When Employees Do Bad Things for Good Reasons: Examining Unethical Pro-Organizational Behaviors

Elizabeth E. Umphress () and John B. Bingham ()
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Elizabeth E. Umphress: Mays Business School, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
John B. Bingham: Department of Organizational Leadership and Strategy, Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84604

Organization Science, 2011, vol. 22, issue 3, 621-640

Abstract: We propose that employees sometimes engage in unethical acts with the intent to benefit their organization, its members, or both---a construct we term unethical pro-organizational behavior . We suggest that positive social exchange relationships and organizational identification may lead to unethical pro-organizational behavior indirectly via neutralization, the process by which the moral content of unethical actions is overlooked. We incorporate situational and individual-level constructs as moderators of these relationships and consider managerial implications and future research.

Keywords: unethical behavior; social exchange; organizational identification; ethics; moral disengagement; neutralization; guilt; shame; amoral culture; severity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (111)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:22:y:2011:i:3:p:621-640

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