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Is Your Banker Leaking Your Personal Information? The Roles of Ethics and Individual-Level Cultural Characteristics in Predicting Organizational Computer Abuse

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  • Paul Lowry
  • Clay Posey
  • Tom Roberts
  • Rebecca Bennett

Abstract

Computer abuse (CA) by employees is a critical concern for managers. Misuse of an organization’s information assets leads to costly damage to an organization’s reputation, decreases in sales, and impositions of fines. We use this opportunity to introduce and expand the theoretic framework proffered by Thong and Yap ( 1998 ) to better understand the factors that lead individuals to commit CA in organizations. The study uses a survey of 449 respondents from the banking, financial, and insurance industries. Our results indicate that individuals who adhere to a formalist ethical perspective are significantly less likely to engage in CA activities than those following a utilitarian ethical framework. In addition, the results provide evidence that employees with individualistic natures are linked to increased CA incidents, whereas collectivist tendencies are associated with decreases in CA behaviors. Our results also show that collectivism acts as a strong moderator that further decreases the relationships between formalism and CA, and utilitarianism and CA. Finally, we offer detailed suggestions on how organizations and researchers can leverage our findings to decrease CA occurrences. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Lowry & Clay Posey & Tom Roberts & Rebecca Bennett, 2014. "Is Your Banker Leaking Your Personal Information? The Roles of Ethics and Individual-Level Cultural Characteristics in Predicting Organizational Computer Abuse," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 385-401, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:121:y:2014:i:3:p:385-401
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1705-3
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    Cited by:

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    3. Kautonen, Teemu & Fredriksson, Antti & Minniti, Maria & Moro, Andrea, 2020. "Trust-based banking and SMEs’ access to credit," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    4. Tang, Ying & Moro, Andrea, 2020. "Trade credit in China: Exploring the link between short term debt and payables," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    5. Scott A. Wright & Guang-Xin Xie, 2019. "Perceived Privacy Violation: Exploring the Malleability of Privacy Expectations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 123-140, April.
    6. Peter E. Mudrack & E. Sharon Mason, 2019. "Utilitarian Traits and the Janus-Headed Model: Origins, Meaning, and Interpretation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 227-240, April.

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