A Difficult Burden to Bear: The Managerial Process of Dissonance Resolution in the Face of Mandated Harm-Doing

Abstract

This conceptual paper draws on cognitive theory and attribution theory to develop a process model of managerial dissonance and responsibility attribution after harmdoing. Although extant harm-doing literature assumes managerial backing for such decisions, this study suggests that there will, at times, be acts of organizationally mandated harm-doing (e.g., pay freezes) that managers believe are unnecessary. In these cases, it is proposed that managers will experience dissonance from enacting the harm-doing event, resulting in the externalization of responsibility to either the organization or the harm-doing target. This paper examines the challenges faced by the manager through each phase of the dissonance resolution process and possible outcomes of the process. This study concludes with the model's implications for moral theorizing.

On the Frontlines of Nursing Leadership:

“…Having to implement executive-level decisions that may be in direct conflict with the needs of frontline workers leads to a state of dissonance that may leave frontline managers reluctant to act in accordance with mandated organizational actions. 8 More extreme organizational actions, such as employee layoffs, wage reductions, pay freezes, reduction of work hours, department/organizational restructuring, and job reassignments, have the potential to inflict psychological, physical, or emotional harm in employees (harm-doing events). 9 These organizational actions may be in direct conflict with the manager’s individual values and beliefs, and may lead to reluctance on the part of the manager to implement them given the potential impact on their frontline employees.…”

“…10 Extreme organizational actions that threaten the well-being of employees may be deemed unnecessary by the manager and result in state of managerial dissonance, defined as an uncomfortable, stressful state of conflict between the individual manager’s attitudes and beliefs and the mandated, organizational action. 8 The greater the magnitude of the experienced dissonance and the more significant the value conflict to the individual, the more motivated the manager is to take action to resolve the stressful state.…”

“…Andiappan and Dufour’s 8 process model of managerial dissonance and responsibility attribution helps to explain the psychological and cognitive reactions of managers faced with implementing these organizationally mandated harm-doing events. The model consists of 4 phases and describes the processes managers follow as they attempt to resolve this stressful state.…”

“…A manager that successfully attributes responsibility to an individual will likely experience increased loyalty to the organization due to either value alignment with the mandated action or perceptions of procedural justice. 8 Conversely, managers who attribute responsibility to the organization are likely to question their commitment to the organization and respond in 1 of 3 ways: voice—by speaking out and challenging the organizational conditions that resulted in harm-doing event; neglect—by being unwilling to participate in future occurrences of these actions or exhibiting stronger reluctance, and/or exhibiting role disengagement; or exit—by voluntarily leaving the organization if the manager believes the situation is unlikely to change or likely to reoccur.…”

Management Solutions to Determine the Level of Management Culture Aiming to Implement Corporate Social Responsibility

“…The list of scientific references on the topic of management solutions or managerial decisions is rather limited in the databases, the problem we analyze is addressed from different perspectives in the sources referred, i.e. not always directly [4][5][6][7][8][9]. There is even a bigger lack of scientific researches suggesting managerial solutions for organizations aiming to implement corporate social responsibility, which is indirectly analyzed in the works of various authors [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22], and there is a particular lack of researches related to both CSR and management culture [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30].…”