Illuminating the dark corners: a multi-level integrated framework of high-performance work systems, interpersonal deviance, and organizational deviance in the healthcare sector

The existing human resource management scholarship on deviant behavior indicates that high-performance work systems (HPWS) may inadvertently correlate with adverse employee outcomes, such as increased workloads and breaches of psychological contracts. These outcomes can subsequently fuel deviant behavior. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of multilevel insights regarding the mechanisms by which HPWS affect both interpersonal and organizational deviance. The current multilevel research is based on data from 345 medical staff nested within 226 hospitals in healthcare organizations (hospitals), which suggests that psychological contract breach and work intensification serve as mediators between HPWS and interpersonal deviance. Furthermore, the progression of interpersonal deviance to organizational deviance is moderated by servant leadership, which diminishes the upward trajectory of deviant actions inside the organization.