A new book on how employees take action over grievances and how managers can combat such behaviour has been published.

'Getting Even: The Truth About Workplace Revenge - And How to Stop it' has been written by two US academics teaching management at universities in America.

The authors explore the psychology behind workplace revenge and offer advice to people with management skills on how they can best deal with the situation.

"When people don't feel that leaders and managers have corrected the injustice done to them, they will take matters into their own hands by getting even through revenge," explained Robert Bies, professor of management at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business.

"Whether you perceive the outcome of a particular instance of revenge to be positive, negative or harmless, we believe it is wise to pay attention to all forms of revenge in the workplace."

Research by business psychology firm OPP, published in July 2008, found that 85 per cent of employees have experienced some level of conflict in the workplace.