The Role of Leadership, Article Critique Example

Introduction

Many organizations are experiencing a costly workplace deviance. Therefore, all organizations are practically concerned with dysfunctional work behaviors. Researchers have come up with many predictions aimed at increasing the understanding of workplace deviance. There is substantial evidence suggesting that organizational leaders are fostering a dysfunctional culture. The article aims at showing managers how they are unknowingly facilitating workplace deviance. It further provides some strategies of addressing workplace deviance (Fleet & Griffin, 2006).

Dysfunctional work behaviors

Research suggests that managers can be held responsible for facilitating workplace deviance through increasing stressful working environments. Organizations have prominent ways that increase workplace deviance among them is the creating a dysfunctional culture. This is a culture that does not encourage individuals to show their full capabilities and discourages the performance of an individual or a group. This form of culture supports an unproductive workplace deviance cycle (Sagie, Stashevsky, & Koslowsky, 2003).

The article presents different ways of forming and sustaining a dysfunctional culture. The most powerful way of creating a dysfunctional culture is through organizational leadership. This is because leaders are the ones responsible for establishing norms and values within any organization. It is unfortunate that a leader who is naturally toxic will negatively impact on the values and norms of any organization. This does not mean that the toxic leaders are necessarily ineffectual; it implies that their focus on personal accomplishments and goals can indirectly have a negative effect on the organization. In fact, employees are more likely to emulate the behavior of senior leaders. This means that if a toxic leader is holding a more senior position in the hierarchy of an organization, subordinates are more likely to follow suit, (Nelson, & Campbell, 1996).

Senior leaders in an organization are responsible for setting the foundation for building values and norms. For instance, if a leader has a reputation of stealing company resources or being productively deviant, other employees are likely to realize such behavior thus appropriately follow suit. This will eventually result to the development of norms, and finally this behavior will become part of the negative values within the culture of the organization. This simply means that senior organizational leaders indirectly teach their subordinates behaviors which are the bass for shaping dysfunctional work behavior. Research findings suggest that organizational leaders play a significant role in the promotion of dysfunctional workplace behavior. In summary, if a dysfunctional culture is institutionalized, there will be an ultimate demise of the organization (Trevino, & Brown, 2005).

Through social pressures steaming from the behaviors of coworkers, a second prominent way of a dysfunctional culture may sustain itself. Values, appropriate behaviors, and norms information of the immediate environment will be scanned by individuals (especially the newly recruit into a company). Others may be seen as a role model, a dysfunctional culture for instance a negative role model, can influence deviant behavior of an individual. One research revealed how senior employees taught new employees to ignore certain policies so that they increase their commissions (Parilla, Hollinger, & Clark, 1988).

Although there is no dysfunctional culture within an organization, some individuals may still develop a sub-deviant culture. The sub-deviant cultures may then dominate the organizational formal values and norms. A study suggests that deviant behaviors might be adequately supported by groups or individuals who have deviant sub cultures.  These individuals will at the same time be protective of members belonging to the deviant group.  In fact, even if organizations control other factors that facilitate deviance, a group’s deviant behavior can be used to predict the level of deviancy of an individual, (Parilla, Hollinger, & Clark, 1988).

An overall assessment of the benefit of the article for managers

The article presents managers with substantial information on how managers can address and prevent dysfunctional cultures within an organization. This information is based on the two main ways of forming and sustaining dysfunctional cultures. The article gives some recommendations to managers on how they can impede dysfunctional work behaviors:

1. Remove deviant employees and toxic leaders: These two groups of employees are responsible for establishing dysfunctional work behaviors. Getting them out of the organization eliminates the notion held by other employee who will know that deviancy s not acceptable within the company.
2. Reward prosocial behavior: Managers can effectively communicate the correct behavior through issuing of rewards and punishment. This involves praising those employees who have offered assistance to other workmates in completing tasks while those who break company policies may be given warnings.

The above two recommendations have a significant role in promoting ethical working environment. An organization’s ethical climate may significantly affect the ethical behaviors of the company’s workers. Additionally, a prevailing ethical climate may be used to make any future predictions dysfunctional work behaviors. The article provides suggestions that can create and sustain an ethical working climate. For instance, moral working climate can be enhanced by incorporating the concerns of employees within the mission statement of an organization. However, an ethical working environment can be created within an organization by addressing the behaviors of company leadership. Because leadership is the basis for setting an organization’s culture, they can be highly effective in creating a shift in to positive climate (Fleet & Griffin, 2006).

Leaders set an example to subordinates who might emulate them thus reducing chances of dysfunctional work behaviors when behave ethically. An organization can also promote a positive working environment by engaging in formal social activities. For example, organizations can include the requirements of ethical working environment during orientations of newly employed individuals. Through the emphasis on the importance of ethics during the entry stages of employment, organizations may be able to curb the development of any dysfunctional work behaviors effectively (Sagie, Stashevsky, & Koslowsky, 2003).

Conclusion

Although dysfunctional work behaviors are costly and more prevalent in companies, there have been enough efforts to explain the phenomenon ranging from interpersonal, intra-personal, and organizational perspectives (Trevino, & Brown, 2005). The above discussion suggests that pervasive dysfunctional work behaviors may be a function of a dysfunctional culture. Such culture is primarily developed by the organizational leadership and subordinates. Fortunately, actions such as developing an ethical working environment may facilitate in preventing the spread of a potentially dysfunctional culture within an organization. Senior managers should particularly seek to achieve the following:

1. Cleanse the organizational system
2. Model and sustain the appropriate work behavior
3. Tie specific behaviors to rewards and punishments.

References

Fleet, V. & Griffin, R.W. (2006). Dysfunctional organization culture. Melbourne University Michigan: Allyn & Bacon

Nelson, D., L. & Campbell, J., (1996) Quick Organizational Behavior. Thousand Oaks: Sage

Parilla, P.F., Hollinger, R.C. & Clark, J.P. (1988). Organizational control of deviant behavior. Press, Carlton, Vic Publications

Sagie, A., Stashevsky, S., & Koslowsky, M. (2003). Misbehaviour and Dysfunctional Attitudes the workplace. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Trevino, L.K., & Brown, M.E. (2005). The role of leaders in influencing unethical behavior in within Organizations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan