THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMPLOYEE DISSATISFACTION WITH THEIR EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE DISHONESTY
The Research Problem
This study will be focusing on the relationship of staff dissatisfaction and staff dishonesty. Alternatively, a breakdown in some normally well functioning organizational system may occur, leading to unanticipated suboptimal outcomes. However, my search of the sociological literature for theories and concepts with explanatory power shows that whatever the role of chance or system breakdown, much organizational deviance is a routine by-product of the characteristics of the system itself. Organizational deviance, in its generic form, can be understood as routine nonconformity: a predictable and recurring product of all socially organized systems.
The word fraud encompasses many types of acts; hence, it is important to carefully define how it is used in this study. The authoritative auditing literature distinguishes two types of irregularities: management fraud and employee frauds (AICPA, 1988). Management fraud refers to such things as fraudulent financial reporting that result in misleading financial statements. The term employee frauds refer to the misappropriation of assets, thus including such acts as theft and embezzlement.
Dishonesty can create problems for any company; it can occur in almost any facet of a business and can be committed by any number of individuals. Despite a company's size or internal safeguards, there is no getting around one simple fact: Dishonest individuals are everywhere. Motivated by the belief that they cannot or will not be caught, dishonest employees can find ways to circumvent a company's policies and procedures. All companies need to be mindful of fraud and at least appear vigilant to deter employees that might consider breaking the law. (Fishman, 2001)
Employees have always committed crimes at the workplace. However, as technology has advanced, so too have opportunities for employees to steal. Employees still commit the more "blue-collar" type offenses, but technology has enabled them to defraud companies in previously unheard of ways.
When people talk of employee theft, they typically are referring to the so-called blue-collar crimes. These include stealing office supplies, parts and inventory for personal use or resale, making long-distance personal telephone calls on company lines, and falsifying time cards. Although these activities have been historically simple, even they are becoming more sophisticated. With this increased sophistication, it is becoming more difficult to distinguish the blue-collar criminals from the white-collar criminals.
White-collar crimes by employees are by far the most costly to the employer and are often the most difficult to detect and prevent. Some of these crimes include using the company's computer for personal business (sometimes running entire operations on the company's time and with a free computer), (Parker, 1984) embezzlement, and falsifying financial statements.
With the advent of the computer and other technology, employees are finding more innovative ways to steal. Employees are using modern laser printers and copiers to forge documents and are employing computers to switch funds electronically from company accounts to personal accounts. (Dumain, 1988) Of course, employees still commit the all-time favorite crime of voiding sales and pocketing the cash. (Buss, 1993) Another crime that is particularly difficult to detect is accepting kickbacks from unscrupulous vendors. (Dumain, 1988)
Theoretical Perspectives and Concepts
Moreover, organizations that alienate workers through their organizational and human resource practices will be less effective and efficient. Satisfied employees usually work harder and better than frustrated ones (Etzioni, 1964; Gross & Etzioni, 1985; Ostroff, 1992). Along these lines, survivors' work behaviors and attitudes are likely to be influenced by the layoffs of coworkers with whom survivors often identify (Greenhalgh, 1982; Brockner, Davy & Carter, 1985), and these attitudes can negatively affect productivity.
Mutual obligations and benefits defining the employee-employer relationship are the essence of an employment compact (Rousseau, 1989). Employees agree to make specific contributions to an organization in return for benefits from the employer (Nicholson & Johns, 1985). Research has shown that employee' perceptions of employer-employee obligations dramatically change over the first few years of employment (Robinson, Kraatz & Rousseau, 1994). In addition, the greatly changed (and changing) worklife settings of contemporary firms must be factored into the picture. Robinson et al. (1994) suggest that the manager should pay more attention to managing beliefs regarding mutual responsibilities of employees and employers, particularly, organizational actions maintaining rather than breaching the employer-employee contract, or risk dysfunctional results. Employees expect employer behaviors that are ethical and trustful. With the enormity of changes affecting organizations and the workplace, Employee Relations Compact (ERC) must encompass employers' staffing planning and the traditional range of human resource matters, including self-directed benefits and savings for retirement. Equally important to strategic ERC considerations are the existing corporate culture, past employment relationships, stability of the company, competitive and financial outlook, and organization vision for the future.
In the past, traditional firms have typically been autocratic, non-participative, and rigid entities. They have exchanged financial rewards for adequate task completion by employees. Employers' needs and interests dominated the employment relationship. In exchange for loyal service, employees assumed they would enjoy the comfort of lifetime employment, and the benefits of such things as company-sponsored health insurance and retirement pensions.
The mutual obligations of employer and employee play a subtle but powerful role in employment relationships. A number of factors affect the appropriateness and sophistication or refinement of employee and employer relationships. These includes the volatility of the market (domestic or global); financial conditions of the company - obviously, if a company is facing bankruptcy it is hard to spend money on employee training; corporate culture traditions and quality of past employment relationships; criticality of the human factor to enterprise success, and willingness to change these as needed; demographics of the company - many companies still have to face past biases and inaccurate beliefs regarding women, minorities, and older workers that affect training expenditures; and lower quality of education - new workers may need more training and education due to declining educational standards of a considerable number of countries. (Robinson et al, 1994)
Moreover, the existence of nonconformity as a result of a dissatisfied workforce is seemingly apparent and thus the focus of this study. Conventionally, in the theories of organization, the setting comprises the channels and other kinds of interorganizational affairs as well as the prevailing circumstances such as the political, technological, economic, legal, demographic, ecological, and cultural aspects of society. Hall (1996) have characterized it as a convoluted, hostile, developing, pretentious, and transmitting blows to undoubting organizations. This environmental incertitude is a notion recurrently homologous with routine nonconformity. Thus, unanticipated abrogating outcomes are probable even when the introductory ambient factors affect their prospective activities since organizations have pitfalls in unerringly evaluating several aspects that might influence their future activities. (Pressman & Wildavsky 1973, Wilson et al 1996). Moreover, indisposed understanding of social circumstances even could result to the declination of the organization to succeed.
On the other hand, the concept of power is utilized as the fundamental illustrative concept of nonconformity, the center change from the firms refitting to an ambiguous setting to organizations that is aggressively defining, creating, and shaping it to suit their needs (Perrow, 1991). Power struggles are practicable results in co-optation and deposition of goals, both of which are archetypal theories pertinent to customary nonconformity (Selznick 1949). To persist, organizations in general must contend for means that may aid them in meeting their respective fundamental purposes. Frequently the said means are dearth because of many independent factors. It could be caused by the nature of the resource having a naturally limited supply. It could be also caused by the scrupulousness of suppliers by hoarding these products thus making it difficult to acquire. It could also be because of the courses of action engaged upon by regulators, rivals, and suppliers that make the supply limited. And it could also be a result of inherent responsibilities that demarcate organizations from acquiring the means that they require. In this contention, the concept of power is an instrumentality to a purpose. Co-optation, the procedure of transmitting denunciation to the balance of the environment by enthralling contemporary ambient factors into the leadership or policy-determining composition of a firm, could produce in finding a advantageous medium that divert organizations from its initial thrusts, thus the result depart from standard norms or contemplation.
To these theories may be affixed two contemporary rationales that come across grounds of routine nonconformity in the organization. These include Powell and DiMaggio's (1991) new institutionalism and the economic embeddedness perspective of Granovetter (1985). The new institutionalism stipulates that organizational models and demeanor reverberate the predominant values and beliefs that have become sanctioned as the norm. Moreover, cultural codes compose actors such as states, organizations, professions, and individuals, thus ascertain lawful objectives for them to endeavor and influencing practice and significance at the local level. Furthermore, impartiality in the institutional domain can be not only a mechanism to some objectives, but an objective in itself. This is due to the universal discipline of the institutionalized environment are repeatedly indecorous to particular circumstances, consequence may be suboptimal and, to some extent, unpredictable. For Granovetter, attempts at purposive action are embedded in concrete, ongoing systems of social relations that affect them (1985:487). In contrast to the new institutionalism, agency is central to the embeddedness perspective. Both contingency and constraint explain economic action; thus, the embeddedness perspective is another tool for explaining the systematic production of organizational deviance. Granovetter points out the ironic link between the bright side and the dark side: The very concrete social relations and structures (or networks) in the environment that play a role in generating trust and discouraging wrongdoing in economic exchange also increase opportunities for deceit and deviance (1985:491-93).
Research Methods
A greater understanding of the relationship of staff dissatisfaction and staff misconduct is a fundamental thrust of this study. For this study, primary research and secondary research will be used. Primary research will be conducted using anonymous questionnaires that will be sent to employees of the respondent organizations. The questionnaires will be used to collect quantitative data and the interviews will be used to provide qualitative insights into the data collected.
The data will be analyzed and compiled for the correlation of the hypothesis. The data will then be presented by means of graphical representations and illustration and the difference would be highlighted. A negative correlation between the variables would suggest that the hypothesis is null, that is, the level of staff dissatisfaction is directly proportional to the occurrence of staff misconduct in the organization.
Research requires an organized data gathering in order to pinpoint the research philosophies and theories that will be included in the research, the methodology of the research and the instruments of data interpretation. In this study, the Research Process "Onion" will be utilized so that the findings of the study can be thoroughly established. The inner part of the onion describes the methodology portion whereas the outer part discusses the strategies that can be utilized in interpreting the results of the findings.
The descriptive research method uses observation and surveys. In this method, it is possible that the study would be cheap and quick. It could also suggest unanticipated hypotheses. Nonetheless, it would be very hard to rule out alternative explanations and especially infer causations. Thus, this study will use the descriptive approach. This descriptive type of research will utilize observations in the study. To illustrate the descriptive type of research, Creswell (1994) will guide the researcher when he stated: Descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition. The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study.
The research described in this document is partly based on quantitative research methods. This permits a flexible and iterative approach. During data gathering the choice and design of methods are constantly modified, based on ongoing analysis. This allows investigation of important new issues and questions as they arise, and allows the investigators to drop unproductive areas of research from the original research plan.
This study also employs qualitative research method, since this research intends to find and build theories that would explain the relationship of one variable with another variable through qualitative elements in research. These qualitative elements does not have standard measures, rather they are behavior, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs.
Furthermore, as we define the qualitative research it is multimethod in focus, involving an interpretative, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Accordingly, qualitative researchers deploy a wide range of interconnected methods, hoping always to get a better fix on the subject matter at hand.
The primary source of data will come from the researcher-made questionnaire and interview questions. The primary data frequently gives the detailed definitions of terms and statistical units used in the study. These are usually broken down into finer classifications.
The secondary sources of data will come from published articles from social science journals, theses and related studies on personnel administration, particularly in the field of compensation. Acquiring secondary data are more convenient to use because they are already condensed and organized. Moreover, analysis and interpretation are done more easily.
For this research design, the researcher will gather data, collate published studies from different local and foreign universities and articles from social science journals; and make a content analysis of the collected documentary and verbal material. Afterwards, the researcher will summarize all the information, make a conclusion based on the null hypotheses posited and provide insightful recommendations on employee-employer relations in reference to employee fraud.
The researcher shall use a combination of cluster and random sampling. First, a self-administered questionnaire, containing 18 to 20 questions and to be filled out by the employees with information regarding their employers shall be formulated. Another set of questionnaires will be prepared for the interview with the employers themselves gearing towards their perception of their relationship with their employees. Ideally, the respondents will grade each statement in the survey-questionnaire using a Likert scale, with a five-response scale wherein respondents will be given five response choices.
The equivalent weights for the answers will be:
Range Interpretation
4.50 – 5.00 Strongly Agree
3.50 – 4.00 Agree
2.50 – 3.49 Uncertain
1.50 – 2.49 Disagree
0.00 – 1.49 Strongly Disagree
For validation purposes, the researcher will initially submit a sample of the set of survey questionnaires and after approval; the survey will be conducted to five respondents. After the questions were answered, the researcher will ask the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument. The researcher will again examine the content of the interview questions to find out the reliability of the instrument. The researchers will exclude irrelevant questions and will change words that would be deemed difficult by the respondents, to much simpler terms.
The researcher will exclude the five respondents who will be initially used for the validation of the instrument. The researcher will also tally, score and tabulate all the responses in the provided interview questions. Moreover, the interview shall be using a structured interview. It shall consist of a list of specific questions and the interviewer does not deviate from the list or inject any extra remarks into the interview process. The interviewer may encourage the interviewee to clarify vague statements or to further elaborate on brief comments. Otherwise, the interviewer attempts to be objective and tries not to influence the interviewer's statements. The interviewer does not share his/her own beliefs and opinions. The structured interview is mostly a "question and answer" session.
When all the survey questionnaire will have been collected, the researcher will use statistics to analyse all the data.
The statistical formulae to be used in the survey questionnaire will be the following:
1. Percentage – to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire.
n
% = -------- x 100 ; n – number of responses
N N – total number of respondents
2. Weighted Mean
f1x1 + f2x2 + f3x3 + f4x4 + f5x5
x = --------------------------------------------- ;
xt
where: f – weight given to each response
x – number of responses
xt – total number of responses
The researcher will be assisted by the SPSS in coming up with the statistical analysis for this study.
Anticipated Problems
The dissertation shall be divided into five chapters in order to provide clarity and coherence on the discussion of the relationship of employee-employer relations and the frequency of employee dishonesty. The first part of the dissertation will be discussing the problem uncovered by the researcher and provide ample background on the topic. The chapter shall constitute an introduction to the whole dissertation, the hypothesis, and the statement of the problem in order to present the basis of the study. Moreover, the chapter shall also have a discussion on the scope of its study as well as the significance of the study to society in general and specific effects on the management of firms.
The second chapter shall be discussing the relevance of the study in the existing literature. It shall provide studies on employee-employer relationship, human resource management and morale. After the presentation of the existing related literature, the researcher shall provide a synthesis of the whole chapter in relation to the study.
The third part of the study shall be discussing the methods and procedures used in the study. The chapter shall comprise of the presentation of the utilized techniques for data collection and research methodology. Similarly, it shall also contain a discussion on the used techniques in data analysis as well as the tools used to acquire the said data.
The fourth chapter shall be an analysis on the tabulated data. After the said tabulation, the data are statistically treated in order to uncover the relationship of the variable involved in the study. With the said data, the chapter seeks to address the statement of the problem noted in the first chapter.
The last chapter shall comprise of three sections, the summary of the findings, the conclusions of the study, and the recommendations. With the three portions, the chapter shall be able to address the verification of the hypothesis stated in the initial chapters of the study.
The study intends to investigate the relationship of staff dissatisfaction and staff misconduct. Specifically the study intends to answer the following questions:
1. How does the company measure the level of motivation and dissatisfaction of the employees?
2. How does the level of satisfaction affect the performance of the staff?
3. How do the employees perceive the attitude of their employers?
4. How does the employees view the relationship they have with their employers?
5. How do employers view the reason why their company apperceives employee dishonesty?
Moreover, the study intends to test the following null hypothesis:
"The level of staff dissatisfaction is directly proportional to the occurrence of staff misconduct in the organization."
This study will primarily benefit future employees and managers of organisations. The future employees, especially those intent on a career in these companies will find out what is expected of them by the industry, what future does these companies has for them, and what they have to do to be competitive career-wise, in this type of industry. As for the future managers and employers, this study will show if future recruits of these companies can meet their expectations and goals. Through feedback, they would be able to voice out their concerns regarding the quality of people they need to cope with their demands and the ever-changing needs of the industry.
This study would also be of help to those organisational scholars who are interested in finding out the social implications of the boom and the bust phases of the industry based on the relationship of the top management and its workforce. Moreover, educators can gain from this study, as they find the connection between how they have designed their curriculum and what are the actual needs of the industry. In that way, they would be able to make immediate changes, if necessary, or continued improvement of their programs, through further studies.
Furthermore, human resource specialists will have a better understanding of the needs of their industry and what the graduates of the academe can offer to them in terms of type of training and skill. Both the academe and the industry can then address any deficiencies in skills training so that there won't be any labour shortages in that field. Finally, this study would benefit future researchers in this kind of industry, education, human resource management, business and the social sciences since it depicts the relationship of these companies through selection, proper indoctrination and development of new recruits.
References
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. 1988. Statement on Auditing Standards No. 53: The Auditor's Responsibility to Detect and Report Errors and Irregularities. New York
Brockner, J. J Davy, & C Carter. (1985) "Layoffs, Self-Esteem, and Survivor Guilt: Motivational, Affective, and Attitudinal Consequences," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 36, pp. 229-244.
Buss, D. (1993) "Ways to Curtail Employee Theft," Nation's Business.
Creswell, J.W. (1994) Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks , California
Dumaine, B. (1988) "Beating Bolder Corporate Crooks," Fortune. April 25, 1988, p. 193.
Etzioni, A. (1964) Modern Organizations. Englewood
Fishman, N. (2000) Signs Of Fraud: A Case By Case Review. The CPA Journal. Vol. 71. No. 3.
Greenhalgh. L. (1982) "Maintaining Organizational Effectiveness During Organizational Retrenchment," Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 18, pp. 155-170.
Gross, E, & A Etzioni. (1985) Organizations in Society. Englewood
Ostroff, C. (1992) "The Relationship Between Satisfaction, Attitudes, and Performance: An Organizational Level Analysis," Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 77, pp. 963-974.
Parker, D. (1984) "Better Laws can Deter Computer Crime," Crime and Criminals. Greenhaven Press, St. Paul , Minnesota
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