Can Businesses Effectively Regulate Employee Conduct? The Antecedents of Rule Following in Work Settings

Academy of Management Journal · 2005 · Volume 48 · Issue 6

DOI: 10.5465/amj.2005.19573114

Abstract

Achieving employee adherence to organizational rules and policies is critical for successful coordination and functioning within organizations. In this article, we explore the antecedents of such rule-following behavior and present two studies of employees that compare two strategies for achieving rule and policy adherence: (1) an extrinsically oriented command-and-control model and (2) an intrinsically oriented self-regulatory model. The findings of both studies suggest that the influence of the self-regulatory strategy exceeds that of the command-and-control approach. Overall, these studies highlight the potential value of fostering employee rule following via intrinsically oriented self-regulatory mechanisms and suggest strategies for implementing such mechanisms.

Keywords

PERSONNEL management, INDUSTRIAL management, MANAGEMENT, EMPLOYEE rules, EMPLOYEES, EMPLOYMENT policy, EMPLOYEE motivation, PERSONNEL policies, WORK environment, SUPERVISION of employees

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