Abstract
The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the temporal dynamics of ethical organisational culture and how it associates with well-being at work when potential changes in ethical culture are measured over an extended period of 6 years. We used a person-centred study design, which allowed us to detect both typical and atypical patterns of ethical culture stability as well as change among a sample of leaders. Based on latent profile analysis and hierarchical linear modelling we found longitudinal, concurrent relations and cumulative gain and loss cycles between different ethical culture patterns and leaders’ well-being. Leaders in the strongest ethical culture pattern experienced the highest level of work engagement and a decreasing level of ethical dilemmas and stress. Leaders who gave the lowest ratings on ethical culture which also decreased over time reported the highest level of ethical dilemmas, stress, and burnout. They also showed a continuous increase in these negative outcomes over time. Thus, ethical culture has significant cumulative effects on well-being, and these longitudinal effects can be both negative and positive, depending on the experienced strength of the culture’s ethicality.
Highlights
Sustainable and responsible practices in organisations are becoming increasingly significant in today’s working life
We investigated the temporal dynamics in ethical culture evaluations and experienced well-being at work by following the self-evaluations of a sample of leaders across a period of 6 years
Those leaders who experienced ethical culture as being on the weakest level reported less favourable well-being over time, whereas leaders in the strongest ethical culture pattern experienced the highest level of work engagement and a decreasing level of ethical strain
Summary
Sustainable and responsible practices in organisations are becoming increasingly significant in today’s working life. Of the different elements that can support ethical actions within organisations, ethical culture is seen as an important, if not the most important component (Kaptein 2011). It refers to the experiences, presumptions, and perceptions of how unethical behaviour is prevented and how ethical. Kangas et al (2018) showed that a low level of ethical culture predicted turnover over 2-year and 4-year periods. Neither of these investigations identified temporal changes beyond two measurement points. In the current study we used a four-wave, 6-year follow-up data that enabled us to identify different profiles of ethical culture that might include
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