4.4 The Role of Ethics and National Culture
[Author removed at request of original publisher] and Christine Pitt
Learning Objectives
- Consider the role of job attitudes on ethical behaviour.
- Consider the role of national culture on job attitudes and behaviours.
Job Attitudes, Behaviors, and Ethics
People prefer to work in companies that have an ethical environment. Studies show that when an organization has a moral climate that values doing the right thing, people tend to be happier at work, more committed to their companies, and less likely to want to leave. In other words, in addition to increasing the frequency of ethical behaviours, the presence of an ethical climate will attach people to a company. An ethical climate is related to performing citizenship behaviours in which employees help each other and their supervisors, and perform many behaviours that are not part of their job descriptions (Leung, 2008; Mulki, Jaramillo, & Locander, 2006; Valentine, Greller, & Richtermeyer, 2006).
If people are happy at work and committed to the company, do they behave more ethically? This connection is not as clear. In fact, loving your job and being committed to the company may prevent you from realizing that the company is doing anything wrong. One study showed that, when people were highly committed to their company, they were less likely to recognize organizational wrongdoing and less likely to report the problem to people within the organization. Whistleblowers, or people who reported wrongdoing, were more likely to have moderate levels of commitment to the company. It is possible that those people who identify with a company are blind to its faults (Somers & Casal, 1994).
Companies trying to prevent employees from behaving unethically face a dilemma. One way of reducing unethical behaviours is to monitor employees closely. However, when people are closely monitored through video cameras, when their e-mails are routinely read, and when their online activities are closely monitored, employees are more likely to feel that they are being treated unfairly and with little respect. Therefore, high levels of employee monitoring, while reducing the frequency of unethical behaviours, may reduce job satisfaction and commitment, as well as work performance and citizenship behaviours. Instead of monitoring and punishing employees, organizations can reduce unethical behaviour by creating an ethical climate and making ethics a shared value (Crossen, 1993).
Job Attitudes Around the Globe
Do the same things satisfy people around the globe? Even though many of the findings regarding satisfaction are generalizable to different cultures, some research reveals that differences may also exist. In one study comparing job satisfaction in 20 countries, work-family conflict was found to lower job satisfaction only in individualistic cultures. It is possible that in collectivistic cultures when people have to make sacrifices for work, they may compensate by forming better relations with coworkers, which prevents employees from being dissatisfied. There is also evidence that while autonomy and empowerment are valued in the United States, Mexico, and Poland, high levels of empowerment were related to lower job satisfaction in India (Robert et al., 2000; Spector et al., 2007). Despite some variation, major factors that make people happy, such as being treated well and having good relations with others, are likely to generalize across cultures.
Culture also influences work behaviours. Behaviours regarded as a citizenship behaviour in the United States or other Western cultures, such as helping a new coworker learn the job, may be viewed as part of a person’s job performance in other cultures. Research shows that managers in cultures such as Hong Kong and Japan define job performance more broadly. For example, the willingness to tolerate less than ideal circumstances within the company without complaining was viewed as part of someone’s job in Hong Kong, whereas this was viewed as more discretionary in the United States and Australia. Norms regarding absenteeism and turnover are also subject to cultural differences. One study shows that in China, absence from work because of one’s illness, stress, or depression was relatively unacceptable, while in Canada, these reasons were viewed as legitimate reasons for being absent (Johns & Xie, 1998; Lam, Hui, & Law, 1999).
Canada often tops the list when it comes to job satisfaction (Lindzon, 2019). As mentioned earlier, in 2018 64% of Canadian employees were satisfied with their jobs compares to 57% in the Netherlands, 55% in India and 53% in the United States. Employees in the United States were also more likely to admit that they disliked their jobs (15%) whereas only 7% of Canadians admitted to disliking their job (Monster, n.d.).
Key Takeaway
There is a connection between a company’s ethics climate, work attitudes, and citizenship behaviours demonstrated by employees. A highly committed workforce may not necessarily demonstrate higher levels of ethics, because highly committed people may be less likely to notice companywide wrongdoing and, in turn, not report them. Companies have to strike a balance between reducing unethical behaviours and maintaining a highly satisfied and committed workforce. Some tactics of reducing unethical behaviours, such as close monitoring of employees, may erode trust between management and employees and lead to negative work attitudes. There are cross-cultural differences in how employee work attitudes are shaped and the work behaviours that are expected from employees. Being aware of these differences facilitates effective management of a global workforce.
Exercises
- Which factors related to work attitudes in Western cultures should also be related to work attitudes in other cultures? Are there any that you think would not be important in a different culture you are familiar with?
- Do you think people leave their jobs for the same reasons around the world? If not, explain why you think so.
References
Crossen, B. R. (1993). Managing employee unethical behavior without invading individual privacy. Journal of Business and Psychology, 8, 227–243.
Johns, G., & Xie, J. L. (1998). Perceptions of absence from work: People’s Republic of China versus Canada. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 515–530.
Lam, S. S. K., Hui, C., & Law, K. S. (1999). Organizational citizenship behavior: Comparing perspectives of supervisors and subordinates across four international samples. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 594–601.
Leung, A. S. M. (2008). Matching ethical work climate to in-role and extra-role behaviors in a collectivist work-setting. Journal of Business Ethics, 79, 43–55.
Lindzon, J. (2019). Canadians report far higher job satisfaction and engagement than global averages. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 8, 2020 from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/article-canadians-report-far-higher-job-satisfaction-and-engagement-than/
Monster. (n.d.) An international view of happiness at work. Retrieved May 8, 2020 from https://www.monster.ca/career-advice/article/happiness-at-work-ca
Mulki, J. P., Jaramillo, F., & Locander, W. B. (2006). Effects of ethical climate and supervisory trust on salesperson’s job attitudes and intentions to quit. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 26, 19–26.
Robert, C., Probst, T. M., Martocchio, J. J., Drasgow, F., & Lawler, J. J. (2000). Empowerment and continuous improvement in the United States, Mexico, Poland, and India: Predicting fit on the basis of the dimensions of power distance and individualism. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 643–658.
Somers, M. J., & Casal, J. C. (1994). Organizational commitment and whistle-blowing: A test of the reformer and the organization man hypotheses. Group & Organization Management, 19, 270–284.
Spector, P. E., Allen, T. D., Poelmans, S. A., Lapierre, L. M., & Cooper, C. L., O’Driscoll, M., et al. (2007). Cross-national differences in relationships of work demands, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions with work-family conflict. Personnel Psychology, 60, 805–835.
Valentine, S., Greller, M. M., & Richtermeyer, S. B. (2006). Employee job response as a function of ethical context and perceived organization support. Journal of Business Research, 59, 582–588.
