IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v116y2013i3p553-566.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Individual and Organizational Antecedents of Professional Ethics of Public Relations Practitioners in Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Ji Han
  • Hyun Park
  • Hyeonju Jeong

Abstract

This study examines the effects of individual ethical values and organizational factors on the professional ethics of PR practitioners in Korea by considering a person–situation interactionist model. Individual ethical values are used as individual factors, and organizational factors consist of an organization’s reward and punishment for ethical/unethical behavior, the behavior of peers, and the ethical integrity of the chief ethics officer. The professional ethics of PR practitioners (the dependent variable) are classified into the following three dimensions: professional ethics for the public, the client, and the PR industry. The results indicate that agency practitioners were more likely to be committed to their profession than to their organization, whereas in-house practitioners were more likely to be committed to their organization than to their profession. That is, in-house practitioners showed weak professional commitment, indicating that they perceived themselves as employees, not as PR professionals. Organizational factors such as reward, punishment, and peers’ ethical behavior had considerable influence on the professional ethics of in-house practitioners, whereas they had little influence on agency practitioners. Organizational factors as well as individual ethical values were more likely to influence the professional ethics of in-house practitioners than that of agency practitioners. Thus, to foster in-house practitioners’ professional ethics and commitment, professional associations in the PR industry should make efforts to provide in-house practitioners with more information on the PR industry and more opportunities for interacting and maintaining communication with their colleagues in the industry. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Ji Han & Hyun Park & Hyeonju Jeong, 2013. "Individual and Organizational Antecedents of Professional Ethics of Public Relations Practitioners in Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(3), pages 553-566, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:116:y:2013:i:3:p:553-566
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1480-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-012-1480-6
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-012-1480-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harrison McCraw & Kathy Moffeit & John O’Malley, 2009. "An Analysis of the Ethical Codes of Corporations and Business Schools," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 1-13, June.
    2. James Weber, 1995. "Influences Upon Organizational Ethical Subclimates: A Multi-Departmental Analysis of a Single Firm," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(5), pages 509-523, October.
    3. Jacob Joseph & Kevin Berry & Satish Deshpande, 2009. "Impact of Emotional Intelligence and Other Factors on Perception of Ethical Behavior of Peers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(4), pages 539-546, November.
    4. Thomas Beschorner, 2006. "Ethical Theory and Business Practices: The Case of Discourse Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 127-139, June.
    5. Cynthia Stohl & Michael Stohl & Lucy Popova, 2009. "A New Generation of Corporate Codes of Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(4), pages 607-622, December.
    6. B. Elango & Karen Paul & Sumit Kundu & Shishir Paudel, 2010. "Organizational Ethics, Individual Ethics, and Ethical Intentions in International Decision-Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(4), pages 543-561, December.
    7. Satish Deshpande & Jacob Joseph, 2009. "Impact of Emotional Intelligence, Ethical Climate, and Behavior of Peers on Ethical Behavior of Nurses," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(3), pages 403-410, March.
    8. William Martin, 2009. "Socially Responsible Investing: Is Your Fiduciary Duty at Risk?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(4), pages 549-560, December.
    9. Luis Rodriguez-Dominguez & Isabel Gallego-Alvarez & Isabel Garcia-Sanchez, 2009. "Corporate Governance and Codes of Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(2), pages 187-202, December.
    10. Nicole Andreoli & Joel Lefkowitz, 2009. "Individual and Organizational Antecedents of Misconduct in Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(3), pages 309-332, March.
    11. John Sparks & Yue Pan, 2010. "Ethical Judgments in Business Ethics Research: Definition, and Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(3), pages 405-418, February.
    12. Quey-Jen Yeh & Xiaojun Xu, 2010. "The Effect of Confucian Work Ethics on Learning About Science and Technology Knowledge and Morality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(1), pages 111-128, August.
    13. Eyun-Jung Ki & Soo-Yeon Kim, 2010. "Ethics Statements of Public Relations Firms: What Do They Say?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 223-236, January.
    14. Breda Sweeney & Don Arnold & Bernard Pierce, 2010. "The Impact of Perceived Ethical Culture of the Firm and Demographic Variables on Auditors’ Ethical Evaluation and Intention to Act Decisions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(4), pages 531-551, June.
    15. Joseph McKinney & Tisha Emerson & Mitchell Neubert, 2010. "The Effects of Ethical Codes on Ethical Perceptions of Actions Toward Stakeholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(4), pages 505-516, December.
    16. Damodar Suar & Rooplekha Khuntia, 2010. "Influence of Personal Values and Value Congruence on Unethical Practices and Work Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(3), pages 443-460, December.
    17. Satish Deshpande & Jacob Joseph & Rashmi Prasad, 2006. "Factors Impacting Ethical Behavior in Hospitals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 69(2), pages 207-216, December.
    18. Shane Premeaux, 2009. "The Link Between Management Behavior and Ethical Philosophy in the Wake of the Enron Convictions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(1), pages 13-25, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maira Babri & Bruce Davidson & Sven Helin, 2021. "An Updated Inquiry into the Study of Corporate Codes of Ethics: 2005–2016," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 71-108, January.
    2. Weihui Fu & Satish Deshpande, 2012. "Factors Impacting Ethical Behavior in a Chinese State-Owned Steel Company," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 105(2), pages 231-237, January.
    3. Ahmed Musbah & Christopher J. Cowton & David Tyfa, 2016. "The Role of Individual Variables, Organizational Variables and Moral Intensity Dimensions in Libyan Management Accountants’ Ethical Decision Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 335-358, March.
    4. Jana Craft, 2013. "A Review of the Empirical Ethical Decision-Making Literature: 2004–2011," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 221-259, October.
    5. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Luis Rodríguez-Domínguez & Isabel Gallego-Álvarez, 2013. "CEO qualities and codes of ethics," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 295-312, April.
    6. Nilgün Kahraman & Duygu Hiçdurmaz, 2016. "Identifying emotional intelligence skills of Turkish clinical nurses according to sociodemographic and professional variables," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(7-8), pages 1006-1015, April.
    7. Anaïs Valiquette L’Heureux, 2022. "The Case Study of Los Angeles City & County Fraud, Embezzlement and Corruption Safeguards during times of pandemic," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 593-610, September.
    8. Raymond O. S. Zaal & Ronald J. M. Jeurissen & Edward A. G. Groenland, 2019. "Organizational Architecture, Ethical Culture, and Perceived Unethical Behavior Towards Customers: Evidence from Wholesale Banking," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 825-848, September.
    9. Ivan Bozhikin & Nikolay Dentchev, 2018. "Discovering a Wilderness of Regulatory Mechanisms for Corporate Social Responsibility: Literature Review," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 2, pages 145-174, June.
    10. Loréa Baïada-Hirèche & Ghislaine Garmilis, 2016. "Accounting Professionals’ Ethical Judgment and the Institutional Disciplinary Context: A French–US Comparison," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(4), pages 639-659, December.
    11. Ralph Jackson & Charles Wood & James Zboja, 2013. "The Dissolution of Ethical Decision-Making in Organizations: A Comprehensive Review and Model," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(2), pages 233-250, August.
    12. Keziban Avcı & Songül Çınaroğlu & Mehmet Top, 2017. "Perceptions of Pediatric Nurses on Ethical Decision Making Processes," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 67-84, February.
    13. Loreta Bebi & Brunilda Llaftiu, 2015. "Ethical Decision Making Process of Albanian Accountants: the Impact of Organizational Factors," European Journal of Economics and Business Studies Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 1, May - Aug.
    14. Pablo Ruiz-Palomino & Ricardo Martínez-Cañas, 2014. "Ethical Culture, Ethical Intent, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Moderating and Mediating Role of Person–Organization Fit," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 120(1), pages 95-108, March.
    15. Giovanni Garegnani & Emilia Merlotti & Angeloantonio Russo, 2015. "Scoring Firms’ Codes of Ethics: An Explorative Study of Quality Drivers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(4), pages 541-557, February.
    16. Pablo Ruiz & Ricardo Martinez & Job Rodrigo & Cristina Diaz, 2015. "Level of Coherence Among Ethics Program Components and Its Impact on Ethical Intent," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(4), pages 725-742, June.
    17. Weihui Fu, 2014. "The Impact of Emotional Intelligence, Organizational Commitment, and Job Satisfaction on Ethical Behavior of Chinese Employees," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 137-144, June.
    18. Cass Shum & Anthony Gatling & Laura Book & Billy Bai, 2019. "The Moderating Roles of Follower Conscientiousness and Agreeableness on the Relationship Between Peer Transparency and Follower Transparency," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 483-495, January.
    19. Rafi M. M. I. Chowdhury, 2017. "Emotional Intelligence and Consumer Ethics: The Mediating Role of Personal Moral Philosophies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 527-548, May.
    20. Taslima Jannat & Syed Shah Alam & Yi-Hui Ho & Nor Asiah Omar & Chieh-Yu Lin, 2022. "Can Corporate Ethics Programs Reduce Unethical Behavior? Threat Appraisal or Coping Appraisal," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(1), pages 37-53, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:116:y:2013:i:3:p:553-566. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.