High Compensation and Unethical Reciprocity

This research extends social exchange theory by investigating unethical reciprocity induced by high compensation in employee–manager exchange relationships. Two experimental studies based on behavioral games showed that even after employees had reciprocated their managers’ wage offers with commensurate work efforts, managers’ previous compensation decisions still had potent effects on employees’ subsequent ethical behaviors. Specifically, Study 1 showed that high wages led employees to engage in unethical reciprocity to benefit their managers at the expense of honesty. In addition, when managers had the possibility of rewarding employees’ unethical reciprocity, only underpaid employees demonstrated more unethical reciprocity, and high-paid employees were not affected by their potential personal payout. Study 2 replicated Study 1’s results using different designs and behavioral games. Its results consistently showed that high-paid employees were more likely to act dishonestly to advance their managers’ interests, irrespective of their own payouts. Finally, Study 3 complemented our experimental results with initial field evidence, suggesting that higher salaries were positively related to the likelihood of police officers engaging in unethical and illegal actions to help their organization. We discuss our results by applying cross-disciplinary insights on exchange models and compensation to organizational studies.

Ethics of Teaching Profession from the Perspective of Students According to the Gender Variable

This study aims to reveal the professional, ethical and unethical behaviors that undergraduate students encounter during their education life from a gender perspective. Phenomenology design, which is one of the qualitative research designs, was used in the study. The research was conducted with 64 students studying at the education faculty of a state university during the 2019-2020 academic year. The most expressed unethical behaviors by female and male students are discrimination, roughness and misconduct. While female students stated that the ethical behaviors they faced were, in turn, professional commitment/development, moral aid and equality/ impartiality; Male students, on the other hand, expressed financial aid, moral aid and research on the cause of the problem. The most important result of the study is that male students stated that they did not encounter ethical behavior in teachers. According to the answers given by the female students to the research questions in the study, the unethical behaviors of the teachers were revealed as discrimination, roughness and misconduct, respectively. In contrast, male students stated roughness, discrimination and misconduct.

Are atheist consumers less ethical? Investigating the role of religiosity and atheism on consumer ethics

Purpose There is a perception that non-religious consumers are less ethical than religious consumers. Studies found prejudices against atheists around the world and assumed that those who committed unethical behavior were more likely to be atheists. Hence, first, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of consumers’ intrinsic religiosity, extrinsic religiosity and atheism on consumers’ ethical beliefs. Second, this study attempts to segment consumers and identify differences between these segments. Design/methodology/approach Using data from 235 study participants in the USA and 531 in Vietnam. Subsequently, a two-step cluster approach was used to identify segments within these samples. Findings The study results show consumers’ intrinsic religiosity negatively influences all consumers’ unethical beliefs. Similarly, atheism also negatively influences all consumers’ unethical beliefs. This study also complements other studies exploring consumer ethics in developing countries. In addition, the segmentation analysis produced unique segments. The results from both samples (USA and Vietnam) indicated that non-religious consumers are less likely to accept various unethical behaviors compared to religious consumers. Religious consumers are not necessarily more ethical and atheism consumers are not necessarily less ethical. In the end, are implications for business ethics, religious and non-religious leaders on how to view the impact of beliefs on consumer ethical behaviors. Originality/value This is one of the first few studies investigating the impact of atheism on consumer ethics. The results of this study further extend the knowledge of study in consumer ethics by comparing consumers’ religiosity and atheism.

Teaching professionalism in cadaver dissection: medical students' perspective

This study was designed to facilitate freshman medical students’ adaptation to the dissection room and familiarize them with the related ethical codes. Single-group post-test design research was conducted at Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2018 - 2019. The program began with a brief explanation of the necessity of the subject, and after a documentary film was shown, the principles of professional and ethical behaviors in the dissection room were discussed by a panel of experts. In the end, a valid and reliable evaluation questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.89) was distributed among the students. A total of 129 questionnaires were completed and returned. Overall, 94.4% of the students believed that the program provided an excellent opportunity to reflect on professional behaviors during practical anatomy sessions. In addition, 92.8% of the students believed that they would use the ethical points mentioned in the program in the future. Content analysis of the open questions produced three main categories: "motivating learning", "application of theory in practice" and "changing the attitude toward responsibility". The results indicate that adequate preparation for cadaver dissection sessions and learning about professional behavior codes in the first exposure can help medical students to better understand the principles of professional behaviors.

Challenges of practicing ethical leadership in Sudanese universities

This study aimed to examine the challenges of practicing ethical leadership in Sudanese universities. To this end, the study used a contemporary mixed research design. Simple random sampling techniques took three hundred sixty-five (365) participants. Quantitative data were collected from teachers using a closed questionnaire. At the same time, interviews were conducted with university directors, deans of faculties, and heads of departments. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as mean scores, one-sample t-test, and linear regression analysis. Qualitative data were objectively analyzed and interpreted. The study found that addressing the extent of practicing ethical leadership in Sudanese universities was average and needed further investigations. The study results clearly show that the challenges of practicing ethics showed a high average in terms of internal factors by communicating moral values when dealing with subordinates. Also, honesty and integrity are considered. It is also clear that the mean scores of external factors and ethical leadership behavior and actions were high, indicating that faith and values are statistically unimportant factors for ethical leadership practice in Sudanese universities. The study recommended the necessity of paying attention to the practice of ethical leadership in Sudanese universities in all its dimensions, facing challenges with scientific foundations, and encouraging employees, including university administrators, deans of colleges, and heads of departments, to practice ethical behaviors and values because of their importance in universities.

To cheat or not to cheat? An investigation into the ethical behaviors of generation Z

Cheating in higher education has numerous negative implications, including degrading program reputations, inflating student retention rates, and cultivating poor ethical practices, all of which have implications for what students do in the workplace after graduation. Therefore, by understanding the current student population, Generation Z, it is argued that faculty are better equipped to combat cheating behaviors. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior and Deterrence Theory, this study examines factors that faculty can influence, in particular, assignment controls to deter cheating and types of assignments given. Generation Z students indicated that their perceptions of faculty’s use of assignment controls increased their perception of getting caught, which, in turn, decreased cheating intentions. Students were more likely to cheat on coursework over written assignments and examinations. Furthermore, assignment controls create the greatest decrease in coursework cheating. This study has important implications for those involved in minimizing cheating opportunities.

Consumer Ethicality Perception and Legitimacy: Competitive Advantages in COVID-19 Crisis

The article aims to analyze the cause–effect relationship between Brand Ethicality Perception (CPE), legitimacy and purchase intention during the COVID-19 first wave, taking into consideration the mediation effect of the country of residence. Data collection was based on a survey launched during the COVID-19 lockdown in Madrid and New York. To analyze the established hypotheses and to test the multigroup analysis, we applied a structural modelling with SmartPLS. The research contributes to the field of brand management, and specifically of ethical branding, since it will analyze how stakeholders’ expectations fulfillment is key to build a consistent and valued brand meaning in crisis’ situations, demonstrating that ethical behaviors are key for gaining corporate legitimacy and, therefore, for improving business performances.

The Importance of Community Understanding of Political Ethics and Culture in Developing A Democratic Political Culture in Indonesian Regions

The reformation initiated and marked by President Suharto's fall (21 May 1998) is essentially a demand to carry out democratization in all fields. In the Indonesian context, understanding ethics and political culture in the midst of demands for democratization in all fields is a necessity because the Indonesian nation is, in reality, a diverse nation, from the aspects of ethnicity, religion, race and inter-group (SARA), all of which obviously affect the pattern, style, ethical character, and political culture. This research aims to analyze the importance of the people’s understanding of ethics and political culture in developing a democratic political culture in Indonesian regions. The method used is normative legal research by analyzing norms in the Indonesian constitution, laws, and other legal sources. The result of this research us that the efforts to understand the society's political ethics and culture based on Pancasila in the current reformation era, especially in regional areas, are significant because the Indonesian nation is carrying out reforms in all fields which, of course, require the support of all elements of society to behave in ethical ways and uphold a Pancasila-based culture. Various efforts to form ethical behaviors and culture based on Pancasila should be immediately carried out by both the state and all Indonesian citizens. These efforts, in addition to education, training, workshops and seminars, should be associated with Pancasila ideology, the noble values of Pancasila should be included in every statutory regulation in Indonesia, and which is no less important and in fact the most important, is the examples set by leaders, both at local and national levels, so that democratization which is the ideal of the reformation can be achieved in accordance with the noble values of Pancasila.

Valence–Instrumentality–Expectancy Model of Motivation as an Alternative Model for Examining Ethical Leadership Behaviors

Incessant occurrences of character failure of people in leadership positions that have characterized organizations in recent years call for critical examination of leadership behaviors. The Social Learning Theory and Trickle-Down Model are some of the common approaches previously used to analyze ethical leadership behaviors. However, the challenges with how these models inspire ethical behaviors call for further examination of the issue. Using a multidisciplinary integrative literature review, we present Vroom’s Valence–Instrumentality–Expectancy (VIE) Model of Motivation as an alternative model for examining ethical leadership behaviors. The VIE Model provides clarity regarding how leaders are motivated to behave ethically. We utilize ideas from the VIE model in conjunction with Starratt’s Three-Step Approach to develop a unique framework for examining ethical leadership behaviors. Our model highlights the importance of a leader’s values in creating organizational ethical values that eventually translate into professional ethical values. Using the motivational approach to inspire ethical leadership will drive organizational members to internalize ethical behavior as a conviction rather than complying with a set rule.

The effects of self-other rating agreement on ethical behavior: an experimental investigation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of self-other rating agreement (SOA) on ethical decisions and behavior.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 169 students (60 women and 109 men) enrolled in a part-time, regional MBA program was divided into three SOA categories: (1) Self-aware, individuals whose self-ratings matched observer ratings, (2) Underraters, those whose self-ratings were lower than observer ratings and (3) Overraters, individuals whose self-ratings were higher than other ratings. Ethical behavior was evaluated with the completion of a managerial in-basket assessment.FindingsThe results revealed that ethical behavior varied by SOA, with underraters exhibiting the highest levels of ethical behavior, followed by self-aware (i.e. accurate) and then overraters. One of the intriguing results is that underraters displayed more ethical behaviors than accurate raters, raising questions about the use of accurate self-assessments as an indicator of personal and professional effectiveness.Originality/valueThe results indicate that organizations should consider SOA in their human resource processes because it has important implications for employee training, selection and promotion. While prior research has examined the effect of SOA on performance, commitment and leadership perceptions, the authors contribute to the literature by examining whether SOA influences actual ethical decisions and actions.