Ethical Culture in Organizations: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

Abstract

We review and synthesize over two decades of research on ethical culture in organizations, examining eighty-nine relevant scholarly works. Our article discusses the conceptualization of ethical culture in a cross-disciplinary space and its critical role in ethical decision-making. With a view to advancing future research, we analyze the antecedents, outcomes, and mediator and moderator roles of ethical culture. To do so, we identify measures and theories used in past studies and make recommendations. We propose, inter alia, the use of validated measures, application of a wider range of theories, adoption of longitudinal studies, and study of group-level data in organizations. We explore research possibilities in new and emergent forms of organizations, ways of organizing work, and technology in ethical decision-making, such as the role of artificial intelligence. We also recommend the study of a broad range of leadership styles and their influence in shaping ethical cultures in organizations.

ESG activity recognition enhances organizational commitment and service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior among insurance call center staff

“…Secondly, this research collects individual employees' ESG activity perceptions to capture their shared corporate culture as a community. This is a persistent limitation of organizational culture-related studies [ 86 ]. Thirdly, this study uses ESG activity recognition as a proxy for an ESG-driven corporate climate.…”

Mediating Effect of Organizational Virtuousness in Ethical Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Relationship: A Study of Higher Education Sector in Pakistan

“…It may help in promoting pro-social behaviors such as OCB (Walumbwa et al, 2017) that may positively affect the overall well-being of the organization. However, there are still other studies that suggest that employees' outcomes are not directly translated by leadership; instead, it requires certain mediating mechanisms (Eissa et al, 2017), such as organizational support in the form of forgiveness, trust, integrity, and compassion for the employees as an exchange/transactional mechanism to exhibit OCB (Roy et al, 2023). In other words, ethical leadership and positive work outcomes such as OCB are meditated through organizational virtuousness (Pires & Nunes, 2018).…”

Boosting the Organizational Performance: Ethical Climate as a Moderator for Optimizing Risk Management Practices in the Saudi Public Sector

“…Ethical climate is seen as the prevailing moral atmosphere within an organization, reflecting the shared values, beliefs, and norms that guide the conduct of its members. It also refers to employees' shared perceptions regarding ethical norms and practices within their organization (Haldorai et al, 2020;Roy et al, 2023). It encompasses the collective understanding of what is considered right or wrong, both in terms of individual behavior and organizational practices (Peng & Kim, 2020;Pagliaro et al, 2018).…”