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Love, Hate, Ambivalence, or Indifference? A Conceptual Examination of Workplace Crimes and Organizational Identification

Author

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  • Abhijeet K. Vadera

    (Indian School of Business, Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500 032, India)

  • Michael G. Pratt

    (Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467)

Abstract

Although research has shown that there may be very different types of workplace crimes, scholarly work in this area (a) is currently fragmented with very little communication between very similar streams of research and (b) tends to be incomplete and can lead to conflicting findings. We address both of these shortcomings. First, we propose a typology of different types of workplace crimes (consisting of pro-organizational, nonaligned-organizational, and anti-organizational crimes) based on the intentions of the perpetrators. Second, we link these intentions to various identification “pathologies”—such as over-identification and over-disidentification, under-identification and ambivalent identification—and argue that these pathologies are linked to propensities to commit certain types of workplace crimes. Specifically, we contend that over-identification and over-disidentification have direct effects on workplace crimes, whereas under-identification and ambivalent identification indirectly influence the propensity to engage in workplace crimes. We suggest that this research aids us in clarifying the inconsistent conclusions in previous work in the domain of workplace crimes and that it emphasizes the importance of including organizational identification as a key factor in the extant models of workplace crimes. This research also highlights policy implications regarding workplace crimes in that it suggests that different agencies may be more effective in enforcing the law and disciplining those engaged in the different types of workplace crimes.

Suggested Citation

  • Abhijeet K. Vadera & Michael G. Pratt, 2013. "Love, Hate, Ambivalence, or Indifference? A Conceptual Examination of Workplace Crimes and Organizational Identification," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 172-188, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:24:y:2013:i:1:p:172-188
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1110.0714
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. David Effelsberg & Marc Solga, 2015. "Transformational Leaders’ In-Group versus Out-Group Orientation: Testing the Link Between Leaders’ Organizational Identification, their Willingness to Engage in Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior, ," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(4), pages 581-590, February.
    3. Valeria Ciampa & Moritz Sirowatka & Sebastian C. Schuh & Franco Fraccaroli & Rolf Dick, 2021. "Ambivalent Identification as a Moderator of the Link Between Organizational Identification and Counterproductive Work Behaviors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 119-134, February.
    4. Qiong Jia & Liyuan Wei & Xiaotong Li, 2019. "Visualizing Sustainability Research in Business and Management (1990–2019) and Emerging Topics: A Large-Scale Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-37, October.
    5. Divya S & B. Prabu Christopher, 2024. "A decadal review of organizational identification: insights from bibliometric analysis and content analysis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, December.
    6. Aneka Fahima Sufi & Usman Raja & Arif Nazir Butt, 2024. "Impact of Peer Unethical Behaviors on Employee Silence: The Role of Organizational Identification and Emotions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(4), pages 821-839, April.
    7. Gabriele Faßauer, 2018. "Linking deviation with innovation: behavioral effects of management control through the lens of a theory of deviance," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 275-293, December.
    8. Carolin Baur & Roman Soucek & Ulrich Kühnen & Roy F. Baumeister, 2020. "Unable to Resist the Temptation to Tell the Truth or to Lie for the Organization? Identification Makes the Difference," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(4), pages 643-662, December.
    9. Kanti Pertiwi, 2018. "Contextualizing Corruption: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach to Studying Corruption in Organizations," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-19, April.
    10. Blake E. Ashforth & Kristie M. Rogers & Michael G. Pratt & Camille Pradies, 2014. "Ambivalence in Organizations: A Multilevel Approach," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(5), pages 1453-1478, October.
    11. Guiette, Alain & Vandenbempt, Koen, 2013. "Exploring team mental model dynamics during strategic change implementation in professional service organizations. A sensemaking perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 728-744.
    12. Madhurima Mishra & Koustab Ghosh & Dheeraj Sharma, 2022. "Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior: A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 63-87, August.
    13. Stewart, Alex, 2020. "Family control, ambivalence, and preferential benefits," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4).
    14. Seraphim Voliotis, 2017. "Establishing the Normative Standards that Determine Deviance in Organizational Corruption: Is Corruption Within Organizations Antisocial or Unethical?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 147-160, January.
    15. Matthew Valle & K. Michele Kacmar & Suzanne Zivnuska, 2019. "Understanding the Effects of Political Environments on Unethical Behavior in Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 173-188, April.
    16. Katrina Graham & Jonathan Ziegert & Johnna Capitano, 2015. "The Effect of Leadership Style, Framing, and Promotion Regulatory Focus on Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(3), pages 423-436, February.
    17. Kennedy, Jessica A. & Anderson, Cameron, 2017. "Hierarchical rank and principled dissent: How holding higher rank suppresses objection to unethical practices," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 30-49.
    18. Jane Hendy & Danielle A. Tucker, 2021. "Public Sector Organizational Failure: A Study of Collective Denial in the UK National Health Service," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(4), pages 691-706, September.

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