Public Policy Commons^™

Counterproductive Work Behavior, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is counterproductive work behavior? Counterproductive work behavior (CWB), also sometimes referred to as workplace deviance, is defined as “voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and in so doing threatens the well-being of an organization, its members, or both” (Robinson & Bennett, 1995, p. 556). CWB is one of the three main domains of workplace performance, along with task performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB; Dalal, 2005). CWB and OCB are thought to be conceptually opposite constructs; CWB is behavior that harms an organization, whereas OCB is behavior that helps an organization. Indeed, CWB and OCB are modestly and …