The Ethical Climate and Context of Organizations: A Comprehensive Model

Anke Arnaud () and Marshall Schminke ()
Additional contact information
Anke Arnaud: College of Business, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida 32114
Marshall Schminke: College of Business Administration, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816

Organization Science, 2012, vol. 23, issue 6, 1767-1780

Abstract: Traditional approaches to understanding the ethical context of organizations often focus on ethical work climate, which reflects the collective moral reasoning of organization members. However, such approaches overlook other components of the ethical environment that may influence how ethical judgments translate to ethical behavior. This study extends our understanding of the ethical context of organizations by considering how three distinct aspects of that context—collective moral reasoning (ethical climate), collective moral emotion, and collective ethical efficacy—interact to influence ethical behavior. Results from 117 work units support our hypotheses. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Keywords: ethics; ethical context; ethical climate; affective tone; moral emotion; ethical efficacy; ethical behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (41)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1110.0698 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:23:y:2012:i:6:p:1767-1780

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Organization Science from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().