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

TLDR

A field survey examined the constructs of ethical climate and ethical culture as representations of the ethical context in organizations. The study discusses normative implications and future directions for theory, research, and management practice. Factor analysis and correlational analysis were used to assess convergence between ethical climate and culture, followed by regression analyses linking the resulting factors to organizational commitment and observed unethical conduct in organizations with and without ethics codes. The two constructs were found to be distinct yet strongly related; ethical culture predicted unethical conduct in code organizations, climate predicted conduct in non-code organizations, and both factors similarly influenced organizational commitment across both settings.

Abstract

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.