Bad Apples: Identify, Prevent & Manage Negative Behavior at Work

320 Pages·2011·1.72 MB·English

by  Adrian Furnham

Also by Adrian Furnham
The Dark Side of Behaviour at Work (2004) (with John Taylor)
Personality and Intellectual Competence (2005) (with Thomas Chamorro-Premuzic)
Learning at Work (2005) (with John Taylor)
Just for the Money (2005) (with Tom Booth)
The Psychology of Physical Attraction (2007) (with Viren Swami)
The Body Beautiful: Evolutionary and Sociocultural Perspectives (2007) (with Viren Swami)
Personality and Intelligence at Work: Exploring and Explaining Individual Differences
at Work (2008)
Economic Socialisation of Young People (2008)
50 Psychology Ideas You Really Need to Know (2009)
The Elephant in the Boardroom: The Causes of Leadership Derailment (2010)
The Psychology of Personnel Selection (2010) (with Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic)
Body Language in Business (2010) (with Evgenyia Petrova)
The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Individual Differences (2011) (edited with Tomas
Chamorro-Premuzic and Sophie von Stumm)
For Alison (AF)
For Aly (JT)
Bad Apples
Identify, Prevent & Manage
Negative Behavior at Work
Adrian Furnham
Professor of Psychology,
University College London, UK
&
John Taylor
Consultant, UK
© Adrian Furnham & John Taylor 2011
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-58474-7
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First published 2011 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-36921-8 ISBN 978-0-230-30384-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-0-230-30384-3
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
v
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xii
Acknowledgements xiv
List of Abbreviations xv
1 Introduction 1
The apple metaphor 4
Integrity as a trait 4
Work groups and counter- productive work behaviors 6
The organization of jobs 7
The process 7
Organizational intervention 10
Dealing with unacceptable employee behavior 10
Conclusion 11
2 Counter- Productive Work Behaviors: The Nature and Size
of the Problem 12
Introduction 12
Theft 20
Fraud 24
Bribery and corruption 26
Deceit 32
Information leakage (citizenship espionage) 34
Whistle-b lowing 35
Espionage 41
Sabotage 42
Cyber- crime 45
Resignations 46
Conclusion 47
3 Counter- Productive Work Behaviors: Why Do They Do It? 49
Introduction 49
Human motivation 49
vi CONTENTS
Herzberg’s theory 51
Equity theory 52
Justice at work 55
The motivational context 63
Theories related to specific CWBs 83
Conclusion 93
4 Bad Eggs and Bad Apples 95
Introduction 95
The wrong focus 96
Vengeful litigation 97
The criminal personality 99
Personality, intelligence and crime 100
Eysenck’s Theory of the Criminal Personality 103
The anti-s ocial personality, the psychopath or moral
imbecile 107
Criminal personality disorder 117
Case study 119
Narcissistic bosses 122
The bullying boss 123
The toxic boss 125
Conclusion 127
5 Measuring Dark- and Bright- Side Attitudes, Beliefs
and Behaviors 128
Introduction 128
The organization of work 128
Measuring CWBs by questionnaire 131
Organizational commitment and attachment 141
Organizational citizenship 144
Ethical climates and cultures 144
Disengagement at work 145
Conclusion 146
6 Deception, Dissimulation, Impression Management,
Lying and the Truth 148
Introduction 148
Popular books and simple advice 151
Why do people lie? 159
Catching liars: Why they fail 161
The clues to deceit 163
Faking on questionnaires 172
Getting at the truth 180
Cognitive interviewing in the workplace 183
Conclusion 184
(cid:2) CONTENTS vii
7 Integrity Testing 187
Introduction 187
“Honesty” screening 190
Integrity testing at work 193
Self- report tests of integrity 196
Do integrity tests work? 200
Objections to integrity testing 203
Public policy 205
Measuring integrity 206
The lie detector (polygraph) 214
Conclusion 225
8 Protecting Your Assets 227
Introduction 227
“Enough security” 228
Detection 228
Recruiting the right people 231
Induction 232
Computers 236
Physical security 237
Security officers at all exits 238
Electronic methods: closed circuit TV 239
Policing the police 240
Exit policy 241
Anticipating trouble 241
Handling the press 245
Conclusion 246
9 Developing Loyalty and Commitment 248
Introduction 248
Risk assessment 248
Towards a strategy 249
Exit policy 262
Conclusion 266
10 Counter- Productive Work Behaviors: Case Studies 268
ALDRICH AMES: Betrayer of his employer – the CIA, and
his country – the United States of America 268
NICK LEESON: Broke the rules and caused the collapse
of The UK’s oldest bank – Barings 272
JEFFREY WIGAND: Revealed the illegal activities of his
employers, Brown & Williamson, the US Tobacco
giant, in the press and courts 275
JEROME KERVIEL: Made a series of unauthorized trades
totaling as much as €50 billion 278
viii CONTENTS
DANIEL JAMES: Convicted of communicating information
calculated to be useful to an enemy 279
Bibliography 282
Index 296
ix
List of Illustrations
Figures
2.1 A causal reasoning model of counter-p roductive
work behavior 19
2.2 Fraud reported by industries 27
2.3 Individual variables that affect the outcome of whistle-blowing 38
2.4 Situational variables that affect the outcome of whistle-blowing 39
3.1 Herzberg’s theory 52
3.2 The motivational complex 64
3.3 The path to revenge 79
3.4 The unsettling forces 80
3.5 Different forces on theft 86
7.1 Polygraph accuracy 219
8.1 Detection of reported frauds in percentages 230
9.1 A strategy for managers 251
9.2 A minefield of misunderstanding 262
9.3 The career path 267
Tables
2.1 Counter-productive work behaviors 17
2.2 Summary of Jack L. Hayes International Survey 22
2.3 Perpetrators of fraud, 2009 25
2.4 Consistent and prevalent fraud and misconduct, by country 32
2.5 Various criteria that justify whistle-blowing 42
2.6 Fundamental differences in sensitivity to espionage 43
2.7 Conditions that lead to a serious betrayal of trust 44
3.1 Equity theory 53
3.2 Employee self-comparison 54
3.3 Employee attitudes to outcomes and inputs 54
3.4 Typical procedural justice systems 58
3.5 Sources of motivation 64
3.6 Profiling values 68
3.7 The characteristics of the narcissist 70
3.8 Person theories 84
3.9 Workplace theories 85