Production Deviance Research Articles

Student Cheating Habits: A Predictor Of Workplace Deviance

Unethical behavior seems to be increasing exponentially in every facet of today’s business environment. Property and production deviance are just two of the unethical behaviors exhibited by employees. According to a study conducted by S. Nonis and C. Swift (2001), students who engage in dishonest acts in college classes are more likely to engage in dishonest acts in the workplace. Research conducted during the three year period 2002 - 2005 by Don McCabe in conjunction with The Center for Academic Integrity at Duke University reveals that 70 percent of the 50,000 undergraduate students surveyed admit to some cheating (McCabe 2005). This article reports the results of a student survey documenting the self-reported cheating habits of business and non-business majors and their reported involvement in deviant activities in the workplace. The research indicates that a higher percentage of non-business majors report cheating on tests and homework than business majors and students who cheat in high school and/or college are more likely to engage in certain deviant behaviors in the workplace. In addition, the article also compares the percentage of students engaging in property and production deviance with the results of an earlier study by R. C. Hollinger and J. P. Clark examining workplace deviance among employees in the retail sector.

The dimensionality of counterproductivity: Are all counterproductive behaviors created equal?

Most studies of counterproductive work behavior (CWB) assess it as one or two overall dimensions that might obscure relationships of potential antecedents with more specific forms of behavior. A finer-grained analysis of the relationship between counterproductive work behavior and antecedents was conducted with the five-subscales (abuse toward others, production deviance, sabotage, theft, and withdrawal) taken from the 45-item Counterproductive Work Behavior Checklist, a measure that has been used in a number of prior studies. Described is the rationale for each of the five dimensions, which have been discussed individually in the literature. Data from three combined studies provide evidence for differential relationships with potential antecedents that suggest the use of more specific subscales to assess CWB. Most notably, abuse and sabotage were most strongly related to anger and stress, theft was unrelated to emotion, and withdrawal was associated with boredom and being upset. Finally, the distinct forms of CWB may suggest distinct underlying dynamics, that vary in their balance of hostile and instrumental motivational systems.

Insider or outsider? how employee perceptions of insider status affect their work behavior

AbstractMany researchers have used the insider–outsider distinction when discussing employment relationships (e.g., Graen & Scandura, 1987; Pfeffer & Baron, 1988). However, there is no known empirical research directly assessing employees' perceptions of their status as organizational insiders. This article is intended as an initial step to theoretically and empirically explore the concept of perceived insider status (PIS). First, we build theoretical arguments describing how organizations may differentiate between insider and outsider employees, leading to differences in perceptions of insider status. We then hypothesize and show empirical evidence that contrasts, but relates, actual inclusion and perceived organizational support to PIS. We subsequently examine two types of discretionary employee behavior, altruism and production deviance, as potential consequences of PIS. Our results suggest that both actual inclusion, as well as perceived insider status, have implications for organizational functioning via discretionary employee behaviors. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The IT way of loafing on the job: cyberloafing, neutralizing and organizational justice

AbstractMuch attention has been devoted to how technological advancements have created a brave new workplace, revolutionzing the ways in which work is being carried out, and how employees can improve their productivity and efficiency. However, the advent of technology has also opened up new avenues and opportunities for individuals to misbehave. This study focused on cyberloafing—the act of employees using their companies' internet access for personal purposes during work hours. Cyberloafing, thus, represents a form of production deviance. Using the theoretical frameworks offered by social exchange, organizational justice and neutralization, we examined the often‐neglected dark side of the internet and the role that neutralization techniques play in facilitating this misbehavior at the workplace. Specifically, we developed a model which suggested that when individuals perceived their organizations to be distributively, procedurally and interactionally unjust, they were likely to invoke the metaphor of the ledger as a neutralization technique to legitimize their subsequent engagement in the act of cyberloafing.Data were collected with the use of an electronic questionnaire and focus group interviews from 188 working adults with access to the internet at the workplace. Results of structural equation modelling provided empirical support for all of our hypotheses. Implications of our findings for organizational internet policies are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Estimation of genetic and phenotypic parameters for clinical mastitis, somatic cell production deviance, and protein yield in dairy cattle using Gibbs sampling.

When including clinical mastitis in the breeding goal, it is useful to know what measure of the trait is most appropriate and its relationship to the primary production traits and indicator traits in the relevant population. In this paper, genetic and phenotypic parameters for clinical mastitis, somatic cell production deviance, and protein yield were estimated for the dairy breed Danish Red. In preliminary analyses, the heritability for clinical mastitis was found to be highest in early lactation, and its genetic correlation to clinical mastitis at other stages of lactation were high. Therefore, clinical mastitis defined in early lactation was the measure of clinical mastitis used in subsequent analyses. Two bivariate analyses were performed. Each analysis fitted clinical mastitis and either somatic cell production deviance or protein yield as a continuous trait. The bivariate model was composed of a Gaussian model for the continuous trait and a threshold model for mastitis. The analyses were performed in a Bayesian setting, using the Gibbs sampler. Point estimates (mean of marginal posterior densities) of heritability for mastitis on the underlying scale were estimated to be 0.10 and 0.12 in the two analyses. The genetic correlation between mastitis and protein yield was 0.43 and between mastitis and somatic cell production deviance was 0.80. These results make clear the importance of including clinical mastitis in the breeding goal and the usefulness of somatic cell production deviance as the indicator trait for clinical mastitis. The best measure of clinical mastitis was to consider only cases in early lactation.

A TYPOLOGY OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIORS: A MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALING STUDY.

In this study, we developed a typology of deviant workplace behaviors using multidimensional scaling techniques. Results suggest that deviant workplace behaviors vary along two dimensions: minor versus serious, and interpersonal versus organizational. On the basis of these two dimensions, employee deviance appears to fall into four distinct categories: production deviance, property deviance, political deviance, and personal aggression. Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.

A Typology of Deviant Workplace Behaviors: A Multidimensional Scaling Study

In this study, we developed a typology of deviant workplace behaviors using multidimensional scaling techniques. Results suggest that deviant workplace behaviors vary along two dimensions: minor versus serious, and interpersonal versus organizational. On the basis of these two dimensions, employee deviance appears to fall into four distinct categories: production deviance, property deviance, political deviance, and personal aggression. Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.

Neutralizing in the workplace: An empirical analysis of property theft and production deviance

Using Sykes and Matza's (1957) “techniques of neutralization” paradigm, an adult sample of 9,175 retail, hospital, and manufacturing employees were examined to assess the empirical relationship of the concept with both self‐reported property theft and counterproductive deviant behavior in the workplace. Although the direction of causal order cannot be determined conclusively, above‐average employee rule breakers are significantly more likely than their less deviant peers to invoke guilt‐neutralizing techniques. The presence of age/ “denial of injury” and age/denial of victim” interactions, however, suggests that the workplace deviance of younger employees does not depend nearly as heavily on neutralizing techniques as does that of their older co‐workers. This newly discovered age interaction may explain why earlier researchers prematurely (and erroneously) declared invalid the “techniques of neutralization” paradigm.

Honesty testing: Estimating and reducing the false positive rate

Bayes' theorem was used to provide a realistic estimate of the false positive rate in honesty testing. Separate estimates were provided for employee theft and production deviance. Examples were used to illustrate how follow-up screening procedures can significantly reduce either the false positive or false negative rate. Suggestions were provided for how test developers can capitalize on research in the area of honesty testing to develop alternative methods of identifying dishonest applicants.

Acts against the workplace: Social bonding and employee deviance

Research into the phenomenon of workplace deviance has separately focused on two types of employee rule‐breaking behavior, 1) acts against the property and assets of the organization and 2) various types of counter‐productive behavior. In an attempt to compare the theoretical and empirical similarity of these two forms of employee deviance, this paper examines the self‐reported involvement in both property and production deviance among a population of employees randomly sampled from three industry sectors and three metropolitan areas. Utilizing a weighted least squares logit regression analysis, the findings support continued conceptual separation of these two forms of employee rule‐breaking as they seem to be explained by slightly different configurations of the “social bonding” model. Involvement in property deviance seems to be primarily the result of a lack of future “commitment” to the organization, while counter‐productive behavior is better understood using a combination of “commitment, attachment,...