IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v23y2009i4p747-773.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Workplace incivilities: the role of interest conflicts, social closure and organizational chaos

Author

Listed:
  • Vincent J. Roscigno

    (Ohio State University, roscigno.1@osu.edu)

  • Randy Hodson

    (Ohio State University, hodson.8@sociology.osu.edu)

  • Steven H. Lopez

    (Ohio State University, lopez.137@osu.edu)

Abstract

Workplace incivility — that is, negative relational dimensions of employment with consequences for worker integrity and dignity — affects millions every year. In this article, the ‘organizational misbehaviour’ and ‘workplace chaos’ literatures offer building blocks for a conception wherein workplace incivility is viewed as emanating from the joint and sometimes interconnected influence of organizational processes and status-based social closure. The resulting multi-method analyses draw on coded information on incivility, organizational context, and relational and status dynamics from a large population of organizational ethnographies (N=204). Analyses reveal that all forms of incivility except sexual harassment are rooted in organizational chaos. Qualitative re-immersion into these ethnographic accounts provides further insights into how conflicts endemic to paid employment and broader social closure projects surrounding class, race, and gender play a role as well, albeit often in distinct ways.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincent J. Roscigno & Randy Hodson & Steven H. Lopez, 2009. "Workplace incivilities: the role of interest conflicts, social closure and organizational chaos," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 23(4), pages 747-773, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:23:y:2009:i:4:p:747-773
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017009344875
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017009344875
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017009344875?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hodson,Randy, 2001. "Dignity at Work," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521771313, September.
    2. Richard B. Freeman, 1994. "Working Under Different Rules," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number free94-1.
    3. Paul McCarthy & Claire Mayhew, 2004. "Safeguarding the Organization against Violence and Bullying," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-50420-2, October.
    4. Hodson,Randy, 2001. "Dignity at Work," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521778121, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elisa Ansoleaga & Magdalena Ahumada & Andrés González-Santa Cruz, 2019. "Association of Workplace Bullying and Workplace Vulnerability in the Psychological Distress of Chilean Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Boateng, Godfred O. & Adams, Tracey L., 2016. "“Drop dead … I need your job”: An exploratory study of intra-professional conflict amongst nurses in two Ontario cities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 35-42.
    3. Elizabeth Quinlan & Susan Robertson & Ann-Marie Urban & Isobel M Findlay & Beth Bilson, 2020. "Ameliorating Workplace Harassment among Direct Caregivers in Canada’s Healthcare System: A Theatre-Based Intervention," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(4), pages 626-643, August.
    4. Clive Boddy, 2014. "Corporate Psychopaths, Conflict, Employee Affective Well-Being and Counterproductive Work Behaviour," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(1), pages 107-121, April.
    5. Devi Akella, 2016. "Workplace Bullying," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(1), pages 21582440166, February.
    6. Carl Rhodes & Geraint Harvey, 2012. "Agonism and the Possibilities of Ethics for HRM," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 49-59, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michel Anteby & Curtis K. Chan, 2018. "A Self-Fulfilling Cycle of Coercive Surveillance: Workers’ Invisibility Practices and Managerial Justification," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 247-263, April.
    2. César González-Cantón & Sonia Boulos & Pablo Sánchez-Garrido, 2019. "Exploring the Link Between Human Rights, the Capability Approach and Corporate Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 865-879, December.
    3. Michael Pirson, 2019. "A Humanistic Perspective for Management Theory: Protecting Dignity and Promoting Well-Being," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 39-57, September.
    4. Anne Junor & John O'Brien & Michael O'Donnell, 2009. "Welfare wars: public service frontline absenteeism as collective resistance," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(1/2), pages 26-40, March.
    5. George A. Akerlof, 2007. "The Missing Motivation in Macroeconomics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(1), pages 5-36, March.
    6. Daniel B. Cornfield, 2005. "Professions and inter-disciplinary teamwork in socially embedded bureaucracies: Synthesis and hypotheses on the impact of informal and formal organization," Enterprise and Work Innovation Studies, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, IET/CICS.NOVA-Interdisciplinary Centre on Social Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, vol. 1(1), pages 27-36, November.
    7. Hemantika Basu, 2019. "Mode of Work Organization in Nursing: Management Practices in Private Healthcare in India," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 44(4), pages 433-454, November.
    8. Peccei, R.E., 2004. "Human Resource Management And The Search For The Happy Workplace," ERIM Inaugural Address Series Research in Management EIA-2004-021-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam..
    9. Cam Caldwell & Mayra Canuto-Carranco, 2010. "“Organizational Terrorism” and Moral Choices – Exercising Voice When the Leader is the Problem," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 159-171, November.
    10. Ramaswami Mahalingam & Patturaja Selvaraj, 2022. "Ambedkar, Radical Interdependence and Dignity: A Study of Women Mall Janitors in India," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(4), pages 813-828, May.
    11. Nicola M. Pless & Thomas Maak & Howard Harris, 2017. "Art, Ethics and the Promotion of Human Dignity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 223-232, August.
    12. Zawadzki Michał, 2018. "Dignity in the Workplace. The Perspective of Humanistic Management," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 26(1), pages 171-188, March.
    13. John Paul Stephens & Jason Kanov, 2017. "Stories as Artworks: Giving Form to Felt Dignity in Connections at Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 235-249, August.
    14. Rachael Pope, 2017. "The NHS: Sticking Fingers in Its Ears, Humming Loudly," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(3), pages 577-598, October.
    15. Thespina J. Yamanis & Samhita Rao & Alexandra J. Reichert & Rachel Haws & Taryn Morrissey & Angela Suarez, 2024. "Dignity of Work and at Work: The Relationship between Workplace Dignity and Health among Latino Immigrants during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(7), pages 1-17, June.
    16. Francisco José León, 2011. "Peer loyalty and quota restriction as social norms: A case study of their emergence," Rationality and Society, , vol. 23(1), pages 75-115, February.
    17. Peter Butler & Anita Hammer, 2019. "‘A Minute’s a Life-Time in Fast-Food!’: Managerial Job Quality in the Quick Service Restaurant Sector," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 33(1), pages 96-111, February.
    18. David Courpasson & Françoise Dany & Ignasi Martí, 2016. "Organizational Entrepreneurship as Active Resistance: A Struggle against Outsourcing," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(1), pages 131-160, January.
    19. Marjolein Lips-Wiersma & Lani Morris, 2009. "Discriminating Between ‘Meaningful Work’ and the ‘Management of Meaning’," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 491-511, September.
    20. Po-Keung Ip, 2009. "Developing a Concept of Workplace Well-Being for Greater China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 91(1), pages 59-77, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:23:y:2009:i:4:p:747-773. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.