Ethical Issues in Electronic Performance Monitoring: A Consideration of Deontological and Teleological Perspectives

Extensive and growing use of electronic performance monitoring in organizations has resulted in considerable debate. Advocates of electronic monitoring approach the debate in teleological terms arguing that monitoring benefits organizations, customers, and society. Its critics approach the issue in deontological terms countering that monitoring is dehumanizing, invades worker privacy, increases stress and worsens health, and decreases work-life quality. In contrast to this win-lose approach, this paper argues that an approach which emphasizes communication in the design and implementation of monitoring systems offers a win-win solution that should satisfy both deontological and teleological ethicists.     

The Moderating Effect of Individuals' Perceptions of Ethical Work Climate on Ethical Judgments and Behavioral Intentions

Dimensions of the ethical work climate, as conceptualized by Victor and Cullen (1988), are potentially important influences on individual ethical decision-making in the organizational context. The present study examined the direct and indirect effects of individuals' perceptions of work climate on their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions regarding an ethical dilemma. A national sample of marketers was surveyed in a scenario-based research study. The results indicated that, although perceived climate dimensions did not have a direct effect on behavioral intentions, there were significant moderating effects. Climates perceived as emphasizing social responsibility and rules/codes moderated the individual ethical judgment-behavioral intentions relationship such that individuals were less likely to say that they would engage in a questionable selling practice even when they themselves did not believe the practice to be unethical. Respondents were somewhat more likely to form intentions consistent with their judgment that the questionable practice was morally acceptable when the ethical climate was characterized by an emphasis on team/friendship.     

The Effects of Ethical Leadership and Ethical Climate on Employee Ethical Behavior in the International Port Context

This study empirically examined the effects of ethical leadership and ethical climate on employee ethical behavior in the international port context using survey data collected from 128 respondents who worked in Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) in Taiwan. Research hypotheses were formulated from the previous literature and tested using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that ethical leadership had a significant impact on ethical climate and the ethical behavior of TIPC employees. Ethical climate was found to be positively associated with employee ethical behavior. The theoretical and practical implications of the research findings are discussed.     

敢做还是要做：伦理型领导对员工揭发意愿的影响

虽然有助于减少组织不道德行为,但源于各种担心和顾虑,致使人们往往对揭发行为持比较消极的态度。文章从社会学习等理论视角对中国情境下伦理型领导如何影响员工揭发意愿进行了探讨。基于339份调查数据的实证分析结果表明,伦理型领导正向影响员工的揭发意愿,道德勇气正向影响揭发意愿,责任分散负向影响揭发意愿,道德勇气和责任分散在伦理型领导与揭发意愿关系中分别具有部分中介效应。最后,对研究结论、意义、不足与未来研究方向进行了讨论。     

The Relationship Between Ethical Ideology and Ethical Behavior Intentions: An Exploratory Look at Physicians' Responses to Managed Care Dilemmas

Within the past few years, managed care health insurance programs have become commonplace. With managed care programs, however, physicians are facing increasing ethical pressures. This paper examines the relationship between physicians' behavior intentions with respect to four managed care ethical scenarios and their responses to Forsyth's (1980) Ethics Position Questionnaire (EPQ). This is one of the first papers to compare this scale to behavioral intentions in the workplace. We provide a literature review of the ethical dilemmas that doctors face under a managed care system and conduct a national random sample of general practitioners and surgeons regarding the four managed care ethical dilemmas. The results show that the doctors surveyed are significantly more idealistic than relativistic. In relating the EPQ to the ethical scenarios, however, there was no support for the proposition that ethical ideology was related to the ethical behavioral intentions. This suggests more research is needed to establish the links between ethical positions, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Finally, there were little differences in EPQ scores by practice or demographic variables, the only significant result being that general surgeons are significantly more idealistic than family practitioners.     

Impact of Emotional Intelligence,Ethical Climate,and Behavior of Peers on Ethical Behavior of Nurses

This study examines factors impacting ethical behavior of 103 hospital nurses. The level of emotional intelligence and ethical behavior of peers had a significant impact on ethical behavior of nurses. Independence climate had a significant impact on ethical behavior of nurses. Other ethical climate types such as professional, caring, rules, instrumental, and efficiency did not impact ethical behavior of respondents. Implications of this study for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

推销人员道德失范的影响因素及对策分析

改革开放30年以来，我国市场经济逐步发展，然而社会转型和经济转轨使得社会的道德状况面临严峻考验，道德建设的新问题和新要求使得社会应充分关注站在市场前沿的推销人员。针对影响推销人员道德状况的因素进行归纳分析，提出了改善推销道德状况的对策，以期补充推销人员道德建设的研究和应用。     

Ethical Considerations in the Use of Direct-To-Consumer Advertising and Pharmaceutical Promotions: The Impact on Pharmaceutical Sales and Physicians

The influence of direct-to-consumer advertising and physician promotions are examined in this study. We further examine some of the ethical issues which may arise when physicians accept promotional products from pharmaceutical companies. The data revealed that direct-to-consumer advertising is likely to increase the request rates of both the drug category and the drug brand choices, as well as the likelihood that those drugs will be prescribed by physicians. The data further revealed that the majority of responding physicians were either neutral or did not feel that accepting some types of gifts from pharmaceutical companies affected their ethical behaviors.     

Managerial and Peer Influence on Ethical Behavioral Intentions in a Personal Selling Context

This article evaluates the relationship between the ethical behavioral intentions of 374 future salespeople and the ethical climate of the firm. The ethical philosophy (high or low) of top management, immediate sales managers, and the peers of potential sales people were examined to see if they influenced: (1) comfort levels with the philosophy of the firm and (2) likelihood of engaging in unethical sales behavior. Ethical behavior measures included 14 situations such as deceptive sales tactics, deceptive pricing, and unethical behavior toward the employer.     

The Relationship between Unethical Behavior and the Dimensions of the Ethical Climate Questionnaire

This study examined the relationship between unethical employee behavior and the dimensions of the Ethical Climate Questionnaire (ECQ). In order to explore the relationship between the dimensions of the ECQ and unethical behavior, the factor structure of five previously identified empirical models and the hypothesized nine-dimension model for the ECQ was tested with a confirmatory factor analysis. The analysis revealed that the hypothesized nine-dimension model provided as good or even better fit to the data than the five empirically derived models. Therefore, the nine-dimensional model was used to examine the criterion-related validity of the ECQ. The results demonstrated that the nine ethical climate dimensions were correlated with some of the unethical behaviors examined in this study, but not others. However, the results clearly demonstrated that most of the ethical climate dimensions were significantly related to an aggregate measure of unethical behavior. It was suggested that these results might account for the differences in previous studies on the criterion-related validity of the ECQ. The results also replicated a previous report that the association between unethical behavior and ethical climate is stronger in organizations that do not have a code of ethics. Finally, a difference was observed in the ethical climates for organizations with a code of ethics and organizations without a code of ethics.     

Salesperson Perceptions of Ethical Behaviors: Their Influence on Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions

In the academic world, research has indicated that “good ethics is good business.” Such research seems to indicate that firms, which emphasize ethical values and social responsibilities, tend to be more profitable than others. Generally, the profitability is credited to the firm’s positive relationships with its customers, reduced costs of attempting to rebuild a tarnished image, ease of attracting capital, etc. The research conducted in this study evaluated salespeople’s perceptions of the ethics of businesses in general, their employer’s ethics, their attitudes as consumers, and the relationships existing between these perceptions and the sale force’s job satisfaction and turnover intentions. The results show a positive relationship existing between salesperson perceptions of business ethics, his/her employer’s ethics, consumer attitudes, and the salesperson’s job satisfaction and reduced turnover intentions. Charles E. Pettijohn (D.B.A., Louisiana Tech University) is a professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration at Missouri State University. He is also co-editor of the Marketing Management Journal. His research has appeared in the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, the Journal of Businesss Ethics, Marketing Management Journal, Psychology and Marketing, and the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. At Missouri State University, his primary teaching focus is in the areas of Personal Selling and Sales Management. Linda S. Pettijohn (D.B.A., Louisiana Tech University) is a Professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration at Missouri State University. Her research has appeared in the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Marketing Management Journal, Psychology and Marketing, and the Journal of Financial Serivices Marketing. At Missouri State University, her primary teaching focus is in the area of Retailing. Albert J. Taylor (D.B.A., Louisiana Tech University) is an associate professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration at Coastal Carolina University. His research has appeared in the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Human Resource Development Quartely, the International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration, Psychology and Marketing, and the Journal of Applied Business Research. At Missouri State University, his primary teaching focus is in the areas of Marketing Research and Personal Selling.     

The Impact of Normative Influence and Locus of Control on Ethical Judgments and Intentions: a Cross-Cultural Comparison

The study extends the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in a cross-cultural setting, incorporating ethical judgments and locus of control in a comparison of Taiwanese and US businesspersons. A self-administered survey of 698 businesspersons from the US and Taiwan examined several hypothesized differences. Results indicate that while Taiwanese respondents have a more favorable attitude toward a requested bribe than US counterparts, and are less likely to view it as an ethical issue, their higher locus externality causes ethical judgments and behavioral intentions to conform to normative influences of in groups and superiors. In the Taiwanese sample, locus externality effectively functions as a countervailing pressure against the unethical behavior in the scenario. No such effect is found in the US sample. A path model fitted to the data shows that locus internals exhibit more consistency among attitudes, judgments, and behavioral intentions than locus externals. Implications for managers and researchers are discussed, and suggestions and precautions for development of efficacy-enhancement programs are offered.     

Exploring the Influence of Organizational Ethical Climate on Knowledge Management

In recent years, knowledge management has been utilized as an essential strategy to foster the creation of organizational intellectual capital. Organizational intellectual capital can be derived both individually and collectively in the process to create, store, share, acquire, and apply personal and organizational knowledge. However, some organizations only focus on the development of public good, despite the concerns arising from individuals’ self-interest or possible risks. The different concern of individual and collective perspectives toward knowledge management inevitably leads to ethical conflicts and ethical culture in the organization (Jarvenpaa et al., J Manage Inf Syst 14(4):29–64, 1998; Ruppel and Harrington, IEEE Trans Prof Commun 44(1):37–52, 2000). The purpose of this study is to examine the ethical climate within the organization and its possible influence on members’ evaluation, satisfaction, engagement, and job performance with respect to knowledge management practice. The research results reveal that several types of organizational ethical climate coexist in the organization and have different degrees of influence on employees’ attitude as well as participation in knowledge management activities. In this article, we argue the importance of organizational ethical climate and highlight the implications of such a climate for facilitating knowledge management.     

The Effect of Cognitive Moral Development and Supverisory Influence on Subordinates' Ethical Behavior

The paper examines how supervisory influence and cognitive moral development influence subordinates' ethical decision-making and ethical behavior. The proposed interactive effect these major variables have on subordinates' ethical considerations are examined with respect to: (1) before an ethical dilemma occurs, (2) when faced with an ethical dilemma, (3) during the decision process, and (4) after ethical or unethical behavior has been executed. Propositions are presented and implications for research and practice are discussed.     

An Empirical Examination of the Relationship Between Ethical Climate and Ethical Behavior from Multiple Levels of Analysis

Victor and Cullen (1988) identified several dimensions of ethical climate that exist in organizations and organizational subunits. We tested the relationship between these dimensions of ethical climate and ethical behavior at different levels of analysis. Using Within and Between Analysis (WABA) (cf. Dansereau, Alutto and Yammarino, 1984), partial support was found for a relationship between dimensions of ethical climate and ethical behavior.     

The Impact of Ethical Climate on Project Status Misreporting

Without complete and accurate status information, a project manager’s ability to monitor progress, allocate resources effectively, and detect and respond to problems is greatly diminished, and this can lead to impaired project performance. Many different factors can contribute to intentional misreporting of status information by project members to the project manager. In this study, the impact of organizational ethical climate was assessed through the analysis of responses from 228 project members drawn from a variety of ongoing information systems projects. Our results revealed that project members who perceived their organization to be one in which rules are followed strictly tended to misreport less, while those operating in an environment dominated by personal self-interest tended to misreport more. Somewhat surprisingly, the existence of a caring, team-spirited environment did not appear to have an impact on misreporting behaviors. Implications for researchers and project managers are discussed.     

The Virtuous Influence of Ethical Leadership Behavior: Evidence from the Field

This study examines a moderated/mediated model of ethical leadership on follower job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment. We proposed that managers have the potential to be agents of virtue or vice within organizations. Specifically, through ethical leadership behavior we argued that managers can virtuously influence perceptions of ethical climate, which in turn will positively impact organizational members’ flourishing as measured by job satisfaction and affective commitment to the organization. We also hypothesized that perceptions of interactional justice would moderate the ethical leadership-to-climate relationship. Our results indicate that ethical leadership has both a direct and indirect influence on follower job satisfaction and affective commitment. The indirect effect of ethical leadership involves shaping perceptions of ethical climate, which in turn, engender greater job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment. Furthermore, when interactional justice is perceived to be high, this strengthens the ethical leadership-to-climate relationship.     

The Influence of Workplace Justice Perceptions on Commercial Driver Turnover Intentions

Employee retention is a critical and challenging workplace issue including in the U.S. motor carrier industry with its perennially high driver turnover rates. Truck driver retention affects supply chain performance because of its impact on carrier operating safety and the service capacity of the trucking industry. Government authorities exert an influence on truck driver retention via the safety policies, labor policies, and regulations they mandate. A proposed rule requiring electronic on‐board recorders of some carrier drivers offers an opportunity to investigate the influence of government policy on driver work intentions. In this study we examine this influence through the lens of procedural justice theory. Drawing on procedural justice literature, we develop a model which examines the procedural justice perceptions of commercial drivers and the subsequent impact on their decision‐making behavior, including their organizational and industry intentions to remain or quit.     

The Relationship of Communication, Ethical Work Climate, and Trust to Commitment and Innovation

Recently, Hosmer (1994a) proposed a model linking right, just, and fair treatment of extended stakeholders with trust and innovation in organizations. The current study tests this model by using Victor and Cullen's (1988) ethical work climate instrument to measure the perceptions of the right, just, and fair treatment of employee stakeholders.In addition, this study extends Hosmer's model to include the effect of right, just, and fair treatment on employee communication, also believed to be an underlying dynamic of trust.More specifically, the current study used a survey of 111 managers to test (1) whether right, just, and fair treatment influences trust, both directly as well as indirectly via communication, and (2) whether trust influences perceptions of commitment and innovation. Strong support for the study's hypotheses and Hosmer's (1994a) model was found. Such findings support those who argue that moral management may be good management.