IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v68y2006i4p409-432.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Examination of the Relationship Between Ethical Work Climate and Moral Awareness

Author

Listed:
  • Craig VanSandt
  • Jon Shepard
  • Stephen Zappe

Abstract

This paper draws from the fields of history, sociology, psychology, moral philosophy, and organizational theory to establish a theoretical connection between a social/organizational influence (ethical work climate) and an individual cognitive element of moral behavior (moral awareness). The research was designed to help to fill a gap in the existing literature by providing empirical evidence of the connection between organizational influences and individual moral awareness and subsequent ethical choices, which has heretofore largely been merely assumed. Results of the study provide evidence that ethical work climate (EWC) is a primary predictor of individual moral awareness, and that the influence of social factors often overrides the effects of individual differences in a work group setting. Implications for future research are provided. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006

Suggested Citation

  • Craig VanSandt & Jon Shepard & Stephen Zappe, 2006. "An Examination of the Relationship Between Ethical Work Climate and Moral Awareness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 68(4), pages 409-432, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:68:y:2006:i:4:p:409-432
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-006-9030-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-006-9030-8
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-006-9030-8?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. Moberg, Dennis J. & Seabright, Mark A., 2000. "The Development of Moral Imagination," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 845-884, October.
    2. Cohen, Deborah Vidaver, 1995. "Creating ethical work climates: A socioeconomic perspective," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 317-343.
    3. Treviño, Linda Klebe & Butterfield, Kenneth D. & McCabe, Donald L., 1998. "The Ethical Context in Organizations: Influences on Employee Attitudes and Behaviors," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 447-476, July.
    4. Jones, Thomas M. & Ryan, Lori Verstegen, 1998. "The Effect of Organizational Forces on Individual Morality: Judgment, Moral Approbation, and Behavior," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 431-445, July.
    5. Shepard, Jon M. & Shepard, Jon & Wimbush, James C. & Stephens, Carroll U., 1995. "The Place of Ethics in Business: Shifting Paradigms?," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(3), pages 577-601, July.
    6. Johnson, Richard A. & Neelankavil, James P. & Jadhav, Arvind, 1986. "Developing the executive resource," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 29-33.
    7. Thomas M. Jones & Lori Verstegen Ryan, 1997. "The Link Between Ethical Judgment and Action in Organizations: A Moral Approbation Approach," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(6), pages 663-680, December.
    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. Lynn Godkin, 2015. "Mid-Management, Employee Engagement, and the Generation of Reliable Sustainable Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 15-28, August.
    2. Sebastian Goebel & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2017. "The Relationship Between Informal Controls, Ethical Work Climates, and Organizational Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 505-528, March.
    3. Kubilay Gok & John J. Sumanth & William H. Bommer & Ozgur Demirtas & Aykut Arslan & Jared Eberhard & Ali Ihsan Ozdemir & Ahmet Yigit, 2017. "You May Not Reap What You Sow: How Employees’ Moral Awareness Minimizes Ethical Leadership’s Positive Impact on Workplace Deviance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(2), pages 257-277, December.
    4. Ahmed Musbah & Christopher J. Cowton & David Tyfa, 2016. "The Role of Individual Variables, Organizational Variables and Moral Intensity Dimensions in Libyan Management Accountants’ Ethical Decision Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 335-358, March.
    5. K. Praveen Parboteeah & Matthias Weiss & Martin Hoegl, 2024. "Ethical Climates Across National Contexts: A Meta-Analytical Investigation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(3), pages 573-590, January.
    6. K. Parboteeah & Hsien Chen & Ying-Tzu Lin & I-Heng Chen & Amber Lee & Anyi Chung, 2010. "Establishing Organizational Ethical Climates: How Do Managerial Practices Work?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(4), pages 599-611, December.
    7. Agnihotri, Arpita & Bhattacharya, Saurabh & Gupta, Suraksha, 2023. "Do morally disengaged employees withdraw from customer-oriented citizenship behavior in response to customers’ uncivil behavior?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    8. Rachel E. Sturm, 2017. "Decreasing Unethical Decisions: The Role of Morality-Based Individual Differences," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 37-57, April.
    9. Nicole Andreoli & Joel Lefkowitz, 2009. "Individual and Organizational Antecedents of Misconduct in Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(3), pages 309-332, March.
    10. Diana M. Hechavarría & Steven A. Brieger, 2022. "Practice rather than preach: cultural practices and female social entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 1131-1151, February.
    11. Kristen DeTienne & Bradley Agle & James Phillips & Marc-Charles Ingerson, 2012. "The Impact of Moral Stress Compared to Other Stressors on Employee Fatigue, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(3), pages 377-391, October.
    12. Sora Lee & Jaewon Yoo, 2021. "What Makes Employees Behave Innovatively? Empirical Evidence from South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-17, December.
    13. James Weber & Virginia Gerde, 2011. "Organizational Role and Environmental Uncertainty as Influences on Ethical Work Climate in Military Units," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 100(4), pages 595-612, June.
    14. Ernest Kumi, 2013. "Are Demographic Variables Predictors of Work Deviant Behavior?," International Journal of Management Sciences, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 1(1), pages 1-10.
    15. Selma Kadic-Maglajlic & Milena Micevski & Nick Lee & Nathaniel Boso & Irena Vida, 2019. "Three Levels of Ethical Influences on Selling Behavior and Performance: Synergies and Tensions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(2), pages 377-397, May.
    16. David Dawson, 2018. "Organisational Virtue, Moral Attentiveness, and the Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility in Business: The Case of UK HR Practitioners," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(4), pages 765-781, April.
    17. Paramita, Widya & Zulfa, Naila & Rostiani, Rokhima & Widyaningsih, Yulia A. & Sholihin, Mahfud, 2021. "Ethics support through rapport: Elaborating the impact of service provider rapport on ethical behaviour intention of the tourists," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    18. Shinaj Valangattil Shamsudheen & Aishath Muneeza, 2022. "Depicting ethical dilemma in Islamic financial institutions; addressing the gender heterogeneity," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(1), pages 29-54, March.
    19. Evelyne Rousselet & Bérangère Brial & Romain Cadario & Amina Béji-Bécheur, 2020. "Moral Intensity, Issue Characteristics, and Ethical Issue Recognition in Sales Situations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 347-363, May.
    20. Mustafa Fedai Cavus & Mehmet Bicer, 2016. "Relationship between Organizational Ethical Climate and Innovative Behavior: An Example from Turkey," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 6(10), pages 117-127, October.
    21. John Pearce, 2013. "Using Social Identity Theory to Predict Managers’ Emphases on Ethical and Legal Values in Judging Business Issues," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 497-514, February.

    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. Sebastian Goebel & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2017. "The Relationship Between Informal Controls, Ethical Work Climates, and Organizational Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 505-528, March.
    2. Michael O’Fallon & Kenneth Butterfield, 2011. "Moral Differentiation: Exploring Boundaries of the “Monkey See, Monkey Do” Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(3), pages 379-399, September.
    3. Shamas-ur-Rehman Toor & George Ofori, 2009. "Ethical Leadership: Examining the Relationships with Full Range Leadership Model, Employee Outcomes, and Organizational Culture," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(4), pages 533-547, December.
    4. David Desplaces & David Melchar & Laura Beauvais & Susan Bosco, 2007. "The Impact of Business Education on Moral Judgment Competence: An Empirical Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 73-87, August.
    5. Mark S. Schwartz, 2016. "Ethical Decision-Making Theory: An Integrated Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(4), pages 755-776, December.
    6. Guillaume Mercier & Ghislain Deslandes, 2017. "There are no Codes, Only Interpretations. Practical Wisdom and Hermeneutics in Monastic Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(4), pages 781-794, November.
    7. Dennis Moberg & David Caldwell, 2007. "An Exploratory Investigation of the Effect of Ethical Culture in Activating Moral Imagination," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 193-204, June.
    8. Leslie Sekerka & Debra Comer & Lindsey Godwin, 2014. "Positive Organizational Ethics: Cultivating and Sustaining Moral Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(4), pages 435-444, February.
    9. Muel Kaptein, 2022. "How Much You See Is How You Respond: The Curvilinear Relationship Between the Frequency of Observed Unethical Behavior and The Whistleblowing Intention," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(4), pages 857-875, February.
    10. Schaumberg, Rebecca L. & Wiltermuth, Scott S., 2014. "Desire for a positive moral self-regard exacerbates escalation of commitment to initiatives with prosocial aims," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 110-123.
    11. McVea, John F., 2009. "A field study of entrepreneurial decision-making and moral imagination," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 491-504, September.
    12. Alleyne, Philmore & Haniffa, Roszaini & Hudaib, Mohammad, 2019. "Does group cohesion moderate auditors’ whistleblowing intentions?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 69-90.
    13. Amy Verbos & Joseph Gerard & Paul Forshey & Charles Harding & Janice Miller, 2007. "The Positive Ethical Organization: Enacting a Living Code of Ethics and Ethical Organizational Identity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 76(1), pages 17-33, November.
    14. Mingfeng Tang & Mei Mei & Cuiwen Li & Xingyang Lv & Xushuang Li & Lihao Wang, 2020. "How does an individual’s default behavior on an online peer-to-peer lending platform influence an observer’s default intention?," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 6(1), pages 1-20, December.
    15. Ante Glavas & Lindsey Godwin, 2013. "Is the Perception of ‘Goodness’ Good Enough? Exploring the Relationship Between Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Organizational Identification," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 15-27, April.
    16. Silvija Vig & Ksenija Dumicic, 2016. "Impact of commitment to business ethics to nonfinancial business performance," Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, Croatian Interdisciplinary Society Provider Homepage: http://indecs.eu, vol. 14(2), pages 165-181.
    17. Karen Jehn & Elizabeth Scott, 2008. "Perceptions of Deception: Making Sense of Responses to Employee Deceit," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 80(2), pages 327-347, June.
    18. Shafer, William E., 2008. "Ethical climate in Chinese CPA firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(7-8), pages 825-835.
    19. Eva Tsahuridu, 2011. "An Exploration of Factors Affecting Work Anomia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(2), pages 297-305, March.
    20. Xin Liu & Byron Y. Lee & Tae-Yeol Kim & Yaping Gong & Xiaoming Zheng, 2023. "Double-Edged Effects of Creative Personality on Moral Disengagement and Unethical Behaviors: Dual Motivational Mechanisms and a Situational Contingency," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(2), pages 449-466, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ethical work climate; moral awareness;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:68:y:2006:i:4:p:409-432. 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.