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  • 1.  Request for empirical studies

    Posted 09-17-2007 10:44

    Dear OB members,

     

    Last summer, I enlisted your help in identifying behavioral ethics studies for a meta-analysis with my co-authors, Dr. Linda Treviño and Dr. David Harrison.  Thank you to all who replied!  We are now in the process of finalizing that meta-analysis* and are looking for any additional studies that may fit our parameters.

     

    As you may recall, we are interested in studies that use ethical/unethical behavior or workplace deviance as the dependent variable (more details below).  I’ve already searched the major electronic databases (ABI Inform, PsychINFO, etc.), but now, I'm hoping you can help me find dissertations, conference presentations, book chapters, unpublished papers, or empirical studies reported in other outlets that would not be easily found in a normal literature search.

     

    The dependent variable could be any general measure of unethical behavior or workplace deviance.  It could also be a specific behavior such as aggression, bribery, cheating (non-academic), deception, kickbacks, lying, software piracy, theft, or sabotage. 

     

    On the independent variable side, we are looking for empirical studies that include one or more of the following:

    Cognitive Moral Development

    Locus of Control

    Idealism/Relativism

    Machiavellianism

    Gender, Age, or Education Level

    Job Satisfaction 

    Ethical climate

    Ethical culture

    Code of conduct

    Enforcement of code of conduct

    Moral Intensity

     

    Once again, I appreciate any help you can provide!  Of course, my co-authors and I will include and cite papers that meet the parameters of our meta-analysis. 

     

    Please let me know if you have any questions.  I apologize for cross-posting.

     

    Sincerely,

     

    Jennifer Kish Gephart

    PhD Candidate

    Management & Organization

    Pennsylvania State University 

    State College, PA 16801
     

    *An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2007 Academy of Management meeting in Philadelphia, PA.  Copies are available upon request.





  • 2.  Request for empirical studies

    Posted 09-17-2007 21:51
    Hi Jennifer,
     
    Are you looking only for quantitative studies? You may be aware that Dr. Treviño has advocated a need for qualitative studies. My dissertation research was qualitative in nature, but could probably fit within your variables. I've attached my abstract and my model for your review. This study focused on the factors that impact the decision process when middle managers are faced with ethical dilemmas in their employing organizations. The "dependent variable" would have been their ethical dilemma, which each participant described. From your list of independent variables, there are two that matched my findings: (1) Cognitive Moral Development, which I did not measure, but which is a major part of a variable I called Prior Ethical Socialization; and (2) Ethical climate, which manifested through terms such as survival, rules, and reputation. I found that prior ethical socialization guides individuals to recognize ethical issues and that persons also reflect on prior and current ethical socialization to guide futre actions. In addition, ethical work climate mediates attitude (outcome beliefs) toward behavior and subjective norms (beliefs about what others think, which lead to intention and ultimately to action.
     
    Take care.
    Susie W. Pontiff, Ed.D.
    The George Washington University