The Dark Side of Organizational Behavior

Abstract

In the literature of management and organization studies, the emphasis on the importance of human capital has increased with Neoclassical and later Modern management approaches after the Classical Period. The emphasis on the importance of human capital and human factor has increased with Neoclassical and later Modern management approaches after the Classical Period. With the understanding that the most important resource that organizations have is human, all kinds of positive and negative behaviors that the members of the organization will display in their workplaces appear as an important element for the business to continue its activities and gain competitive advantage. At this point, traditional organization and organizational behavior theories are shaped within the framework of rational human behavior. However, it is an undeniable fact that the behaviors exhibited by human nature will not always be positive and that negative attitudes will affect organizations and other individuals in different areas. Positivist organizational approaches, which deal with the behavior of organizational members in the context of cause-effect relationships, generally focus on the positive behaviors of employees. The dark side of organizational behavior, which is a reflection of irrational human behaviors and harms businesses with its negative consequences, has become one of the important research areas in recent years. It is important to determine how the irrational human factor, which traditional organizational behavior theories lack, can be directed in line with organizational goals. At this point, the necessity of considering all kinds of positive and negative behaviors exhibited by individuals with a holistic perspective emerges. The negative attitudes and behaviors in question represent the dark side of the organizational field. In this study, in which some basic concepts that make up the dark side of organizations are discussed, the antecedents, reasons, and reflections of the aforementioned behaviors in the organizational field are emphasized.