qualitative research methods will be used. The research paper will have both numerical as well as theoretical data and information.

Date type and Research Period:

Both primary as well as secondary research methods will be used for research and data collection purposes. The primary as well as secondary research period will remain from 20th October 2012 to 20th March 2013.

Sources of Data:

Data collection for the research will be done by interviewing employees from different organizations situated in different areas of Lahore as well as bosses or the senior management people in order to understand the different opinions on this topic and further have clear understanding not only with respect to employees but what senior management has to say about it. Other sources of data are internet databases such as Jstor, Sciencedirect, SAGE Publications and Journalseek

Population, Working population and planned sample:

The sample populations that will be selected are the employees working in corporate organizations based in Lahore, belonging from various age groups ranging from middle level employees to senior management. The main respondents will be employees who have an average experience of 4-5years from different organizations between the ages of 25 to 50 years. Sample size for both the segments will be 50 respondents each.

Research hypothesis

ho: Deviant workplace behaviors have a positive impact on work performances in organizations. h1: Deviant workplace behaviors do not have a positive impact on work performances in organizations. ho: deviant workplace behaviors are likely to increase in futureh1: deviant workplace behaviors are likely to decrease in future. ho: increase in the lust of power and money leads to deviant workplace behaviorsh1: increase in the lust for power and money do not lead to deviant workplace behaviors.

Techniques

After gathering all the required data, the techniques used for understanding the research data will be cross tabulation. It is one of the most useful and used analytical tools. It will help us understand the interrelations between two variables and as well as the interactions between them.

Data Analysis:

For the data interviews will be done, questionnaires will be distributed and surveys and focus groups will be conducted. The statistical software’s that will be used for research analysis are SPSS, & MS. Excel.

Data Interpretation:

The data gathered will then be collected, tabulated, and coded using the statistical programs where the hypotheses, frequencies, numerical statistics and graphical representations etc will be tested, and analyzed in order to interpret the data in a more understandable way.

Theoretical Framework

Dependent Variable:

Deviant Workplace Behaviors

Independent Variables:

Leader mistreatmentPowerlessnessPersonal AggressionEmployee hostilityOrganizational sabotageProduction deviancePolitical devianceIntentions to quit

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