Why do Dysfunctional Norms Continue to Exist in the Workplace?

The objective of the present work is to understand the factors influencing internalization of dysfunctional norms amongst the employees of an organization. The factors considered in the present study which could possibly influence the internalization of dysfunctional norms were-cultural values, organizational structure, socialization strategies, and leader integrity. The study was conducted in two manufacturing organization in the industrial zone of district Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. Total sample of employees was 307. Internalization of dysfunctional organizational norms was predicted by leader integrity, job codification, institutionalized socialization strategies, collaboration, and centralization. It was concluded that the predictor variables had stronger relationship with internalization of dysfunctional organizational norms in terms of pervasiveness as compared to the second dimension i.e. intensity. Among all the predictor variables perceived leader integrity and serial vs. disjunctive socialization tactics were found to be the most important facilitators of internalization of dysfunctional organizational norms. Also socialization strategies of the organization were found to mediate the impact of leader integrity, structural factors, and cultural/values on the internalization of the dysfunctional norms.