Unethical Behavior In Organizations 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.

Employee unethical behavior in organizations: A functionalist perspective

ABSTRACT How does unethical behavior of employees manifest in organizations? We answer this question using strain, interest, and ethnos oblige theories in four studies based on data from Ghana and Botswana. We find support across the three theoretical perspectives of a mediated model where strain, interest, and obligation influence unethical behavior via affect and strategies. We also conducted robustness checks using bribery and corruption criterions which support the findings and show more robust effects with ethnos oblige theory than strain and interest theories. We make novel theoretical, empirical, and practical contributions by providing a parsimonious explanation for why employees engage in unethical behavior in Africa. Overall, our studies extend the unethical behavior literature by proposing an integrative model that recognizes the syncretic experiences of employees in Africa.

Does budget target setting lead managers to engage in unethical behavior for the organization?

Recent accounting and management research findings suggest that unethical behavior in organizations can be normalized as a result of management control processes, such as performance evaluations and incentive compensation, and as a result of actions that attempt to serve the organization, such as unethical pro-organizational behavior. We investigate the relationship between budget target setting, which is widely used as a management control practice, and managers' willingness to engage in unethical pro-organizational behavior (WUPB). For our analysis, we used data from a web-based survey of 450 managers in the marketing and sales departments of Japanese firms. We find that (1) there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between budget target difficulty and WUPB, (2) a positive correlation exists between budget target difficulty and flexibility, and budget target difficulty also affects WUPB through budget target flexibility, and (3) differences in managers' influence on budget target setting change the path of influence of budget target difficulty on WUPB. The results suggest that unethical behavior for the organization may result from budget targets set to maximize performance or set flexibly to suit the business environment and the process of achieving them.

How Poor Leadership Skills Elicit Unethical Behavior: Evidence from Public Organizations

Global political and financial entities have witnessed many scandals linked to leaders’ unethical behavior. Previous research suggests that the susceptibility of leaders to act in an unethical way is rooted in various individual, organizational, and social factors. However, unethical leadership is scarcely examined in the context of African countries. This study explores the role of poor leadership skills and qualities in eliciting unethical leadership behavior in Algerian public organizations. Using an exploratory qualitative approach, 15 leaders and managers were included in series of in-depth interviews. The results of the data analysis revealed that poor leadership skills and competencies are critical antecedents of unethical leadership behavior within Algerian public organizations. This study contributes to the ongoing research efforts that seek to identify and minimize the causes of unethical behaviors of leaders across sectors and disciplines. This study provides insights into the construct of unethical leadership and how individual, organizational, and social factors predict leaders’ unethical behavior. While there are many studies on the issue of unethical leadership, research on the potential role of poor leadership skills in eliciting unethical behavior is scarce, especially in Algeria. This study found that there is a strong link between skills and competencies of leaders and their ethical behavior within organizational settings.

How Organizations Lose Their Way

Unethical behavior in organizations has garnered more and more attention in the last decades but most of the scholarly work has used a static approach relying on methodological individualism and a mechanistic worldview when studying this topic. The process of moral disengagement and organizational culture have been linked to the prevalence of unethical behavior earlier, but this paper uses a complexity-informed systems perspective to explore the dynamic relationship of these concepts and aims to improve our understanding of the often unnoticeable, step-by-step process through which organizational cultures can become conducive to unethical behavior. Organizations are conceptualized as complex adaptive systems in which transformative and stabilizing processes based on feedback loops take place continuously. It is discussed how these processes can lead to a phase transition driving organizations towards a state where unethical behavior is the general norm. The process is illustrated through real-life examples.

Perceived Ethical Climate and Unethical Behavior: The Moderating Role of Moral Identity

Unethical behavior in organizations results in significant negative outcomes, including financial impacts such as decreased shareholder value and profitability as well as non-financial impacts such as poor employee morale and reputation. This research empirically examines the moderating role of moral identity on the relation between ethical climate perceptions and unethical behavior as reflected by moral disengagement, unethical pro-organizational behavior, and ethical judgment. Moral identity was hypothesized to moderate the impact of ethical climate on unethical behavior such that higher levels of moral identity reduced the propensity to engage in unethical behavior in all ethical climate types. Moral identity internalization, but not moral identity symbolization, was found to have significant correlations with unethical behavior as well as the predicted moderating effects on the relationships between ethical climates and unethical behavior. Theoretical and practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

Influence of Empowering and Ethical Leadership on Employees’ Job Satisfaction, Performance, and Organization Commitment

Unethical behavior in public and private organizations raises concerns among stakeholders about ethical stand in the workplace. This study aimed to investigate the effect of empowering and ethical leadership on employees' job satisfaction, performance, and organizational commitment. A total of 650 employees were identified from 25 companies in Sulawesi Selatan district, Indonesia. Data were collected through survey study, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. We found that empowered and ethical leaders positively influenced employees' job satisfaction which also bridged the predictor variables to employees' job performance and organizational commitment. Job satisfaction also played a crucial role in mediating the relationship between predictor variables (e.g., empowering and ethical leadership) and employees' job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Following the call for determinants of empowering and ethical behavior, this study provides insights for managers to foster ethical behavior at the workplace.

How Transformational Leadership Engage in Unethical Pro-Group Behavior

Researchers have been more interested in the features and causes of unethical behavior in organizations in recent years. There is limited study on transformational leadership and subordinates' unethical behavior. The goal of this research was to look at the causes of pro-group unethical behavior (PUB). To explore if workplace exclusion has an impact on the link between transformational leadership and PUB, and if moral identity has a moderating role in this relationship. We collected 218 valid questionnaires from Chinese and 250 questionnaires from Korean companies. The present findings suggest that transformational leadership and workplace exclusion can positively influence unethical pro-group behavior for both Chinese and Korean samples. However, the moderating role of moral identity was statistically significant only in Chinese sample.

An Unethical Organizational Behavior for the Sake of the Family: Perceived Risk of Job Insecurity, Family Motivation and Financial Pressures.

In organizations, unethical behaviors are pervasive and costly, and considerable recent research attention has been paid to various types of workplace unethical behavior. This study examines employees’ behaviors that are carried out for the benefit of one’s family but violate societal and organizational moral standards. Drawing upon the self-maintenance and bounded ethicality theories, this study examines the engagement of unethical organization behaviors (UOB) in the name of the family during the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines the influence of job instability and the mediating role of family financial pressure and family motivation. A total of 770 employees in hotels and travel agents in Egypt were targeted, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results posit that perceived risk of job insecurity predicts engagement in unethical organizational behaviors, while intentions of UOB increase by high family motivation and financial pressures. Toward the end of this paper, a discussion on the theoretical and practical implications and are presented.

A Paradox of Ethics: Why People in Good Organizations do Bad Things

This article takes a novel approach to explaining the causes of unethical behavior in organizations. Instead of explaining the unethical behavior of employees in terms of their bad organization, this article examines how a good organization can lead to employees’ unethical behavior. The main idea is that the more ethical an organization becomes, the higher, in some respects, is the likelihood of unethical behavior. This is due to four threatening forces that become stronger when an organization becomes more ethical. These forces are the upward, downward, backward, and forward forces. Each of these forces is illustrated with two effects and each effect is explained by a specific theory. The effects are the effects of the gold digger, high-jump bar, retreating-cat, forbidden-fruit, cheese slicer, moving-spotlight, repeat-prescription, and keeping-up appearances. This paradox of ethics, when goodness breeds badness, opens new research directions.

Unethical Organization Behavior: Antecedents and Consequences in the Tourism Industry.

The entire tourism and hospitality industry has witnessed a considerable increase in the number of ethical difficulties that occur in the workplace. It has been discovered that unethical organizational behavior (UOB) is the most significant category in tourists’ unpleasant experiences, driving them to switch and spread unfavorable word-of-mouth information. This study aims to explore the effects of three contextual factors on UOB (i.e., work intensification, job insecurity, and an unethical company-profit climate) and to investigate its possible employee-related consequences, including the feeling of guilt, emotional exhaustion, and customer-oriented citizenship behavior. A total of 970 employees working in hotels (5-star and 4-star) and travel agencies (Category A) participated, and the obtained data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. The results asserted that work intensification, job insecurity, and an unethical company-profit climate stimulate unethical organizational behavior, and unethical organizational behavior leads to feelings of guilt, emotional exhaustion, and customer-oriented citizenship behavior. Significant insights into theoretical and practical implications were further discussed.

Organizational Routines as a Source of Ethical Blindness

Organizational research has shown that decision-makers can be subject to ethical blindness, a temporary inability to see the ethical dimension of a situation at hand. Previous theoretical approaches have identified organizational routines—recurring multi-actor practices—as important indirect context factors of ethical blindness. The present article argues that earlier theorizing is incomplete. Organizational routines may be a much more direct cause of ethical blindness and they may play a much stronger role in fostering unintentional unethical behavior than is currently acknowledged. As its main contribution, the article synthesizes research on unethical organizational behavior with findings on the micro-foundations of organizational routines to systematically theorize about when and how routines can directly cause ethical blindness. Given that organizational routines are not only a main pillar of organizational research but an indispensable part of organizational life, an increased understanding of their role in creating ethical blindness is of high theoretical and practical relevance. In particular, a routine-based explanation of ethical blindness may help in identifying and counteracting “everyday” unethical practices that are prevalent in modern business organizations.

Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, Unethical Behavior in the Name of the Company: The Role of Job Insecurity, Job Embeddedness, and Turnover Intention.

The worldwide economic crisis initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic certainly altered the perception of regular job insecurity dimensions and brought these to the ultimate level. When employees feel insecure, they may decide to participate in unethical behavior in the name of the company to avoid layoff and become retained employees. This study investigated the relationship between job insecurity and unethical organizational behavior through the mediating role of job embeddedness and turnover intention. A total of 685 employees working in five- and four-star hotels and category A travel agents participated in this study. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Job embeddedness and turnover intention were found to be partially mediated by the impact of job insecurity on unethical organizational behavior. Theoretical and practical implications were identified and discussed.

Forms of ethical dilemmas in industrial-organizational psychology

AbstractProfessional ethics has not been a major focus in industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology—in comparison with our study of unethical behavior in organizations. Consequently, we know very little about ethical situations actually faced by I-O psychologists. This article presents and tests a structural perspective on understanding the nature of ethical dilemmas that can facilitate such study. A taxonomy of five paradigmatic forms of ethical dilemmas is defined and placed in a theoretical context. Narrative descriptions of 292 ethical situations were obtained from a sample of 228 professional members of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) in the United States and were used to empirically test the taxonomy. The narratives were content analyzed for form of dilemma, work domain of occurrence, relevance to human resource administration concerns, and favorability of the situation’s resolution. The work domains that were most problematic were academic research/publication activities, individual assessment/assessment centers, consulting issues regarding the client, and academic supervising/mentoring. There were no significant differences as a function of respondents’ sex, seniority, or professional membership status (member/fellow). This relatively “content free” structural aspect of ethical dilemmas enables comparisons across different domains (of professions, organizations, demographic groups, age cohorts, etc.) in which the overt idiosyncratic ethical problems experienced are not commensurable. Similarly, it can yield interpretable longitudinal comparisons despite changes in the manifestations of ethical problems encountered over time.

Behavioral Ethics: Challenging Fundamental Assumptions and Insights in the Field

Business ethics has emerged as one of the most critical issues confronting society, and a substantial literature in behavioral ethics provides important insights into ethical decision making in organizations. In this symposium, we challenge some of the fundamental assumptions and insights in this literature. In a series of papers, we demonstrate that though prior research provides important insights into ethical perceptions, ethical decision making, and unethical behavior in organizations, many characteristics and relationships remain uncertain. In all, our symposium pushes the boundaries of the field of behavioral ethics, raises important theoretical, empirical, and methodological questions, and prompts the need for more research on ethical decision making and unethical behavior in organizations. The Link Between Effort and Dishonesty Presenter: Samuel Skowronek; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Maurice Schweitzer; U. of Pennsylvania Honesty in Organizations Presenter: Binyamin Cooper; Carnegie Mellon U. Presenter: Taya R. Cohen; Carnegie Mellon U. - Tepper School of Business Presenter: Elizabeth Huppert; U. Of Chicago Presenter: Emma Levine; U. Of Chicago Presenter: William Fleeson; Wake Forest U. How to Reduce Unethical Behavior & Increase Voice: The Role of Moral Ownership & Perspective-Taking Presenter: Danielle E. Warren; Rutgers U. Presenter: Öykü Arkan; Rutgers Business School Tainted by Affiliation: How Cognitive Style Shapes Spillover Effects Presenter: Rebecca Chae; Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara U. Presenter: Yong H. Kim; Texas A&M U. Presenter: Julia Lee Cunningham; U. of Michigan Economic Inequality Increases the Acceptability of Others’ Unethical Behavior Presenter: Christopher To; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Presenter: Dylan Wiwad; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Presenter: Maryam Kouchaki; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Strategic Moral Advice Seeking and Taking: A Theoretical Model and Propositions Presenter: Joseph P. Gaspar; Quinnipiac U. Presenter: Redona Methasani; U. of Connecticut

Dishonesty and risk-taking: Compliance decisions of individuals and groups

• Unethical behavior is usually associated with the risk of negative consequences. • However, the experimental literature so far focused mainly on environments that involve no fines. • We study ethical behavior of individuals and small groups in a compliance setting. • Our results show that groups are clearly less compliant than individuals. • The risk of being detected is the most important aspect in the group communication. Unethical behavior in organizations is usually associated with the risk of negative consequences for the organization and for the involved managers if being detected. The existing experimental literature in economics has so far focused mainly on the analysis of unethical behavior in environments that involve no fines or similar monetary consequences. In the current paper, we use a tax compliance framework to study (un-)ethical behavior of individuals and small groups. Our results show that groups are clearly less compliant than individuals. The risk of being detected is the most important aspect in the group communication process when deciding on compliance.

Whistle-Blowing Systems in the Indonesian Ministry of Health: An Evidence of Health Law Reform in Developing Country

Background and Objectives: The current whistleblowing system has not been proven to help limit unethical behavior in organizations. This study examines the influence of the whistleblowing system in the Ministry of Health's civil servants on organizational commitment, organizational culture, whistleblower protection, professional attitudes, internal reporting, external reporting, anonymity, and use of hotlines.
 Methodology: This research was conducted at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia. This study used a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional design. Sampling was carried out using probability sampling techniques with proportional random sampling. The sample population consisted of 98 people at the Directorate General of Health Development, Human Resources Development and Empowerment of the Ministry of Health, the Directorate General of Disease Control and Prevention, and the Directorate General of Pharmacy and Health. Data analysis was performed using chi-square and logistic regression.
 Results: The results obtained indicate that the intentions of State Civil Servants within the Ministry of Health are related to their perceptions of professionalism and internal reporting.
 Conclusion: The employees' perceptions of external and anonymous reporting are not related to the purpose of the whistleblowing system for employees of the Ministry of Health's State Civil Apparatus.
 Suggestion: It is recommended that the Inspectorate General of the Ministry of Health move the reporting mechanism into the Ministry of Health Whistleblowing System application for easy access so that the Inspectorate General establishes standard operating procedures on legal protection and clarification for whistleblowers.

Recruiting Dark Personalities for Earnings Management

Prior research indicates that managers’ dark personality traits increase their tendency to engage in disruptive and unethical organizational behaviors including accounting earnings management. Other research suggests that the prevalence of dark personalities in management may represent an accidental byproduct of selecting managers with accompanying desirable attributes that fit the stereotype of a “strong leader.” Our paper posits that organizations may hire some managers who have dark personality traits because their willingness to push ethical boundaries aligns with organizational objectives, particularly in the accounting context where ethical considerations are especially important. Using several validation studies and experiments, we find that experienced executives and recruiting professionals favor hiring a candidate with dark personality traits into an accounting management position over an otherwise better-qualified candidate when the hiring organization faces pressure to manage earnings. Our results help to illuminate why individuals with dark personality traits may effectively compete for high-level accounting positions.

Can Corporate Ethics Programs Reduce Unethical Behavior? Threat Appraisal or Coping Appraisal

While a corporate ethics program is expected to reduce employees’ unethical behavior, understanding the effects of the ethics program elements on reducing the unethical behavior is a crucial issue. This study aims to explore how a corporate ethics program with multiple control elements, including punishment, monitoring, internal reporting, code of ethics, ethics support service and ethics training, influence employees’ threat appraisal process, coping appraisal process and unethical behavior at workplaces. The data to verify proposed research hypotheses were collected by administering questionnaire survey on four autonomous government organizations in Bangladesh. Research findings show that only punishment and monitoring have significantly negative relationships with unethical behavior. Monitoring and internal reporting have significantly positive relationships with threat appraisal. The code of ethics, ethics support service and ethics training are associated positively with coping appraisal. The mediation results reveal that coping appraisal mediates the relationship between ethics program elements and unethical behavior; but the mediation effects of threat appraisal are not significant. This study provides valuable insights into how a corporate ethics program with multiple control elements reduces employees’ unethical behavior as well as how employees’ threat and coping appraisal processes are related to the corporate ethics program and unethical behavior in organizations.

Ethics Position and Leadership Style in a Mayor's Office.

.Introduction: Recent cases of unethical behavior in organizations indicate the need to carry out empirical research about it. Objective: Determine the existence of a relationship between ethics and leadership, demanded by society and prescribed by various academic theories.Method: For this reason, through the conduction of non-experimental, cross-sectional, quantitative research, it is sought to make a process of falsification of the theoretical proposals in the context of a municipal mayoralty. In the development of the research, the responses of 219 leaders were satisfactorily received, answering questions from two psychometric instruments of wide recognition and academic validity, the Ethics Position Questionnaire and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. They were carried out both through an exploratory data analysis and a confirmatory factor analysis, and a model of structural equations that tested the existence of a relation between the ethical position and the styles of leadership. Results: It was also possible to identify the influence exerted by the different ethical positions in each one of the styles of leadership in a local public administration. Conclusions: These findings facilitate the identification of ethical leadership models in local public organizations and contribute towards the empirical demonstration of the current discussion on the relationship between ethics and leadership in organizations.