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Investigating the Impacts of Organizational Factors on Employees' Unethical Behavior within Organization in the Context of Chinese Firms

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Nick Hajli

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Abstract

Unethical behavior is under-examined in the workplace. To date, few studies have attempted to explore the antecedents of an employee’s ethical decisions, particularly with respect to unethical behavior and its effects. To capture an employee’s psychological perception of unethical behavior in the workplace, this paper integrates organizational factors (codes of conduct, likelihood of detection, and performance pressure) into the Theory of Reasoned Action. By conducting an empirical study in a Chinese firm, we found that codes of conduct and performance pressure have a significant influence on an employee’s attitude toward and social beliefs about unethical behavior. We also demonstrated that employees’ unethical behaviors affect the firm performance of an entrepreneurial venture. The insights gleaned from the findings on this Chinese company have a number of important implications for both research and practice.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Lin X, Clay P, Hajli N, Dadgar M

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Business Ethics

Year: 2018

Volume: 150

Issue: 3

Pages: 779-791

Print publication date: 01/07/2018

Online publication date: 26/05/2016

Acceptance date: 13/05/2016

Date deposited: 24/08/2016

ISSN (print): 0167-4544

ISSN (electronic): 1573-0697

Publisher: Springer

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3209-4

DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3209-4

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