It has been reported that approximately 75% of all employees have stolen from their employers on at least one occasion (McGurn, 1988) and that many engage in theft as a regular part of their workplace behavior (Delaney, 1993). In a study of the retail industry, it was found that employee theft averaged $513.22 per case in 1992, while consumer shoplifting averaged $64.24 (Randle, 1995). Recent studies suggest the problem appears to be getting worse (Washburn, 1997). .
Organizational leaders are well aware of these staggering costs and seek practical guidelines from researchers that will help them prevent employee theft. Research on employee theft has been somewhat muddled by the fact that there are different forms, degrees, and causes of theft. Greenberg (1997) defined employee theft as "any unauthorized appropriation of company property by employees either for one's own use or for sale to another" (p. 86). Thus, theft may range in degree from taking home office supplies to selling information on technological innovations. Hollinger and Clark (1983) discussed five general causes of theft: (1) economic pressure (e.g., people steal from the company because they have financial problems), (2) demographics (e.g., people steal because they come from an identifiable group that has a propensity to steal), (3) opportunity (e.g., all people will steal if they are given the chance), (4) attitudinal (e.g., people steal because they are dissatisfied with some aspect of the company), and (5) social norms (e.g., people steal because they see the behavior as acceptable in the social system). While these categorizations are helpful, they give managers little guidance for theft prevention. .
The purpose of this article is to help managers understand theft's various causes and to provide guidelines and strategies for preventing employee theft. We have developed a taxonomy that integrates multiple views of the causes of employee theft and identifies prevention strategies.
