IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v170y2021i4d10.1007_s10551-019-04376-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Team Ethical Cultures Within an Organization: A Differentiation Perspective on Their Existence and Relevance

Author

Listed:
  • Guillem C. Cabana

    (RSM Erasmus University Rotterdam)

  • Muel Kaptein

    (RSM Erasmus University Rotterdam)

Abstract

Studies on the ethical culture of organizations have mainly focused on ethical culture at the organizational level. This study explores ethical culture at the team level because this can add a more detailed understanding of the ethics of an organization, which is necessary for more customized and effective management interventions. To find out whether various teams within an organization can have different ethical cultures, we employ the differentiation perspective and conduct a survey of 180 teams from one organization. The results show that there are significant differences between the ethical cultures of teams. These differences are relevant given the different relationships that were established between high and low clusters of team ethical culture and two outcome variables (i.e., the frequency of unethical behavior and employee responses to unethical behavior). The results also show that the dimensions of ethical cultures among teams have different patterns, which indicates the usefulness of using a multidimensional scale for capturing further differences among team ethical cultures.

Suggested Citation

  • Guillem C. Cabana & Muel Kaptein, 2021. "Team Ethical Cultures Within an Organization: A Differentiation Perspective on Their Existence and Relevance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 761-780, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:170:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-019-04376-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-019-04376-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-019-04376-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-019-04376-5?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. Mari Huhtala & Taru Feldt & Katriina Hyvönen & Saija Mauno, 2013. "Ethical Organisational Culture as a Context for Managers’ Personal Work Goals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 265-282, May.
    2. David Desplaces & David Melchar & Laura Beauvais & Susan Bosco, 2007. "The Impact of Business Education on Moral Judgment Competence: An Empirical Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 73-87, August.
    3. Artis, Michael & Okubo, Toshihiro, 2009. "Globalization and business cycle transmission," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 91-99, August.
    4. Muel Kaptein, 2010. "The Ethics of Organizations: A Longitudinal Study of the U.S. Working Population," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 92(4), pages 601-618, April.
    5. Alexandre Ardichvili & Douglas Jondle & Brenda Kowske & Edgard Cornachione & Jessica Li & Thomas Thakadipuram, 2012. "Ethical Cultures in Large Business Organizations in Brazil, Russia, India, and China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 105(4), pages 415-428, February.
    6. Dennis Moberg & David Caldwell, 2007. "An Exploratory Investigation of the Effect of Ethical Culture in Activating Moral Imagination," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 193-204, June.
    7. Akanksha Bedi & Can M. Alpaslan & Sandy Green, 2016. "A Meta-analytic Review of Ethical Leadership Outcomes and Moderators," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 517-536, December.
    8. Paul Collins & Alan Doig & Werner Nicholaas Webb, 2012. "Ethical Culture And The Value‐Based Approach To Integrity Management: A Case Study Of The Department Of Correctional Services," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 32(1), pages 96-108, February.
    9. Raminta Pučėtaitė & Aurelija Novelskaitė & Anna-Maija Lämsä & Elina Riivari, 2016. "The Relationship Between Ethical Organisational Culture and Organisational Innovativeness: Comparison of Findings from Finland and Lithuania," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(4), pages 685-700, December.
    10. Treviño, Linda Klebe & Butterfield, Kenneth D. & McCabe, Donald L., 1998. "The Ethical Context in Organizations: Influences on Employee Attitudes and Behaviors," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 447-476, July.
    11. Muel Kaptein, 2015. "The Effectiveness of Ethics Programs: The Role of Scope, Composition, and Sequence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 415-431, December.
    12. Wieke Scholten & Naomi Ellemers, 2016. "Bad apples or corrupting barrels? Preventing traders’ misconduct," Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(4), pages 366-382, November.
    13. 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.
    14. Hengky Latan & Christian M. Ringle & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour, 2018. "Whistleblowing Intentions Among Public Accountants in Indonesia: Testing for the Moderation Effects," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 573-588, October.
    15. Maiju Kangas & Joona Muotka & Mari Huhtala & Anne Mäkikangas & Taru Feldt, 2017. "Is the Ethical Culture of the Organization Associated with Sickness Absence? A Multilevel Analysis in a Public Sector Organization," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 131-145, January.
    16. Anne Kok & Frank de Bakker & Peter Groenewegen, 2017. "Sustainability Struggles: Conflicting Cultures and Incompatible Logics," Post-Print hal-01745274, HAL.
    17. Mari Huhtala & Taru Feldt & Anna-Maija Lämsä & Saija Mauno & Ulla Kinnunen, 2011. "Does the Ethical Culture of Organisations Promote Managers’ Occupational Well-Being? Investigating Indirect Links via Ethical Strain," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(2), pages 231-247, June.
    18. Geert Hofstede, 1998. "Identifying Organizational Subcultures: An Empirical Approach," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 1-12, January.
    19. Sebnem Burnaz & M. Atakan & Y. Topcu & Anusorn Singhapakdi, 2009. "An Exploratory Cross-Cultural Analysis of Marketing Ethics: The Case of Turkish, Thai, and American Businesspeople," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 371-382, December.
    20. Julia Zhang & Randy Chiu & Liqun Wei, 2009. "Decision-Making Process of Internal Whistleblowing Behavior in China: Empirical Evidence and Implications," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(1), pages 25-41, April.
    21. 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.
    22. Muel Kaptein, 2009. "Ethics Programs and Ethical Culture: A Next Step in Unraveling Their Multi-Faceted Relationship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(2), pages 261-281, October.
    23. Dheeraj Sharma & Shaheen Borna & James Stearns, 2009. "An Investigation of the Effects of Corporate Ethical Values on Employee Commitment and Performance: Examining the Moderating Role of Perceived Fairness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(2), pages 251-260, October.
    24. Warren, Danielle E. & Gaspar, Joseph P. & Laufer, William S., 2014. "Is Formal Ethics Training Merely Cosmetic? A Study of Ethics Training and Ethical Organizational Culture," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(1), pages 85-117, January.
    25. Baker, Thomas L. & Hunt, Tammy G. & Andrews, Martha C., 2006. "Promoting ethical behavior and organizational citizenship behaviors: The influence of corporate ethical values," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(7), pages 849-857, July.
    26. Elina Riivari & Anna-Maija Lämsä, 2014. "Does it Pay to Be Ethical? Examining the Relationship Between Organisations’ Ethical Culture and Innovativeness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 1-17, September.
    27. Franziska Zuber, 2015. "Spread of Unethical Behavior in Organizations: A Dynamic Social Network Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 151-172, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nadia Smaili & Wim Vandekerckhove & Paulina Arroyo Pardo, 2023. "Handling Whistleblowing Reports: The Complexity of the Double Agent," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(2), pages 279-292, August.

    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. Juliana Toro-Arias & Pablo Ruiz-Palomino & María Pilar Rodríguez-Córdoba, 2022. "Measuring Ethical Organizational Culture: Validation of the Spanish Version of the Shortened Corporate Ethical Virtues Model," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(3), pages 551-574, March.
    2. Sebastian Cortes-Mejia & Andres Felipe Cortes & Pol Herrmann, 2022. "Sharing Strategic Decisions: CEO Humility, TMT Decentralization, and Ethical Culture," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(1), pages 241-260, June.
    3. Sebastian Goebel & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2017. "The Relationship Between Informal Controls, Ethical Work Climates, and Organizational Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 505-528, March.
    4. Elina Riivari & Anna-Maija Lämsä, 2019. "Organizational Ethical Virtues of Innovativeness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 223-240, March.
    5. Alexandre Di Miceli da Silveira, 2022. "Corporate governance and ethical culture: Do boards matter?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1085-1116, May.
    6. Minna-Maaria Hiekkataipale & Anna-Maija Lämsä, 2019. "(A)moral Agents in Organisations? The Significance of Ethical Organisation Culture for Middle Managers’ Exercise of Moral Agency in Ethical Problems," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 147-161, March.
    7. Anna Remišová & Anna Lašáková & Zuzana Kirchmayer, 2019. "Influence of Formal Ethics Program Components on Managerial Ethical Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 151-166, November.
    8. Mari Huhtala & Taru Feldt & Katriina Hyvönen & Saija Mauno, 2013. "Ethical Organisational Culture as a Context for Managers’ Personal Work Goals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 265-282, May.
    9. Maiju Kangas & Muel Kaptein & Mari Huhtala & Anna-Maija Lämsä & Pia Pihlajasaari & Taru Feldt, 2018. "Why Do Managers Leave Their Organization? Investigating the Role of Ethical Organizational Culture in Managerial Turnover," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 707-723, December.
    10. Michael S. McLeod & G. Tyge Payne & Robert E. Evert, 2016. "Organizational Ethics Research: A Systematic Review of Methods and Analytical Techniques," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 429-443, March.
    11. Raminta Pučėtaitė & Aurelija Novelskaitė & Anna-Maija Lämsä & Elina Riivari, 2016. "The Relationship Between Ethical Organisational Culture and Organisational Innovativeness: Comparison of Findings from Finland and Lithuania," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(4), pages 685-700, December.
    12. Maiju Kangas & Joona Muotka & Mari Huhtala & Anne Mäkikangas & Taru Feldt, 2017. "Is the Ethical Culture of the Organization Associated with Sickness Absence? A Multilevel Analysis in a Public Sector Organization," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 131-145, January.
    13. Maiju Kangas & Taru Feldt & Mari Huhtala & Johanna Rantanen, 2014. "The Corporate Ethical Virtues Scale: Factorial Invariance Across Organizational Samples," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 161-171, September.
    14. Christian Hauser, 2019. "Fighting Against Corruption: Does Anti-corruption Training Make Any Difference?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 281-299, September.
    15. He Peng & Feng Wei, 2020. "How and When Does Leader Behavioral Integrity Influence Employee Voice? The Roles of Team Independence Climate and Corporate Ethical Values," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(3), pages 505-521, October.
    16. Tanja Rabl & María Carmen Triana & Seo-Young Byun & Laura Bosch, 2020. "Diversity Management Efforts as an Ethical Responsibility: How Employees’ Perceptions of an Organizational Integration and Learning Approach to Diversity Affect Employee Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(3), pages 531-550, January.
    17. Konstantinos Koronios & Athanasios Kriemadis & Panagiotis Dimitropoulos & Andreas Papadopoulos, 2019. "A values framework for measuring the influence of ethics and motivation regarding the performance of employees," Business & Entrepreneurship Journal, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 8(1), pages 1-1.
    18. Wen-yeh Huang, 2018. "Influence of Transparency on Employees’ Ethical Judgments: A Case of Russia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(4), pages 1177-1189, November.
    19. Darryl B. Rice & Regina M. Taylor & Yiding Wang & Sijing Wei & Valentina Ge, 2023. "My Company Cares About My Success…I Think: Clarifying Why and When a Firm’s Ethical Reputation Impacts Employees’ Subjective Career Success," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(1), pages 159-177, August.
    20. Tabea Franziska Hirth-Goebel & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2019. "Management accountants and ethical dilemmas: How to promote ethical intention?," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 287-322, October.

    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:170:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-019-04376-5. 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.