Crime and punishment: organizational misconduct and its implications
File(s)
Author(s)
Yu, Maxine
Type
Thesis
Abstract
As a topic of great theoretical and practical significance, organizational misconduct has garnered increased attention from scholars in recent decades. While management scholars have accumulated extensive knowledge about the antecedents and consequences of organizational misconduct over the years, the punishment of organizational misconduct has received less attention. Specifically, although previous literature documented the variations in punitive outcomes for similar misconduct, how the punitive process causes these variations remains unclear. To bridge this gap in our knowledge, I first identified three important components in the punitive process (i.e., the punisher, the form of punishment, and how to decide on punishment), and then designed three empirical studies within the context of doping in professional cycling based on these three components. The first study examines the conditions under which organizations choose to employ prior wrongdoers and which wrongdoers they employ. The theorizing and findings suggest that organizations facing performance issues are more likely to hire high-performing individuals with a history of misconduct. The second study investigates the deterrence effect of different forms of punishment and suggests that a specific punishment may only be effective to deter future misconduct to a certain degree or towards some offenders. Building on the idea that stakeholders differ in their disapproval of misconduct, the third study investigates relational partners’ decision of severing their ties following the disclosure of organizational misconduct. This study suggests that the engaging stakeholders of repeat offenders tend to consider organizational misconduct as a lower priority and are less likely to punish the organization for the new case. Overall, the findings and theorizing of these studies highlight the recidivism issue. Instead of being effective, the punitive process often lands on inadequate punishments. Hence, this thesis calls for the development of a more comprehensive social control system that incorporates multiple types of punishment.
Version
Open Access
Date Issued
2023-06-10
Date Awarded
01/09/2023
License URL
Advisor
Mishina, Yuri
Publisher Department
Business School
Publisher Institution
Imperial College London
Qualification Level
Doctoral
Qualification Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)