Marketing Controls and Dysfunctional Employee Behaviors: A Test of Traditional and Contingency Theory Postulates
研究检验了传统控制理论和权变理论对员工负面行为的解释力，发现传统理论（控制限制自主性、缺乏信任）比权变理论（控制与工作情境匹配）更能预测员工的功能失调行为。
The author examines two different theories—traditional and contingency—of negative employee responses to marketing control systems. Traditional control theory draws on the humanistic perspective to suggest that controls have negative consequences because they limit employee autonomy and signal a lack of trust in employees. Contingency theory, on the other hand, posits that employee response depends on the degree to which the control used fits the job context. The author examines two types of job contexts, namely, task and supervision. Tasks are characterized along two dimensions, namely, performance documentation and procedural knowledge. Supervision is captured by three factors—the degree to which employees perceive that they are allowed to participate, that supervisors are knowledgeable about their performance, and that supervisors are considerate. Using dysfunctional behaviors as the focal negative response, the author finds stronger support for the traditional perspective compared with the contingency perspective.