Einar Marnburg

The Behavioural Effects of Corporate Ethical Codes: Empirical Findings and Discussion

The use of corporate ethical codes has been increasing. It is argued that the use of ethical codes solely as an instrument in a companys image management is morally questionable. Therefore, the introduction and use of ethical codes must have the intention of achieving behavioural change or the maintenance of already superior behaviour. This change or superior behaviour may apply to ethics in general, but also to the different sub-structures of ethics, namely the areas of reliability ethics, human ethics, capability ethics and future ethics. Previous research has, with some exceptions, failed to demonstrate that the introduction of ethical codes has had any behavioural effect. A survey study of Norwegian professionals (N=449) in business is reported here. Using the flexibility that a multivariate analysis provides, the existence or non-existence of ethical codes, and their influence on attitudinal differences across the four ethical sub-structures is tested. In the following discussion, three lines of argument are used, drawing on logical, social and managerial approaches, to explain why the codes do exist and yet do not seem to influence the members of a business organisation. Finally, the paper suggests some implications for business practice and for future research.

Testing the Structure and Effects of Full Range Leadership Theory in the Context of China's Hotel Industry

This study examined the structure and effect of the Full Range Leadership Theory (FRLT) in the context of the Chinas hotel industry. Empirical tests through data collected from hotels in China indicate that the original western-oriented nine-factor Full Range Leadership Model represented by the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ; Form 5X) is not well supported in Chinas hotel industry, witnessed by the poor goodness-of-fit indices and the low reliabilities of the factors. Exploratory factor analysis shows that MLQ (Form 5X) can be reduced to a two-factor model in Chinas hotel industry with the support of much improved goodness-of-fit indices. Test results indicate that cultural and other contextual issues should be considered when applying a theory in a specific industry context. Implications and discussions are provided based on the results of the study.

Exploring Qualitative Differences in Knowledge Sources: A Study of Hierarchical Effects of Judgmental Confidence and Accuracy Performance

Focusing on knowledge management (KM) and strategic decision making in service businesses through the constructs of strategic capital and knowledge sharing, the study investigates qualitative differences in domain-specific knowledge of frontline employees and executives. The study draws on cognitive theory and investigates the extent to which the knowledge of these subject groups is correct with respect to incorporating intuitive judgments by various employee groups into forecasting and following strategic decision making. The authors carried out this investigation through an exploratory study of the subject groups’ confidence and accuracy (CA) performance in a constructed knowledge-based forecasting setting. The groups’ intuitive judgmental performances were examined when predicting uncertain business and industry-related outcomes. The authors surveyed 39 executives and 38 frontline employees in 12 hotels. The analysis is based on a between-participants design. The results from this setting do not fully confirm findings in earlier CA studies. Their results indicate that there are no significant differences in the accuracy of executives (as experts) and frontline employees (as novices). Although executives demonstrate overconfidence in their judgments and frontline employees demonstrate under confidence, in line with earlier CA theory of experts and novices, the differences we find are not significant. Similarly, the CA calibration performance difference between the two groups is not significant. They suggest, among other reasons, that our findings differ from earlier CA studies because of organizational politics and culture by power distance, social capital, misuse of knowledge and the size of the business.

In Times of Uncertainty in the Hotel Industry: Hotel Directors' Decision‐Making and Coping Strategies for Dealing with Uncertainty in Change Activities

This paper is based on an exploratory case study of 12 hotel directors from Copenhagen, Denmark. The study investigates their perceived uncertainty in terms of decision‐making during change processes with the aim of evaluating whether hotel directors take advantage of uncertainty to promote creativity and innovation in their change activities as a means of business development. It investigates which change activities hotel directors perceive as highly or less uncertain, and why and how they address uncertainties strategically. The findings of the study suggest that hotel directors do not benefit from uncertainty in order to develop competitive advantages. They employ traditional strategic approaches that apparently seem to reduce uncertainty by means of planning, sticking to procedures and routines and postponing decisions until they feel sure about them.

Antecedents for Employee Helping Behavior in the Hospitality Industry

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between interpersonal justice, employee affective commitment, leader-member exchange (LMX) and employee helping behavior. Hypotheses and a model were tested with 585 valid responses collected from hotels in mainland China. Results showed that employee group commitment has a direct influence on employee helping behavior, while interpersonal justice perception and LMX do not. Detailed analysis shows that group commitment plays a crucial role in influencing employee helping behavior. The results of this study can be instructive to managers in the hospitality industry working to improve service quality by motivating employee helping behavior.

Linking leadership and justice to organizational commitment: The mediating role of collective identity in the hotel industry

This study aims to investigate the mediating role of collective identity in the relations among transformational leadership, procedural justice and employee organizational commitment.,An empirical survey was conducted in 43 hotels in mainland China with 585 valid responses. In addition to descriptive statistics and the test of the presence of common method bias, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the validities and reliabilities of the variables; structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test causal relations and the mediating effects of collective identity.,Results show that transformational leadership and procedural justice are good predictors of employee collective identity and organizational commitment. In addition to a strong impact on employee commitment, collective identity partially mediates the effects of transformational leadership and procedural justice on employee commitment.,This study is restricted to China’s hotel supervisors; therefore, caution should be taken when applying the findings to other sectors, regions and higher levels of leaders.,Findings of this study offer managerial insights for hotel supervisors to exercise transformational leadership and procedural justice to improve employee collective identity, which drives organizational commitment.,As an important concept, studies on the role of self-identity are limited in management and the field of leadership. This study tested the role of collective identity in leadership and organizational commitment in the context of Chinese culture, highlighting its theoretical and practical implications.

Dyadic Relationships and Exchanges in Performance Appraisals

Background: Previous research indicates that quality of dyad exchanges related to performance appraisal (PA) vary across organizations and across occupational groups. Leader-member exchange theory (LMX) is often used to explain such dyad relationships. The aim: This article focuses on manager-employees dyad relationships related to performance appraisals, and explores the different effects of high and low quality on dyadic exchange through PA in municipal health service. Method: Questionnaires were distributed to a representative sample of 600 health personnel, both from nursing homes and home care, with a response rate of 62 %. The LMX-7 scale was used to measure dyad quality. Findings: Employees in nursing homes are more participating and report higher exchange quality with the manager in PA than employees in home care. All subordinates report more constructive discussion with higher exchanges in PA than managers do. Auxiliary nurses are more satisfied with feedback and exchange in PA than nurses. Managers experience more thorough feedback with higher quality exchanges in PA than nurses. Conclusion: Health personnel in municipal health services experience LMX in PA differently. That is, employees in home care and nursing homes are experiencing different LMX in PA. They experience therefore different effects of PA. PA = Performance appraisal LMX = leader-member exchange

Editorial: Strategy in Hospitality Management

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism on 26th November 2008, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15022250802532435