"The Roles of Power, Status, and Culture in Organizational Corruption"

Abstract

To better understand organizational corruption, this paper investigates different roles of power and status in affecting corruption from the perspective of common interest. According to social exchange theory and entitlement theory, as well as the cultural construal of relationships, we put forward competing hypotheses to explore the influence of individuals’ status position on their corrupt behavior in organization. To test these hypotheses, we designed a four-condition (high-power vs. low- power á high-status vs. low-status) scenario study and tested it in different cultural contexts. Our results show an interacting effect of power and status on corruption that varies by culture. Specifically, in the Chinese cultural context, low-status leaders with high power are more likely to engage in corrupt behavior, whereas high-status leaders with high power are more likely to do so in a Western cultural context. These findings expand the theoretical research about power, status and corruption, and provide practical insights on managing organizational corruption.