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Positive Job Response and Ethical Job Performance

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Abstract

Although many studies have linked job attitudes and intentions to aspects of in-role and extra-role job performance, there has been relatively little attention given to such job responses in the context of employees’ ethical/unethical behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate a possible relationship between positive job response (conceptualized as job satisfaction and intention to stay) and behavioral ethics. Ninety-two matched manager-employee pairs from a regional branch of a large financial services and banking firm completed survey instruments, with each employee providing information about his or her job attitudes and intentions and each manager assessing the ethical/unethical performance of his/her employees. Respondents also provided additional information required for our analyses. The results indicated that positive job response among subordinates was associated with higher supervisory ratings of the subordinates’ ethical job performance. The managerial implications of the findings for managing ethical behavior are explored.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Jane Chaney and Greg Hanson for their work with data collection and coding on this project. This paper was presented at the 2008 Southwest Academy of Management Conference, Houston, Texas and appeared in the Proceedings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, University of North Dakota, 293 Centennial Drive, Mailstop 8377, Grand Forks, ND, 58202-8377, U.S.A.

    Sean Valentine

  2. Department of Management and Marketing, University of Wyoming, P.O. Box 3275, Laramie, Wyoming, 82070, U.S.A.

    Philip Varca

  3. Department of Management and Marketing, Lamar University, P.O. Box 10025, Beaumont, Texas, 77710, U.S.A.

    Lynn Godkin

  4. Department of Management and Information Systems, Mississippi State University, P.O. Box 9581, Mississippi State, Mississippi, 39762, U.S.A.

    Tim Barnett

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  1. Sean Valentine
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Correspondence to Sean Valentine.

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Valentine, S., Varca, P., Godkin, L. et al. Positive Job Response and Ethical Job Performance. J Bus Ethics 91, 195–206 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0077-1

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