Formation Mechanism of Pro-organizational Rule-breaking Behavior from the Perspective of Digitalization Transformation

Abstract

Pro-organizational Rule-breaking Behavior (PORB) is a negative organizational behavior which seems conceptually harmful to organizations. However, PORB can both be beneficial to organizations from the perspective of organizational value, and helpful to the facilitation of organizational performance or organizational innovation. PORB is actually acquiesced and encouraged by organizations in a way. In the context of digitalization transformation, due to the turbulent VUCA environment and competitive pressure, PORB even has a tendency to increase. Therefore, the correlative research questions as follows are put forward naturally. How to evaluate PORB objectively? Why do employees know that the behavior violates the organizational rules but still commit it? Is it essentially an individual problem of the employees or a problem of the organizational rules? What are the causes and mechanisms of PORB? There have been many researches on Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior and Pro-social Rule-breaking Behavior, which are closely related to PORB. However, there is neither systematically theoretical support nor efficient guiding measures on PORB for enterprise practice for the time being. Our research aims to study the formation mechanism of PORB in the context of digitalization transformation, which can not only develop the elementary theory of PORB, but also broaden the theories of Pro-social Rule-breaking Behavior and Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior. In practice, the results of our research can promote both the organizational management and governance of PORB.