Article
Predicting Retail Shrink from Performance Pressure, Ethical Leader Behavior, and Store-Level Incivility
Journal of Organizational Behavior
(2019)
Abstract
Retail shrink, a form of inventory loss due primarily to employee theft and shoplifting,
is a growing concern for retailers. Prior work on shrink has taken primarily an
individual‐level focus to understanding this problem but has yet to really explore
how the business context impacts shrink. The current study addresses this need by
delineating and testing a unit‐level (i.e., between‐stores) conceptual model, wherein
we examine the influence of performance pressure, ethical leader behavior, and
store‐level incivility on shrink in a field study of 111 U.S. retail stores. Results demonstrate
that performance pressure and ethical leadership interact to influence storelevel
incivility. Further, stores with higher incivility also had higher levels of shrink.
A focus on the contextual predictors of shrink provides timely insights into the role
of performance pressure and leadership on store‐level incivility and consequently
on retail shrink. In light of increasingly thin margins in the retail industry, the evidence
on how pressure to perform and ethical leadership influences retail shrink may offer a
solution to retailers looking to stem financial losses by promoting civility in the
workplace.
Disciplines
Publication Date
Summer June, 2019
DOI
10.1002/job.2366
Citation Information
Jaclyn M. Jensen, Michael C. Cole and Robert S. Rubin. "Predicting Retail Shrink from Performance Pressure, Ethical Leader Behavior, and Store-Level Incivility" Journal of Organizational Behavior Vol. 40 (2019) p. 723 - 739 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/robertsrubin/41/