The talk of the National Football League in recent weeks has been Terrell Owens, the talented wide receiver who was let go by the Philadelphia Eagles because of repeated disruptive behavior that alienated teammates, coaches and fans alike.
Although the saga of T.O. -- as he is familiarly known -- dominated the sports pages for days on end, coverage of his relationship with the Eagles' organization could just as easily have found a home between the covers of an academic management journal. Faculty members at Wharton and other experts say Owens is a classic case of a star employee who, because of his immense talent, was given wide latitude even though he engaged in eccentric (at best) and abusive (at worst) behavior. But even Owens' ability to catch passes and score touchdowns could not save his job because his behavior reached the point that it was deemed detrimental to the successful functioning of the organization.
"In any organization, power is related to dependence," says Wharton management professor Lawrence Hrebiniak. "If the organization depends on someone for skills and if that person's expertise is rare, the power of that individual goes up. T.O. has greater skill than the normal player and more valuable expertise. When any individual has that type of influence, he becomes central to the organization and can break the rules more than a regular employee can. Because of his rare skill, you're willing to take a chance on him. A team wouldn't do that for the guy of average ability who's on the practice squad."
But Hrebiniak says Owens showed that even a highly talented employee "can go too far. T.O., even with his centrality and power, attacked the enterprise and broke the rules. The organization said, 'If we let you go too far, other employees who might not be as central to our success as you are may pull the same stuff.'"
"How employers think about the trade-off between talent and disruptive behavior depends on how important they believe teamwork and morale are in the organization's culture," says Wharton management professor [continue]
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