Ethical Climate and its Relationship to Ethical Behavior and Ethical Mechanisms

Abstract

企業倫理逐漸受到各國重視，不但學界討論倫理氣候，也成為業界影響員工行為的重要因素。通過跨層次分析，本研究討論倫理氣候的理論及實務、檢驗倫理氣候和倫理行為間的關係、並探討與倫理氣候相關的組織倫理機制及與未來應用於倫理氣候研究的相關建議。基於企業倫理對金融業人員的影響，研究對象為台灣金融業的理財專員；研究結果顯示，由於透過體制強制的約束力，規範、法律及規則型氣候對員工行為產生顯著影響，與其他類型的倫理氣候只引起特定的倫理行為不同。若組織另具備倫理守則及獎懲系統，則將影響組織中規範、法律及規則型倫理氣候的型塑。

Business ethics is widely perceived as a global issue, and ethical climate is considered to be a significant factor affecting employees' behavior. This study explores organizational ethical climate by: firstly, illustrating the theoretical and empirical basis, discussing the relationship between ethical climate and ethical behavior, as well as examining the relevant organizational ethical mechanisms regarding forming ethical climate; the implications for future research concerning ethical climate are introduced. This study applies multilevel analysis; samples are from Taiwanese financial consulting firms due to the significance concerning ethics in this industry. The results suggest that a ”rules, law and code” ethical climate has a significant influence on employees' ethical behavior because of institutionalized coercion, while other ethical climate dimensions affect certain limited ethical behaviors. Moreover, organizations with a code of ethics and enforcement systems will influence the formation of rules, law and code ethical climate.