Randi L. Sims

The Relationship Between Academic Dishonesty and Unethical Business Practices

Abstract This article investigates whether the range and severity of academic dishonesty engaged in during undergraduate studies is related to the range and severity of dishonesty engaged in later during employment. Self-reported data was collected from 60 MBA students. Findings indicate that subjects who admitted to having engaged in a wide range of academic dishonesty also admitted to a wide range of work-related dishonesty. Additionally, those subjects who engaged in behaviors considered severely dishonest in college also engaged in behaviors considered severely dishonest at work.

The influence of ethical fit on employee satisfaction, commitment and turnover

This study examines the influence of ethical fit on employee attitudes and intentions to turnover. The results of this investigation provides support for the conjecture that ethical work climate is an important variable in the study of person-organization fit. Ethical fit was found to be significantly related to turnover intentions, continuance commitment, and affective commitment, but not to job satisfaction. Results are discussed in regard to some of the affective and cognitive distinctions among satisfaction, commitment, and behavioral intentions.

Predictors of external whistleblowing: Organizational and intrapersonal variables

Research on whistleblowing has not yet provided a finite set of variables which have been shown to influence an employees decision to report wrongdoing. Prior research on business ethics suggests that ethical business decisions are influenced by both organizational as well as intrapersonal variables. As such, this paper attempts to predict the decision to whistleblow using organizational and intrapersonal variables. External whistleblowing was found to be significantly related to supervisor support, informal policies, gender, and ideal values. External whistleblowing was not found to be significantly predicted by formal policies, organizational tenure, age, education, satisfaction, or commitment.

Ethical Work Climate as a Factor in the Development of Person-Organization Fit

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between the ethical climate of the organization and the development of person-organization fit. The relationship between an individuals stage of moral development and his/her perceived ethical work environment was examined using a sample of 86 working students. Results indicate that a match between individual preferences and present position proved most satisfying. Subjects expressing a match between their preferences for an ethical work climate and their present ethical work climate indicated that they were less likely to leave their positions.

Determinants of ethical decision making: The relationship of the perceived organizational environment

This study attempts to help explain the ethical decision making of individual employees by determining how the perceived organizational environment is related to that decision. A self- administered questionnaire design was used for gathering data in this study with a sample size of 245 full-time employees. Perceived supervisor expectation, formal policies, and informal policies were used to assess the expressed ethical decision of the respondents. The findings indicate that the perceived organizational environment is significantly related to the ethical decision of the respondent.

Rater Leniency and Performance Appraisal Discomfort

This study investigated the predictability of rater leniency from scores on an instrument designed to measure rater discomfort with performance appraisal situations. The 20-item Performance Appraisal Discomfort Scale (PADS) was administered twice to a sample of 178 undergraduate business students who rated performance of group members on three group projects under conditions designed to emulate features of actual appraisal situations. Results supported the notion that rater leniency is stable and predictable from PADS scores. Also, principal-component extracted and varimax rotated factors of the PADS were interpreted as corresponding to four distinct situational demands placed on raters in the course of performance appraisal. The results of this limited demonstration of the validity of PADS suggest that future application of the PADS or some like instrument may be useful for enhancing the validity of appraisal ratings and feedback utility.

Ethical Rule Breaking by Employees: A Test of Social Bonding Theory

As employees continue to lie, cheat, and steal from their employers, researchers have tried to help managers understand and possibly predict such deviant behavior. This study considers the specific employee misconduct of ethical rule breaking. Hirschi (1969) suggested that deviant behavior can be better understood by social bonding theory. The social bonding model includes four elements; attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. It is proposed that Hirschis social bonding theory can be used to understand ethical rule breaking by employees. Using a sample of 200 employees, the results indicate that the social bonding elements of attachment and involvement can be used to better understand the reported likelihood of ethical rule breaking of employees. Recommendations for better applying the social bonding model to ethical rule breaking are suggested.

The relationship between graduate student attitudes and attrition

Abstract Although much is known about undergraduate student attrition in the United States, very little is known about graduate student attrition. In this study, researchers sought to identify a set of personal variables to predict graduate student attrition, emphasizing variables that universities can influence. The results indicated that in this sample, graduate student attitudes and intentions were significant factors in attrition: Intent to remain, affective commitment, met expectations, and need for achievement were important predictors of attrition 18 months later.

The severity of academic dishonesty: A comparison of faculty and student views

This study considers the severity of academic dishonesty as an important factor in dealing with academic integrity. The results indicate that although faculty generally consider specific dishonest behaviors as more severe than do students, the differences appear to lessen as students progress toward graduation.

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Managers' Whistleblowing Tendencies

In a global marketplace, managers often face major difficulties when it comes to handling ethical problems within a different cultural context. Whistleblowing is one possible response to ethical problems. This study considers the differences in culture between a United States sample of managers and a Jamaica, West Indies sample of managers using Hofstedes (1991) theory of International Cultures. The study explores how those cultural differences may help in our understanding of the differences in reported whistleblowing tendencies.