Rule Breaking in Organizations: An Integrative Review

Rule breaking is widespread in workplaces. Despite recognition that a range of reasons drive individuals to break rules in organizations, related research has become fragmented, with holistic accounts missing from the literature. To integrate studies across the social sciences, I develop a framework that conceptualizes four types of rule breaking explanations: self-interested, prosocial, corrupted, and edified. The framework highlights different literature’s focus on single and fixed types of rule breaking. To foster integration across types, the review outlines future research directions that attend to mixed motives and multiple perspectives. A broader contribution of this article is to establish rule breaking as a distinctive stream of deviance scholarship, as well as to identify opportunities for mutual enrichment with two other prominent streams: unethical behavior at work and workplace deviance. The article also considers practical steps for managers, stressing that there is no universal solution to arrest rule breaking behavior. The effectiveness of different managerial responses, from punishment to compassion, is likely to depend on the type of rule breaking behavior. Managers should therefore seek to understand the drivers of individuals’ rule breaking.