My Way or the High Way: A Mixed Study of Role of Leader in Contractual Disregard and Employee Recalcitrant Behavior in Determining Sustainability in Public and Private Universities of Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

The paper attempts to study the relationship of contractual disregard by employer with recalcitrant behavior of employees in presence of a leader as a mediating variable in public or private universities of Lahore, Pakistan. The article seeks to know whether the contractual disregard by employer is related to the satisfaction or recalcitrant behavior in employees of an organization due to the presence of a powerful employee leader. The constructs are studied through mixed methodology in a cross-sectional comparative setting by administering 250 online questionnaires and 30 interviews of the faculty. The results indicate that contractual disregard by employer with leader playing the mediating role and the related perceptions lead to recalcitrant behavior in the university faculty. This has significant insights for the employee resistance, protest and unrest in the universities as well as organizational image, stability, sustainability and productivity.