Walden University ScholarWorks Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection 2019 Workplace Toxicity, Leadership Behaviors, and Leadership Strategies Titin S. Atmadja Walden University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations Part of the Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons, and the Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection at ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Walden University College of Management and Technology This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation by Titin Atmadja has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made. Review Committee Dr. Richard Schuttler, Committee Chairperson, Management Faculty Dr. Diane Stottlemyer, Committee Member, Management Faculty Dr. Kathleen Barclay, University Reviewer, Management Faculty Chief Academic Officer Eric Riedel, Ph.D. Walden University 2019 Abstract Workplace Toxicity, Leadership Behaviors, and Leadership Strategies by Titin S Atmadja MA, Southern New Hampshire University, 2012 BS, Hesser College, 2008 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Management Leadership and Organizational Change Walden University May 2019 Abstract Workplace toxicity may negatively influence the well-being and work performance of employees. Best practices of successful leadership approaches and behaviors have been unidentified when addressing low-toxicity work environments. The purpose of this qualitative narrative case study was to develop a deeper understanding of how leaders selected and applied specific leadership strategies and behaviors in nontoxic workplace environments. Data were collected from 10 participants in New Hampshire using a purposive sampling technique and semistructured interviews based on Alvarado’s triangular model of workplace toxicity. This study was structured using a narrative approach to explore ways positive leaders practically implemented styles and behaviors to mitigate workplace toxicity. All participants met this study’s qualification parameters; they had past experiences with toxic leaders that shaped their personal leadership styles. NVivo was used to compare and analyze data from all interview transcripts entered for recurring themes. These themes were coded according to how answers connected to a specific research question, and findings were collated across interviews to form results. Three major themes emerged from the data: experience with toxic leadership, leadership approaches to toxicity, and leadership behaviors toward toxicity. Insights from this study may help company leaders avoid lawsuits, low productivity levels, and high staff turnover due to toxic workplace elements left unattended or ineffectively managed. The study may contribute to positive social change by generating practical models of and suggestions for creating a less toxic work environment, thereby creating healthier and happier employees, which increases public wellbeing and company success. Workplace Toxicity, Leadership Behaviors, and Leadership Strategies by Titin Atmadja MA, Southern New Hampshire University, 2012 BS, Hesser College, 2008 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Management Leadership and Organizational Change Walden University May 2019 Dedication More than to anyone else, I dedicate this work to the memory of my mother, Hoeriyah-Karlijn, the great matriarch of the Atmadja family of Java-Indonesia. When I was a child, she told me that if I did not go to school, I would be poor and have no future. As a result, as a child, I was afraid to be poor and have no future, even though I didn’t know what that meant. I read and I read, and I earned good grades, as she cleverly pulled our family business, a local farm, into the international market producing rice, cocoa, and cloves. With this dissertation that I dedicate to her, I follow the educational tradition she established. I join her, my late father, and my sister—four people in two generations—by receiving a doctorate. We will never be poor, and we will always have a future. Acknowledgments Thank you, Dr. Rich Schuttler. It was my honor to be with you as you approached your goal of graduating 1,000,000 students. Thank you to my committee, Dr. Diane Stottlemyer. You have been with me since 2012. Without you, my longed for academic career would not have been possible. Thank you to my longtime editor, Barbara Dorsett. Thank you, Dr. McCollum, Dr. Barclay, and Dr. Kolberg, for supporting this project, and my dear friend, Patience Gifford Horton, who has always supported this Ph.D project. Thank you, Kathy Oroh and Sue Seeley, who took care of my son while I was on this journey. Thank you to my late father, Dr. Rd I. A. Arya Sastra Atmadja, and my late mother, Dr. Hoeriyah Karlijn Atmadja. You inspire me. Thanks to my sisters: Dr. Teti Lesmana, Nia, Yuyu, Mela, Poppy and my Brothers:Dr. Ridjadi, Erik, Asep, who demonstrated their success and happiness in business. You motivate me. Thank you to my son, Rd Liam Sean Olcott. Your sacrifices of our time together let Mommy make this dream a reality. You are so little now; someday, you will read this message and understand. There is nothing else I want to do, except to use my education to gain a successful career and live a well thought-out life, like all of you. Table of Contents List of Tables .......................................................................................................................v Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study ....................................................................................1 Background ....................................................................................................................2 Problem Statement .........................................................................................................4 Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................................6 Research Questions ........................................................................................................7 Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................7 Nature of the Study ........................................................................................................9 Definitions....................................................................................................................10 Assumptions .................................................................................................................11 Scope and Delimitations ..............................................................................................12 Limitations ...................................................................................................................14 Significance of the Study .............................................................................................15 Significance to Theory .......................................................................................... 15 Significance to Practice......................................................................................... 16 Significance to Social Change .............................................................................. 17 Summary ......................................................................................................................17 Chapter 2: Literature Review .............................................................................................19 Introduction ..................................................................................................................19 Literature Search Strategy............................................................................................21 Conceptual Foundation ................................................................................................21 i The Toxic Triangle ............................................................................................... 24 Toxic Leaders........................................................................................................ 24 Toxic Work Environments .................................................................................... 29 Toxic Followers .................................................................................................... 32 Factors and Behaviors That Contribute to Workplace Toxicity ..................................36 Microaggressions .................................................................................................. 37 Maladjusted Personality Types ............................................................................. 42 Corporate Culture.................................................................................................. 44 Leadership Impact on Workplace Mitigating Toxicity ................................................48 Avoiding Toxic Leadership and Promoting Nontoxic Leadership Behavior