This document discusses reasons why employees may engage in unethical behaviors at work such as cheating, lying, misusing time, and breaking confidentiality. It explores theories like acquired needs theory, cognitive dissonance, organizational justice theory, and lack of consequences to explain why these behaviors occur. Specific statistics are presented, such as 58% of hiring managers catching resume lies and 40% of unproductive work time spent on non-work internet usage. A variety of personal and workplace factors can influence decision making and job performance.

1. “How a Lot of Employees
Cheat a Little at Work”
Group 2
Michael Boyle
Lauren Bruce
Ava Haekler
Daniel O’Connor
Alice Romanko

2. Ethics In the Workplace
Right v. Wrong – Ethics and my Performance
• Ethics is concerned w/ right v. wrong, good v. bad, and the many grey shades in
between
• Unethical behavior damages relationships, erodes trust, and thus makes it difficult
to conduct business
• Unethical behavior also reduces cooperation, loyalty, and contribution, which of
course hurts the performance of individuals, teams, and organizations
So why do People behave unethically?

3. A Large Percentage of Students Admit to
Cheating
Study of graduate students, including MBAs, in the United States and
Canada found reasons why students cheated included:
• Peer behavior (strongest predicator)
• Severity of penalties
• Perceived fairness (in grading)
• Perception of degrees in cheating

4. And Professionals Admit to Lying on Job
Applications
Motives for lying on job applications/interviews
• One’s personal motivation to perform (“have to be the best”)
• Pressure from supervisor via unrealistic performance goals along
with threats for underperforming
• Reward systems that incentive bad behavior
• Employees perception of no consequences for “crossing the line”

5. A survey from Careerbuilder.com found that of more than 2,500 hiring
managers found that 58% have caught job candidates lying on their
resumes.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Embellished Skill Set Embellished
Responsibilities
Dates of
Employment
Job Title Academic Degree Companies Worked
For
Acolades/Awards
Lies
Ref:1

6. The Importance of Winning at Work

7. The Pressure To Succeed Starts Early
• 87% of undergraduate business students admit to cheating on exams
Knowledge is NOT Enough:
• knowledge-doing gap identifies the gap between what people know and what they actually do
• Just because someone knows what to do, doesn’t mean they will act in that manner
Multiple skill sets are necessary to Succeed
The Importance of Winning at Work

8. Knowledge is Not Enough
Skills
Hard v. Soft Skills
• As job level increases soft (interpersonal)
skill become more important than hard
(technical) skills
• Being successful at the hard (technical)
skills, may not indicate success at higher
levels as interpersonal skills become more
important
Uncommon Sense
Common Sense can have weaknesses
• Over-reliance on hindsight
• Lack of rigor
• Lack of objectivity
• Need to look outside the box to understand
skills for being successful in the workplace

9. Ethical Dilemmas
Involve situations with two choices, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptablemanner
• Could highlight breaks in confidentiality or misuse of time: balancing personal responsibilities v. work
priorities, confidentiality which could impact other person’s health
• Cognitive biases and organization practices “blind managers to unethical behavior, whether it is
their own or that of others”
• Could explain misuse of time – other people are doing it, so it becomes an organizational
practice and difficult to discipline or otherwise deal with, so its ignored
• While criminally minded people exist in the workplace, most are in fact good people with good
intentions
Sometimes, there isn’t an “easy” right answer.

10. Ethical Dilemmas
Cognitive dissonance – when a person has two conflicting ideas or beliefs – this often occurs
when someone’s own values differ from those of the company (Ethical Dilemmas)  people
will act unethically to avoid losing their job or to show their loyalty to their company
• In this instance they may be torn and act in a way that is not a reflection of their true
beliefs
• Personal attitudes, both positive and negative, directly affect the work attitude
• It is hard to work with or for people who have bad attitudes, this makes a hostile work
environment and can alter/lower the productivity rate especially is the person with the
bad attitude is a person in power and uses abusive behavior

11. Multiple Factors Influence Decision Making
• Person factors: represent infinite number of characteristics that give
individuals their unique identities
• Environmental factors: consist of all the elements outside of ourselves
that influence what we do, how we do it, and ultimate results of our
actions
• Interactional perspective: behavior is a function of interdependent
person and environmental factors

12. Likewise, these Factors Influence Job
Performance
Personal values affect work outcomes
• Job satisfaction is a key contributor to the employee’s personal satisfaction in life as well as how
productive they are while at work
• If a person is satisfied with their job they will have a better attitude and thus be more motivated
to work hard, thrive in the office and exceed expectations
• If a person is not satisfied it could lead to counterproductive behavior and quick turnover
• Counterproductive behavior is when an employee’s actions are harmful to other employees, stake
holders, and the organization as a whole
• They may sabotage to organization or engage in deviant behavior or abusive behavior
• There is a lack of respect for the company and the employee may be willing to do anything to
undermine the integrity of those around them as well as the company

13. In 2014, 86% of U.S. employees reported overall satisfaction with
their current job, an improvement of five percentage points since
2013.
Ref:4

14. Acquired Needs Theory:
Achievement, Affiliation, and Power
David McClelland proposed the acquired needs theory, which states that three
needs – achievement, affiliation, and power– are the key drivers of employee
behavior
• Need for achievement: the desire to excel, overcome obstacles, solve problems,
and rival and surpass others.
• Need for affiliation: the desire to maintain social relationships, to be liked, and to
join groups.
• Need for power: the desire to influence, coach, teach, or encourage others to
achieve.

15. The Elements of Justice Theory
• Researchers in the 1970s began to explore equity theory further when
explaining employee attitudes and behavior.
• Organizational justice
• the extent to which people perceive that they are treated fairly at work.
• As a result, researchers identified the three components of organizational
justice:
• Distributive, Procedural, and Interactional

16. Components of Organizational Justice
Distributive justice
• The perceived fairness of how resources and rewards are distributed or allocated
Procedural justice
• the perceived fairness of the process and procedures used to make allocation
decisions
Interactional justice
• the “quality of the interpersonal treatment people receive when procedures are
implemented”

17. Cheating and Time Misuse
• 40% of all the unproductive work time goes to non-work related Internet surfing.
• Personal web use at work cost U.S. businesses $178 billion annually ($5,000 per
employee) Ref:2
• Half of the 68 million employees in the U.S. use work computers for personal use.
Ref:2
• Misusing company time – one of the most common unethical behaviors practiced in the
work force
• http://www.inceptiontechnologies.com/blog/workforce-management/time-fraud-
is-the-most-common-unethical-workplace-behavior/  link to website

18. Ref:3

19. So Why Misuse Time?
Acquired Needs Theory
• People who have a need for affiliation often want to be part of a group.
• For instance, if a group norm is to take a longer lunch or leave earlier to get to happy hour,
chances are that person will follow.
Cognitive Dissonance and Ethical Dilemma
• Here, the inability to balance the competing needs of the company with the worker’s own
desires.
• For instance, if a worker has a personal deadline for school, they may do research on
company time because they believe at that moment their personal need takes priority.
• Organizational Justice Theory
• If a person feels they are not in a fair environment or are not treated justly, then they may feel
they are pardoned from using company time appropriately.
• For instance, if the employee fees that they are not paid enough per hour, the employee may
feel justified in “making up their pay” by using company time for personal reasons

20. Cheating As “Bullying”
• 37 million US workers report being subjected to “abusive conduct” 65.6 million
are affected (those abused + those who witness it)
• Among those with higher-risk are workers who:
• exchange money with the public
• delivery drivers
• healthcare professionals
• public service workers
• customer service agents
• law enforcement personnel
• and those who work alone or in small groups.

21. According to the 2014 study by the Workplace Bullying Institute, 27% of
Americans have suffered abusive conduct at work; another 21% have
witnessed it; 72% are aware that workplace bullying happens.
Ref:4

22. With respect to perpetrator’s rank, not counting the combined sources cases: - 56%
held a higher rank, was a boss, top-down
33% abuse came from peers, lateral or horizontal, same level - 11% bullying from
subordinates, bottom-up
Ref:4

23. So Why do People Engage in Abusive
Behavior at Work?
Lack of Repercussions
• Similar to a reason employees admit to lying on applications and in interviews
• Too many workplaces are filled with managers and supervisors who use their position and power to mistreat
or disrespect others.
• Unfortunately, only certain types of bullying (that based on racial, religious, gender, or other protected classes)
there is often no legal protection against abusive behavior in the workplace.
• To learn more, check out the Workplace Bullying Institute.
• http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/guest-comment/2015/01/most-common-
unethical-behaviors-in-the.html
Acquired Needs Theory
• People who have a need for power may get that powerful feeling by behaving abusively. This could be
psychological, emotional, or even sexual or physical abuse.
Organizational Justice Theory
• If an employee feels like their justice was violated, for instance in being skipped for a promotion, they may
engage in abusive behavior towards someone involved in allocating resources/rewards, someone involved in
deciding the process of allocating resources/rewards, or someone involved in implementing these procedures
to feel some sort of satisfaction

24. Why do People Break Confidentiality?
• Acquired Needs Theory
• People who have a need for affiliation often have a yearning to be liked by others.
One way to receive this feeling is by revealing confidential information to others
who may enjoy knowing secrets or insider information.
• Cognitive Dissonance and Ethical Dilemma
• An employee may feel they must reveal confidential information because “it is the
right thing.” For instance, an ER Nurse who treats her friend’s husband, may feel the
need to reveal transmittable disease to protect her friend’s health.
• Organizational Justice Theory
• If a person feels they are not in a fair environment or are not treated justly, then
they may not feel a loyalty to the company. Furthermore, they may not feel the need
to keep certain information confidential.

25. References
1)
http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?sd=8%2F7%2F2014&id=pr837&ed=12%2F31%2F2014
2)
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2671119/applications/internet-misuse-costs-businesses--178-billion-annually.html
3)
http://thecareerhacker.com/2015/02/21/wasted-time-workplace/
4)
https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/
5)
Organizational Behavior (ORGB 300). (2016). McGraw-Hill Education.