Blaming the organization for abusive supervision: The roles of perceived organizational support and supervisor's organizational embodiment.

Abstract

Why do employees who experience abusive supervision retaliate against the organization? We apply organizational support theory to propose that employees hold the organization partly responsible for abusive supervision. Depending on the extent to which employees identify the supervisor with the organization (i.e., supervisor's organizational embodiment), we expected abusive supervision to be associated with low perceived organizational support (POS) and consequently with retribution against the organization. Across 3 samples, we found that abusive supervision was associated with decreased POS as moderated by supervisor's organizational embodiment. In turn, reduced POS was related to heightened counterproductive work behavior directed against the organization and lowered in-role and extra-role performance. These findings suggest that employees partly attribute abusive supervision to negative valuation by the organization and, consequently, behave negatively toward and withhold positive contributions to it.

Consequences of abusive supervision: A meta-analytic review

“…Abusive supervision decreases subordinates perceptions of perceived support from their supervisors (Shoss, Eisenberger, Restubog, & Zagenczyk, 2013), and thus depletes subordinates' job resources. Subordinates with abusive supervisors may blame the organization for its lack of policy to correct their supervisors' mistreatment and sufficient resources to support their work.…”

“…Some studies use more than one sample (e.g.,Shoss, Eisenberger, Restubog, & Zagenczyk, 2013;Thau & Mitchell, 2010).…”

A Step towards Distinction between Supervisory Impulsive and Strategic Abuse

“…Tepper et al (2004), heightens counterproductive work behaviour directed against the organisation and lowers in-roll and extra-roll performance (Shoss et al, 2013). This bad or abusive behaviour from organisational representatives earns a bad reputation for the organisation in employees' views and perceptions.…”

“…This type of appreciation from organisation's representatives gives a clear indication to employees that the organisation takes care of them and such appreciation produces high POS for the organisation, whereas the abusive behaviour from the organisation's representatives, regardless of whether it is their own personal behaviour or the organisation is supporting them in such behaviours, would produce low POS for the organisation (Shoss, Eisenberger, Restubog, & Zagenczyk, 2013) which ultimately affects the employee's discretionary behaviour and OCB (Organisational Citizenship Behaviour). Tepper et al (2004), heightens counterproductive work behaviour directed against the organisation and lowers in-roll and extra-roll performance (Shoss et al, 2013).…”

Always on my mind: The impact of relational ambivalence on rumination upon supervisor mistreatment

“…Always on my mind: The impact of relational ambivalence on rumination upon supervisor mistreatment Supervisors play a critical role in determining the direction, coaching and evaluation that employees receive (Shoss, Eisenberger, Restubog & Zagenczyk, 2013) and the nature of this relationship influences the resources employees obtain and their contributions to the organization. Given the importance of the supervisor, it is not surprising that significant research attention has been given to exploring the consequences of the employee-supervisor relationship on important organizational outcomes.…”