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Detrimental Citizenship Behaviour: A Multilevel Framework of Antecedents and Consequences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2015

Jason R. Pierce  and
Herman Aguinis
Jason R. Pierce
Affiliation:
Adolfo Ibáñez University, Chile
Herman Aguinis
Affiliation:
Indiana University, USA
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Abstract

There is regular and explicit media coverage of employee behaviour intended to advance organizational goals, but that harms stakeholder interests in ways that exceed necessity and reason. Although several constructs such as workplace deviance, organizational misbehaviour, corporate crime and corruption, and unethical pro-organizational behaviour have been advanced to account for this type of behaviour, no comprehensive framework exists that also includes the full scope of its important consequences. Accordingly, we propose the umbrella construct of detrimental citizenship behaviour (DCB) that allows us to integrate and build upon previous related conceptualizations that have developed mostly in parallel bodies of research. We rely on ethical decision-making, creativity, and instrumental stakeholder theories to embed the umbrella DCB construct within a multi-level and longitudinal model. The DCB model includes processes through which such behaviour and its consequences unfold over time for organizational members, organizations, and society at large. The proposed framework describes, explains, and predicts DCB and also leads to suggestions for future research. In addition, we offer suggestions regarding how to manage this highly consequential type of organizational behaviour, thereby engaging in a much-needed science-practice dialogue in management and organization studies.

Keywords

behavioural ethicscitizenship behaviourethicspro-organizational behaviourstakeholder theory
Type
Special Issue Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 11 , Issue 1: Special Issue Behavioral Ethics, Organizational Justice, and Social Responsibility , March 2015 , pp. 69 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © The International Association for Chinese Management Research 2015 

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