IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v128y2015i4p725-742.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Level of Coherence Among Ethics Program Components and Its Impact on Ethical Intent

Author

Listed:
  • Pablo Ruiz
  • Ricardo Martinez
  • Job Rodrigo
  • Cristina Diaz

Abstract

Three ethics program components, a code of ethics, ethics training initiatives and ethics-oriented performance appraisal content, were examined for their relationship to ethical intent using a sample of 525 employees from the Spanish financial services industry. As expected, all three components contributed to the prediction of ethical intent. Importantly, clusters of employees who reported experiencing distinct combinations of the program components were identified and compared for their level of ethical intent. Employees who perceived all three components to be strongly implemented reported significantly higher levels of ethical intent relative to those who viewed the components as either all weakly implemented or not present. Combinations including training initiatives plus one other element had a similar impact to the fully implemented approach. Contrary to expectations, ethics-oriented performance appraisal content did not relate more strongly to ethical intent than codes of ethics. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Pablo Ruiz & Ricardo Martinez & Job Rodrigo & Cristina Diaz, 2015. "Level of Coherence Among Ethics Program Components and Its Impact on Ethical Intent," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(4), pages 725-742, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:128:y:2015:i:4:p:725-742
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2064-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-014-2064-4
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-014-2064-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. Hossein Safizadeh & Joy M. Field & Larry P. Ritzman, 2008. "Sourcing practices and boundaries of the firm in the financial services industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 79-91, January.
    2. Pablo Ruiz-Palomino & Ricardo Martinez-Cañas, 2011. "Supervisor Role Modeling, Ethics-Related Organizational Policies, and Employee Ethical Intention: The Moderating Impact of Moral Ideology," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(4), pages 653-668, September.
    3. Cropanzano, Russell & Stein, Jordan H., 2009. "Organizational Justice and Behavioral Ethics: Promises and Prospects," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 193-233, April.
    4. Sean Valentine & Philip Varca & Lynn Godkin & Tim Barnett, 2010. "Positive Job Response and Ethical Job Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 195-206, January.
    5. Sean Valentine & David Hollingworth, 2012. "Moral Intensity, Issue Importance, and Ethical Reasoning in Operations Situations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(4), pages 509-523, July.
    6. Valentine, Sean & Greller, Martin M. & Richtermeyer, Sandra B., 2006. "Employee job response as a function of ethical context and perceived organization support," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(5), pages 582-588, May.
    7. Cohen-Charash, Yochi & Spector, Paul E., 2001. "The Role of Justice in Organizations: A Meta-Analysis," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 278-321, November.
    8. Bryan W Husted & Janelle Brinker Dozier & J Timothy McMahon & Michael W Kattan, 1996. "The Impact of Cross-National Carriers of Business Ethics on Attitudes about Questionable Practices and Form of Moral Reasoning," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(2), pages 391-411, June.
    9. Sean Valentine & Gary Fleischman, 2008. "Ethics Programs, Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and Job Satisfaction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 77(2), pages 159-172, January.
    10. Sean Valentine & Terri Rittenburg, 2007. "The Ethical Decision Making of Men and Women Executives in International Business Situations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 71(2), pages 125-134, March.
    11. Muel Kaptein, 2009. "Ethics Programs and Ethical Culture: A Next Step in Unraveling Their Multi-Faceted Relationship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(2), pages 261-281, October.
    12. Satish Deshpande & Jacob Joseph & Rashmi Prasad, 2006. "Factors Impacting Ethical Behavior in Hospitals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 69(2), pages 207-216, December.
    13. Jovanovic, Spoma & Wood, Roy V., 2007. "Dialectical Interactions: Decoupling and Integrating Ethics in Ethics Initiatives," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 217-238, April.
    14. Weber, James, 1993. "Institutionalizing Ethics Into Business Organizations: A Model and Research Agenda," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(4), pages 419-436, October.
    15. B. Elango & Karen Paul & Sumit Kundu & Shishir Paudel, 2010. "Organizational Ethics, Individual Ethics, and Ethical Intentions in International Decision-Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(4), pages 543-561, December.
    16. Muel Kaptein & Mark Schwartz, 2008. "The Effectiveness of Business Codes: A Critical Examination of Existing Studies and the Development of an Integrated Research Model," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 77(2), pages 111-127, January.
    17. Naresh K. Malhotra & Sung S. Kim & Ashutosh Patil, 2006. "Common Method Variance in IS Research: A Comparison of Alternative Approaches and a Reanalysis of Past Research," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(12), pages 1865-1883, December.
    18. Treviño, Linda Klebe & Weaver, Gary R. & Brown, Michael E., 2008. "It’s Lovely at the Top: Hierarchical Levels, Identities, and Perceptions of Organizational Ethics," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 233-252, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anna Remišová & Anna Lašáková & Alexandra Bohinská, 2019. "Reasons of Unethical Business Practices in Slovakia: The Perspective of Non-Governmental Organizations' Representatives," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 67(2), pages 565-581.
    2. Christian Hauser, 2019. "Fighting Against Corruption: Does Anti-corruption Training Make Any Difference?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 281-299, September.
    3. Sean R. Valentine & Sheila K. Hanson & Gary M. Fleischman, 2019. "The Presence of Ethics Codes and Employees’ Internal Locus of Control, Social Aversion/Malevolence, and Ethical Judgment of Incivility: A Study of Smaller Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(3), pages 657-674, December.
    4. Anna Remišová & Anna Lašáková & Zuzana Kirchmayer, 2019. "Influence of Formal Ethics Program Components on Managerial Ethical Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 151-166, November.
    5. Thomas Stöber & Peter Kotzian & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2019. "Design matters: on the impact of compliance program design on corporate ethics," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 12(2), pages 383-424, December.
    6. Madeleine Feder & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2019. "Understanding the behavioral gap: Why would managers (not) engage in CSR-related activities?," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 95-126, April.
    7. Maira Babri & Bruce Davidson & Sven Helin, 2021. "An Updated Inquiry into the Study of Corporate Codes of Ethics: 2005–2016," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 71-108, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Muel Kaptein, 2015. "The Effectiveness of Ethics Programs: The Role of Scope, Composition, and Sequence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 415-431, December.
    2. Pablo Ruiz-Palomino & Ricardo Martínez-Cañas, 2014. "Ethical Culture, Ethical Intent, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Moderating and Mediating Role of Person–Organization Fit," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 120(1), pages 95-108, March.
    3. Valentine Sean & Godkin Lynn, 2016. "Ethics policies, perceived social responsibility, and positive work attitude," The Irish Journal of Management, Sciendo, vol. 35(2), pages 114-128.
    4. Thomas Stöber & Peter Kotzian & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2019. "Design matters: on the impact of compliance program design on corporate ethics," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 12(2), pages 383-424, December.
    5. Raymond O. S. Zaal & Ronald J. M. Jeurissen & Edward A. G. Groenland, 2019. "Organizational Architecture, Ethical Culture, and Perceived Unethical Behavior Towards Customers: Evidence from Wholesale Banking," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 825-848, September.
    6. Pablo Ruiz-Palomino & Ricardo Martínez-Cañas & Joan Fontrodona, 2013. "Ethical Culture and Employee Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Person-Organization Fit," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 173-188, August.
    7. Sean Valentine & Seong-Hyun Nam & David Hollingworth & Callie Hall, 2014. "Ethical Context and Ethical Decision Making: Examination of an Alternative Statistical Approach for Identifying Variable Relationships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 509-526, October.
    8. Sean R. Valentine & Sheila K. Hanson & Gary M. Fleischman, 2019. "The Presence of Ethics Codes and Employees’ Internal Locus of Control, Social Aversion/Malevolence, and Ethical Judgment of Incivility: A Study of Smaller Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(3), pages 657-674, December.
    9. Michael S. McLeod & G. Tyge Payne & Robert E. Evert, 2016. "Organizational Ethics Research: A Systematic Review of Methods and Analytical Techniques," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 429-443, March.
    10. Kaptein, S.P., 2009. "From Symbolic to Substantive Documents: When Business Codes of Ethics Impact Unethical Behavior in the Workplace," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2009-021-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    11. Jocelyn Husser & Jean-Marc Andre & Véronique Lespinet-Najib, 2019. "The Impact of Locus of Control, Moral Intensity, and the Microsocial Ethical Environment on Purchasing-Related Ethical Reasoning," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 243-261, January.
    12. Zou, Lili Wenli & Chan, Ricky Y.K., 2019. "Why and when do consumers perform green behaviors? An examination of regulatory focus and ethical ideology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 113-127.
    13. Kirsten Burkhardt & Pascal Nguyen & Evelyne Poincelot, 2020. "Agents of change: Women in top management and corporate environmental performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1591-1604, July.
    14. Natàlia Cugueró-Escofet & Marion Fortin, 2014. "One Justice or Two? A Model of Reconciliation of Normative Justice Theories and Empirical Research on Organizational Justice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 435-451, October.
    15. Valentine, Sean & Godkin, Lynn, 2019. "Moral intensity, ethical decision making, and whistleblowing intention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 277-288.
    16. Peter Mudrack & E. Mason, 2013. "Dilemmas, Conspiracies, and Sophie’s Choice: Vignette Themes and Ethical Judgments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(3), pages 639-653, December.
    17. Benjamin Van Rooij & Adam Fine, 2018. "Toxic Corporate Culture: Assessing Organizational Processes of Deviancy," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-38, June.
    18. Yanping Li & Jia Xu & Yidong Tu & Xinxin Lu, 2014. "Ethical Leadership and Subordinates’ Occupational Well-Being: A Multi-level Examination in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 116(3), pages 823-842, May.
    19. Carole L. Jurkiewicz & Robert A. Giacalone, 2016. "Organizational Determinants of Ethical Dysfunctionality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 1-12, June.
    20. Weiyin Hong & Frank K. Y. Chan & James Y. L. Thong, 2021. "Drivers and Inhibitors of Internet Privacy Concern: A Multidimensional Development Theory Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 539-564, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:128:y:2015:i:4:p:725-742. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.