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A selection of interesting research and articles we found recently. Transparency and social responsibility in building consumer trust What builds trust between consumers and corporations? To answer the question, Jiyun Kang and Gwendolyn Hustvedt developed a model showing the relationships among transparency, social responsibility, trust, attitude, word-of-mouth intention, and purchase intention. Via an online survey with a US nationwide sample of 303 consumers, results indicated that consumers’ perceptions of a corporation’s efforts to be transparent [...]

A selection of interesting research and articles we found recently. Identifying corporate psychopaths and their effects Corporate psychopaths, particularly those in manager roles, can have serious consequences for an organisation, including stimulating counterproductive work behaviour among employees. Clive Boddy hypothesized that conflict and bullying would be higher, employee emotional well-being lower, and frequencies of counterproductive work behaviour would increase under corporate psychopaths. In a sample of 304 respondents in Britain in 2011, Boddy embedded a [...]

A selection of interesting research and articles we found recently. What shapes voluntary green behaviour in the workplace? Andrea Kim and associates shed new light on the psychological and social conditions and processes that shape voluntary workplace green behaviour in organizational settings by asking why some employees voluntarily engage in green behaviour at work. The researchers employed a multilevel model of motivation in work groups and a functionalist perspective of citizenship and socially responsible behaviours [...]

A selection of interesting research and articles we found recently. Does it pay to be ethical? Yes, according to Elina Riivari and Anna-Maija Lämsä, who examined the relationship between ethical organisational culture and organisational innovativeness. They conducted a quantitative empirical survey of a 719 respondents from all levels of three Finnish organisations, both general staff and managers, from both private and public sectors. Results show that organisations’ ethical culture is associated with organisational innovativeness, and [...]

A selection of interesting research and articles we found recently. Do different leadership paradigms affect employee engagement? Yes, according to Tanyu Zhang and his ISL colleagues, who investigated whether the direct supervisor’s leadership style affects employee engagement. Leadership style was assessed using Avery’s classical, transactional, visionary, and organic leadership paradigms as the theoretical framework, thereby expanding the scope of styles typically studied. Data from 432 sales assistants in Sydney, Australia, showed that visionary and organic [...]

A selection of interesting research and articles we found recently. Does the head lead the heart in trust with ethical leadership and OCBs? Yes, according to an investigation into the trust underlying the relationship between ethical leadership and followers’ organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs). Ethical leadership leads to the development of cognitive trust, which subsequently influences the development of affective trust. Based on survey data obtained from 184 employees and their supervisors, Alexander Newman and his [...]

A selection of interesting research and articles we found recently. Do individual or societal values predict ethical behaviour in global workforces? In a huge project, David Ralston and 47 other researchers investigated whether the societal-level of analysis is sufficient to understand the values of those in the global workforce. Or whether individual-level analyses are more appropriate for assessing the influence of values on ethical behaviours across country workforces. Using multi-level analyses for a 48-society sample, the [...]

A selection of interesting research and articles we found recently. Why don’t organisational leaders always conform to organisational goals?  Anne Joosten, Marius van Dijke, Alain Van Hiel and David De Cremer argue that the constant pressure that leaders face can limit their willpower to behave according to ethical norms and standards. The result may be unethical behaviour. Joosten et al. examined whether depleted self-regulation mechanisms in leaders could be linked to leader moral identity in promoting [...]

A selection of interesting research and articles we’ve found recently. Business schools influence ethical behaviour in business Thomas Birtch and Flora Chiang have concluded that business schools do influence ethical behaviour and socially responsible actions in the business community. At least among 318 undergraduate business students, ethical climate in the business school predicted unethical behaviour. Students who viewed their business school’s ethical climate positively were more likely to refrain from unethical behaviours. Business schools clearly have [...]

A selection of interesting research and articles we’ve found recently. Insights from ethical executives Colina Frisch and Markus Huppenbauer investigated several questions about ethical leaders. They asked: What specific behaviours does an ethical leader show? Is ethical leadership mainly about leader behaviour towards employees or does it involve other stakeholders? If so, which ethical behaviours does the ethical leader show towards them? What are further antecedents and consequences of ethical leadership? Their qualitative study involving 17 [...]