When Organizational Identification Elicits Moral Decision-Making: A Matter of the Right Climate

Suzanne Gils (), Michael A. Hogg, Niels Quaquebeke and Daan Knippenberg
Additional contact information
Suzanne Gils: Maastricht University
Michael A. Hogg: Claremont Graduate University
Niels Quaquebeke: Kühne Logistics University
Daan Knippenberg: Erasmus University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2017, vol. 142, issue 1, No 10, 155-168

Abstract: Abstract To advance current knowledge on ethical decision-making in organizations, we integrate two perspectives that have thus far developed independently: the organizational identification perspective and the ethical climate perspective. We illustrate the interaction between these perspectives in two studies (Study 1, N = 144, US sample; and Study 2, N = 356, UK sample), in which we presented participants with moral business dilemmas. Specifically, we found that organizational identification increased moral decision-making only when the organization’s climate was perceived to be ethical. In addition, we disentangle this effect in Study 2 from participants’ moral identity. We argue that the interactive influence of organizational identification and ethical climate, rather than the independent influence of either of these perspectives, is crucial for understanding moral decision-making in organizations.

Keywords: Organizational identification; Ethical climate; Moral decision-making; Moral identity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2784-0

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