Doing Good by Doing Bad: How Tone at the Top and Tone at the Bottom Impact Performance-Improving Noncompliant Behavior

Abstract

This study investigates how tone at the top, implemented by top management, and tone at the bottom, in an employee’s immediate work environment, determine noncompliance. We focus on the disallowed actions of employees that improve their own and, in turn, the company’s performance, referred to as performance-improving noncompliant behavior (PINC behavior). We conduct a survey of German sales employees to investigate specifically how, on the one hand, (1) corporate rules and (2) performance pressure, both implemented by top management, and, on the other hand, (3) others’ PINC expectations and (4) others’ PINC behavior, both arising from the employee’s immediate work environment, influence PINC behavior. When considered in isolation, we find that corporate rules, as top management’s main instrument to guide employee behavior, decrease employee PINC behavior. However, this effect is negatively influenced by the employees’ immediate work environment when employees are expected to engage in PINC or when others engage in PINC. In contrast, even though top management places great performance pressure on employees, that by itself does not increase PINC behavior. Overall, our study informs practitioners and researchers about whether and how the four determinants increase or decrease employees’ PINC behavior, which is important to comprehend triggers and to counteract such misconduct.

The blame game: COVID-19 crisis and financial performance

“…We search the word “COVID-19” in the financial report and analyze whether it was stated as the justification of financial performance. This unobtrusive method is commonly used in accounting and finance literature, such as CSR (Chantziaras et al 2020 ; Duff 2016 ), narcissism (Kontesa et al 2021 ), and tone at top (Ewelt-Knauer et al 2020 ).…”

“Thriving at work” or not? Research on the effects of performance pressure based on achievement motivation theory and two-factor theory

“…Therefore, the results of performance assessment are related to individuals’ prospective economic interests and career development, revealing the possible correlation between meeting performance needs and gaining benefits (Spoelma, 2021). Driven by performance pressure, employees tend to view performance pressure from the perspective of achievement and promote the achievement of expected performance goals with problem-solving orientation, focusing on maintaining competitive advantages and contributing to improve organizational performance (Ewelt-Knauer et al ., 2020).…”

Who is calling the shot? Risk culture experiments on bi-level governments

“…Schaubroeck et al (2012) research also state that top-echelon's direct effect on the bottom is not straightforward; bottom-echelon needs to internalize and adopt the values that are carried by the top-echelon to do what is intended. Other findings specified that if there is an unethical practice carried out by many low-level employees at the same institution in a given time, the employees are more prone to engage in the practice, even though the corporate rules forbid them (Ewelt-Knauer et al, 2020). Moreover, minimum-level application such as only complying with the regulation to simply obeying the law without an intention to empower the institutions is not enough to establish Risk culture experiments a strong tone (Lail et al, 2015).…”