Introduction: Misbehaviour in Organizations

The idea to publish a book devoted to misbehaviour and dysfunctional attitudes was not created in the mind of one person only. This idea was born in the minds of several researchers who met each other in an international conference gathered to discuss issues related to the linkage between work values and organizational behaviour. This conference was the 7th bi-annual meeting of the International Society for the Study of Work and Organizational Values (ISSWOV) that took place in Jerusalem, Israel, in June 2000. All these researchers believed that one of the most interesting but neglected questions associated with the conference theme is what kind of organizational behaviour can be expected when normative work values are not a deciding factor. Each of these researchers decided, therefore, to address this issue in the conference. As their cultures, backgrounds, disciplines, and areas of expertise varied, these participants tackled the issue from different perspectives. When the conference was over, it was only natural to choose the best articles that addressed the association between work values, or, more correctly, lack of normative work values, and misbehaviour or dysfunctional attitudes in organizations, to add several chapters written by experts that did not participate in the conference, and to aggregate them into one volume.