"Why might some employees sabotage their companies?"

"Why might some employees sabotage their companies?" -- according to a researcher at Singapore Management University, self-esteem plays a critical role. In a working paper entitled, "When does self-esteem relate to deviant behaviour? The role of contingencies of self-worth," researchers found that it is not simply the level of self-esteem, but also whether an employee's self-esteem is tied to being a competent employee.

"They suggest that if an individual’s self-esteem is contingent upon being a competent employee – what they refer to as having workplace-contingent self-esteem – then regardless of whether self-esteem is low or high, they will be less likely to engage in deviant behaviours."

Read the article summarizing the working paper in the Knowledge@SMU newsletter.