IABS 2014 SYMPOSIUM PROPOSAL
VICTOR AND CULLEN’S ETHICAL WORK CLIMATE CONSTRUCT REVISITED:
EMERGING THEMES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
[contact author]
James Weber, Ph.D.
Professor of Business Ethics & Management
Palumbo Donahue School of Business, Duquesne University
816 Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15282 USA
Email: weberj@duq.edu
Phone: 412.396.5475
Anke Arnaud, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Management, Marketing and Operations
College of Business, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL 32714 USA
Email: arnauda@erau.edu
Phone: 386.226.4962
Craig VanSandt, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Management, David W. Wilson Chair in Business Ethics
College of Business Administration, University of Northern Iowa
1227 W 27th St, Cedar Falls, IA 50614 USA
Email: craig.vansandt@uni.edu
Phone: 319.273.6194
Satish Deshpande, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Operations and Graduate Programs
Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University
1903 West Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5457 USA
Email: satish.deshpande@wmich.edu
Phone: 269.387.5067
Keywords: Ethical work climate, methodological challenges, empirical assessment
VICTOR AND CULLEN’S ETHICAL WORK CLIMATE CONSTRUCT REVISITED:
EMERGING THEMES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This symposium focuses on theoretical, methodological and empirical advances to the
original ethical work climate (EWC) construct introduced by Victor and Cullen (1988) as
detailed in the abstract proposals that follow. James Weber proposes to re-examine Victor and
Cullen’s model to possibly discover a new, stronger and more empirically viable theoretical
framework for identifying and understanding EWCs by investigating the inherent normative
dimensions and post-1988 moral reasoning literature. Anke Arnaud builds on the work by
Arnaud and Schminke (2011) and adds collective moral values to their original model. She posits
that collective moral values give rise to EWCs and interact with collective moral emotions to
affect the relationship between EWCs and ethical behavior. Craig VanSandt combines the focus
on managerial orientations with the observation that different types of organizations will likely
have different EWCs. His work incorporates “dominant logics” and the Mental Model Style
Survey to enhance our understanding of EWCs. Finally, Satish Deshpande emphasizes
addressing the research gap focusing on the impact of organizational factors on ethical decisionmaking and turns to China and the impact of guanxi and ethical dissolution within an
organization for his empirical exploration.
Challenges to the Ethical Work Climate Theoretical Foundations
Abstract submitted by Dr. James Weber, Duquesne University
With Victor and Cullen (1988) as the formal launching pad to a series of scholarly work
focusing on ethical work climates (EWC), some promising methodological improvements,
empirical assessments, and tests of validation focusing on EWC have been widely published in
management and business ethics journals, notable the Ethical Climate Index (Arnaud, 2010).
Much of this literature was summarized in an Academy of Management Perspectives’ publication
authored by Simha and Cullen (2012). Yet, relatively few scholars have challenged the
theoretical foundations first established by Victor and Cullen. I seeks to re-examine the original
theoretical foundation to possibly discover a new, stronger and more empirically viable
theoretical framework for identifying and understanding EWCs.
There are three areas ripe for exploration as suggested here. First, embedded within this
exploration is a challenge that the Victor and Cullen EWC framework is presented as a valueneutral, descriptive assessment of organizational EWCs. Subsequent research has reviewed the
EWC literature and generally argued that a normative or hierarchical ranking of EWCs exists
(Martin & Cullen, 2006). Arnaud and Schminke (2011) found only mixed results when
exploring the normative dimensions of EWCs, with self-focusing reasoning (or an Instrumental
EWC for Victor and Cullen) significantly and negatively related to ethical behavior. Yet, they
did not find significant support that other-focused reasoning is positively related to ethical
behavior. Weber, Kurke and Pentico (2003) did discover an Instrumental EWC at an
organization where rampant employee theft was discovered using an organizational audit,
leading further support for Arnaud and Schminke’s findings. This will be further addressed by
developing testable research propositions to determine if one EWC is ethically superior or
preferred than other EWCs.
Second, since Victor and Cullen’s creation of their EWC model James Rest (1986) has
introduced his four-stage model of ethical decision-making and a collapsing into three level of
moral reasoning based on his modification of Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development Theory
to enhance the original theoretical foundation. Arnaud (2010) incorporates this new ethical
framework into her new Ethical Climate Index. However, it is suggested here that the some
updating of Victor and Cullen’s work is warranted based on Rest’s work and will result in
enhanced EWC construct underlying the use of the Ethical Climate Questionnaire. The focus
here is on Rest’s collapsing of Kohlberg’s six stages into three moral reasoning levels, rather
than the four-stage sequence explaining the ethical decision-making process.
Third, others have challenged the independence of Victor and Cullen’s two dimensions –
locus of analysis and ethical criterion. Conceptually, Weber (1993) argues this notion and
Arnaud (2010) also posits that there is only one single dimension – labeling it “shared moral
reasoning,” which needs to be further investigated. This is relatively easy to test and is the focus
for a series of testable propositions offered here to better resolve this question. What may result
is an advanced formulation of two different dimensions supporting an EWC framework.
Extension of the Model of the Ethical Context of Organizations
Abstract submitted by Dr. Anke Arnaud, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Arnaud and Schminke (2011) collapsed the two dimensions proposed by Victor and
Cullen’s (1988) EWC model and identified that EWCs emerge as either self-focused or otherfocused. They suggested that EWCs more likely translate to ethical behavior when members of
the same work unit care about the people affected by their actions (empathy) and believe in their
ability to follow through on an intended course of action (efficacy). Arnaud and Schminke
(2011) found general support for the model
I build on the work by Arnaud and Schminke (2011) and propose that collective moral
values give rise to EWCs and interact with collective moral emotions to affect the relationship
between EWCs and ethical behavior. Shared moral values define an organization’s deeply-held
beliefs of what is right versus wrong. Grojean and colleagues (2004) explain that values define
what organizations view central to their goal achievement and give rise to the EWCs of
organizations.
Schwartz (1994) organizes values along four dimensions. Two of those dimensions, selftranscendence values and self-enhancement values, directly relate to Arnaud and Schminke’s
conceptualization of EWCs as self-focused versus other-focused. Self-transcendence values are
defined as acceptance of others as equals and concern for people’s welfare (benevolence and
universalism) and self-enhancement values are defined as insisting on the pursuit of one’s own
relative success and dominance over others (power and achievement). Because selftranscendence values emphasize an acceptance and concern for others it is likely that selftranscendence values, when shared by a work group, give rise to other-focused EWC. On the
other hand, self-enhancement values, the pursuit of one’s own success and dominance over
others, when shared by a work group, give rise to a self-focused EWC. This suggests a direct
relationship between collective moral values and ethical climate.
In addition, I propose that collective moral values and collective moral emotions interact
to affect the relationship between EWC and ethical behavior. Arnaud and Schminke (2011)
introduce empathy as the focal moral emotion (Pizzaro, 2000) that affects moral judgment and
behavior. Based on George’s (1990) work on affective tone, the authors explain that collective
empathy represents a homogeneous empathic reaction within a work group.
Empathy is grounded in the desire and ability to identify with and feel for others. These
feelings are founded in the belief that it is right to care for others, and be concerned for their
welfare; it is founded on self-transcendence values. Sonnemans and Frijda (1995) explain that
individuals who deem something relevant to their values, the more intense the resulting emotion
is going to be. This suggests that a work group defined by shared values of self-transcendence
will experience higher collective empathy and that a work group defined by shared values of
self-enhancement will experience a lack of shared empathy.
Finally, because emotions and values are related and affect behavior, I propose an
interaction effect: collective moral emotions are more likely to have an effect on the ethical
climate-behavior relationship when they align with the shared values of the organization.
Ethical Work Climate: A Larger Context
Abstract submitted by Dr. Craig V. VanSandt, University of Northern Iowa
Two important research streams have emerged in EWC research (Simha & Cullen, 2012). First
is the recognition that there is more involved in moral behavior than moral judgment. Rest (1986)
proposed a four-component model of moral behavior, including moral awareness, judgment,
motivation, and courage. EWC’s effects on moral awareness have been investigated (VanSandt,
Shepard, and Zappe, 2006). Others have specifically noted the role of moral motivation and courage,
via the categories of collective moral emotion and efficacy (Arnaud and Schminke, 2011). The second
stream involves research into the antecedents of EWC—external organizational contexts, organizational
structure, and strategic or managerial orientations (Simha and Cullen, 2012).
I combine the focus on managerial orientations with the observation that different types of
organizations will likely have different EWCs. Victor and Cullen (1988) noted that EWC is one type of
work climate—organizational members’ shared perceptions of the system’s practices and procedures
(Schneider, 1975). A broader concept that encompasses both work climate and EWC is that of
dominant logics (“DLs”) (VanSandt, Werhane, and Sud, 2013). The originators of the DL concept
said, “A dominant general management logic is defined as the way in which managers conceptualize
the business and make critical resource allocation decisions” (Prahalad and Bettis, 1986: 490). An
organization’s DL is foundational to everything it does.
Part of DLs have to do with members’ perception of the organization itself. Morgan (1997)
hypothesized eight common perceptions of organizations as: machines, organisms, brains, cultures,
political systems, psychic prisons, flux and transformation, and instruments of domination. To this list
Chermack, Song, Nimon, and Korte (2012) added organizations as systems and as social interaction. A
new instrument, the Mental Model Style Survey (“MMSS”), has confirmed five perceptions of
organizations (Chermack, et al., 2012): Political – a system for political posturing and maneuvering;
Financial – financial performance is the most important goal, Efficiency – a rational system, operating
as efficiently as possible; Social – the organization’s culture, to which members belong; and Systems –
series of inputs, processes, and outcomes (Glick, Chermack, Luckel, & Gauck, 2012).
Simha and Cullen (2012) proposed that nonprofit organizations tend to have different types of
EWCs than for-profits or governmental agencies, and that organizational purpose and operating
environment would help shape EWC. I propose that members’ perceptions of their organizations and
EWCs could be aligned or misaligned (e.g., Enron). If an organization’s MMSS and EWC are aligned,
it is likely that their effects on moral behavior will be stronger; if they are misaligned, the effects will
tend to be less predictable. Investigating relationships between EWCs and MMSSs will allow scholars
and practitioners to better understand the influences on members’ moral behaviors and how to
manipulate those influences to elicit the types of actions desired.
Exploring the Impact of Guanxi and Ethical Dissolution within an Organization
Abstract submitted by Dr. Satish P. Deshpande, Western Michigan University
The most recent review of the empirical ethical-making literature has identified a number
of gaps that needs to be addressed by future researches (Craft 2013); especially the need for
faster expansion of business ethics research into the international arena such as non-western
cultures.
While China has been successful in transforming itself from an agrarian economy into a
powerful economic machine, the country has been hit by various ethical scandals. For example,
stories of baby milk tainted with melamine and toys with lead paint highlighted major business
ethics problems in China (Fu and Deshpande, 2012). Zhang, Cone, Everett and Elkin (2011)
contend that Chinese business ethics has emerged from Confucianism, which is very different
from Western traditions. They stress that since Chinese and Western economic and cultural
practices are different, there is a dire need to have in-depth business ethics studies in different
Chinese organizations. In response, a number of researchers have recently started examined the
impact of EWC on various organizational outcomes like ethical practices of successful managers
(Deshpande, Joseph & Shu, 2011), job performance (Fu and Deshpande, 2013), job satisfaction
and organizational commitment (Fu and Deshpande, 2012) and organizational-professional
conflict (Shafer, 2009) in Chinese firms. I identify two areas of research that may have a
significant impact on understanding EWC in non-western countries like China.
Because of the significant impact of Confucianism in China, guanxi or personal
connections is very important in the Chinese workplace. Current research has indicated that there
is a paucity of research identifying antecedents of supervisor-subordinate guanxi in China
(Zhang, Deng & Wang, 2013). The motivation for building guanxi can range from factors
related to personal benefits to organizational concerns. Thus future business ethic researchers in
China must examine, given these motivations, how EWC directly or indirectly impacts a
manager’s decision to build guanxi with subordinate. Another direction for EWC research in
China is the role of EWC on ethical dissolution within an organization. Ethical dissolution
occurs when a group of employees whose breach in ethics causes measurable harm to people
within and outside an organization. Jackson, Wood and Zboja (2013) present a comprehensive
model of how ethical dissolution can occur in an organization. They propose that in an
organization, organizational factors, individual factors, and contextual factors converge to impact
ethical dissolution. Testing this model in China will help us answer the following questions:
When societal culture or Confucianism conflicts with EWC, which culture dominates and why?
In addition, are there factors like organizational structure, code of ethics, HR policies that can
impact this relationship?
References *
Arnaud, A. (2010). Conceptualizing and measuring ethical work climate: Development and
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assessment of an instrument for measuring mental model styles in Korea. Learning and
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* Note: Essential references are provided above. Due to page limitations additional references are not included but
will be made available during the symposium presentation.