Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T14:59:30.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Ethical Context in Organizations: Influences on Employee Attitudes and Behaviors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Linda Klebe Treviño ,
Kenneth D. Butterfield  and
Donald L. McCabe
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

This field survey focused on two constructs that have been developed to represent the ethical context in organizations: ethical climate and ethical culture. We first examined issues of convergence and divergence between these constructs through factor analysis and correlational analysis. Results suggested that the two constructs are measuring somewhat different, but strongly related dimensions of the ethical context. We then investigated the relationships between the emergent ethical context factors and an ethics-related attitude (organizational commitment) and behavior (observed unethical conduct) for respondents who work in organizations with and without ethics codes. Regression results indicated that an ethical culture-based dimension was more strongly associated with observed unethical conduct in code organizations while climate-based dimensions were more strongly associated with observed unethical conduct in non-code organizations. Ethical culture and ethical climate-based factors influenced organizational commitment similarly in both types of organizations. Normative implications of the study are discussed, as are implications for future theorizing, research and management practice.

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , July 1998 , pp. 447 - 476
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akaah, I. P. 1992. Social inclusion as a marketing ethics correlate. Journal of Business Ethics. 11(8): 599–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, D. 1993. Creating and maintaining ethical work climates: Anomie in the workplace and implications for managing change. Business Ethics Quarterly. 3(4): 343–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, D. In press. Moral climate in business firms: A conceptual framework for analysis and change. Journal of Business Ethics.Google Scholar
Cullen, J.B., and Bronson, J.W. 1993. The ethical climate questionnaire: An assessment of the development and validity. Paper presented at the Annual Academy of Management Meeting, Atlanta, GA.Google Scholar
Cullen, J.B., and Victor, B. 1993. The effects of ethical climates on organizational commitment: A multilevel analysis. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Darlington, R.B. 1968. Multiple regression in psychological research. Psychological Bulletin. 79: 161–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deal, T.E., and Kennedy, A.A. 1982. Corporate cultures. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Denison, D. 1996. What is the difference between organizational culture and organizational climate? A native’s point of view on a decade of paradigm wars. Academy of Management Review. 21 (3): 619–654.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrell, O.C., Gresham, L. G., and Fraedrich, J. 1989. A synthesis of ethical decision models for marketing. Journal of Macromarketing. 9 (2): 55–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Folger, R., and Konovsky, M.A. 1989. Effects of procedural and distributive justice on reactions to pay raise decisions. Academy of Management Journal, 32: 115–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaertner, K. 1991. The effect of ethical climate on managers’ decisions. In Morality, rationality and efficiency: New perspectives on socio-economics. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Hegarty, W.J., and Sims, H.P. Jr. 1978. Some determinants of unethical decision behavior; an experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology. 63: 451–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jelinek, M., Smircich, L., and Hirsh, P. 1983. Introduction: A code of many colors. Administrative Science Quarterly. 28: 331–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, T. M. 1991. Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: An issue-contingent model. Academy of Management Review. 16: 366–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleiman, C. 1989. Heading the list of worker wishes isn’t more money! The Morning Call. October 2: B10.Google Scholar
Kopelman, R.E., Brief, A.P., and Guzzo, R.A. 1990. The role of climate and culture in productivity. In Schneider, B., ed., Organizational climate and culture (282–318) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Kurland, N. 1996. Trust, accountability, and sales agents’ dueling loyalties. Business Ethics Quarterly. 6(3): 289–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCabe, D.L., and Treviño, L.K. 1993. Academic dishonesty: Honor codes and other contextual influences. Journal of Higher Education. 64(5): 522–538.Google Scholar
Martin, J., and Siehl, C. 1983. Organizational culture and counterculture: An uneasy symbiosis. Organizational Dynamics. Autumn: 52–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merton, R.K. 1938. Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review. 3: 672–682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merton, R.K. 1964. Anomie, anomia, and social interaction. In Clinard, M., ed., Anomie and deviant behavior (213–242). NY: Free Press.Google Scholar
Mowday, R.T., Steers, R.M., and Porter, L. 1979. The measure of organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 14: 224–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Reilly, C. and Chatman, J. 1986. Organizational commitment and psychological attachment: The effects of compliance, identification, and internalization on prosocial behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology. 71: 492–499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paulhus, D. 1989. Measurement and control of response bias. In Robinson, J.P.Shaver, P.R., and Wrightsman, L., eds., Measures of social psychological attitudes. NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Pettigrew, A. 1990. Organizational climate and culture: Two constructs in search of a role. In Schneider, B., ed., Organizational climate and culture (413–433). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Pritchard, R.D., and Karasick, B.W. 1973. The effects of organizational climate on managerial job performance and job satisfaction. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance. 9: 126–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Randall, D.M., and Fernandes, M.F. 1991. The social desirability bias in ethics research. Journal of Business Ethics. 10: 805–817.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sandroff, R. 1990. How ethical is American business? Working Woman Magazine. September: 113–116.Google Scholar
Schneider, B. 1975. Organizational climate: An essay. Personnel Psychology. 28: 447–479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, B. 1983. Work climates: An interactionist perspective. In Feimer, N.W. and Geller, E.S., eds., Environmental psychology: Directions and perspectives (106–128). New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Schneider, B., Brief, A.P., and Guzzo, R.A. 1996. Creating a climate and culture for sustainable organizational change. Organizational dynamics. 24(4): 7–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, B., Gunnarson, S.K., and Niles-Jolly, K. 1994. Creating the climate and culture of success. 23(1): 17–29.Google Scholar
Schneider, B., and Reichers, A.E. 1983. On the etiology of climates. Personnel Psychology. 36: 19–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smircich, L. 1983. Concepts of culture and organizational analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly. 28: 339–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treviño, L.K. 1986. Ethical decision-making in organizations: A person-situation interactionist model. Academy of Management Review. 11: 601–617.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treviño, L.K. 1990. A cultural perspective on changing and developing organizational ethics. Research in Organizational Change and Development. 4: 195–230.Google Scholar
Treviño, L.K., and Ball, G.A. 1992. The social implications of punishing unethical behavior: Observers’ cognitive and affective reactions. Journal of Management. 18: 751–768.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treviño, L.K., and Youngblood, S.A. 1990. Bad apples in bad barrels: A causal analysis of ethical decision-making behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology. 75: 378–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Victor, B., and Cullen, J.B. 1987. A theory and measure of ethical climate in organizations. In Frederick, W.C., ed., Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy (51–71). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Victor, B., and Cullen, J.B. 1988. The organizational bases of ethical work climates. Administrative Science Quarterly. 33: 101–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, J. 1995. Influences upon organizational ethical subclimates: A multi-departmental analysis of a single firm. Organization Science. 6(5): 509–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wimbush, J.C. and Shepard, J.M. 1994. Toward an understanding of ethical climate: Its relationship to ethical behavior and supervisory influence. Journal of Business Ethics. 13: 637–647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar