Emotional Reactions to Employee Theft and the Managerial Dilemmas Small Business Owners Face

Abstract

Employee theft is one of the most harmful crimes that can occur to a small business. Research on this crime has focused primarily on its financial impact and how to prevent it. However, like other forms of crime, employee theft also has more personal and subjective effects on victims. To date, these aspects of employee theft victimization have been largely ignored. We address this gap in the literature by exploring the emotional consequences of employee theft as experienced by the owners of small businesses. Guided by grounded theory methodology, we conducted a series of in-person interviews with the owners of small businesses to gain a better understanding of the total impact of employee theft. Analysis of interviews indicated that victimized business owners experienced a range of cognitive and emotional reactions to theft. At times, these reactions were severe, and they were exacerbated if the victim had a strong emotional connection with the offender.