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Journal of Business Ethics

Erschienen in:

01.09.2013

The Joint Effects of Machiavellianism and Ethical Environment on Whistle-Blowing

verfasst von: Derek Dalton, Robin R. Radtke

Erschienen in: Journal of Business Ethics | Ausgabe 1/2013

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Abstract

Given the importance of the Machiavellianism construct on informing a wide range of ethics research, we focus on gaining a better understanding of Machiavellianism within the whistle-blower context. In this regard, we examine the effect of Machiavellianism on whistle-blowing, focusing on the underlying mechanisms through which Machiavellianism affects whistle-blowing. Further, because individuals who are higher in Machiavellianism (high Machs) are expected to be less likely to report wrongdoing, we examine the ability of an organization’s ethical environment to increase whistle-blowing intentions of high Machs. Results from a sample of 116 MBA students support our premise that Machiavellianism is negatively related to whistle-blowing. Further, we find that Machiavellianism has an indirect effect on whistle-blowing through perceived benefits and perceived responsibility. Finally, we find that a strong ethical environment, relative to a weak ethical environment, increases whistle-blowing intentions incrementally more for individuals who are higher in Machiavellianism. Taken together, these findings extend our understanding of how Machiavellianism and an organization’s ethical environment impact whistle-blowing.

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We find it interesting that while the perceived costs of whistle-blowing are included in the Model of Discretionary Reporting (Schultz et al. 1993), the perceived benefits (i.e., promotions, stopping an illegal activity, preventing harm, etc.) are not. Given that prior research indicates that the decision to report wrongdoing is based upon a costs-benefits analysis (Dozier and Miceli 1985), it seems as though the perceived benefits should also be included within the Model of Discretionary Reporting. As such, we also include a measure that assesses the perceived benefits of reporting and expect that the perceived benefits of reporting wrongdoing will be positively related to whistle-blowing intentions.

The MBA students were informed that participation was anonymous and that all responses would be kept confidential. We note that seven students chose not to complete the survey, and eight responses were removed due to incomplete data.

Recent whistle-blower studies also rely on MBA students as participants (Ayers and Kaplan 2005; Curtis 2006). The participants used in prior whistle-blower studies are similar to our participants in terms of both age and work experience. For example, the participants used in Curtis (2006) were, on average, 27-years-old and had 2 years of professional work experience; further, the participants used in Ayers and Kaplan (2005) were, on average, 28-years-old and had 31 months of professional work experience.

For our ethical environment manipulations, it was not realistic to have symmetrically designed manipulations. For example, the strong ethical environment manipulation indicates that “Hours Inc. actively and strongly supports the Industry Association stance on ethical behavior and has adopted the Industry Association Code of Ethics as its own internal code.” A symmetrically designed weak ethical environment manipulation would indicate that “Hours Inc. does not actively and strongly support the Industry Association stance on ethical behavior and has not adopted the Industry Association Code of Ethics as its own internal code.” Within pilot-tests, such a manipulation was not deemed realistic; as such, similar to Booth and Schulz (2004), we take a more nuanced approach in designing our strong and weak ethical environment manipulations.

In addition, to ensure that participants applied adequate attention to the instrument, we also included two additional questions in which we asked participants to recall several basic facts of the experimental scenario. Participants who answered either of these questions incorrectly were removed from the analysis.

In untabulated results, we find similar results when the third-person response perspective is used.

For parsimony, our mediation analysis only uses first person whistle-blowing intentions; however, results are quantitatively similar when we use third person whistle-blowing intentions as the dependent variable.

Similar to Curtis (2006), we find that the perceived costs variable is not a significant mediator in our analysis.

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Titel: The Joint Effects of Machiavellianism and Ethical Environment on Whistle-Blowing
verfasst von: Derek Dalton
Robin R. Radtke
Publikationsdatum: 01.09.2013
Verlag: Springer Netherlands
Erschienen in: Journal of Business Ethics / Ausgabe 1/2013
Print ISSN: 0167-4544
Elektronische ISSN: 1573-0697
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1517-x

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