Supervising Deviance: The Role of Supervisor/Employee Relationships in Workplace Deviance

Josephine Moeti-Lysson, Jerry Courvisanos and Evans Sokro

This paper examines employees’ perceptions of managers/supervisors’ industrial relation behaviour in both domestic- and Chinese-owned companies, and whether the employees’ attitudes so derived contribute to conflict in the workplace. Primary data were collected via a structured questionnaire and interviews. The findings of this study indicate that supervisors’ positive or negative behaviours (as perceived by the employees) affect employees’ organisational commitment. Specifically, poor supervisor-employee relationships are positively associated with deviant behaviours. Secondly, rates of deviant behaviours in most categories were higher in Chinese-owned companies. Mutual trust is seen to be a factor in good organisational learning and information sharing.

DOI : https://doi.org/10.21102/wjm.2017.03.81.04