The study sought to investigate whether the effects of an employee’s fit or misfit with the ethical climate of an organisation is mitigated or exacerbated by the quality of the leader-member exchange experienced. The outcome variables looked at includes organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Data was gathered from a total sample of 125 employees from three different non profit making organisations. Pearson Product Moment Correlations and moderated regressions were used to address the main research questions of the study. Despite, the implied theoretical link between ethical climate fit and leader member exchange, partly as a function of the constructs being centred on the notion of fit, and the role organisational leaders play in the formation of ethical climates, no significant moderation effects were found. Both variables were found to relate significantly to all job outcomes, but no combined effects of these variables on job outcomes were found. The findings of the study highlight a need for further empirical research on these concepts, and for the inquiring of existing theoretical propositions linking leaders to ethical climates.

In an age of austerity, specifying how governance and innovation interact is an important issue on the agenda of policymakers and scholars when discussing the role of government in dealing with 'wicked problems'. This trend of public sector spending cuts continues unabated in G20 countries, such as the US, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, and is driven by the concurrence of austerity measures and increasing citizen demands for quality public services. As a way to tackle this dilemma, governments have specifically sought, explicitly or implicitly, to urge public sector organisations to become more effective, which calls for innovation in public organisations, which is inextricably linked to performance. For example, Saudi Arabia launched an unprecedented major economic transformation, Vision 2030, which is considered a huge challenge to the public sector, which employs over two-thirds of Saudi nationals, to be innovative. Although several scholars have tried to prescribe ways to make the public sector more innovative, the theoretical frameworks used explained the effects of governance in unexpectedly parochial terms, and also neglected human capital dynamics, offering scarce insights into why some organisations thrive through innovativeness while others struggle. This study, which extends beyond the traditional high-performance models, examines whether the emphasis on the complementarities between a holistic approach of governance (rather than HRMP) and human capital can drive up human capital's value to produce a relative advantage; in this case, innovativeness. This study breaks from the traditional, agency conflict between stakeholders and managers and uses a combination of theories (social capital theory, stakeholder theory and institutional theory) to describe where and how organisations' governance drives human capital value creation towards innovativeness. This study suggests that different governance mechanisms may work together in a complementary manner, rather than as substitutes, towards higher organisation performance. The conceptual framework uncovers previously overlooked circumstances, such as underestimating the strategic value of the public organisations' human capital, and offers a new approach to the conceptualisation of governance by developing a cooperation (rather than conflict) model, whereby multi governance mechanisms are intertwined. This research adopts a quantitative methodology, along with the positivist philosophical approach, to investigate the hypothetical relationships within the conceptual framework. To analyse and validate the data, this study applies the structure equation model by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) AMOS V. 23. Based on data gathered from 713 public employees in Saudi Arabia, the findings indicate that public employees' innovativeness is driven by an organisation's complementarities between governance and human capital. In particular, the findings show that the amount of damage caused to trust within public organisations by a poor ethical work climate is greater, whereas good ethical work climate contributes to employees' trust which in turn positively facilitates the effect of psychological ownership on subsequent innovativeness. The findings also suggest that satisfied internal needs are key capabilities that organisations must possess in order to increase the capacity for innovation. Moreover, this study finds a variety of networks modes which provide opportunities for public employees to innovate. These research outcomes yield several theoretical and practical implications. As a preliminary study, designed to address a complicated phenomenon in the public sector, the results of this study should be considered in the light of some limitations.

Excerpt:The purpose of this quantitative study was to better understand the relationship of perceived ethical climate on the organizational commitment and job satisfaction of full time faculty members in institutions of higher education.

This study investigates the effects of the organizational ethical context (ethical climate and ethical culture) in Chinese enterprises on accounting professionals’ perceptions of earnings management, organizational-professional conflict (OPC) and affective organizational commitment (OC). We also test the effects of Machiavellianism on these factors, and the interactive effects of Machiavellianism and ethical context on OPC and OC. The findings, based on responses from 89 accounting professionals employed by Chinese enterprises at staff, supervisor and manager levels, indicate that in general the perceived ethical context did not affect judgments of the acceptability of earnings management. However, as anticipated, perceptions of a stronger benevolent/cosmopolitan climate (one that places more emphasis on the public interest) were associated with harsher judgments of accounting earnings management. Machiavellianism also had a marginally significant effect on judgments of accounting earnings management and a significant effect on judgments of operating earnings management, with high Machiavellians judging the actions to be more ethical. Two aspects of ethical culture, obedience to authority and ethical norms, were found to be significantly associated with organizational-professional conflict and affective organizational commitment. Contrary to our expectations, high Machiavellians appeared to be more, rather than less, sensitive to the perceived ethical context in their organization. Specifically, the perceived organizational ethical culture had a greater (lesser) impact on affective organizational commitment for high (low) Machiavellians.

Ethical issues and problems in business are receiving increasing attention, both in terms of criticism of examples of "bad" behaviour of business actors and in terms of the development of ethical codes of conduct in certain companies, ethical visions for businesses etc. In general, ethical problems seem to be increasingly prevalent in business, but ethics tend to be disre­garded by traditional organisational and managerial theory. This calls for the development of an ethical perspective on business. This study adopts a stakeholder approach to the problem, meaning that the empirical focus lies on how business actors deal with the ethical issues that arise in their daily work in relation to various stakeholder groups. Two empirical studies have been conducted: one is a survey study of the attitudes of Swedish managing directors, and the other a case study of the ethical values and behaviour of two companies. These studies resulted in the formulation of concepts which reflect contextually interpreted moral views on the individual and organisational levels, respectively. On the individual level, a distinction was made between humanitarian morality, meaning that ethical problems in business are judged according to what is best for individuals, and organisational morality, where economic and practical concerns for the company are considered. On the organisational level, I found a principled, individually based morality where rule-following, voluntary agreements and personal moral norms were important, and an instrumental, collectively based morality, which meant that company goals dictated the way stakeholder relations and ethical dilemmas were taken care of. Overall, it was possible to make a distinction between two basic ethical criteria business actors use when judging ethical dilemmas: principles versus objectives. The results indicate that the use of principles and moral rules presuppose an intimate and personal handling of stakeholder relations. On the other hand, when business actors acquire a more professional way of managing their activi­ties, stakeholder relationships are handled in accordance with objectives and economic utility, these usually being the same as company goals. One of the major contributions of this thesis is the concept of the ethical contract, as a meta­phor for the relationship between a company and any one particular stakeholder with special focus on the informal and implicit aspects of the relationship. The contract is characterised by two opposing forces: the striving for self-interest, which underpins ethical problems, and the development of self-imposed duties, which are necessary if instrumentally based interaction is to be "good". The mutual development of such duties is stimulated by proximity and personal relations. / digitalisering@umu

Darbe buvo siekiama atskleisti darbuotojų įsipareigojimo, etinio klimato organizacijoje ir transformacinio vadovavimo stiliaus sąsajų ypatumus. Tyrime dalyvavo 208 įvairiose organizacijose dirbantys tiriamieji (71 vyras ir 136 moterys). Įsipareigojimas organizacijai buvo vertinamas R. T. Mowday, R. M. Steers ir L. W. Porter (1979) įsipareigojimo organizacijai klausimynu, vadovavimo stilius - GTL skale (autoriai Carless, Wearing ir Mann, 2000) bei etinis klimatas – Etiniu klimato klausimynu, sudarytu B. Victor ir J. B. Cullen (1987, 1988). Rezultatai parodė, jog vienintelis sociodemografinis veiksnys, kuriuo galima būtų prognozuoti darbuotojų įsipareigojimą organizacijai, yra darbuotojo pareigos. Nustatyta, kad vadovaujantį darbą dirbantys asmenys yra labiau įsipareigoję organizacijai bei savo vadovo stilių suvokia kaip labiau transformacinį nei nevadovaujantį darbą dirbantys darbuotojai. Tyrimo rezultatai neatskleidė kitų individualių sociodemografinių veiksnių (amžiaus, lyties, šeimyninės padėties, darbo stažo) ir organizacinių veiksnių (organizacijos dydžio, organizacijos darbo srities, viešo/ privataus organizacijos sektoriaus) ryšių su įsipareigojimu organizacijai bei suvokiamu transformaciniu vadovavimo stiliumi. Nustatyta, jog organizacijoje, kurioje vyrauja globos etinis klimatas, darbuotojai yra labiau įsipareigoję organizacijai negu organizacijoje, kurioje vyrauja instrumentinis etinis klimatas ar taisyklėmis, įstatymais ir profesiniais kodeksais paremtas etinis... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The purpose of the research was to reveal the linkage between the employees’ commitment towards the organization, ethical climate and transformational leadership style. 208 employees from different organizations participated in the research (71 male and 136 female). The organizational commitment was measured by Mowday, Steers and Porter (1979) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, the transformational leadership style was assessed using GTL scale developed by Carless, Wearing and Mann (2000). Ethical Climate Questionnaire, constructed by Victor and Cullen (1987, 1988) was used to assess ethical climate. The results revealed that the only predictive socio-demographic factor of the organizational commitment was the position of the employee. It was found that leading employees were more committed to their organizations and assessed the style of their leader as more transformational than non-leading employees. The results did not reveal any other socio demographic factors (such as gender, age, marital status, experience) and organizational factors (such as size and type of organization, public/private sector within the organization operates) relationships with organizational commitment and transformational leadership. It was identified that the employees are more committed to the organization containing care ethical climate than to the organization containing instrumental ethical climate or climate based on rules, law and codes. The more employees perceive their leaders as... [to full text]

Aim: Auditors objectivity is an obvious part of auditing, but there is doubts and hesitation in society today because of the corporate scandals that have occurred in recent years. Several researchers suggest that auditors actions and behaviors is connected to the ethical climate within the organization. A relationship that also affects auditors objectivity and independence. This thesis aims to investigate how the ethical climate influence auditors choice of relationship to their clients, by choosing a relational and close relationship or a transactional and distanced relationship. And if the client approach have an effect on the auditors objectivity. Method: A survey was conducted among 232 certified accountants in Sweden. The questionnaire consisted of measuring instruments that measured accounting firms ethical climate, client relationship and client identification. The result was analysed with well established statistical methods. Result and conclusions: The result of the thesis showed that a weak ethical climate is associated with a stronger relationship orientation of the client relationship. The result showed that a stronger relationship orientation to their clients have a negative impact on auditor objectivity. The conclusion of the thesis is that the ethical climate affects the auditors relationship to their clients, a relationship that also has an negative impact on their objectivity. Suggestions for future research: Considering that the thesis only examines the ethical climates impact it can be of interest to investigate other underlying factors that affects auditors relationship approach and objectivity. Contribution of the thesis: The present study leave unique contribution to two research fields. The first is the demonstration of a relationship between ethical climate in audit firms and auditors' objectivity. Prior to this study, there is no study that used systematic measurement instruments in investigating the connection between ethical climate and the auditors' objectivity. The second is the demonstration of a relationship between ethical climate and the auditors' choice of approach to his clients. / Syfte: Revisorernas objektivitet är en självklar del i revisionsyrket, men i dagens samhälle så råder det tvivel och tveksamheter om att detta verkligen uppfylls p.g.a. de många företagsskandaler som har uppdagats under senare år. Många forskare menar att revisorernas handlingar och beteenden har ett samband med det etiska klimatet som råder inom organisationen vilket i sin tur påverkar revisorernas objektivitet. Denna studie ska undersöka om det etiska klimatet inom revisionsbolaget påverkar revisorns val av förhållningssätt till klienten, genom att antigen välja ett relationsinriktat eller transaktionellt förhållningssätt. Vi vill även undersöka om valet av förhållningssätt till klienten påverkar revisorns objektivitet. Metod: Data insamlades med en enkät från 232 revisorer i Sverige. Enkäten innehöll mätinstrument för mätning av revisionsfirmors etiska klimat, klientrelation och klientidentifikation. Resultatet analyserades med väletablerade statistiska metoder. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet av studien visade att ett svagt etiskt klimat är förenat med en starkare relationsorientering av klientrelationen. Resultatet visade även att en starkare relationsorientering till sina klienter har en negativ påverkan på revisorernas objektivitet. Slutsatsen av studien är att det etiska klimatet påverkar valet av revisorns förhållningssätt till klienten, ett val som i sin tur kan ha en negativ påverkan på objektiviten. Förslag till fortsatt forskning:  Då denna studie endast tar upp det etiska klimatets påverkan så kan det vara intressant att undersöka andra bakomliggande faktorer som kan ha en påverkan på revisorernas val av förhållningssätt och deras objektivitet. Studiens bidrag: Föreliggande studie lämnar unika bidrag till två forskningsområden. Det första är påvisandet av en relation mellan etiskt klimat i revisionsfirmor och revisorers objektivitet. Före denna studie finns ingen undersökning som använt ett systematiskt mätinstrument vid undersökning av samband mellan etiskt klimat och revisorers objektivitet. Det andra är påvisandet av en relation mellan det etiska klimatet och revisorernas val av förhållningssätt till sina klienter.

Titel: Etiskt ledarskap i säljande organisationer Nivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi. Författare: Moa Bohman och Evelina Nilsson. Handledare: Pär Vilhelmson, Kristina Mickelsson och Maria Fregidou-Malama. Datum: Augusti 2015. Syfte: Denna studies syfte är att bidra till ökad förståelse för hur chefer i säljande organisationer utövar etiskt ledarskap, sett ur chefers perspektiv. Forskningsfrågorna som formulerades efter en genomgång av den befintliga teorin är: 1. Påverkar chefer sina anställdas beteende genom att vara en förebild? 2. Påverkar chefer sina anställdas beteende genom förstärkning av etiska normer? 3. Påverkar chefer sina anställdas beteende genom kommunikation om etik? 4. Påverkar chefer sina anställdas beteende genom förstärkning och kommunikation om etiska riktlinjer? 5. Påverkar chefer sina anställdas beteende på något annat sätt? Metod: En fältstudie i form av kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes för att samla in information. Respondenter var chefer i säljande organisationer. Efter transkribering av intervjuerna analyserades informationen genom uppdelning och jämförelser. Resultat & slutsats: Denna studie visar att de intervjuade cheferna utövar ett etiskt ledarskap genom att vara förebilder, genom att kommunicera om etik, genom att belöna i form av beröm och positiv feedback samt genom att förstärka det etiska klimatet med hjälp av kommunikation om etiska riktlinjer. Studien kan varken bekräfta eller dementera huruvida förstärkning av etiska normer genom bestraffningar sker. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: I denna studie finns det begränsningar i urvalets storlek, dess geografiska utbredning samt valet av perspektiv. Av den anledningen rekommenderas att undersökningen upprepas med antingen ett större urval eller på en annan geografisk plats än Gävle eller ur andra perspektiv. Framtida forskning bör även beröra huruvida bestraffningar används eller inte, och även varför. Relationen mellan de påverkansmetoder som tas upp i studien bör också undersökas. De nya påverkansmetoder som inte omfattades av den teoretiska modellen men som nämndes i intervjuerna bör också vara föremål för framtida forskning. Uppsatsens bidrag: Denna uppsats bidrar med insikter för den företagsekonomiska teorin. Då studiens resultat i vissa avseenden inte överensstämmer med den befintliga litteraturen har detta lett till konstruerandet av en ny teoretisk modell. Denna modell ger underlag för framtida forskning då dessa differenser behöver undersökas i en större omfattning. Studien bidrar även med ökad förståelse för hur chefer utövar etiskt ledarskap, vilket har potential att leda till ökad kunskap hos dagens aktiva chefer. Chefernas etiska ledarskap kan utvecklas och förbättras genom reflektion över sina egna tillvägagångssätt och hur dessa skiljer sig, eller överensstämmer, med de metoder som tas upp i denna studie. Nyckelord: Etiskt ledarskap, etiskt beteende, etiskt klimat, säljorganisationer. / Title: Ethical leadership in selling organizations. Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Moa Bohman and Evelina Nilsson Supervisor: Pär Vilhelmson, Kristina Mickelsson and Maria Fregidou-Malama. Date: August 2015. Aim: The purpose of this study is to contribute to greater understanding for how managers in selling organizations practice ethical leadership, viewed from a manager perspective. Following research questions were formulated after a review of the existing literature: 1. Do managers influence the behavior of their followers by being role models? 2. Do managers influence the behavior of their followers by reinforcement of ethical standards? 3. Do managers influence the behavior of their followers by communication about ethics? 4. Do managers influence the behavior of their followers by reinforcement and communication about ethical codes? 5. Do managers influence the behaviour of their followers in some other way? Method: A field study in terms of qualitative interviews was conducted to gather information. The interview subjects were managers in selling organizations. After transcribing the interviews the information was analyzed by selection and comparison. Result & Conclusions: This study shows that the interviewed managers practice ethical leadership by being role models, by communicating about ethics, by rewarding in terms of credit and positive feedback as well as by reinforcing the ethical climate through communication about ethical codes. The study can neither confirm nor deny whether reinforcing ethical norms through punishment occurs. Suggestions for future research: In this study, there are limitations in sample size, geographic range and the choice of perspective. For that reason a repeated study with larger selection, participants from another geographical area or the use of a different perspective (for example the follower) is recommended. Future research should also address whether punishments are used or not, and also why that is. The relationship between the suggested methods should also be examined. The new methods, which were not covered by the theoretical model but were mentioned in the interviews, should also be subjects for future research. Contribution of the thesis: This study contributes with understandings for the business administration theory. Since the study results in some ways differed from the current literature a new theoretical model was created. This model provides a foundation for future research as these differences should be further investigated. The study also contributes with an increased understanding for how managers practice ethical leadership, which has the potential to enhance the knowledge of today’s active managers. The ethical leadership that the managers practice may evolve and improve by reflection about their own methods and how these differ, or correspond, to the methods presented in this study. Key words: Ethical leadership, ethical behavior, ethical climate, selling organizations.

The diploma thesis deals with issues affecting the ethical aspects of management on employees of educational organizations of various kinds, whether it is an organization established by the state, churches or private entities. In the theoretical parts, after defining the basic concepts that have proceedings, there is a proven description. People who follow the ethical climate of an organization, including its division into different types, followed by a detailed description of their impact on employees' work attitudes, behavior, psychological states and manifestations. The next part deals with the description of ethical programs in the organization, which aim to cultivate ethical conditions and positively influence the organizational ethical climate. The following is a description of ethical leadership and its impact on employee attitudes and management and influencing employee behavior. In the research parts answers to the questions: How can ethical management of educational organizations management be achieved and how do they perceive ethical management of their employees? What ethical problems do you encounter in employee organization and how do you manage them? How does ethical management affect the level of ethical climate in an organization, the work performance of employees, their...

Etik är något som påverkar allt vi gör medan affärsetik används för att göra alla affärer mer etiska. Sedan början av 1900-talet har mycket gjorts för att göra revisionen mer etisk för att motverka skandaler och oetiska beteenden. Olika studier har visat att revisorer tycker att etik är mycket viktigare i revisionskurser än vad lärare och professorer gör. När det kommer till ekonomiutbildningar i Sverige innehåller de flesta av kurserna i redovisning varken etik i kursplanerna eller i lärandemålen. Etikutbildningar inom företag syftar ofta till att harmonisera och se till att alla har samma syn på etik och de etiska ramarna som gäller i organisationen. Syftet med denna studie är att svara på frågan: Vad har revisionsbyråer för krav och förväntningar på nyutexaminerade studenters etikkunskaper inom revisionsyrket? Med Ethical Climate Theory (ECT) undersöks de etiska klimaten som revisionsbyråerna i The Big Four visar för att förstå de krav och förväntningar de har. Därigenom dras slutsatser om forskningsfrågans svar. För att kunna analysera och ta reda på vilka etiska klimat som företagen har har en triangulering valts som tillvägagångssätt att samla in empirin. Den insamlade empirin består av platsannonser, uppförandekoder samt intervjuer. Den insamlade empirin analyserades med hjälp av den ursprungliga ECT-matrisen som ramverk, för att ta reda på de olika etiska klimat som vardera företag har och hur det visar sig i deras krav och förväntningar. Överlag visade det sig att de undersökta företagen har ett principiellt klimat där personlig moral, koder, lagar och regler är det viktiga i klimaten. Inom organisationen är även lagandan viktig. Utöver det var det små variationer i företagens etiska klimat. Då inga direkta krav och förväntningar fanns på nyanställda studenter kunde slutsatsen dras att det troligen beror på att det är viktigare att anställa rätt personer då uppförandekoder och företagets etiska ramar och regelverk lärs ut direkt vid anställning. Som framtida forskning är en utveckling av detta arbete, med fler företag och fler respondenter per företag, något som kan ge en större och djupare inblick i detta område. Ett annat forskningsområde som bör undersökas är vilka etiska skillnader det finns mellan små, mellan och stora revisionsbyråer.