ETHICAL DILEMMAS AT WORK: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ETHICAL CLIMATE AND CORRUPTIVE RATIONALIZATIONS FOR THE RESOLUTION OF ETHICAL DILEMMAS AT WORK
Abstract
The aim of the research was to determine the importance of organizational ethical climate and the levels of corruption for determining the methods of solving the four ethical dilemmas typical of the working environment – “truth versus loyalty”, “individual vs. community”, “short-term versus long-term” and “justice vs. mercy” (Kidder, 1995). On an ad hoc sample of 313 employees from different organizations in the Republic of Serbia, an online questionnaire was applied for data collecting on the perception of the organizational ethical climate, the tendency towards corruptive rationalizations as factors in choosing alternatives in solving ethical dilemmas at work. The findings indicate the importance of the perception of the egoistic ethical climate and the climate of social responsibility for the willingness of employees to be merciful when solving the dilemma “justice vs. mercy.” It was found that the egoistic ethical climate probably generates the acceptance of corruptive rationalizations that predict the acceptance of “mercy” towards those who steal the company’s assets. On the other hand, the climate of social responsibility influences the preference of employees for mercy for those who break the rules, most likely because employees develop the belief that well-being is important for both the company’s clients and colleagues, even when they violate organizational rules. It was concluded that the perception of the organizational ethical climate indirectly influences the manner of solving ethical dilemmas at work. This is probably done by generating personal beliefs in employees, which then influences the preference for solving the ethical dilemma with which these beliefs are in accordance.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDF (Cрпски)References
Anand, V., Ashforth, B. E., & Joshi, M. (2004). Business as usual: The acceptance and perpetuation of corruption in organizations. Academy of Management Perspectives, 18(2), 39-53.
Andrijanić, A. (2018). Etički izazovi istraživanja nasilja nad djecom u obitelji. [Ethical challenges in research on child abuse in a family]. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Zagreb. Faculty of Law. Methodology of Research in Social Work and Social Policy.).
Aquino, K., & Reed, I. I. (2002). The self-importance of moral identity. Journal of personality and social psychology, 83(6), 1423.
Aschforth, B. E., & Anannd, V. (2003). The normalization of coruption in organizations. In R. M. Kramer &B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior, 25, 1-52. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Barkan, R., Ayal, S., Gino, F., and Ariely, D. (2012). The pot calling the kettle black: distancing response to ethical dissonance. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 141,757–773.
Barkan, R., Ayal, S., & Ariely, D. (2015). Ethical dissonance, justifications, and moral behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology, 6(DEC), 157-161.
Becker, D., Rundall, J., & Ulstad, I. (2009). The ethic of care and student cheating. The Journal of American Academy of Business, 14(2), 204-209.
Bjørnskov, C., “The happy few: Cross-country evidence on social capital and life satisfaction,” Kyklos, 56(1), 2003, 3-16.
Briggs, S. R., & Cheek, J. M. (1986). The role of factor analysis in the development and evaluation of personality scales. Journal of personality, 54(1), 106-148.
Brommer, M., & Gratto, C. Gravender, and Tuttle, M. (1987). A behavioral model of ethical and unethical decision making. Joumal of Business Ethics, 6, 265-280.
Chaiken, S., Giner-Sorolla, R., & Chen, S. (1996). Beyond accuracy: Defense and impression motives in heuristic and systematic information processing. In P. M. Gollwitzer & J.A. Bargh (Eds.), The psychology of action: Linking cognition and motivation to behavior (pp. 553–578). New York: Guilford Press.
Cherry, J., & Fraedrich, J. (2000). An empirical investigation of locus of control and the structure of moral reasoning: Examining the ethical decision-making processes of sales managers. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 20(3), 173-188.
Chiu, R. K. (2003). Ethical judgment and whistleblowing intention: Examining the moderating role of locus of control. Journal of business ethics, 43(1-2), 65-74.
Cullen, J. B., Victor, B., & Bronson, J. W. (1993). The ethical climate questionnaire: An assessment of its development and validity. Psychological reports, 73(2), 667-674.
Dai, J. (2012). A review of the empirical literature on ethical decision-making: 2004-2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2344521
Donev D. & Kaluđerović Ž. (2016). Etičke dileme u novim medijima.[Ethical dilemmas in new media]. Mediji i komunikacije. 3(5), 115–125.
Dragin, A., Jovanovic, T., Mijatov, M., Autor. & Dragin, V. (2018). Types and Factors of Ethical Climate Perception in Serbian Tourism Industry. Journal of East European Management Studies, Special Issue, 63-99.
Dubinsky, A. J., & Loken, B. (1989). Analyzing ethical decision making in marketing. journal of Business Research, 19(2), 83-107.
Elango, B., Paul, K., Kundu, S. K., & Paudel, S. K. (2010). Organizational ethics, individual ethics, and ethical intentions in international decision-making. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(4), 543-561.
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J. & Ferrell, L. (2010). Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases. South Western Educational Publishing.
Ferrell, O. C., & Gresham, L. G. (1985). A contingency framework for understanding ethical decision making in marketing. Journal of marketing, 49(3), 87-96.
Ferrell, O., Gresham, L. G., & Fraedrich, J. (1989). A synthesis of ethical decision models for marketing. Journal of Macromarketing, 9(2), 55-64.
Festinger, L. (1962). A theory of cognitive dissonance (Vol. 2). Stanford university press.
Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, O. C. (1992). Cognitive consistency of marketing managers in ethical situations. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 20(3), 245-252.
Garcia, J. de Jesus, N. C. Fuentes, S.A. Borrego, M.D. Gutierrez, & Tapia, A. (2007). Values and happiness in Mexico: The case of the metropolitan city of Monterrey,” in L. Bruni and P L. Porta (eds.), Handbook on the Economics of Happiness, (pp. 407-428). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
Ghosh, D. (2008). Corporate values, workplace decisions and ethical standards of employees. Journal of Managerial Issues, 68-87.
Greenwald, A. G. (1980). The totalitarian ego: Fabrication and revision of personal history. American psychologist, 35(7), 603-618.
Herington, C., & Weaven, S. (2008). Improving consistency for DIT results using cluster analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 80(3), 499-514.
Hunt, S. D., & Vitell, S. (1986). A general theory of marketing ethics. Journal of macromarketing, 6(1), 5-16.
James Jr, H. S. (2011). Is the just man a happy man? An empirical study of the relationship between ethics and subjective well‐being. Kyklos, 64(2), 193-212.
Jones, T. M. (1991). Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: An issue-contingent model. Academy of management review, 16(2), 366-395.
Кесић, З., & Зекавица, Р. (2013). Правне и етичке дилеме полицијске професије. [Legal and ethical dilemmas in a police profession]. Супротстављање савременом организованом криминалу и тероризму, 4, 247–262.
Kidder, R. M. (1995). How good people make tough choices. New York: Morrow.
Kohlberg, L. (1984). Essays on moral development: Vol. 2. The psychology of moral development,San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Kolarski, M. (2019). Značaj etičke klime i nivoa izgaranja u radu za učestalost simptoma poremećaja psiho-fizičkog zdravlja zaposlenih. [The significance of an ethical climate and burnout at work for occurence of ill-health symptoms among employee’s]. Master rad. Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, Filozofski fakultet.
Lawson, R. A. (2004). Is classroom cheating related to business students’‘ propensity to cheat in the" real world"?. Journal of business ethics, 49(2), 189-199.
Loe, T. W., Ferrell, L., & Mansfield, P. (2000). A review of empirical studies assessing ethical decision making in business. Journal of business ethics, 25(3), 185-204.
Мајсторовић, Н. (2011). Упитник кoруптивних рационализација (Коптер). Необјављен материјал.
Мајсторовић, Н. (2012). Корупција: узроци, експанзија и интервенција [Corruption: causes, expansion and intervention]. Академска књига. ISBN: 978-86-6263-006-3.
Мајсторовић и Слијепчевић (2018). Упитник етичке климе ECQ, превод и адаптација. Необјављен материјал.
Мајсторовић, Пилиповић, Ђајић и Ристић, (2018). Упитник етичких дилема на раду (Е-Дил-3). Необјављен материјал.
McDevitt, R., Giapponi, C., & Tromley, C. (2007). A model of ethical decision making: The integration of process and content. Journal of Business ethics, 73(2), 219-229.
Marques, P. A., & Azevedo-Pereira, J. (2009). Ethical ideology and ethical judgments in the Portuguese accounting profession. Journal of Business Ethics, 86(2), 227-242.
Martinović, M. (2012). Značaj self-regulacije ponašanja, lokusa kontrole i makijavelizma za prihvatanje koruptivnih racionalizacija. (Significance of self-regulation of behavior, controlling locus and macawavelism for accepting corrupt rationalization.) Master rad. Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, Filozofski fakultet.
Matanović, J., Мајсторовић, N. i Mitrić-Aćimović, D. (2011). Koruptivno mišljenje – racionalizacije, njihovo značenje, tipovi i prisustvo. (Corruptive thinking - rationalization, their meaning, types and presence.) Saopštenje na međunarodnom naučno-stručnom skupu Savremeni trendovi u psihologiji, 14 – 16. 10. 2011. Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, Filozofski fakultet, Odsek za psihologiju. Knjiga rezimea strana 287–288.
Nielsen, M. B., Tangen, T., Idsoe, T., Matthiesen, S. B., & Magerøy, N. (2015). Post-traumatic stress disorder as a consequence of bullying at work and at school. A literature review and meta-analysis. Aggression and violent behavior, 21, 17-24.
O’Fallon, M. J., & Butterfield, K. D. (2005). A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 1996–2003. Journal of business ethics, 59(4), 375-413.
Peterson, D., Rhoads, A., & Vaught, B. C. (2001). Ethical beliefs of business professionals: A study of gender, age and external factors. Journal of Business Ethics, 31(3), 225-232.
Paliwal, M. (2006). Business Ethics. New Age International (P) Ltd., New Delhi.
Rabl, T., & Kühlmann, T. M. (2009). Why or why not? Rationalizing corruption in organizations. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 16(3), 268-286.
Rest, J.R. (1979). Development in Judging Moral Issues. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN.
Secchi, D. (2007). Utilitarian, managerial and relational theories of corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Management Reviews, 9(4), 347-373.
Singhapakdi, A., Vitell, S. J., & Franke, G. R. (1999). Antecedents, consequences, and mediating effects of perceived moral intensity and personal moral philosophies. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 27(1), 19-36.
Sonenshein, S. (2007). The role of construction, intuition, and justification in responding to ethical issues at work: The sense making-intuition model. Academy of Management Review, 32(4), 1022-1040.
Tajfel, H. (1982). Social psychology of intergroup relations. Annual Review of Psychology, 33, 1–39.
Tavits, M., “Representation, corruption, and subjective well-being,” Comparative Political Studies, 41(12), 2008, 1607-1630.
Treviño, L. K. (1986). Ethical decision making in organizations: A person-situation interactionist model. Academy of management Review, 11(3), 601-617.
Treviño, L. K., & Youngblood, S. A. (1990). Bad apples in bad barrels: A causal analysis of ethical decision-making behavior. Journal of Applied psychology, 75(4), 378.
Treviño, L. K., Den Nieuwenboer, N. A., & Kish-Gephart, J. J. (2014). (Un) ethical behavior in organizations. Annual review of psychology, 65, 635-660.
Urbanc, K. (2001). Etika i vrijednosti u socijalnom radu. [Ethics and values in social work]. Ljetopis socijalnog rada, 8(2), 153–164.
Valentine, S. R., & Rittenburg, T. L. (2007). The ethical decision making of men and women executives in international business situations. Journal of Business Ethics, 71(2), 125-134.
Valentine, S., & Barnett, T. (2007). Perceived organizational ethics and the ethical decisions of sales and marketing personnel. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 27(4), 373-388.
Victor, B. & Cullen J. B. (1988). The organizational bases of ethical work climate. Administrative Science Quarterly, 33(1), 101-125.
Waters, J. A., & Bird, F. (1987). The moral dimension of organizational culture. Journal of Business Ethics, 6(1), 15-22.
Witkin, H. A., Moore, C. A., Goodenough, D. R., & Cox, P. W. (1977). Field-dependent and field-independent cognitive styles and their educational implications. Review of educational research, 47(1), 1-64.
Zgheib, P. W. (2005). Managerial ethics: An empirical study of business students in the American University of Beirut. Journal of business ethics, 61(1), 69-78.
Zyglidopoulos, S. C., Fleming, P. J., & Rothenberg, S. (2009). Rationalization, overcompensation and the escalation of corruption in organizations. Journal of business ethics, 84(1), 65-73.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22190/TEME190413073M
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
© University of Niš, Serbia
Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-ND
Print ISSN: 0353-7919
Online ISSN: 1820-7804