Ethical Scandals Research Articles

Curbing unethical pro-organizational behavior with high-performance work systems: Test of an uncertainty reduction mechanism

The interest in unethical behavior in organizations has grown over the past decades as ethical scandals have become mainstream. However, research on how organizational practices may prevent these behaviors is still scarce, particularly for those behaviors that are unethical but also benefit the organization. Across two studies guided by Uncertainty Reduction Theory, we examine the relationship between high-performance work systems and unethical pro-organizational behavior via perceptions of politics. In study 1 (N = 244), we found support for the indirect effect using a time-lagged design. In study 2 (N = 809), we confirmed our mediation hypothesis using unethical pro-organizational behaviors rated by the supervisor and reiterated the role played by perceptions of politics, by ruling out job insecurity as a second potential uncertainty reduction mechanism. Taken together, these findings have important theoretical and practical implications as they consistently demonstrate that high-performance work systems reduce uncertainty regarding the internal functioning of the organization (reflected in perceptions of politics), and by doing so, decrease the extent to which employees engage in unethical behaviors in favor of the organization.

Codes of Ethics as a Marketing Communication Tool: The Impact of Codes of Ethics on the Behaviour and Appearance of Employees

Codes of ethics are crucial in communicating and building the values of organisations and their employees. This research study focuses on exploring various aspects of ethical behaviour and the impact of ethical constraints on employee performance in organisations. In the context of the growing importance of business ethics and human resource management, this study statistically identifies differences between organisations based on their ethical characteristics and strategies. The integration of ethics into corporate strategy is found to have an impact on the permissible behaviour and appearance of employees, with past ethical scandals leading to more stringent measures. In addition, the length and updating of the code of ethics affect the control over certain aspects of employee behaviour. These results underscore the importance of codes of ethics as tools for communication as well as for managing employee ethics and behaviour. They also highlight the role of multinational corporations in the diffusion of these practices and their impact on smaller market players, as well as the importance of managing workplace constraints. In conclusion, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of ethical practices and their importance within organisations.

Do entrepreneurs mistreat probationary employees? The mediating role of perceived ethical climate and moderating roles of core job characteristics

PurposeRecent high-profile ethical scandals in start-up organizations have made people wonder whether entrepreneurship may cultivate a work environment with less emphasis on ethics. This study examined a psychological process about how an organization’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO) can affect its treatment of probationary employees, a vulnerable yet understudied group of workers.Design/methodology/approachThe authors recruited 241 participants through Amazon Mechanical Turk. They answered an online survey about their experiences as probationary employees.FindingsThis study found that job feedback and meaning moderated the relationship between EO and ethical climate, such that this relationship was statistically significant and positive only among participants who reported high levels of feedback and job meaning. Ethical climate, in turn, was found to be related to a reduction in workplace incivility experienced by probationary employees. The indirect effect of EO on incivility via ethical climate was contingent on job feedback and meaning.Research limitations/implicationsThis study extends the discussion on the entrepreneurial context, adds to EO literature with findings on its indirect effect on nonfinancial performance and reinforces institutional theory through job characteristics’ moderating roles. However, a methodological limitation is conducting a cross-sectional single-source survey due to limited access to firms and probationary employees, considering the hidden population involved.Practical implicationsThis study found no evidence of probationary employee exploitation in high EO organizations. Job seekers should embrace probationary work at start-ups. Entrepreneurial leaders should balance being proactive, innovative and caring toward employees.Originality/valueIt is debatable whether entrepreneurship leads to unethical organizational conduct. By studying a vulnerable group of employees, the authors discovered that EO, when paired with favorable job design factors, can create a more ethical workplace where temporary talents are treated with dignity and respect.

Motivates that Influence Sharia Accounting Students to Become Auditors

The purpose of this research is to gather data on factors such as accounting knowledge, professional training, market considerations, and ethical scandals related to the interest of Sharia accounting students in pursuing a career as auditors. This research employs a quantitative approach with purposive sampling as the method of data collection, primarily through surveys. The data is analyzed using descriptive statistics, data testing, classical assumptions, and hypothesis testing techniques. The findings of the research indicate that factors such as accounting knowledge, professional training, and ethical scandals have an impact on the desire of Sharia accounting students to become auditors. However, the variable of market considerations does not influence the willingness of Sharia accounting students to pursue a career as auditors. This research contributes to the field by shedding light on the motivations and influences that drive Sharia accounting students to choose a career as auditors. It adds valuable insights into the factors that impact their career choices within the context of ethical considerations and professional development.

Chasing the Numinous: Hungry Ghosts in the Shadow of the Psychedelic Renaissance.

In recent years a renewed scientific, public and commercial interest in psychedelic medicines can be observed across the globe. As research findings have been generally promising, there is hope for new treatment possibilities for a number of difficult-to-treat mental health concerns. While honouring positive developments and therapeutic promise in relation to the medical use of psychedelics, this paper aims to shine a light on some underlying psycho-cultural shadow dynamics in the unfolding psychedelic renaissance. This paper explores whether and how the multi-layered collective fascination with psychedelics may yet be another symptom pointing towards a deeper psychological and spiritual malaise in the modern Western psyche as diagnosed by C. G. Jung. The question is posed whether the West's feverish pursuit of psychedelic medicines-from individual consumption to entheogenic tourism, from capitalist commodification of medicines and treatments to the increasing number of ethical scandals and abuse through clinicians and self-proclaimed shamans-is related to a Western cultural complex. As part of the discussion, the archetypal image of the Hungry Ghost, known across Asian cultural and religious traditions, is explored to better understand the aforementioned shadow phenomena and point towards mitigating possibilities.

Falling from Grace: Slow-fast Stereotyping and Ethical Scandals in the Fashion Industry

Falling from Grace: Slow-fast Stereotyping and Ethical Scandals in the Fashion Industry

Don’t blame the powerless: The impact of hierarchy on reactions to responses to ethical scandals

We examine consumer reactions to the blaming of higher-level (e.g., upper managers) vs. lower-level (e.g., sales associates) employees for an ethical scandal. Using a multi-methods approach involving interviews and three experiments, we find support for a series of insights: (1) consumers are biased toward attributing greater responsibility for an ethical scandal to higher-level vs. lower-level employees; (2) consumers hold more favorable attitudes regarding the company when the CEO places the blame on the higher- (vs. lower-) level employees; (3) consumers, even when parties are considered equally responsible, react more positively to a company that blames higher-level employees; (4) the effect of blaming higher-level employees is only observed among those more dispositioned to reject hierarchical differences (i.e., individuals low on power distance beliefs).

Impact of ethical leadership, HRM practices and ethical climate on organizational citizenship behaviors in Nigerian local governments

PurposeThe increasing number of ethical scandals reported in many public organizations all over the world, highlighted the need for more in-depth studies on the influence of ethical leadership and management practices in the public sector organizations. This study examines the link (direct and indirect) between ethical leadership, HRM practices, ethical climate and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) within the context of Nigerian local governments.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional design was adopted and data for the study was collected quantitatively by administering questionnaires to supervisors/leaders and their respective employees/subordinates. A total of 270 participants comprising 135 leaders/supervisors who are head of departments and another 135 employee/subordinates participated in the study. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used in testing the hypotheses.FindingsThe findings show that ethical leadership, HRM practices and ethical climate significantly affect OCBs. Also, the study shows that ethical climate mediated both the relationships between ethical leadership and OCBs, and HRM practices and OCBs respectively. Thus, the study concluded that both ethical leadership and HRM practices can influence OCBs directly and also indirectly through ethical climate.Practical implicationsThe study empirically delineates the importance of ethical leadership, HRM practices and ethical climate in promoting more OCBs within the context of Nigerian local governments. Therefore, managers/administrators should encourage ethical leadership style, and implement good HRM practices and promote ethical climate within their organization so as to boost their employees' OCBs.Originality/valueThe findings of this study will contribute to the understanding of the relationships between ethical leadership, HRM practices, ethical climate and OCBs in the public sector organizations within Nigeria. The findings will also provide additional support that ethical climate is an important mechanism on the relationship between ethical leadership and HRM practices on OCBs.

Under the influence: The celebrity factor in policy capture

AbstractCelebrity is a form of policy influence that can occur under distinctive circumstances. This paper draws on the regulatory/policy capture literature to develop a model of celebrity capture that explains how interest groups can affect policy in the absence of economic clout or constituency mobilization. We posit that the likelihood of celebrity capture increases when several factors align: (1) a context open to change; (2) reduced oversight in decisionmaking processes; (3) organizations that have credibility and a halo effect due to their celebrity status; and (4) an uncoordinated sector with weak intermediary organizations. The analysis applies process tracing to account for the success of one celebrity‐founded and celebrity‐led organization, WE Charity, in shaping the design and being awarded sole‐source implementation of the CAD $543 million Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) program during COVID‐19. The CSSG, which proposed to pay up to 100,000 students to “volunteer” in nonprofits over the course of a summer, quickly failed and became a public ethical scandal.

How did the disclosure of lobbying targeting Quebec's hospitals become mandatory and with what effect?

AbstractIn 2015 mandatory disclosure activity for lobbying that targeted health and social service centres in Quebec, a sector which consumes a significant share of the annual spending budget, suddenly became a mandatory disclosure activity for lobbyists operating in the province. This research note traces the trajectory of key events that led to this shift towards greater lobbying transparency in the health care sector. The study also analyzes whether this change was followed by increased lobbying registrations for activities targeting health sector institutions. The article's findings suggest that significant change in lobbying regulation may occur accidentally, against the government's will, rather than as a result of an ethical scandal, cross‐jurisdictional learning, or electoral calculations, as the literature suggests. The article's findings also show that the change was followed by an increase of about 969 registered firm lobbyists (p‐value 0.015) and 254 registered lobbyists from covered NGOs (p‐value 0.00).

Ethical Leadership and Employees’ Ethical Behavior

Ethical scandals, as well as unethical behaviour, are becoming major concerns in recent times. Thus, this study focused on the role of ethical climate and employees’ moral identity. Specifically, this study examined the mediation effect of ethical climate on the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ ethical behaviour. Also, the study investigated the moderating role of employee moral identity on the relationship between ethical climate and employees’ ethical behaviour. Data were collected from 620 full-time employees working at thirty-three Iraqi organisations from five Iraqi provinces. These organisations were from various industry sectors such as manufacturing, retailing, medical, insurance, information technology, legal, finance, and telecommunication sectors. The study found that ethical leadership impacted on the ethical behaviour of employees and the ethical climate also significantly mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ ethical behaviour. The moderating role of moral identity on the relationship between ethical climate and ethical behaviour was found to be insignificant in this context.

Contribution of Islamic Management In Building Ethics In Organizations

Ethical misconduct and business scandals caused millions of dollars in losses, left behind damaged organizations, forced them to close their business and left thousands employees jobless without any future guarantee or security. This incident has left scholars and managers asking what role they might have played to curb these ethical scandals and what role they can play in the solutions. Scholar and managers collectively have responded to the ethical challenges that we face in organizational life. Some scholarship assesses the current state of ethics in management education, helping us to diagnose and tackle the realities of unethical behavior. Part of the solution to this problem is to design and develop courses and programs in a better way, integrate business and management learning with ethical conduct. Scholars should focus on which standards should be advanced. Indeed, what connects these diverse discussion is a clear recognition that educational components designed to solve the ethical quandaries we face will require a multifaceted and comprehensive approach. Religions and philosophical schools of thought have always played a significant role in the development of human values and behavior which has a great impact to business and corporate management. Research also suggests that the encouragement of religious principles in business can lead to benefits in the areas of creativity, honesty and trust, personal fulfillment, and commitment, which will ultimately lead to increased corporate and business performance. It is where Islamic Management come into place where the foundations, principles, and practices will give impact in developing ethical standard to organizations. Islamic Management will bring students and managers back to basic where they cannot put aside the role of religion in safeguarding management practices in organization.

Teacher ethics in the Tanzanian context and their implications

Evidence about how teachers' unethical practices shape and reshape their professional lives is scarcely available. This study employed a qualitative approach in order to gain insights into the extent to which the ethical scandals of teachers affect their profession. Document analysis was undertaken, and 18 respondents from one of the regions in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania were interviewed. Findings indicated that teachers’ misconduct compromised their social positioning in terms of their trust and respect, as well as their image of teaching. The article proposes strategies that can enhance the perceived professional well-being of teachers and areas for further investigation.

The critical role that national culture and ethical leadership play in fostering employee commitment to service quality in the hotel industry

ABSTRACT The hotel industry is the most diverse and fastest growing industry in the world, offering its companies tremendous opportunities for international expansion and immersion in different cultures. However, this creates several obstacles that block the way to success. Through the years, the industry has been facing countless ethical scandals, such as national origin discrimination and sexual harassment, among others, which occur due to the lack of ethical leadership. Another major problem for the hotel industry that is directly associated with both the absence of ethical leadership and an ethical cliate is the decreased employee commitment to service quality. Hardly any hospitality studies focused on employee commitment to service quality. Furthermore, only few hospitality studies examined how ethical leadership translates across different cultures and how it affects the ethical climate in organisations. The scope of this study is to stress the importance of ethical leadership and how it can be used to tackle those critical challenges that the hotel industry has been facing. This is a theoretical study offering an in-depth analysis of ethical leadership. The proposed conceptual model is based on existing literature on ethical leadership, ethical climate and employee commitment to service quality. The cultural and cross-cultural issues are carefully examined and their role in leadership is assessed. The study proposes several strategies that could be used to successfully implement strong ethical leadership and foster a positive ethical climate when operating internationally. It also explains how these variables work together to inspire hotel employees and increase their commitment to service quality.

Knowledge Management of Business Ethics in Lithuanian Companies

The never-ending series of ethical scandals in companies in various industries across the countries show that business ethics problems are not diminishing, so means to develop business ethics need to be sought to better serve the interests of stakeholders and society. As in other areas of management, knowledge and understanding of business ethics need to be developed, knowledge accumulated, transferred and applied, and knowledge management models and processes can be applied to this in societal, associative, organizational, and individual levels. Therefore, the aim of the research is to evaluate business ethics knowledge management in order to suggest for companies relevant business ethics knowledge management solutions. The survey is conducted in the case of Lithuanian companies by the method of a quantitative questionnaire survey of companies’ employees. Although the companies demonstrate a high level of ethical knowledge of how to behave in a business environment, the study reveals some gaps in ethical knowledge management related to a mercantilist approach to knowledge management when business ethics knowledge is developed, consolidated, disseminated and applied when corporate representatives see it’s. benefits. However, there is a lack of systematic knowledge sharing and transparency, knowledge accumulation and understanding of how to put ethical knowledge into business in practice. The study show high importance of moral leadership and leading by example in knowledge management of business ethics.

Paved with good intentions: role of situational and dispositional influences on employees’ unethical pro-organizational behavior

PurposeThe rise in the instances of ethical scandals in recent times has brought to light the hitherto ignored phenomenon of unethical proorganizational behavior (UPB) by employees. Drawing upon the social exchange theory, this study aims to examine the role of perceived organizational support (POS) and organizational identification on UPB. The research also investigated the moderating role of core self-evaluation (CSE) and positive reciprocity beliefs.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested with three-wave survey data collected from 306 executives from India. Data was analyzed using mediation and moderated mediation analyses on PROCESS v 3.0 macro.FindingsResults showed that organizational identification mediated the relationship between POS and UPB. Further, CSE and positive reciprocity beliefs were seen to moderate the mediated relationship providing support for the moderated mediation framework.Practical implicationsThe study highlights the importance of clear code of ethics, communication of ethical guidelines and ethical behavior of the managers as some of the ways to reduce the menace of UPB. Further, managers should be more vigilant toward the employees low on CSE and high on positive reciprocity beliefs as they are more prone to engage in UPB given their identification with the organization.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the mediating role of organizational identification in the relationship between POS and UPB. Further, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous study has explored the moderating role of CSE and positive reciprocity beliefs in the aforesaid mediation.

Challenges of managerial responsibility and ethics for Central and East European countries based on the experience from the Czech Republic

The study aims to identify the typical key factors of ethical thinking and behaviour in Central and East European (CEE) countries, and regard them from the experience of privatization and transformation process in the Czech Republic. The background of ethical scandals and dilemmas of CEE countries reflects their roots in socialist education and state-planned economy, which are based on Marxism, which had and has serious consequences. The study describes the main philosophical reasons affecting the managerial limits in the ethical context of business and management behaviour after the transformation period with the apparent challenges in management thinking and executive education for today. The following description and interpretation of the fundamental implications of the presented analysis for managerial responsibility and ethics are discussed with the relevant professional literature that illuminates the personal, social and economic long-term consequences. Cross-country comparisons reflect developments in the European Union, the Amnesty International Corruption Index and other specific influences according to regional sources. Resulting challenges relate to challenges of business and management philosophy in business schools. The conclusion shows the space for the following professional discussion with European partners and PRME signatories regarding the ethical challenges for executive education and sustainability management in CEE. Recent academic publications show that managerial responsibility and ethical behaviour are increasingly in the focus of interest of both academics and company management.

Compelled to Be Ethical: Lessons Learned From the NCAA

Ethical scandals, particularly in the world of business are not a new phenomenon. However, the increase in scandals in the 21st century provoked collective agents, namely the United States government, to undertake efforts to affect a change in the ethical behavior of all businesses regardless of industry. This research looks at the history of another collective agent’s attempts to force a change in the target’s ethical behavior. The long and involved history of one of the largest ethics programs, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) provides an interesting perspective into the influence tactics of a collective agent to affect ethical behavior of a collective target.

How Do Entrepreneurs Treat Probationary Employees: The Moderating Roles of Core Job Characteristics

Recent high-profile ethical scandals in startup organizations make people wonder if entrepreneurship may cultivate a work environment that emphasize less on ethics. Tackling the issue, we investigated how entrepreneurship can affect treatment of probationary employees, the most vulnerable yet under-studied group of workers. This study revisits a research gap about the linkage between firm strategy and firm ethics by examining how entrepreneurship is related to workplace incivility. Our results revealed a positive effect of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on ethical climate, which challenges the notion that EO may lead to a negative ethical climate as it is widely alleged. Ethical climate, in turn, was found to be related to reduced incivility experienced by probationary employees. Core job characteristics (feedback and meaning of work) served as boundary conditions for the effect of EO on incivility through ethical climate, such that this mechanism only held at the presence of those job characteristics.

Ethical leadership and organizational commitment: the dual perspective of social exchange and empowerment

PurposeGiven recent prominent ethical scandals (e.g. Tesla, Uber) and the increasing demand for ethical management, the importance of business ethics has recently surged. One area that needs further research regards how ethical leaders can foster followers’ organizational commitment. Drawing upon social exchange theory, the current research proposes that ethical leadership relates to follower affective and normative commitment through perceived organizational support (POS). Moreover, based on self-determination theory, we expected follower psychological empowerment to positively moderate the relationship between ethical leadership and commitment components.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a three-wave study among employees from multiple organizations (N = 297) in Canada. Structural equations modeling and bootstrapping analyses were applied to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results showed that ethical leadership was positively related to follower affective and normative commitment through POS. Furthermore, the relationship between ethical leadership and POS was stronger at high levels of empowerment. This moderating effect extended to the indirect relationship between ethical leadership and commitment components.Originality/valueThis study counts among the few investigations that have examined the mechanisms linking ethical leadership to followers’ organizational commitment and boundary conditions associated with this relationship. Moreover, our findings were obtained while controlling for transformational leadership, which highlights the incremental validity of ethical leadership.