Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to examine the direct effect of the dimensions of opportunity (i.e. ethical climate and institutional policy) and dimensions of job pressure (i.e. workload and work pressure) on workplace deviance (i.e. organisational and interpersonal deviance) and (2) to assess the mediation of neutralisation in the relationship between the dimensions of opportunity, job pressure and workplace deviance.Design/methodology/approachThe present study drew from the fraud triangle theory (FTT; Cressey, 1950) and the theory of neutralisation (Sykes and Matza, 1957) to achieve the research objectives. Survey data from 356 full-time faculty members in Nigerian public universities were collected. Partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyse the data.FindingsThe results indicated that opportunity and job pressure significantly affected workplace deviance. As expected, neutralisation was found to mediate the negative relationship between ethical climate and interpersonal deviance and the positive relationship between workload, work pressure and interpersonal deviance. Contrary to expectation, neutralisation did not mediate the relationship between opportunity, pressure and organisational deviance.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was drawn from academics in public universities and the cross-sectional nature of this study means that the findings have limited generalisations.Practical implicationsThis study offers insights into the management of Nigerian public universities on the need to curb workplace deviance amongst faculty members. This study recommends that the management improve the work environment by enhancing the ethical climate and institutional policies and reviewing the existing workload that may constitute pressure to the faculty members.Originality/valueThe present study provides empirical support for the fraud triangle theory and theory of neutralisation to explain workplace deviance.
Highlights
This study focused on two aspects of opportunity, i.e. ethical climate and institutional policy, as these have been found to affect employee behaviour significantly (Appelbaum et al, 2005; Tastan, 2019)
Our result indicated that the dimensions of opportunity and job pressure were significantly linked to workplace deviance
To ignore deviant workplace behaviour is to allow the erosion of organisational standards, regulations and norms, which are likely to lead to organisational deterioration
Summary
The literature on workplace deviance or counterproductive behaviour is growing, which suggests that such a phenomenon, if not managed well, is likely to affect the organisation and European Journal of Management and Business Economics Vol 30 No 2, 2021 pp. Workplace deviance can be understood as acts that are against the norms and expectations of the organisation that could harm its well-being and stakeholders (Bennett et al, 2018). Companies suffer monetary losses because of workplace deviance and such an occurrence could result in emotional costs to the employees. When employees experience workplace bullying or aggression at work, society could suffer when companies have to stop operating as a result of such incidence (Bennett et al, 2018). Others pointed out that reduced employee productivity and increased staff turnover are some of the adverse consequences organisations face as a result of workplace deviance (Tuna et al, 2016), affecting the organisational financial capacity
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