| Turn the Devil into an Angel: Moral Balance and Leader Attribution Perspectives of Employee Time Theft |
Received:October 07, 2017 Revised:October 07, 2017 |
Key Words: time theft, work engagement, moral balance, leader attribution, moral emotion |
| Author Name | Affiliation | | Xi Zou* | Wuhan university | | Yan Liu | Wuhan university | | Julie Zhu | University of Macau |
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Abstract: |
| Employee time theft is ubiquitous in the workplace. This behavior has been considered harmful to organizations. However, there are limited understandings about how to minimize its occurrence. This research attempts to build a conceptual model exploring why, when, and how employee reduces their time theft behavior. Building on moral balance model, we propose that employees who steal time at work tend to display work engagement later on. Drawing on attribution theory and moral emotion literature, we further propose that while leaders’ external attributions for employee time theft trigger feelings of gratitude and guilty, which in turn leads to work engagement, leaders’ internal attributions make employees feel ashamed and embarrassed, and consequently less likely to be engaged at work. Our research sheds light on the potential bright side of employee time theft and offers an alternative perspective of such behavior. |
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