When We Don’t See Eye to Eye: Discrepancies 8etween Supervisors and Subordinates in Absence ~iscipli~a ~ Decisions

The present study provided a within-subjects assessment of the factors associated with absence disciplinary decisions for both supervisors and subordinates. In addition, this study examined discrepancies in disciplinary decisions between supervisors and their subordinates based on differences in psychological and demographic attributes. A sample of non-academic employeesfrom 19 intact triads (one supervisor; two subordinates) at a large Midwest university responded to hypothetical scenarios describing factors that might contribute to absence disciplinary decisions. The results demo~trated that both supervisors and subordinates generally place similar weights on factors that are relevant to disciplinary decisions. Perhaps more importantly, a number of psychological and demographic difserences between supervisors and subordinates related positively to discrepancies in disciplinary decisions. A major purpose of organizational disciplinary polic’ies is to establish the boundaries for acceptable mployee behavior (Arvey & Jones, 1985). To meet this objective, it is important that supervisors and their subordinates ee eye to eye on what is acceptable discipline in response to an employee transgression for particular circumstan~s. Not seeing eye to eye may have signi~~ant consequences for the employer. One potential consequence is a compromised disciplinary procedure. Disciplinary procedures can be thought of as arising out of negotiations between employees and the employer that focus on balancing the distinct interests and goals maintained by these groups (Scott, 1987). Once in place, disciplinary procedures provide guidance to members of differing groups, and these agreements establish constraints on what may be regarded as an acceptabl