Steven H. Appelbaum and David Roy‐Girard
The purpose of this article is to define toxins such as toxic leader, toxic manager, toxic culture, and toxic organization and explore how they affect the organization's…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to define toxins such as toxic leader, toxic manager, toxic culture, and toxic organization and explore how they affect the organization's performance and its employees.
Design/methodology/approach
This article is basically twofold. It is a literature review utilizing a selective bibliography providing advice on information sources and it is comprehensive in that the objective is to cover the mainstream and unique contributors of toxicity. It is also a general review providing an overview of this contemporary issue facing organizations with descriptions of what the problem is and how to address it.
Findings
Organizations as well as their employees suffer from the affects of toxins that are present within the organization. They also suffer from psychological effects, such as; impaired judgment, irritability, anxiety, anger, an inability to concentrate and memory loss. On the other hand, it has also been found that companies in North America alone lose an excess of $200 billion each year due to employee deviance. Employee deviance has also been found to be the cause of approximately 30 percent of all business failures.
Practical implications
There are possible solutions to reduce, and sometimes even eliminate, toxicity in an organization. Possible solutions, such as recognition, and the use of toxin handlers to eliminate, reduce, or avoid the infiltration and spreading of these toxins is very important to organizations that suffer from or would like to prevent toxicity in the workplace.
Originality/value
The article is unique and highly practical for all individuals who are in management and for those who are called on to assume leadership roles mandated to deal with deviance, organizational citizen behavior and toxicity in the organization.
Details
Keywords
Frederick Doe and Bill Buenar Puplampu
The purpose of this study is to provide a link that will close the gap in the field in respect of the methods used to measure the causes of coercive management behaviour (CMB) in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide a link that will close the gap in the field in respect of the methods used to measure the causes of coercive management behaviour (CMB) in universities and analogous institutions. Second, cultural and geographical differences and absence of studies of the phenomenon in the African university context have instigated researchers’ decision to design new scales to identify and measure the causes of CMB in the workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 371 respondents were surveyed in a cross-sectional survey using a developed scale which had 20 items. The study adopted the latent variable approach to scale development.
Findings
Following an exploratory factor analysis done, five factors were extracted for the measurement of causes of CMB. A Cronbach alpha for all five factors to measure causes of CMB revealed validity for the administrative, social, organisational, cultural and governance elements. The research therefore surmised that the instrument developed to measure causes of CMB proposed is valid.
Research limitations/implications
The study provides a vital bridge in the gap between the occurrence of CMB and the identification and measurement of its causes in universities thus contributing to knowledge.
Practical implications
As a nation that is heavily imbued with culture, there is need to push for modifications in culture at the national level and within the African setting so as to ensure curtailment or total eradication of CMB for the future.
Originality/value
The study brings to research attention hitherto unmarked causes of CMB by providing a validated instrument that can be used to measure causes of the phenomenon.