SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Anadolu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi / 2024 / Cilt: 24 Sayı: 1

Is My Employee Stealing? A Qualitative Research to Discover the Factors Affecting and Preventing Employee Theft in SMEs

Çalışanım Çalıyor mu? KOBİ’lerde Çalışan Hırsızlığını Etkileyen ve Önleyici Faktörlerin Keşfedilmesine Yönelik Nitel Bir Araştırma

Sefa Ceyhan
Melis Soyer
Duygu Uludağ
Server Sevil Akyurek
Pages
265–286
Publication Date
2024-03-28
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

In addition, theoretical and practical implications are presented by interpreting sub-themes such as timely stocktaking, security measures and surveillance to prevent theft behaviors experienced in SMEs.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:Employee theft is a common form of behavior in small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).
📊
Key Findings & Data:To answer the research questions, individuals working in 10 SMEs were contacted and interviews were held.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:In addition, theoretical and practical implications are presented by interpreting sub-themes such as timely stocktaking, security measures and surveillance to prevent theft behaviors experienced in SMEs.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:KOBİ · Planlı Davranış · Çalışan

Abstract

Employee theft is a common form of behavior in small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). This situation inflicts serious financial losses on businesses and hinders their development. SMEs that cannot achieve the required growth level indirectly hinder the country's development. In this respect, describing employee thefts in SMEs will make serious contributions to both the relevant literature and practitioners. Therefore, the research aims to reflect a general portrait of the causes, processes, and consequences of employee theft in SMEs. In line with the purpose of the research, answers were sought to two basic questions. The first of these is the discovery of the factors that affect the tendency of individuals working in SMEs to theft behavior. The second is to determine what measures should be taken to prevent employee theft from happening again in these businesses. To answer the research questions, individuals working in 10 SMEs were contacted and interviews were held. These employees operate in the textile, tourism, white goods, furniture, accounting-finance and food sectors in Turkey's Denizli province. The data evaluated by the descriptive analysis method pointed to 3 main themes and 23 sub-themes, namely cash, goods or products and time, which pushed the employees to theft. The data evaluated by the descriptive analysis method pointed to 3 main themes and 23 sub-themes, namely cash, goods or products and time, which pushed the employees to theft. In addition, theoretical and practical implications are presented by interpreting sub-themes such as timely stocktaking, security measures and surveillance to prevent theft behaviors experienced in SMEs.

Özet

Çalışan hırsızlığı küçük ve orta büyüklükteki işletmelerde (KOBİ) yaygın olarak karşılaşılan bir davranış şeklidir. Bu durum işletmeleri ciddi mali zararlara uğratmakta ve onların gelişimine engel olmaktadır. Gerekli düzeyde büyüme sağlayamayan KOBİ’ler dolaylı yoldan ülke gelişiminin sağlanmasına engel olmaktadır. Bu yönüyle KOBİ’lerde yaşanan çalışan hırsızlıklarının tanımlanması hem ilgili literatüre hem de uygulayıcılara önemli katkılar sağlayacaktır. Dolayısıyla araştırmanın amacı KOBİ’lerde yaşanan çalışan hırsızlığının neden, süreç ve sonuçlarının genel bir portresini çizmektedir. Araştırma amacı doğrultusunda iki temel soruya yanıt aranmıştır. Bunlardan ilki, KOBİ’lerde çalışan bireylerin hırsızlık davranışına yönelmelerine etkileyen faktörlerin keşfedilmesidir. İkincisi ise söz konusu işletmelerde çalışan hırsızlığının bir daha yaşanmaması için alınması gereken önlemlerin neler olduğunun belirlenmesidir. Araştırma sorularının yanıtlanması için 10 KOBİ’de çalışan bireye ulaşılmış, görüşmeler gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu çalışanlar, Türkiye’nin Denizli ilinde tekstil, turizm, beyaz eşya, mobilya, muhasebe-finans, gıda sektörlerinde faaliyet gösteren işletmelerde çalışmaktadırlar. Betimsel analiz yöntemiyle değerlendirilen veriler çalışanları hırsızlığa iten nakit, mal ya da ürün ve zaman olmak üzere 3 ana tema ve 23 alt temaya işaret etmiştir. Söz konusu ana temalar ve alt temalar yorumlanmış çalışanları hırsızlığa iten sebeplerin genellikle bireysel ve ailevi sebepler olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Ayrıca KOBİ’lerde yaşanan hırsızlık davranışlarının önlenmesi için zamanında stok sayımı, güvenlik tedbirleri, gözetim gibi alt temalar yorumlanarak teorik ve pratik çıkarımlar sunulmuştur.

🔖

Cite This Article

Ceyhan, S., Soyer, M., Uludağ, D., Akyurek, S. S. (2024). Is My Employee Stealing? A Qualitative Research to Discover the Factors Affecting and Preventing Employee Theft in SMEs. Anadolu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, Cilt: 24 Sayı: 1, 265–286. https://doi.org/10.18037/ausbd.1384507

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

↗New Tab

Loading PDF document...

References (62)

  1. Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizatıonal Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
  2. Ajzen, I. ve Fishbein, M. (2000). Attitudes and the attitude-behavior relation: Reasoned and automatic processes. European review of social psychology, 11(1), 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/14792779943000116
  3. Ajzen, I. (2020). The theory of planned behavior: Frequently asked questions. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 2(4), 314-324. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.195
  4. Adewole, E. G. ve Umoru, T. A. (2021). Perceived influence of business environment on small and medium scale enterprises success in Nigeria. European Journal of Business and Management Research, 6(6), 195-200. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejbmr.2021.6.6.1182
  5. Ahmad, Z. ve Norhashim, M. (2008). The control environment, employee fraud and counterproductive workplace behavior: An empirical analysis. Communications of the IBIMA, 3, 145-155. Erişim adresi: https://ibimapublishing.com/articles/CIBIMA/2010/585197
  6. Al-Harrasi, A., Shaikh, A. K. ve Al-Badi, A. (2021). Towards protecting organisations’ data by preventing data theft by malicious insiders. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 31(3), 875-888. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-01-2021-2598
  7. Alias, M., Mohd Rasdi, R., Ismail, M. ve Abu Samah, B. (2013). Influences of individualrelated factors and job satisfaction on workplace deviant behaviour among support personnel in Malaysian public service organizations. Human Resource Development International, 16(5), 538-557. doi:10.1080/13678868.2013.812315
  8. Armstrong, J. S. (1970). How to avoid exploratory research. Journal of Advertising Research, 10(4), 27-30. Erişim adresi: https://l24.im/z7Dl
  9. Babadağ, M. ve Kerse, G. (2019). Zaman hırsızlığı ölçeğinin Türkçe uyarlamasının geçerliliğinin yeniden değerlendirilmesi ve kişilik özellikleri ile zaman hırsızlığı arasındaki ilişki. Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 19(2), 419-438. https://doi.org/10.11616/basbed.v19i47045.523976
  10. Bansal, S., Garg, I. ve Sharma, G. D. (2019). Social entrepreneurship as a path for social change and driver of sustainable development: A systematic review and research agenda. Sustainability, 11(4), 1091. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11041091
  11. Bailey, A., A. (2006). Retail employee theft: a theory of planned behavior perspective. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 34(11), 802-816. https://doi.org/10.1108/09590550610710219
  12. Bennett, R. J. ve Robinson, S. L. (2000). Development of a measure of workplace deviance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(3), 349-360. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.85.3.349
  13. Brock, M. E., Martin, L. E. ve Buckley, M. R. (2013). Time theft in organizations: The development of the time banditry questionnaire, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 21(3), 309-321. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12040
  14. Bullard, P. D. ve Resnik, A. J. (1983). SMR forum: Too many hands in the corporate cookie jar. Sloan Management Review, 25(1), 51-56. Erişim adresi: https://europepmc.org/article/med/10264477
  15. Büyüköztürk, S., Gelincik, A., Demirtürk, M., Kocaturk, E., Colakoğlu, B. ve Dal, M. (2012). Omalizumab markedly improves urticaria activity scores and quality of life scores in chronic spontaneous urticaria patients: A real life survey. The Journal of Dermatology, 39(5), 439-442. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1346-8138.2011.01473.x
  16. Chernyak-Hai, L. ve Tziner, A. (2014). Relationships between counterproductive work behavior, perceived justice and climate, occupational status, and leader-member exchange. Revista de Psicología del Trabajo y de las Organizaciones, 30(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.5093/tr2014a1
  17. Ding, Z., Liu, W., Zhang, G. ve Wang, H. (2018). Supervisor narcissism and time theft: Investigating the mediating roles of emotional exhaustion and the moderating roles of attachment style, Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02215
  18. Ferrell, O. C. ve Gresham, L. G. (1985). A contingency framework for understanding ethical decision making in marketing. Journal of Marketing, 49(3), 87-96. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224298504900308
  19. Gorsira, M., Steg, L., Denkers, A. ve Huisman, W. (2018). Corruption in organizations: Ethical climate and individual motives. Administrative Sciences, 8(1), 1-19. doi:10.3390/admsci8010004
  20. Ghiselli, R., ve Ismail, J. A. (1998). Employee theft and efficacy of certain control procedures in commercial food service operations. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 22(2), 174-187. https://doi.org/10.1177/109634809802200205
  21. Guthrie, J., Todd, S. ve Bailey, A. A. (2006). Retail employee theft: A theory of planned behavior perspective. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 34(11), 802–816. https://doi.org/10.1108/09590550610710219
  22. Gupta, C., Fernandez-Crehuet, J. M. ve Gupta, V. (2022). A novel value-based multi-criteria decision making approach to evaluate new technology adoption in SMEs. PeerJ Computer Science, 8, e1184. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj-cs.1184
  23. Greenberg, J. (1990). Employee theft as a reaction to underpayment inequity: The hidden cost of pay cuts. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75(5), 561. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.75.5.561
  24. Greenberg, L., ve Barling, J. (1996). Employee theft. Trends in Organizational Behavior, 3, 49-64. Erişim adresi: bit.ly/3SUFelP
  25. Hawkins, R., (1984). Employee theft in the restaurant trade: Forms of ripping off by waiters at work. Deviant Behavavior, 5(1–4), 47–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.1984.9967631
  26. Hu, M. W. (2010). SMEs and economic growth: Entrepreneurship or employment. ICIC express letters, 4(6), 2275-2280. Erişim adresi: https://mail.tku.edu.tw/humw/t2239.pdf
  27. Hu, B., Harold, C. M. ve Kim, D. (2023). Stealing time on the company’s dime: Examining the indirect effect of laissez-faire leadership on employee time theft. Journal of Business Ethics, 183(2), 475-493. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05077-2
  28. Hollinger, R. C. ve Clark, J. P. (1983). Deterrence in the workplace: Perceived certainty, perceived severity, and employee theft. Social Forces, 62(2), 398-418. https://doi.org/10.2307/2578314
  29. Ibrahim, M. I., Keat, O. Y. ve Abd Rani, S. H. B. (2017). Entrepreneurial orientation, technology orientation and small and medium enterprises performance in Nigeria: Role of government support policies. Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies, 3(1), 75-84. https://doi.org/10.26710/jbsee.v3i1.44
  30. Kazıcı, M., A. (2022). Overvıew of “Employee theft in Turkey and in the world”: Types, causes, costs and preventıon studies. Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi SBE Dergisi, 12(1), 223-238. https://doi.org/10.30783/nevsosbilen.1065370
  31. Kennedy, J. P. ve Benson, M. L. (2016). Emotional reactions to employee theft and the managerial dilemmas small business owners face. Criminal Justice Review, 41(3), 257-277. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734016816638899
  32. Kish-Gephart, J. J., Harrison, D. A. ve Treviño, L. K. (2010). Bad apples, bad cases, and bad barrels: Meta-analytic evidence about sources of unethical decisions at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(1), 1-31. doi:10.1037/a0017103
  33. Korgaonkar, P., Becerra, E. P., Mangleburg, T. ve Bilgihan, A. (2021). Retail employee theft: When retail security alone is not enough. Psychology & Marketing, 38(5), 721-734. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21460
  34. Krippel, G. L., Henderson, L. R., Keene, M. A., Levi, M. ve Converse, K. (2008). Employee theft and the Coastal South Carolina hospitality industry: Incidence, detection, and response (Survey results 2000, 2005). Tourism and Hospitality Research, 8(3), 226-238. https://doi.org/10.1057/thr.2008.22
  35. Kunday, Ö. ve Şengüler, E. P. (2015). A study on factors affecting the internationalization process of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 195, 972-981. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.06.363
  36. Lewis, P. V. (1985). Defining “business ethics”: Like nailing jello to a wall. Journal of Business Ethics, 4(5), 377-383. doi:10.1007/BF02388590
  37. Li, S., Lin, Y. C., Zhao, W., Wu, J., Wang, Z., Hu, Z., ... ve Eda, G. (2018). Vapour–liquid–solid growth of monolayer MoS2 nanoribbons. Nature Materials, 17(6), 535-542. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-018-0055-z
  38. Liu, Y. ve Berry, C.M. (2013). Identity, moral, and equity perspectives on the relationship between experienced injustice and time theft. Journal of Business Ethics, 118, 73-83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1554-5
  39. Lin, B., Huang, J., Liao, Y., Liu, S. ve Zhou, H. (2022). Why do employees commit fraud? Theory, measurement, and validation. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1026519. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1026519
  40. Lorinkova, N., M. ve Perry, S., J. (2017). When is empowerment effective? The role of leader-leader exchange in empowering leadership, cynicism, and time theft, Journal of Management, 43(5) 1631-1654. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206314560411
  41. Lune, H. ve Berg, B., L. (2017). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Pearson. Erişim adresi: https://www.kisa.link/qfHoh
  42. Malgas, M. ve Zondi, W. B. (2021). Competitive factors between local and foreign national small business retailers in South Africa: The case of Cape Town’s Townships. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.24052/JBRMR/V15IS02/ART-06
  43. Martin, L. E., Brock, M. E., Buckley, M. R. ve Ketchen Jr, D. J. (2010). Time banditry: Examining the purloining of time in organizations. Human Resource Management Review, 20(1), 26-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.03.013
  44. Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412995658
  45. Neumann, W. L. (2008). Toplumsal araştırma yöntemleri nitel ve nicel yaklaşımlar (S. Özge, Çev.). İstanbul: Yayınodası.
  46. Nguyen, P. M. B. ve Truong, G. N. T. (2021). Employee theft behavior: A case study of five-star hotels in Vietnam. International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management (IJABIM), 12(3), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJABIM.294098
  47. Niehoff, B. P. ve Paul, R. J. (2000). Causes of employee theft and strategies that HR managers can use for prevention. Human Resource Management: Published in Cooperation with the School of Business Administration, The University of Michigan and in alliance with the Society of Human Resources Management, 39(1), 51-64. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-050X(200021)39:1 3.0.CO;2-5
  48. Örücü, E., Kılıç, R. ve Savaş, A. (2011). KOBİ’lerde inovasyon stratejileri ve inovasyon yapmayı etkileyen faktörler: Bir uygulama. Doğuş Üniversitesi Dergisi, 12(1), 58-73. https://doi.org/10.31671/dogus.2019.151
  49. Robinson, S. L. ve Bennett, R. J. (1995). A typology of deviant workplace behaviors: A multidimensional scaling study. Academy of Management Journal, 38(2), 555-572. https://doi.org/:10.2307/256693
  50. Ruankaew, T. (2019). Employee theft among college students in the workforce. International Business Research, 12(4), 40-49. https://doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v12n4p40
  51. Sadat, A. M. ve Lin, M. L. (2018). Organizational amnesia: the barrier of value creation and organizational performance in small and medium sized enterprise. Journal of Business and Behavioural Entrepreneurship, 2(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.21009/JOBBE.002.1.01
  52. Sackett, P. R. ve DeVore, C. J. (2001). Counterproductive behaviors at work. In N. Anderson, D. S. Ones, H. K. Sinangil & V. Viswesvaran (Eds.), Handbook of industrial, work, and organizational psychology (Vol. 1) (pp. 145-164). Londres, Inglaterra: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781848608320.n9
  53. Sauser, W. I. Jr (2007). Employee theft: who, how, why, and what can be done. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 72(3), 13. Erişim adresi: https://www.proquest.com/openview/b6ca82de15a53 11d35633c5226a3ee81/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=40946
  54. Spector, P. E., Fox, S., Penney, L. M., Bruursema, K., Goh, A. ve Kessler, S. (2006). The dimensionality of counterproductivity: Are all counterproductive behaviors created equal?. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68(3), 446-460. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2005.10.005
  55. Sarı, S. (2023). The relationship between SME’s loans and growth in Turkey (2007-2021). İzmir İktisat Dergisi, 38(2), 358-374. https://doi.org/10.24988/ije.1136833
  56. Şener, S., Savrul, M. ve Aydın, O. (2014). Structure of small and medium-sized enterprises in Turkey and global competitiveness strategies. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 150, 212-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.09.119
  57. Stedmon, A. (2011). The camera never lies, or does it? The dangers of taking CCTV surveillance at face value. Surveillance & Society, 8(4), 527-534. https://doi.org/10.24908/ss.v8i4.4192
  58. Szostek, D. (2022). Central European version of counterproductive work behavior checklist (CWB-C PL). Economics & Sociology, 15(2), 74-94. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-789X.2022/15-2/5
  59. Tarkan, G. ve Tepeci, M. (2006). Örgütsel adalet ve yönetimde merkezileşmenin çalışan hırsızlığına etkileri: Mersin üniversitesi turizm işletmeciliği ve otelcilik yüksekokulu öğrenci algılamaları üzerine bir araştırma. Anatolia: Turizm Araştırmaları Dergisi, 17(2), 137-152. Erişim adresi: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/154341
  60. Thompson, P. (2004). Pioneering the life story method. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 7(1), 81-84. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645570310001640671.
  61. Thiel, C. E., Bonner, J., Bush, J. T., Welsh, D. T. ve Garud, N. (2023). Stripped of agency: The paradoxical effect of employee monitoring on deviance. Journal of Management, 49(2), 709-740. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063211053224
  62. Yıldırım, A. ve Şimşek, H. (2013). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri (9. bs.). Ankara: Seçkin Yayıncılık.