Under Pressure: Overproduction and Organizational Misconduct

We investigate the effect of overproduction on employment- and safety-related organizational misconduct. We predict that overproduction puts employees under pressure, who may respond by “cutting corners” and increasing their workload, resulting in higher organizational misconduct. We further predict that this might lead to changes in social norms within the organization over time, resulting in an increase of future misconduct and a slippery slope, i.e., an increase of the average severity of future misconduct. Controlling for previous levels of misconduct, we find effects consistent with our predictions for both the prevalence and severity of future misconduct. We also find evidence for the presence of a slippery slope. In additional analyses, we show results for situations in which overproduction pressure may have a differential effect on social norms.

Coauthored with my supervisors Utz Schäffer and Daniel Schaupp. Working Paper available upon request.