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Ethical Climate and Job Attitude in Fashion Retail Employees’ Turnover Intention, and Perceived Organizational Sustainability Performance: A Cross-Sectional Study

Author

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  • Stacy H. Lee

    (Institute of Clothing and Textile, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China)

  • Jung Ha-Brookshire

    (Textile and Apparel Management, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA)

Abstract

The relationship between the fashion retail industry’s working environment and the high rate of employee turnover has been highlighted as one of the key concerns for negative organizational performance in both the short and long term. This relationship creates a need to investigate the ethical climate within fashion retail businesses, employees’ attitudes toward their jobs, and employees’ turnover intention, as these factors can influence organizations’ performance including their likelihood of achieving the triple bottom lines of sustainability. Based on social exchange and human and social capital theories, this study investigated how employees’ ethical climate and turnover intention are affected by both individual- and organizational-level factors, and their impact on the triple bottom lines of organizational sustainability performance. This study empirically tested a structural model based on the survey responses from 278 U.S. fashion retail employees. The findings show that an ethical climate can enhance employees’ job attitude as well as all three dimensions of organizational sustainability performance—financial, social, and environmental. Creating an ethical climate in an organization can decrease employees’ turnover intention, but also employees’ attitudes towards their jobs lowers their turnover intention. The study’s findings reveal that not only can employees’ attitudes toward their jobs impact organizational sustainability performance, but creating an ethical working environment is another important way to improve organizational sustainability performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Stacy H. Lee & Jung Ha-Brookshire, 2017. "Ethical Climate and Job Attitude in Fashion Retail Employees’ Turnover Intention, and Perceived Organizational Sustainability Performance: A Cross-Sectional Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-19, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:3:p:465-:d:93646
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    17. Junlong Chen & Chaoqun Sun & Jiali Liu & Yan Huo, 2021. "The optimal level of corporate social responsibility based on the duopoly model," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(1), pages 177-184, January.
    18. Sonia Khawand & Matina Ghasemi & Seyed Arash Sahranavard, 2022. "Employee Involvement and Socialization as an Example of Sustainable Marketing Strategy and Organization’s Citizenship Behavior: Empirical Evidence from Beirut Hotel Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-16, July.
    19. Bin Shen & Qingying Li & Ciwei Dong & Patsy Perry, 2017. "Sustainability Issues in Textile and Apparel Supply Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-6, September.
    20. Saleh Althnayan & Areej Alarifi & Saleh Bajaba & Abdullah Alsabban, 2022. "Linking Environmental Transformational Leadership, Environmental Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and Organizational Sustainability Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-19, July.
    21. Mou Lin & Azura Abdullah Effendi & Qaisar Iqbal, 2022. "The Mechanism Underlying the Sustainable Performance of Transformational Leadership: Organizational Identification as Moderator," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, November.
    22. Kautonen, Teemu & Schillebeeckx, Simon J.D. & Gartner, Johannes & Hakala, Henri & Salmela-Aro, Katariina & Snellman, Kirsi, 2020. "The dark side of sustainability orientation for SME performance," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).

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