The Impact of Perception of Performance Appraisal and Distributive Justice Fairness on Employees' Ethical Decision Making in Paternalist Organizational Culture

Abstract

Ethics in decision making has been an issue for academics, practitioners, and governmental regulators for decades. In the last decade, numerous scandals and consequently many corporate crises in the global business world have added credence to the criticisms of business ethics. Therefore, it is vital to understand the factors affecting employees' ethical decision making. Culture also has a strong impact on decision making. Paternalism is the combination of strong discipline, subordinate loyalty, and the superior's generous concern for that subordinate, culminating in a more intricate and dominating relationship in the organization. A paternalist culture, by its very nature, has a powerful impact on decision making. Investigating the various factors affecting the decision-making process guides practitioners and managers toward taking the necessary steps to prevent unethical events in the future. In this study, the impacts of positive perception of distributive justice and performance appraisal fairness on employees' ethical decision making in paternalist organizational culture are investigated. The total sample (N = 107) contained white-collar employees working in five small-medium enterprises in Turkey. The data was analyzed using correlation and regression analysis. The results showed only perception of performance appraisal fairness has an impact on employees' ethical decision making. The study concludes by discussing the implications of the results for researchers interested in exploring ethical decision making and performance appraisal systems. Recommendations for future research are also presented.