Employee‐perceived ‘motivation‐enhancing HRM practices’ and career ambition: Social subjective norms explain workplace deviant behavior

Abstract Ability‐motivation‐opportunity (AMO) based human resource management (HRM) practices connote positive organizational outcomes, in general. This study has identified the deviant outcome of motivation‐enhancing HRM practices by delineating how it can lead to an undesirable workplace behavior like unethical pro‐organizational behavior (UPOB) through employees' career ambition. Further, such effects are amplified in the presence of UPOB descriptive and injunctive norms. The hypotheses were tested by using two multi‐wave time‐lagged studies for sales executives working in organizations representing two different industries. Career ambition partially mediated the relationship between motivation‐enhancing HRM practices and UPOB. The conditional indirect effect of motivation‐enhancing HRM practices on UPOB through employees' career ambition was stronger when they perceive high level of descriptive and injunctive norms in the workplace. While the relationship between career ambition and UPOB was strengthened for high descriptive and injunctive norms, it was weakened for low injunctive norms but not for low descriptive norms.