Resistance and Cooperation: A Response to Conflict Over Job Performance

Research literature on job performance from both management oriented and industrial relations/sociology of work models is synthesized to produce a more comprehensive understanding of how supervisors manage employee performance problems. Two assumptions are derived from the synthesis: (1) employees are active in accepting and resisting definitions of performance issues made by supervisor; (2) informal interactions regarding the interpretation of performance issues are pivotal in understanding how performance problems are resolved. In a study of university library supervisors we focus on the informal exchanges and characterize them as negotiations over the definition of job performance. We report results from a qualitative study of supervisors' interactions with employees identified as having performance problems. Three types of interactions in informal negotiations are found. We label the supervisors' interpretations of their interactions with employees as conformist, confrontational, or rebellious, designating how supervisors enact their role as agents of the organization.