Moral Awareness: A Source of Improved Sustainable Performance

Mujahid Hussain, Hamid Hassan, Zafar Iqbal, Amna Niazi and Yasuo Hoshino
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Mujahid Hussain: FAST School of Management Lahore, Lahore Campus, National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences, Lahore 54770, Pakistan
Hamid Hassan: FAST School of Management Lahore, Lahore Campus, National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences, Lahore 54770, Pakistan
Amna Niazi: Humanities and Management Sciences Department, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 54770, Pakistan
Yasuo Hoshino: Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8573, Japan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 23, 1-14

Abstract: Despite the increasing realization of the significance of work ethics and moral awareness (MA) in businesses after mega scandals, such as those of Enron and Tyco, few studies have investigated the relationship between MA and employees’ performance and the intermediate mechanisms that explain this relationship. This study proposes that as employees’ work ethics are calibrated through ethical training, their MA increases, in turn affecting employees’ job performance. This experimental study is aimed at investigating the impact of MA, increased through ethical training, on employees’ job performance. Based on institutional theory, the multidimensional work ethic profile (MWEP) and strategic human resource management literature, it is hypothesized that MA of employees’ is positively correlated with employees’ performance and that this relationship is moderated by the age, gender and education level of the employees. In particular, the moral awareness component of ethical decision-making (EDM) models is considered as coextensive with work ethics in experimental design, and work ethics is depicted by a multidimensional work ethic profile (MWEP). The study used a sample of 100 employees of a golf club, divided into an experiment group and a control group with 50 employees each. The experiment group was subjected to an ethical training program focused on increasing MA. Employees’ performance for both groups was evaluated based on eight sub-variables. The study concluded that increasing MA increases employees’ performance, with no significant moderation effect of age, gender and education level on this relationship. The results of this study will go a long way in helping managers to increase the productivity of their employees through increased MA.

Keywords: moral awareness; institutional theory; ethical decision-making models; work ethics; strategic human resource management; multidimensional work ethic profile; employees’ performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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