Construct Validity of Unobtrusive Measures of Organizational Ethical Climates

M. Fernanda Wagstaff (), Gabriela L. Flores (), Albert Cannella (), Sayan Sarkar () and Christine Choirat ()
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M. Fernanda Wagstaff: The University of Texas At El Paso
Gabriela L. Flores: Southwestern University
Albert Cannella: Texas A&M University
Sayan Sarkar: University of Mary Washington
Christine Choirat: Swiss Data Science Center, ETH Zürich and EPFL

Corporate Reputation Review, 2021, vol. 24, issue 3, No 4, 158-177

Abstract: Abstract Prior studies have examined the relationship between organizational ethical climates and an array of work-related attitudes and behaviors. However, current research is hampered by the lack of knowledge on how ethical climates relate to organizational outcomes. To advance research on this topic, we developed three unobtrusive measures of organizational ethical climates based on words used in annual letters to shareholders of Fortune 500 companies and examine how organizational ethical climates relate to corporate reputation and a readability index. Results reveal that our measures of organizational ethical climates align with well-known reputation measures as well as the overall readability of letters to shareholders. Our theory and evidence open a novel path for both researchers and practitioners to benefit from an initial validation of measures of organizational ethical climates in studying corporate reputation.

Keywords: Organizational ethical climates; World’s most ethical companies; Top 50 companies for diversity; Most admired companies; Fortune 500 companies; Corporate reputation; Letters to shareholders; Readability; Fog index; Computer-aided text analysis; Cosine similarity index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1057/s41299-020-00100-6

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