Abstract

This paper sets out to provide an opportunity for scholars interested in negative deviant behaviors in the workplace, to have a forum to present, expand on, and further develop their thinking about what we call the dark side of organizational behavior. We consider negative deviance to be motivated behavior by an employee or group of employees that has negative consequences for an individual or group of individuals within the organization, or the organization itself. For human relations, such behaviors have negative consequences and are in some way motivated. Our conceptualization of negative deviant behaviors recognizes that there is intention or awareness on the part of the individual exhibiting the behavior as to the potential ramifications of that behavior. Thus, the behaviors of a manager who makes an incorrect decision, an office employee who inadvertently offends a client or a production worker who accidentally causes a fire in a factory do not fit into the dark side arena. so, the purpose of this paper is to describe the impact on human relations of negative deviant workplace behaviors.

Keywords:

Dark side, human relations, negative deviance