The role of accountability in the workplace in reducing negative work behaviors

(An analytical study of the opinions of a sample of employees of the General Authority for Taxes in the provinces of Babylon and the Holy Karbala)

A Thesis

submitted to the Board of the College of Administration and Economics – University of Karbala It is part of the requirements for obtaining a MBA degree

by the student

Hassan Aliwi Sahib

Supervised by

Prof. Dr Meithk hatef Al-fatlawy

Abstract

The current study seeks to determine the role of accountability in the workplace in reducing negative work behaviors, and in order to achieve this, five dimensions of accountability in the workplace were adopted (attribution, observability, appraisal, response, consequences). While the negative work behaviors were expressed as a dependent variable through its dimensions (vandalism, withdrawal, theft, misuse of time and resources, bribery and corruption), where the research problem was launched from the reality of the General Tax Authority in the holy governorates of Babylon and Karbala to diagnose the availability of negative behaviors in them and work on Reducing it by activating the role of accountability in the workplace, since the tax is one of the most important institutions at the level of Iraq and a major source of funding in Iraq. A hypothetical scheme was built that reflects the researcher’s perceptions about the nature of the relationship between the variables, and according to two main hypotheses, the first is related to the correlation relationship whose content (there is a significant correlation between accountability in the workplace with its dimensions and the variable of negative work behaviors) while the second hypothesis concerned the level of influence between the two variables in its content (There is a significant effect between accountability in the workplace and negative work behaviors), the study was conducted in the General Authority for Taxes in the holy governorates of Babylon and Karbala, and the necessary information for the field side was obtained through the questionnaire prepared for this purpose, as the number of study sample (203) employees working in the researched organization, and several measurement tools were used in the practical side (Cronbach alpha coefficient, standard deviation, weighted arithmetic mean, Pearson correlation coefficient, structural Equation Modeling), and determination coefficient (R2). ) Depending on the statistical programs SPSS.V.25, Amos.V.23, the study reached a set of results, the most important of which (the existence of an inverse correlation and a significant inverse effect Positive morale between accountability in the workplace and negative work behaviors), and based on this result, the researcher presented a set of recommendations, most notably (the need for attention by those in charge of the authority to identify and develop the dimensions of accountability in the workplace (attribution, observability, appraisal, answer, Consequences) through a set of training programs to reduce negative behaviors, which include (sabotage, withdrawal, theft, misuse of time and resources, bribery and corruption.

Keywords: accountability in the workplace, negative work behavior, the General Authority for Taxes