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Gary S. Topchik. Managing Workplace Negativity. New York: AMACOM, 2001, 193 pages, $21.95.
Reviewed by Itzhak Harpaz, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Organizations and Human Resources, Graduate School of Business, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
This book deals with the concept of "workplace negativity," a condition that the author discusses in medical terms, as if it was an ailment. Topchik notes that workplace negativity is "emerging as a disease of the 21st century corporation," and according to him, like "any chronic illness, this `insidious killer' has potentially dangerous consequences for organizational efficiency and productivity." He offers a series of practical steps for "improving the health" of the organization by halting the progress of this "negativity virus," and he suggests prescriptions that could "inoculate" the workplace against the "infectious pessimism" of employees.
Topchik does not adequately define the notion of workplace negativity. Certainly, in the process of reading the book, the reader may gather a general idea of what he means by this concept; but the formal definition provided by Topchik is insufficient. In the introductory section, he briefly states that "Negativity is the eventual outcome of unchecked pessimism. It is a pattern of pessimistic thinking that persists over time" (p. vii). This definition implies that negativity might possibly be a type of emotional state. Only at the end of the book do we encounter any attempt at a formal definition: In Appendix B, which deals with the topic of "commonly asked questions about workplace negativity," the following definition is provided: "Workplace negativity is an attitude that people have toward their work, bosses, colleagues or customers" (p. 168). This seems to be very close to the generally accepted definition of job satisfaction (e.g. Locke, 1984).
Topchik's inventory of factors that supposedly lead to negativity are also identical to commonly cited causes of job dissatisfaction. These factors include, among others, insecurity, lack of praise or recognition,...