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Exploring the Socio-moral Climate in Organizations: An Empirical Examination of Determinants, Consequences, and Mediating Mechanisms

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Abstract

During the last decade, an increasing amount of research has focused on the ethical context in organizations. Among the recent approaches in this area is the construct of socio-moral climate (SMC), which adopts a developmental perspective and refers to specific elements of organizational climate that include communication, cooperation, and how organizations handle conflict. In this article, we present the results of three empirical studies, shedding light on the nomological network of SMC. Whereas the first study introduces a short SMC measure, the other two studies examined antecedents and outcomes of SMC as well as related mediating mechanisms. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed good fit indices of the 21-item measure of SMC with five subscales. Structural equation modeling confirmed a strong relationship with servant leadership as antecedent to SMC. In turn, employees who perceived a positive SMC were less likely to experience feelings of organizational cynicism and to engage in deviant behaviors. Results indicate that SMC accounted for additional variance above and beyond perceived overall justice.

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Notes

  1. For SMC and servant leadership, we used the mean scores of the subscales as indicators of the latent constructs. For workplace deviance and organizational cynicism items were used as indicators. One item of the organizational cynicism scale was removed due to poor psychometric properties.

  2. For SMC and organizational cynicism, we used the mean scores of the subscales as indicators of the latent constructs. Perceived organizational justice and workplace deviance were included as manifest variables, since this yielded a significantly better measurement model

    \(\left( {\Delta \chi_{(172)}^{2} = \, 411.12,\;p < .001} \right).\)

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Pircher Verdorfer, A., Steinheider, B. & Burkus, D. Exploring the Socio-moral Climate in Organizations: An Empirical Examination of Determinants, Consequences, and Mediating Mechanisms. J Bus Ethics 132, 233–248 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2319-0

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