In a competitive work environment, envy is a common emotion
for employees at all levels of the organization. However, in an organization,
when unchecked, envy can hinder effective communication and become disruptive
to the organization’s performance. The intent of this systematic review is to
identify the antecedents of workplace envy and its influence on communication
and information sharing in organizations. Social exchange theory (SET) was
selected as the theoretical lens for this research because it provides an
explanation of how organizations can leverage the social interactions between
employees to increase organizational engagement and productivity. Through a
systematic review of several research articles, 13 peer-reviewed studies were
synthesized to help answer the research question: How does workplace envy
affect team communication and information sharing in organizations?
Specifically, the selected articles provided guidance on how to reduce the
negative effect of workplace envy on organizational communication and
information sharing. Finally, based on the results of the research, three
recommendations were presented for organizations to consider.
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