The Effect of “Carrot and Stick” Formal Control on Deviant Workplace Behaviour: A Proposed Framework

Abstract

Some recent news media and studies reports indicate that deviant workplace behaviours, such as excessive absenteeism, extortion, and the recently publicised sexual harassment of female students, known as “sex for grades”, are prevalent on some campuses in Nigeria and other west African nations. To mitigate these behaviours, this study proposes a testable model of formal control with some theoretical, practical, and managerial implications. The article is a conceptual study that generates research propositions from an extensive literature review and the precepts of general deterrence and social exchange theories. The paper proposed a carrot-and-stick framework that shows that deterrence factors (punishment certainty, punishment severity and punishment celerity) and motivational elements (contingent reward) negatively influence deviant workplace behaviour and the relationship is stronger in an organisation controlled by transactional leadership behaviour. Practically, this paper attempts to help school administrators and policymakers to change the current strategies in fighting the menace of employee deviance by adopting an approach that uses well-validated negative and positive stimulants that mitigate unproductive behaviour at work. Proposing a well-tested approach, hitherto known only in information systems security, to mitigate deviant workplace behaviours in an educational context and a specific setting is one of the noble contributions of this paper. The paper is conceptual, though. However, the propositions made are theoretically grounded, but they need to be tested in the proposed context and setting. Future research can extend the conceptual framework by further validating the propositions and adding mediators in the proposed relationships. Other implications and recommendations were discussed.