Public service motivation could enhance counterproductive work behaviour?

The first-ever airline crew strike by China Airlines' union (CALU) in Taiwan had begun in 2016. Arguments and dissent has been festering for many years, China Airlines was blamed for extremely long work hours, low pay on... [ view full abstract ]

The first-ever airline crew strike by China Airlines' union (CALU) in Taiwan had begun in 2016. Arguments and dissent has been festering for many years, China Airlines was blamed for extremely long work hours, low pay on holiday shifts, and various changes over the years that the CALU claimed affected their rights as employees against unreasonable work contracts. However, the protest had resulted in all flights out of Taipei Songshan Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport had been cancelled.

As Lipsky argued, many of the public service workers are protected by civil service codes preventing managers from wielding benefits or dispensing sanctions. However, what controls the choices public service workers make to work, to shirk, or to sabotage? (Brehm & Gates, 1999).

  Recently, significant scholarly efforts devoted to exploring the possible antecedents of Counterproductive work behavior (CWB). This study used path analysis to test a model that posits that dimensions of public service motivation (Kim et al., 2013) will have both direct relationships with individual and organisational counterproductive work behaviours (CWB-I, CWB-O) and indirect relationships to CWB-I and CWB-O through the mediating effects of transformational leadership (TL). Based on a sample (n = 1088) of employees in China Airlines, results generally supported the hypothesised model for both CWB-I and CWB-O. Compassion (COM) had a direct relationship with individual counterproductive work behaviours (CWB-I); Self-sacrifice (SS) had a direct relationship with organisational counterproductive work behaviours (CWB-O); and, TL had a direct relationship to both CWB-I and CWB-O. In addition, TL partially mediated the relationship between attraction to public service (APS) and both CWB-O and CWB-I. Overall, results interestingly show that PSM differentially predict CWBs. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.