Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Ethical Behavior

Abstract

TThe study examines how corporate social responsibility (CSR) affects employees’ ethical behavior. Specifically, building on the social learning theory, contingency theory and CSR literature, we develop a moderated mediation framework in which we hypothesize that CSR facilitates employee ethical behavior through promoting employees’ organizational commitment, and the effects of organizational commitment on employee ethical behavior are contingent on co-workers’ ethical behavior. Using a sample of 300 employees from listed firms in Ghana, our results confirm that organizational commitment partially mediates the relationship between CSR and employee ethical behavior. Moreover, co-workers’ ethical behavior interacts with organizational commitment to affect employee ethical behavior. These findings provide theoretical and managerial implications for researchers and practitioners attempting to enhance employee ethical behavior. Specifically, this research adds to the instrumentalist perspective of CSR and provides support for social learning theory in CSR by showing that CSR may improve employee ethical behavior.