Workplace ethics culture and work engagement: The mediating effect of ethical leadership in a developing world context

This study examined the mediating effect of ethical leadership on the relationship between workplace ethics culture and work engagement among employees in a railway transport organisation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The sample consisted of permanently employed staff in a railway organisation in the DRC (n = 839; females = 32%). The employees were required to complete the Ethical Leadership Scale (ELS), the Ethical Corporate Virtue model (ECV) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Mediating regression analyses were conducted to predict work engagement from workplace ethics culture, partialling out ethical leadership. The results show that workplace ethics culture had a significantly positive effect on work engagement. The results further indicated that workplace ethics culture, through the mediation of perceived ethical leadership, had a significantly positive effect on the work engagement dimensions of vigour, dedication and absorption. The findings provide evidence that ethical leadership plays a crucial role in shaping workplace ethics culture and employees’ level of work engagement in an emerging country work setting.     

Ethical climate influences on employee commitment through job satisfaction in a transport sector industry

This study examined the extent to which an ethical climate moderates the relationship between job satisfaction and perceptions of organisational commitment. The study sample consisted of 839 employees of a railway organisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (women = 32%). Perceptions of the organisation’s ethical climate were measured using the Ethical Climate Questionnaire (Victor & Cullen, 1998), job satisfaction was measured using the Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (Lock, 1976), and organisational commitment was measured using the Organisational Commitment Scale (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Data were analysed by applying hierarchical moderator regression analysis to predict employee commitment from job satisfaction, in interaction with the ethical climate. The findings indicated that the ethical climate dimensions of caring, law and code, rule, independence, and instrumental predicted 72% of the variance in job satisfaction and 73% of the variance in employee commitment. Positive perceptions of an ethical work atmosphere and clear code of conduct would enhance employees’ levels of dedication, loyalty, and commitment to the organisation.     

真实型领导对员工工作投入影响的多重中介效应模型

为了考察真实型领导影响员工工作投入的内在作用机制,采用真实型领导行为量表、职业认同量表、情感承诺量表、组织支持感量表和工作投入量表对308名企业员工进行施测,结果发现：（1）真实型领导通过职业认同、情感承诺和组织支持感的间接作用对员工的工作投入产生影响;（2）职业认同、情感承诺和组织支持感在真实型领导影响员工工作投入的过程中起完全中介作用。     

Psychological ownership in relation to workplace trust and turnover intent

The study investigated the relationship between workplace trust, psychological ownership and turnover intent within a South African professional services organisation. A cross-sectional quantitative survey design was used to collect data from a purposive sample (n = 302) of skilled, highly skilled and professional employees in a professional services industry. The participants completed the Psychological Ownership Questionnaire, Workplace Trust Survey, and Turnover Intentions Scale. The results from structural equation modelling (SEM) suggest psychological ownership to be significantly related to workplace trust (positively) and turnover intent (negatively). In addition, the findings indicate psychological ownership to fully mediate the relationship between workplace trust and turnover intent. By implication, work environments that fostered workplace trust would increase the level of psychological ownership that employees’ experienced, which, in turn, would reduce employees’ intent to leave their workplace.     

Perceived Socio-moral Climate and the Applicability of Signature Character Strengths at Work: a Study among Hospital Physicians

Previous research demonstrated that the applicability of signature character strengths at work is associated with employee well-being. However, there is a lack of research on possible antecedents of the applicability of signature character strengths in the occupational domain. In this study we examined whether the perceived socio-moral climate of medical departments has a positive impact on the applicability of hospital physicians’ signature character strengths and whether it relates to work engagement, hedonic subjective well-being (SWB) and eudaimonic psychological well-being (PWB). Based on cross-sectional data of N = 165 hospital physicians in Austria, we tested mediation models with perceived socio-moral climate as predictor, applicability of signature character strengths as mediator, and work engagement, SWB and PWB as outcomes. Additionally, we collected longitudinal data (time-lag T1-T2: 6 months) from a subsample (n = 69) for testing the relationship between the perceived socio-moral climate and the applicability of signature character strengths over time. The cross-sectional results showed indirect effects of the perceived socio-moral climate on work engagement and eudaimonic well-being via the applicability of signature character strengths at work. Results from a cross-lagged panel analysis suggested an impact of socio-moral climate at T1 on the applicability of signature character strengths 6 months later (T2), but also an even stronger reversed effect of the applicability of signature character strengths at T1 on perceived socio-moral climate at T2.

     

The relationship between employees’ experience of performance management and work engagement within a South African organisation

The study investigated the relationship between employees’ experience of performance management and work engagement. Participants were a convenience sample of employed adults (N=202; females=59%, middle management?=?48%, White?=?54%, tenure more than 9 years?=?48%) in an organisation in the vehicle and asset-based finance industry. They completed the Performance Management Questionnaire (PMQ) and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the proportion of variance of work engagement that is explained by employees’ experience of performance management. Results revealed that only empowerment significantly predicted work engagement. These findings suggest that when employees experience performance management as empowering, they are also likely to have higher levels of work engagement.     

Are perceived school climate dimensions predictive of students’ engagement?

Students’ engagement is known to be associated with academic success and to prevent school dropouts. While many studies have considered this variable when examining school trajectories, more research is needed to investigate the factors that may sustain and promote engagement in school, regarded as a multidimensional construct (affective vs. cognitive vs. behavioral engagement). In the present cross-sectional study, associations between students’ perceptions of school climate dimensions and their level of engagement were explored. The differential effects on these associations of sex and social background were also examined. Results from a sample of 955 high-school students showed that a model incorporating six dimensions of perceived school climate explained a large proportion of the variance in students’ engagement, especially affective engagement. The perceived climate of relations between teachers and students appeared to be highly predictive of students’ engagement. Analyses also revealed that the predictiveness of school climate factors for affective, cognitive and behavioral engagement varied slightly according to sex and social background. These results highlight important levers associated with students’ engagement in school.     

Expatriates’ success in Ethiopia: Empirical evidence on the overlooked impact of cultural value alignment

The present study assessed the impact on the work engagement of expatriates’ personal value orientation alignment with the host country’s national culture. Participants were 231 expatriates from seven countries who are working in Ethiopia (females = 17%; mean age = 36 years, SD = 2.72 years). The expatriates completed measures of personal value orientation, cross-culture adjustment, and work engagement levels. Structural equation modelling analysis indicated expatriates with personal value orientations that align with the host country’s national culture to have a higher work engagement level. Cross-cultural adjustment mediated the relationship between personal value orientation and work engagement. Expatriates’ personal value orientation fit with the host country’s national culture is a resource to accomplish their work successfully.     

特殊教育师范生感知班级氛围对学习投入的影响:专业认同的中介作用与未来取向的调节作用

探讨特殊教育师范生感知班级氛围与学习投入的关系,考察专业认同在两者之间的中介作用,以及未来取向的调节作用。采用学生感知班级氛围量表、学习投入量表、大学生专业认同量表和未来取向问卷对582名特殊教育师范生进行调查。结果发现：（1）特殊教育师范生感知班级氛围对学习投入具有正向预测作用;（2）专业认同在感知班级氛围与学习投入的关系中起着重要的中介作用;（3）未来取向显著调节特殊教育师范生感知班级氛围对学习投入的直接路径,也调节中介效应的后半段即特殊教育师范生专业认同对学习投入的影响。本研究结果丰富了特殊教育职前教育理论,对提升特殊教育师范生培养质量具有实践意义。     

组织政治氛围对员工疏离感的影响：自我决定动机的中介作用

验证组织政治氛围对员工疏离感的作用,探讨自我决定动机在二者间的中介作用。研究采用一般政治行为知觉量表、工作内外动机量表和工作疏离感量表对226名企事业单位的员工进行问卷调查。研究表明,组织政治氛围对员工疏离感的个人疏离和社会疏离均具有显著的预测作用;自我决定动机在组织政治氛围与员工的个人疏离感之间起部分中介的作用,但在组织政治氛围与员工的社会疏离感之间的中介作用不显著。这说明我国员工的个人疏离感一部分来自于组织政治氛围对员自我决定动机的削弱,而社会疏离感主要来自于组织政治氛围的直接影响。     

组织伦理气氛的理论与研究

组织伦理气氛（organizationalethicclimate）是组织成员对组织伦理环境特性的一致性认知。在文献研究的基础上,该文首先从伦理与组织伦理、组织伦理气氛的概念来源与形成、结构与测量、影响因素及其与组织绩效的关系等方面,对国外组织伦理气氛研究进行了归纳和反思,并从理论研究与管理实践方面提出了一些具体的建议     

The Associations between Ethical Organizational Culture,Burnout, and Engagement: A Multilevel Study

Purpose

Ethical culture is a specific form of organizational culture (including values and systems that can promote ethical behavior), and as such a socially constructed phenomenon. However, no previous studies have investigated the degree to which employees’ perceptions of their organization’s ethical culture are shared within work units (departments), which was the first aim of this study. In addition, we studied the associations between ethical culture and occupational well-being (i.e., burnout and work engagement) at both the individual and work-unit levels.

Design/Methodology/Approach

The questionnaire data were gathered from 2,146 respondents with various occupations in 245 different work units in one public sector organization. Ethical organizational culture was measured with the corporate ethical virtues scale, including eight sub-dimensions.

Findings

Multilevel structural equation modeling showed that 12–27 % of the total variance regarding the dimensions of ethical culture was explained by departmental homogeneity (shared experiences). At both the within and between levels, higher perceptions of ethical culture associated with lower burnout and higher work engagement.

Implications

The results suggest that organizations should support ethical practices at the work-unit level, to enhance work engagement, and should also pay special attention to work units with a low ethical culture because these work environments can expose employees to burnout.

Originality/Value

This is one of the first studies to find evidence of an association between shared experiences of ethical culture and collective feelings of both burnout and work engagement.

     

MORE THAN NUMBERS: INDIVIDUAL AND CONTEXTUAL FACTORS IN HOW GENDER DIVERSITY AFFECTS WOMEN'S WELL-BEING

This study examined factors related to workplace gender diversity in a sample of 87 college-educated White women. Specifically, we investigated the moderating effects of one individual difference variable (sensitivity to sexism) and one contextual variable (perceptions of the workplace climate) in the relationship between the gender composition at the hierarchical level above the woman and her well-being (job satisfaction and general health). Results indicated that more negative well-being was associated with having more women working at the level above when women worked in a perceived negative climate whereas more positive well-being was associated with having more women working at the level above when women worked in a perceived positive climate. For general health, these findings were stronger for women who were also sensitive to sexism. Implications for research on gender diversity in work organizations are discussed.     

Theological Ethics, Moral Philosophy, and Natural Law

The article deals with the relationship between theological ethics and moral philosophy. The former is seen as a theoretical reflection on Christian ethics, the latter as one on secular ethics. The main questions asked are: (1) Is there one and only one pre-theoretical knowledge about acting rightly? (2) Does philosophy provide us with the theoretical framework for understanding both Christian and secular ethics? Both questions are answered in the negative. In the course of argument, four positions are presented: theological ‘unificationism’, philosophical ‘unificationism’, theological ‘separationism’ and Lutheran ‘dualism’. It is argued that the latter position is most convincing. It is dual in the sense of being both a theory of Christian ethics and of including a recognition of natural law. Hence, it unites a particularistic and a universalistic point of view. In the last section a reformulation of the Lutheran position is attempted in making use of the ethical theory of Knud E. Løgstrup's The Ethical Demand.     

创造性人格与员工创造力:一个被调节的中介模型研究

本文基于动机行动和成就动机理论,构建一个被调节的中介模型以检验创造性人格对员工创造力产生的作用机理。以251套来自主管-下属配对的问卷数据为样本,实证分析结果表明:创造性人格可预测员工创造力产生,学习目标导向与绩效证明目标导向在两者之间起部分中介作用;内在动机能够强化个体目标导向对创造力的作用,并显著正向调节创造性人格对员工创造力的间接效应。最后,论文讨论了研究发现对员工创造力产生的理论和实践意义。     

Momentary Work Happiness as a Function of Enduring Burnout and Work Engagement

The present study (N = 136) combined global measures with specific, experience-based measures to investigate how enduring job burnout and engagement influence the impact of daily work activities on momentary need satisfaction and happiness. We used the day reconstruction method (DRM) to ask employees from various occupations to reconstruct their working days. On the basis of employee work engagement and self-determination theories, we hypothesized that time spent on (a) core work tasks; (b) administrative work tasks; (c) client interactions; (d) interactions with colleagues; and (e) meetings would be negatively related to need satisfaction on the task level for employees high (vs. low) in enduring burnout; and positively related to need satisfaction on the task level for employees high (vs. low) in enduring work engagement. In addition, we predicted that psychological need satisfaction would mediate the relationships between time spent on work tasks and happiness during the tasks. The results of multilevel analyses largely supported these hypotheses. Our findings contribute to the literature by showing how those with high levels of burnout do not manage to satisfy their basic needs through their work, whereas those with high levels of work engagement satisfy their daily needs and stay happy.     

Perceived ethical leadership: Its moderating influence on employees’ organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviours

This study investigated the extent to which employees’ perception of ethical leadership moderated their organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour. A non-probability purposive sample (N = 839; females = 32%) of employees in a railway organisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) participated in the study. They completed the following measures: the Organisational Commitment Scale (OCS), the Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Questionnaire (OCBQ) and the Ethical Leadership Scale (ELS). Stepwise hierarchical regression analysis was utilised to determine the influence of employees’ perceptions of the relationships between their self-reported organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour. The results indicated employee perceptions of the integrity, fairness and honesty aspects of ethical leadership to explain their affective, continuance and normative aspects of organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour. The results also showed that employee perceptions of high ethical leadership influenced their willingness to engage in positive organisational commitment such as psychological attachment, work continuance, normative commitment and also their organisational citizen behaviours such as altruism, conscientiousness, courtesy and civic virtue. By implication, leaders with high ethical conduct have the potential to positively stimulate the commitment of employees towards supporting the organisational values and mission.     

Corporate social responsibility and work engagement: testing a moderated mediation model

The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of collective self-esteem in the relationship between employees’ perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) and their work engagement. We also explore the moderating role of employees’ concern for face in the linkage between their perceived CSR and collective self-esteem. A two-wave panel data from a final sample of 217 employees in six companies in Wuhan, China, completed the questionnaire survey. Employees’ perceived CSR has a direct and positive effect on their work engagement, which is partially mediated by their collective self-esteem. Furthermore, employees’ concern for face moderates the relationship between their perceived CSR and collective self-esteem. CSR has a stronger effect on collective self-esteem for employees who concern more for face than for those who concern less for face. Understanding the outcomes, the mediating mechanisms, as well as the boundary conditions of perceived CSR on work engagement, help firms to better formulate their CSR strategy. First, we introduce collective self-esteem as an important mediating mechanism in the relationship between CSR and employees’ work engagement. Second, we identify concern for face as an important limiting condition in the linkage between CSR and employees’ collective self-esteem. Finally, previous research investigating employees’ reactions to CSR has predominantly been conducted in the West. We conduct our study in the Chinese or Confucian context to provide some new and complementary insights.