I shouldn’t have to do this: Illegitimate tasks as a stressor in relation to organizational control and resource deficits

• Illegitimate tasks represent a new stressor concept that refers to assignments that violate the norms associated with the role requirements of professional work. Research has shown that Illegitimate tasks are associated with stress and counterproductive work behaviour. The purpose of the present study is to provide insight into the contribution of organizational properties on the prevalence of Illegitimate tasks in operative managerial work. Using the Bern Illegitimate Task Scale (BITS) in a sample of 440 operational local government managers in 28 different organizations, this study supports the theoretical assumptions that Illegitimate tasks are positively related to stress and negatively related to satisfaction with work performance. Results further show that 10% of the variance in Illegitimate tasks can be attributed to the organization where managers work. Multilevel referential analysis shows that the more the organization is characterized by competition for resources between units, unfair and arbitrary resource allocation and obscure decisional structure, the more Illegitimate tasks managers report. These results should be valuable for strategic-level management since they indicate that Illegitimate tasks can be counteracted by means of organization.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialpsykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Psychology (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Arbetslivsstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Work Sciences (hsv//eng)

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