Skip to main content

The Control and Punishment of Employees

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
A Different Approach to Work Discipline

Abstract

This chapter, “The Control and Punishment of Employees”, is devoted to the types, causes and consequences of punishments, relations between rewarding and punishing, the most frequently used types of informal punishments, and punishments imposed on superiors by subordinates. The author describes the conditions of administering punishments, problems connected with it as well as reasons for disciplinary dismissals. The second part of the chapter presents methods of controlling employees, relations between control and employee behaviour, connections between control and trust, as well as issues related to the use of technical control, including the future of technical control. The final sub-chapter presents possible directions of further research into employee control and punishment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allen, Mathew R., Gordon K. Adomdza, and Marc H. Meyer. 2015. Managing for Innovation: Managerial Control and Employee Level Outcomes. Journal of Business Research 68 (2): 371–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • An Eye on Spyware. 2014. Restaurant Business 113 (2).

    Google Scholar 

  • Arvey, Richard D., and Allen P. Jones. 1985. The Use of Discipline in Organizational Settings: A Framework for Future Research. Research in Organizational Behavior 7: 367–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atuahene-Gima, Kwaku, and Haiyang Li. 2006. The Effects of Formal Controls on Supervisee Trust in the Manager in New Product Selling: Evidence from Young and Inexperienced Salespeople in China. Journal of Product Innovation Management 23 (4): 342–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bacharach, Samuel B., Peter A. Bamberger, and William J. Sonnenstuhl. 2002. Driven to Drink: Managerial Control, Work-Related Risk Factors, and Employee Problem Drinking. Academy of Management Journal 45 (4): 637–658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, Kristine. 2010. Workplace Surveillance: An Overview. Labor History 51 (1): 87–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baucus, Melissa S., and Caryn L. Beck-Dudley. 2005. Designing Ethical Organizations: Avoiding the Long-Term Negative Effects of Rewards and Punishments. Journal of Business Ethics, Part 2 56 (4): 355–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellizzi, Joseph A., and Ronald W. Hasty. 2000. The Effects of Hiring Decisions on the Level of Discipline Used in Response to Poor Performance. Management Decision 38 (3): 154–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beyer, Janice M., and Harrison M. Trice. 1984. A Field Study of the Use and Perceived Effects of Discipline in Controlling Work Performance. Academy of Management Journal 27 (4): 743–764.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bugdol, Marek. 2010. Wymiary i problemy zarządzania organizacją opartą na zaufaniu. Kraków: Wyd. UJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cendrowski, Scott. 2015. ICBC Disciplined Staff for Taking Gifts From Lower-Level Employees. Fortune, December 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, Andy W., and Zhanchao Tan. 2015. Employee Stock Options in China: Impacts on Employees’ Psychological Ownership and Job Behaviours. International Journal of Employment Studies 23 (2): 38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Clara Xiaoling, and Tatiana Sandino. 2012. Can Wages Buy Honesty? The Relationship Between Relative Wages and Employee Theft. Journal of Accounting Research 50 (4): 967–1000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chory, Rebecca M., Lori E. Vela, and Theodore A. Avtgis. 2016. Organizational Surveillance of Computer-Mediated Workplace Communication: Employee Privacy Concerns and Responses. Employee Responsibilities & Rights Journal 28 (1): 23–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christ, Margaret H., Scott A. Emett, Scott L. Summers, and David A. Wood. 2012. The Effects of Preventive and Detective Controls on Employee Performance and Motivation. Les répercussions des nnova les de prévention et de détection sur le rendement et la motivation des employés. Contemporary Accounting Research 29 (2, Summer): 432–452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coletti, Angela L., Karen L. Sedatole, and Kristy L. Towry. 2005. The Effect of Control Systems on Trust and Cooperation in Collaborative Environments. Accounting Review 80 (2): 477–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connellan, Thomas K. 1978. How to Improve Human Performance: Behaviorism in Business and Industry. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, Laura J. 2012. Discipline and Discharge of Public-Sector Employees: An Empirical Study of Arbitration Awards. ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law 27 (2, Winter): 195–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deci, Edward L., and Richard M. Ryan. 1980. The Empirical Exploration of Intrinsic Motivational Processes. In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, ed. Leonard Berkowitz, vol. 13. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drummond, Helga. 1998. W pogoni za jakością: Total Quality Management. Warszawa: Dom Wydawniczy ABC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, Richard. 1979. Contested Terrain: The Transformation of the Workplace in the Twentieth Century. London: Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fandt, Patricia M., Chalmer E. Labig Jr., and Andrew L. Urich. 1990. Evidence and the Liking Bias: Effects on Managers’ Disciplinary Actions. Employee Responsibilities & Rights Journal 3 (4): 253–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, Robert. 2000. The Boss Knows. Communications of the ACM 43 (2): 10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallivan, Michael J., and Gordon Depledge. 2003. Trust, Control and the Role of Interorganizational Systems in Electronic Partnerships. Information Systems Journal 13 (2): 159–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garson, Barbara. 1988. The Electronic Sweatshop. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez, Gloria. 2015. Filming Comp Cheats Carries Privacy Risks. Business Insurance, 10/26/ 49 (22).

    Google Scholar 

  • Góral, Zbigniew, ed. 2010. Kontrola techniczna. Możliwości techniczne i dylematy prawne. Warszawa: Wolter Kluver.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, Laura, and Carol Atkinson. 2006. Improving Working Lives: Flexible Working and the Role of Employee Control. Employee Relations 28 (4): 374–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herbert. 1997. Organizacja i porządek pracy. Bydgoszcz: TNOiK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inkpen, Andrew C., and Steven Currall. 2004. The Coevolution of Trust, Control, and Learning in Joint Ventures. Organization Science 15 (5): 586–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, Jaclyn M., and Jana L. Raver. 2012. When Self-Management and Surveillance Collide: Consequences for Employees’ Organizational Citizenship and Counterproductive Work Behaviors. Group & Organization Management 37 (3): 308–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohn, Alfie. 1993. Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work. Harvard Business Review, September, October.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kusari, Sanjukta, Daniel Cohen, Jagdip Singh, and Detelina Marinova. 2005. Trust and Control Mechanisms in Organizational Boundary Spanners’ Cognitions and Behaviors. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings 2005 (1): D1, 6p–D6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leifer, Richard, and Peter K. Mills. 1996. An Information Processing Approach for Deciding Upon Control Strategies and Reducing Control Loss in Emerging Organizations. Journal of Management 22 (I): 113–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, Seumas, and John Weckert. 2000. Privacy, the Workplace and the Internet. Journal of Business Ethics, Part 1 28 (3): 255–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neves, Pedro, and António Caetano. 2006. Social Exchange Processes in Organizational Change: The Roles of Trust and Control. Journal of Change Management 6 (4): 351–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, Charles A., and Barton A. Weitz. 1980. Managing Marginal Employees: The Use of Warnings and Dismissals. Administrative Science Quarterly 25 (3): 467–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parloff, Roger. 2016. Spy Tech That Reads You Mind. Fortune, lipiec.

    Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, Philip M. 1982. Determinants of a Supervisor’s Use of Rewards and Punishment: A Literature Review and Suggestions for Future Research. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 29 (1): 58–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, Philip M., William H. Bommer, Nathan P. Podsakoff, and Scott B. Mackenzie. 2006. Relationships Between Leader Reward and Punishment Behavior and Subordinate Attitudes, Perceptions, and Behaviors: A Meta-Analytic Review of Existing and New Research. Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes 99 (2): 113–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, Nathan P., Philip M. Podsakoff, and Valentina V. Kuskova. 2010. Dispelling Misconceptions and Providing Guidelines for Leader Reward and Punishment Behavior. Business Horizons 53 (3): 291–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, Philip M., William D. Todor, and Richard Skov. 1981. Effects of Leader Reward and Punishment Behaviors on Subordinate Performance and Attitudes. Academy of Management Proceedings 1981 (1): 151–155. 4 Charts (00650668).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramaswami, Sridhar N. 1996. Marketing Controls and Dysfunctional Employee Behaviors: A Test of Traditional and Contingency Theory Postulates. Journal of Marketing 60 (2): 105–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Retailers Fight Theft at Every Turn. 2016. Convenience Store Decisions 27 (3).

    Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, Stephen P., and David A. DeCenzo. 2002. Podstawy zarządzania. Warszawa: Polskie Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues, Luiza Cristina Alencar, Filipe Coelho, and Carlos Sousa. 2015. Control Mechanisms and Goal Orientations: Evidence from Frontline Service Employees. European Journal of Marketing 49 (3/4): 350–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosner, Bob. 1999. How Do You Feel About Video Surveillance at Work? Workforce 78 (10): 26–27. (10928332).

    Google Scholar 

  • Samani, Sanaz Ahmadpoor, Siti Zaleha Abdul Rasid, and Saudah bt Sofian. 2015. Perceived Level of Personal Control Over the Work Environment and Employee Satisfaction and Work Performance. Performance Improvement 54 (9): 28–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sewell, Graham. 1998. The Discipline of Teams: The Control of Team-Based Industrial Work Through Electronic and Peer Surveillance. Administrative Science Quarterly 43 (2): 397–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siang, Ch’ng Kean. 2012. Punishment as a Price to Pay. Contemporary Economics 6 (1): 86–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Russell L., Luigi F. Lucaccini, and Murray H. Epstein. 1967. Effects of Monetary Rewards and Punishment on Vigilance Performance. Journal of Applied Psychology 51 (5, Pt.1): 411–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Şngün, Ayşe Elif, and S. Nazli Wasti. 2007. Trust, Control, and Risk: A Test of Das and Teng’s Conceptual Framework for Pharmaceutical Buyer-Supplier Relationships. Group & Organization Management 32 (4): 430–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stępak-Miczek, Magdalena. 2015. Kontrola pracownika przez pracodawcę. Warszawa: Wyd. C.H. Beck.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoner, James A.F., R. Edward Freeman, Daniel R. Gilbert, and Jr. 2001. Kierowanie. Warszawa: PWE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strid, Steve, and Claes Andréasson. 2007. If You Want to Motivate, Forget Reward and Punishment. Viking Manifesto, 127–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szczepankowski, Piotr. 2007. Kontrola i controlling. In Zarządzanie. Teoria i praktyka, ed. Andrzej K. Koźmiński and Włodzimierz Piotrowski. Warszawa: PWN.

    Google Scholar 

  • The More the State Has to Say in Local Affairs. 2016. The Worse, 22 September, 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay, Michel, Christian Vandenberghe, and Olivier Doucet. 2013. Relationships Between Leader-Contingent and Non-contingent Reward and Punishment Behaviors and Subordinates’ Perceptions of Justice and Satisfaction, and Evaluation of the Moderating Influence of Trust Propensity, Pay Level, and Role Ambiguity. Journal of Business & Psychology 28 (2): 233–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vander Elst, Tinne, Anja Van den Broeck, Nele De Cuyper, and Hans De Witte. 2014. On the Reciprocal Relationship Between Job Insecurity and Employee Well-Being: Mediation by Perceived Control? Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology 87 (4): 671–693.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woś, Rafał. 2016. A może żyjemy w XIX wieku. Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, nr 165 (4312) z 26 sierpnia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Shu-Chen, and Cheng-Kiang Farn. 2009. Social Capital, Behavioral Control and Tacit Knowledge Sharing—Multi-Informant Design. International Journal of Information Management 29 (3): 210–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zoghbi-Manrique-de-Lara, Pablo. 2011. Predicting Nonlinear Effects of Monitoring and Punishment on Employee Deviance: The Role of Procedural Justice. European Management Journal 29 (4): 272–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • [www1]. http://www.zeit.de/politik/index. Accessed 4 Nov 2016.

  • [www2]. http://www.infor.pl/prawo/praca/rozwiazanie-umowy/702193,Zwolnienie-dyscyplinarne-czyli-rozwiazanie-umowy-o-prace-bez-wypowiedzenia.html. Accessed 8 Aug 2016.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Bugdol, M. (2018). The Control and Punishment of Employees. In: A Different Approach to Work Discipline. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74008-9_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics