The Impact of Individual Ethics on Reactions to Potentially Invasive HR Practices

In recent years, the practices of work organizations have raised increasing concerns regarding individual privacy at work. It is clear that people expect and value privacy in their personal lives. However, the extent to which privacy perceptions influence individuals’ work attitudes is less clear. Research has explored the extent to which employee perceptions of privacy derive from characteristics of the programs themselves. However, there is a paucity of research that examines how the characteristics of the individual employee may influence perceptions of these programs. In this study we seek to shed light on this issue, as we examine how the individual ethical orientation of employees influences perceptions of a variety of human resource programs that have the potential to be perceived as invasive. Results indicate that ethical orientation exerts direct effects on perceived invasiveness of programs and exerts both direct and indirect effects on perceived appropriateness of programs. Implications for research and for managers adopting privacy-related programs are discussed.     

The role of the customer–seller relationship in the intention of the customer to complain: A study of Chinese restaurateurs

The potential benefits of customer–seller relationships in the area of consumer complaints are seldom advocated, particularly in the relational oriented, Chinese society. The purpose of this paper is to explore how customer–seller relationships affect the intention of Chinese consumers to complain. Given that Chinese are collectivistic by nature, this paper also examined the effect of social approval and pressure on the act of complaining. Several relationships between personal attitudes, the subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, the extent of relational contact and the complaining intention of Chinese consumers were postulated. Results show that the complaining intention of Chinese consumers is influenced by customer–seller relationships and the social pressure on act of complaining while personal attitudes do not have any effect. Possible explanations for the results and implications for researchers and practitioners are presented.