Kenneth D. Butterfield

The Ethical Context in Organizations: Influences on Employee Attitudes and Behaviors

This field survey focused on two constructs that have been developed to represent the ethical context in organizations: ethical climate and ethical culture. We first examined issues of convergence and divergence between these constructs through factor analysis and correlational analysis. Results suggested that the two constructs are measuring somewhat different, but strongly related dimensions of the ethical context. We then investigated the relationships between the emergent ethical context factors and an ethics-related attitude (organizational commitment) and behavior (observed unethical conduct) for respondents who work in organizations with and without ethics codes. Regression results indicated that an ethical culture-based dimension was more strongly associated with observed unethical conduct in code organizations while climate-based dimensions were more strongly associated with observed unethical conduct in non-code organizations. Ethical culture and ethical climate-based factors influenced organizational commitment similarly in both types of organizations. Normative implications of the study are discussed, as are implications for future theorizing, research and management practice.

THE INFLUENCE OF COLLEGIATE AND CORPORATE CODES OF CONDUCT ON ETHICS-RELATED BEHAVIOR IN THE WORKPLACE

Codes of conduct are viewed here as a communitys attempt to communicate its expectations and standards of ethical behavior. Many organizations are implementing codes, but empirical support for the relationship between such codes and employee conduct is lacking. We investigated the long term effects of a collegiate honor code experience as well as the effects of corporate ethics codes on unethical behavior in the workplace by surveying alumni from an honor code and a non-honor code college who now work in business. We found that self-reported unethical behavior was lower for respondents who work in an organization with a corporate code of conduct and was inversely associated with corporate code implementation strength and embeddedness. Self-reported unethical behavior was also influenced by the interaction of a collegiate honor code experience and corporate code implementation strength.

Honor Codes and Other Contextual Influences on Academic Integrity: A Replication and Extension to Modified Honor Code Settings.

Research has shown that traditional academic honor codes are generally associated with lower levels of student academic dishonesty. Utilizing data obtained from students at 21 colleges and universities, this study investigated the influence of modified honor codes, an alternative to traditional honor codes, that is gaining popularity on larger campuses. It also tested the model of student academic dishonesty previously suggested by McCabe and Treviño in a more diverse sample of campuses. Results suggest that modified honor codes are associated with lower levels of student dishonesty and that the McCabe and Treviño model appears to be reasonably robust.

Punishment from the Manager's Perspective: A Grounded Investigation and Inductive Model

We employed a qualitative interview technique to develop an inductive model of punishment from a managerial perspective. Findings suggest that managers feel pressure from a variety of sources—organ...

An Inductive Model of Collaboration From the Stakeholder’s Perspective:

This work emerged from funded research examining collaboration among stake-holder organizations present at three U.S. nuclear weapons complex sites. The authors examine issues such as how and why stakeholder groups form collaborative alliances when dealing with the target organization, what leaders of stakeholder organizations actually think about when collaborating to deal with the target organization, and what outcomes result from the collaboration process. Drawing on stakeholder theory and research in interorganizational collaboration, the authors used an inductive, interview-based methodology to build a model of collaboration among nonprofit stakeholder groups. The model contributes to the descriptive stream of stakeholder theory and, in turn, has implications for the instrumental stream. The model also offers implications for future researchers, leaders of stakeholder alliances, and leaders of target organizations.