Author:

Keywords:

Constructive deviance, Workplace deviance, Psychological empowerment, Mixed methods, Positive organisational scholarship, Social Sciences, Business, Business & Economics, ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIORS, WORKPLACE DEVIANCE, POSITIVE DEVIANCE, WORK DESIGN, EMPOWERMENT, METAANALYSIS, MOTIVATION, GUIDELINES, CONTEXT, MODEL, 1503 Business and Management, 1505 Marketing, 1506 Tourism, Marketing, 3504 Commercial services, 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour, 3509 Transportation, logistics and supply chains

Abstract:

A growing body of research is concerned with deviance in the workplace. While much research has explored negative forms of deviance, we examine constructive deviance: behaviour that deviates from salient norms and benefits the reference group. We empirically explore manifestations, determinants and performance outcomes of constructive deviance in standardised work processes. We do this through a mixed-methods study in bakery trading departments of an Australian retailer. We illustrate that constructive deviance occurs in these settings and show that some manifestations of constructive deviance improve organisational performance and pave the way for applying constructive deviance as a strategic tool in retail.