Workplace intrusions—unexpected encounters initiated by another person that disrupt an individual’s work—are generally characterized as negative experiences that deplete resources, increase role and information overload, and promote strain. My research challenges this consensus by arguing that intrusions may also provide benefits to the employees who are intruded upon. Specifically, I investigate how intrusions impact the extent to which employees engage in their own work—engagement—and the extent to which they engage with others at work—collaboration. I also investigate the indirect effects of different types of intrusions on employees’ task-focused and person-focused citizenship through these mechanisms. I tested my predictions utilizing experience sampling methodology (Study 1), a within-person experimental critical incident study (Study 2), and an experiment (Study 3). My research investigates the dynamics of various types of workplace intrusions, with results suggesting that intrusions may lead to beneficial employee outcomes in addition to the adverse outcomes previously demonstrated in the literature. Given the ubiquitous nature of intrusions in organizations, these findings have both theoretical and practical significance.

Differences between cultures have been (and continue to be) examined by researchers all over the world. Prominent studies performed by organizations such as GLOBE and Hofstede have created a foundation for our understanding of how culture affects business in different countries. They also inspired our study, which investigates how employment benefits vary in different cultures. We examined the difference in employee benefit preference of Austria and Germany compared to America and how that affects their perception of the organization. Specifically, we studied how employees in those countries would react to an increase in wage or an increase in vacation time. Each participant read a hypothetical scenario in which they received one of the two benefits. The alternative benefit was not disclosed to them. After reading about the reward, they were asked various questions about the company. These questions gauged their belief in the ability of the organization, their benevolence toward the organization, their perception of the integrity of the organization, their trust in the organization, their turnover intentions, and their obligation felt towards the organization.
Two of the six variables tested yielded statistically significant results after we performed a univariate analysis of variance test on each of the variables. The two variables that yielded statistically significant results were belief in the integrity of the organization and benevolence toward the organization. Americans expressed more benevolence and belief in the integrity of their organization when they received more vacation time, while Europeans exhibited the opposite reaction (to a lesser degree). These results could provide insight to companies that are looking to strengthen company culture or increase motivation of employees. The variables with non-significant results could be attributed to globalization, limitations of our study, or the concept of scarcity.