
Police line tape of the type often used at crime scenes. On August 29, 2016, Hengjun Chao, a former researcher at the Mount Sinai Medical School, shot the Dean of the school, Dennis Charney, and another man outside a deli in Chappaqua, New York. Chao was apparently seeking revenge for Charney's having fired him for academic and scientific misconduct in 2009.
Although it is rare for knowledge-based counterproductive workplace behavior to lead to more conventional forms, it does happen. Photo by Tony Webster courtesy Wikimedia.
Employee behavior harmful to the employer's legitimate interests is called Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB). Gruys and Sackett [Gruys 2003] have developed a typology of CWBs that have since been widely studied and researched. They are property theft or destruction; misuse of information, time, or resources; unsafe behavior; poor attendance; poor quality work; alcohol or drug use at work; and inappropriate verbal or physical action.
While most of these categories apply to knowledge workplaces, knowledge workplaces are sufficiently distinct that they are spawning their own forms of these CWBs. Although they can all be subsumed into the conventional CWB categories, recognizing them as distinctive forms is essential to detection and control. Responsible management of the assets and property of knowledge-oriented organizations therefore requires familiarity with CWBs in forms rarely seen in other workplaces. Here are some CWBs specific to the knowledge-oriented workplace.
- Fabricated results
- Intentionally producing information assets and presenting them as factual, when they are actually only conjectured or imagined, can be damaging in itself. But when additional developments are built on foundations that include fabrications, the result is an unreliable mixture of fact and fiction.
- Organizational perfectionism
- Although we usually regard perfectionism as a personal dysfunction, its organizational form can be damaging on a far greater scale. It can consume resources and delay the availability of results that could otherwise have produced significant advancements for both the organization and society at large.
- Plagiarism
- Plagiarists do expose their employers to significant liability for theft of intellectual property. But perhaps more widespread damage arises when undetected plagiarists are subsequently assessed as more capable and responsible than they actually are. Their peers suffer by comparison, and employers then make erroneous task and responsibility assignments that can lead to organizational catastrophes.
- Poorly documented work products
- Some knowledge Responsible management of the assets
and property of knowledge-oriented
organizations requires special knowledgework is valuable only to the extent that its results can be reliably reproduced, maintained, inspected, or extended by people other than its originators. Documentation is thus at least as important as the results themselves. Some knowledge workers distort or withhold documentation as a "job security" strategy. Too often, the strategy is effective. - Specious attacks on the work of colleagues
- Toxic forms of workplace politics often include specious attacks on colleagues. However, in the knowledge-based workplace, these attacks can occur in the domain of the organization's knowledge-based work products. Combatants can make specious claims about one another's work, which, if accepted by management, can lead to strategic choices that harm the organization and its customers.
- Excessive elaboration
- Sometimes we make our problems, and their solutions, more complex than they need to be. By substituting complexity for completeness, we seek to impress others with our prowess. Utility and value rarely follow. See "Abraham, Mark, and Henny," Point Lookout for April 3, 2002, for more.
Although these forms of CWBs are more easily described than controlled, control begins with recognition. Have you seen any of the counterproductive behaviors listed above? Next in this series Top
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For more examples of counterproductive workplace behavior in knowledge-oriented workplaces, see "Counterproductive Knowledge Workplace Behavior: II," Point Lookout for August 9, 2017.
Footnotes
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Related articles
More articles on Ethics at Work:
Your Wisdom Box
- When we make a difficult decision, we sometimes know we've made the wrong choice, even before the consequences
become obvious. At other times, we can be absolutely certain that we've done right, even in the face
of inadequate information. When we have these feelings, we're in touch with our inner wisdom. It's a
powerful resource.
Dubious Dealings
- Negotiating contracts with outsourcing suppliers can present ethical dilemmas, even when we try to be
as fair as possible. The negotiation itself can present conflicts of interest. What are those conflicts?
Extrasensory Deception: II
- In negotiating agreements, the partners who do the drafting have an ethical obligation not to exploit
the advantages of the drafting role. Some drafters don't meet that standard.
More Things I've Learned Along the Way
- Some entries from my personal collection of useful insights.
Red Flags: III
- Early signs of troubles in collaborations include toxic conflict, elevated turnover, and anti-patterns
in communication. But among the very earliest red flags are abuses of power. They're more significant
than other red flags because abuses of power can convert any collaboration into a morass of destructive
politics.
See also Ethics at Work and Devious Political Tactics for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming June 7: Toxic Disrupters: Tactics
- Some people tend to disrupt meetings. Their motives vary, but they use techniques drawn from a limited collection. Examples: they violate norms, demand attention, mess with the agenda, and sow distrust. Response begins with recognizing their tactics. Available here and by RSS on June 7.
And on June 14: Pseudo-Collaborations
- Most workplace collaborations produce results of value. But some collaborations — pseudo-collaborations — are inherently incapable of producing value, due to performance management systems, or lack of authority, or lack of access to information. Available here and by RSS on June 14.
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