Eslsca 50i

Basic Research Methodology Project

Participants:

Mohamed Rashad Mohamed

Mohamed Osama Sheasha

Mostafa Osama Sheasha

Omar Abdelaziz Elmasry

Presented to: Dr. Adel M. Sakr

Incivility in the workplace; Are employees aware?

A case study that aims to assess employee awareness of workplace incivility in

El-Dawliya Contracting Company, a private construction company in Egypt.

Abstract:
The aim of this study was to assess if the employees comprehend that rude behavior in
the workplace in other words workplace incivility is a phenomenon that has been
researched and has negative effects on the work environment, performance and the
employees. This was carried out on a private contracting company in the construction
field in Egypt using a questionnaire to gauge their understanding. The results showed
that they had no clue that it was anything else other than rude behavior.

1
Introduction:
Uncivil behavior in the workplace or better referred to as workplace incivility has been
defined as low-intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target.
Uncivil behaviors are characteristically rude and discourteous, displaying a lack of
regard for others. (Andersson, Lynne M.; Pearson, Christine M. July 1999).

What separates incivility from other forms of interpersonal mistreatment is the concept
of ambiguous intent. In a typical case of interpersonal mistreatment there are both a
perpetrator and a victim i.e. a person committing the misdeed and a person who is on
the receiving end. Using verbal aggression as an example, the perpetrator shouts at the
victim. In this case, intentionality is very clear. However, in a case of incivility, this clear
intentionality is no longer present. For example, an employee says hello to a coworker,
and the coworker does not respond in kind. Perhaps the coworker did not hear the
employee saying hello, or perhaps it actually was an intentional slight. With incivility,
the ambiguity of intent makes it difficult to tell.

Not only is incivility related to these negative effects on employees and organizations,
but it can also spiral out of control. (Andersson, Lynne M.; Pearson, Christine M. July
1999).

That is, when someone feels another individual was uncivil in the workplace, they may
probably retaliate in kind, in other words: you were rude to me, Im going to be rude to
you! Thus creating a spiral of incivility.

This grows in intensity and eventually escalates from minor deviant acts of incivility to
overtly hostile acts such as verbal aggression and even violence.

Workplace incivility may be low in intensity, but it is quite high in frequency. Over the
past ten years, research investigating workplace incivility has estimated that prevalence
rates may be between 75% and 100%, meaning that nearly all employees have
experienced some level of incivility from their coworkers, supervisors, or
customers/clients.( Cortina LM, Magley VJ, Williams JH, Langhout RD. 2001,Sliter MT,
Jex SM, Wolford KA, McInnerney J. 2010)

The exceptionally high frequency of occurrence for incivility is cause for concern
because research has consistently demonstrated that the effects of incivility can
compound over time. As a result, incivility has been shown to lead to a host of
deleterious effects on employee and organizational well-being.
2
In terms of personal outcomes, coworker incivility has been linked to higher levels of
employee burnout, feelings of strain, and decreased psychological well-being. (
Laschinger H, Leiter M, Day A, Gilin D. 2009, Lim S, Cortina LM. 2005).

In terms of organizational outcomes, incivility has been related to employee

withdrawal, decreased satisfaction, and decreased performance.( Cortina LM, Magley
VJ, Williams JH, Langhout RD. 2001,Sliter MT, Sliter KA, Jex SM. 2012)

Objective:
To find out if employees comprehend that what they sometimes go through is a
phenomenon that can have impacts on their performance and the company.

Literature review:
Rude behavior in the workplace more precisely defined as incivility in the workplace
seems to be a common occurrence and a growing phenomenon. It obviously has
negative effects on the employees and business as a whole. This rude behavior and its
impacts on employees and the business have been further researched and its impact
assessed. A resulting spiral effect that intensifies into aggressive behavior which
obviously will lead to major issues at work (Andersson, Lynne M.; Pearson, Christine M.
July 1999)

A multitude of research concerned with this topic stresses the importance of this
phenomenon. It is obviously based primarily on communication but there is an
ambiguity concerning the intent to harm which differentiates it form verbal aggression or
open conflict in that there is no clear perpetrator and no clear victim. Within
organizations it reduces the employees ability to work together hence decreasing
productivity and decreasing the willingness to work together (Gill, M. J. 2015). On the
individual employee it induces and increases feelings of anxiety, depression and
decreases self esteem. Some have delved into the psychological impact on employees
(Penney, Lisa M. 2003). Rude behavior obviously seems to be an issue.

The mere rudeness in simple actions and replies may result in future escalation of
personal animosity and revenge seeking attitude.
3
This affects employees in a multitude of ways. This obviously reflects on their work
capabilities in the workplace hence their productivity.

Research has also shown that it induces and exaggerates feelings of anxiety and
stress. Obviously the employee carries those around with him and doesnt just drop
them off at work before he or she leaves. An anxious or stressed employee reflects
these feelings on his or her personal life. Be it at home, with family or among friends.

To put it simply; incivility in the workplace can have a devastating impact on employees,
as well as the organization as a whole. Employees will be stressed, become de-
motivated, apathetic and even angry. They put in less effort and produce lower quality.
This will ultimately lead to losses in productivity, efficiency and of course, profitability.

Amazing how something so insignificant in the eyes of most can have this disastrous
effect. But is this something employees comprehend? Do they understand that these
small or minor acts, gestures or words can lead to all that?

Aim of the study:

As evidenced by some of the literature review, all studies and research into incivility in
the workplace were directed towards defining it and its effects on the workplace and
employees.

None were found to assess if employees and work organizations comprehended this
phenomenon, hence this study.

This case study aims to discover if employees comprehend that this rude behavior is
considered a phenomenon, or if they consider this rude behavior personal and hence
dealt with accordingly. Do they feel that it is part of their everyday life hence to be taken
for granted, or a job hazard to be ignored?

Problem Statement:
Are employees aware of the concept of workplace incivility?

4
Hypothesis:
Ho: None of the employees exhibited lack of awareness of workplace incivility (know
incivility)

H1: All employees exhibited lack of awareness of workplace incivility (dont know
incivility)

Case Study :
The construction field is full of employees from diverse backgrounds whether civil and
architectural engineers, administrators, contractors and all the way down to the
laborers. These are either permanently employed by the company or temporarily
employed for certain projects.

The construction field has a culture of its own most usually referred to as vulgar or rude
in the communication means they use in their everyday work life. This led to the choice
of the field and the company as our case study.

Based on this diversity in employees we will be using a private constructing company in

Egypt as our sample study.

El-Dawliya Contracting Company (DCC) Founded in 1989, was built from the ground
up as a family business and with the support of the family and the team around them,
quickly grew in size.

With a strong focus on quality, timely delivery and financially reasonable developments,
The Companys portfolio of distinguished clients also grew and is a testament to the
quality and caliber of the projects.

They succeeded in delivering several large projects during this period and shortly after
attained the prestigious classification of "First Class Contractor", quickly following it up
with its certification as an ISO 90001 certified organization. The company has 120
employees in different capacities.

DCC is a family owned business that started out in 1989, it has since then progressed in
the field of construction to attain First Class Contractor status.

5
It has also received the prestigious ISO 9001 certificate.

Being a family owned and run business its management style is centralized; decisions
come for the top down through the hierarchy.

It currently employs 120 employees as follows:

23% highly skilled workers ( technically specific i.e. Engineers)

48% skilled workers ( University graduates in administrative and accounting

posts)

16% semi skilled workers ( foremen and supervisors)

13% unskilled workers ( janitors and security )

6
Sample:
The sample chosen was 40 employees out of the 120

Limited to the skilled and highly skilled percentage of employees

Randomly chosen subjects

Regardless of gender

And with no age limitation

7
Results:
Only 4 employees exhibited awareness of workplace incivility constituting
10% of the sample.

The remaining 36 exhibited no awareness constituting 90% of the sample.

Know % of Don't Know % of not

Sample incivility Knowing incivility knowing
40 4 10% 36 90%

8
Limitations:
Non compliance of a great number of employees hence the sample size.

The time factor

The sample was limited to include highly skilled and skilled employees.

Conclusion:
Incivility or rude behavior in the workplace is a phenomenon that results in negative
effects on the employees and the workplace.

Comprehending it is a first step in avoiding or preventing it.

Future Recommendations:
A future study on a wider scale of employees.

A study on the whole construction industry.

On diverse business industries.

Acknowledgements:
We would like to thank

1. El-Dawliya Contracting Company for allowing us to use the company as a case

study.

2. Dr. Adel M. Sakr for his progressive positive feedback all through the case study

3. The 40 employees who willingly filled out the questionnaire without bias or
prejudice.

9
References:
1. LM Andersson, CM Pearson - Academy of management review, 1999-
amr.aom.org Tit for tat? The spiraling effect of incivility in the workplace

2. Cortina, Lilia M.; Magley, Vicki J.; Williams, Jill Hunter; Langhout, Regina Day
Incivility in the workplace: Incidence and impact. Journal of Occupational Health
Psychology, Vol 6(1), Jan 2001, 64-80.

3. Pamela R. Johnson, Julie Indvik, "Slings and arrows of rudeness: incivility in the
workplace", Journal of Management Development, (2001) Vol. 20 Iss: 8, pp.705 -
714

4. Penney, Lisa M. Workplace incivility and counterproductive workplace behavior

(cwb): What is the relationship and does personality play a role? Dissertation
Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, Vol 64(2-B),
2003, 992.

5. Cortina, Lilia M.; Magley, Vicki J. Patterns and profiles of response to incivility in
the workplace. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol 14(3), Jul 2009,
272-288.

6. Gill, M. J. 2015. Incivility in the Workplace. The International Encyclopedia of

Interpersonal Communication. 19.

10
Questionnaire Sample

) ( ) ( :

) ( :

) ( :

) ( :

) ( :

( )

( )

( )

( )

11
 :

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

12
 :

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

13
 "" :

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

: :

( )

( )

( )

( )

14
 :

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

15
 :

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

16