Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Is Your Banker Leaking Your Personal Information? The Roles of Ethics and Individual-Level Cultural Characteristics in Predicting Organizational Computer Abuse

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Computer abuse (CA) by employees is a critical concern for managers. Misuse of an organization’s information assets leads to costly damage to an organization’s reputation, decreases in sales, and impositions of fines. We use this opportunity to introduce and expand the theoretic framework proffered by Thong and Yap (1998) to better understand the factors that lead individuals to commit CA in organizations. The study uses a survey of 449 respondents from the banking, financial, and insurance industries. Our results indicate that individuals who adhere to a formalist ethical perspective are significantly less likely to engage in CA activities than those following a utilitarian ethical framework. In addition, the results provide evidence that employees with individualistic natures are linked to increased CA incidents, whereas collectivist tendencies are associated with decreases in CA behaviors. Our results also show that collectivism acts as a strong moderator that further decreases the relationships between formalism and CA, and utilitarianism and CA. Finally, we offer detailed suggestions on how organizations and researchers can leverage our findings to decrease CA occurrences.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Moral hazard occurs when there is “an incentive to act in one’s self-interest in conflict with the organization’s overall goals while being able to hide those actions through privately held information” (Tuttle et al. 1997, p. 7).

  2. Formalism refers to individuals with a disposition to make ethical decisions from a deontological (rules-based) point of view, and thus they determine whether actions are either ethical or unethical based on a set of predetermined rules (Brady and Wheeler 1996; Schminke et al. 1997).

  3. Utilitarianism refers to individuals with a disposition to make ethical decisions from a teleological (outcome-based) point of view, meaning they make ethical decisions based on a cost–benefit analysis to maximize the positive outcomes (Brady and Wheeler 1996; Schminke et al. 1997).

  4. Culture is “a system of implicit and explicit beliefs, values, norms, preferences, and behaviors that are stable over time” (Zhang and Lowry 2008, p. 64).

  5. Traditionally, on a national level, individualism describes cultures “in which the ties between individuals are loose,” and collectivism describes cultures “in which people are integrated into strong, cohesive groups that protect individuals in exchange for unquestioning loyalty” (Hofstede 1991; Zhang and Lowry 2008, p. 65).

  6. Convergent validity is the basic idea that measurement items that should be related are related. It is established “when items thought to reflect a construct converge, or show significant, high correlations with one another, particularly when compared to the convergence of items relevant to other constructs, irrespective of method” (Straub et al. 2004, p. 391).

  7. Discriminant validity is the idea that items that should not be related are in fact not related. It can be established when items thought to diverge show insignificant, low correlations with one another, particularly when compared to items in other constructs (Straub et al. 2004).

  8. The basic standard followed here is that the square root of the AVE for any given construct (latent variable) should be higher than any of the correlations involving the construct (Fornell and Larcker 1981; Staples et al. 1999).

  9. To do this in PLS, constructs of the theoretic model and their relationships are modeled as is normally conducted with two major additions: (1) A single-indicator construct is created for each indicator in the measurement model. Each subconstruct is then linked to each of the single-indicator constructs that comprise the subconstruct. This effectively makes each subconstruct in the model a second-order reflective construct. (2) A construct representing the method is created, reflectively composed of all indicators of the instrument. The method construct (the latent method factor) is then linked to each single-item construct.

  10. Reliability refers to the degree to which a scale yields consistent and stable measures over time (Straub 1989). Because of the nature of formative measures, reliability checks cannot be reasonably made for formative measures (Diamantopoulos and Winklhofer 2001). However, reliabilities of first-order reflective constructs that make up second-order constructs can be established individually.

  11. Per Chin et al. (2003), the pseudo F-test is obtained by first calculating the effect size using the following formula: (path a − path b)/(1 − path a). The pseudo F-statistic was then calculated by multiplying the effect size by (n – k − 1), where n is the sample size (449) and k is the number of independent variables (in this case 2, because we are comparing two paths only).

Abbreviations

CA:

Computer abuse

CMD:

Cognitive moral development theory

IS:

Information systems

IT:

Information technology

References

  • Anderson, J. C. (1978). The validity of Haire’s shopping list projective technique. Journal of Marketing Research, 15(4), 644–649.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ariss, S. S. (2002). Computer monitoring: Benefits and pitfalls facing management. Information & Management, 39(7), 553–558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, W. J., & Spicer, A. (2007). When does national identity matter? Convergence and divergence in international business ethics. Academy of Management Journal, 50(6), 1462–1480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banerjee, D., Cronan, T. P., & Jones, T. M. (1998). Modeling IT ethics: A study in situational ethics. MIS Quarterly, 22(1), 31–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beekun, R. I., Hamdy, R., Westerman, J. W., & HassabElnaby, H. R. (2008). An exploration of ethical decision-making processes in the United States and Egypt. Journal of Business Ethics, 82(3), 587–605.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, R. J., & Robinson, S. L. (2000). Development of a measure of workplace deviance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(3), 349–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birnbaum, M. H. (2004). Human research and data collection via the internet. Annual Reviews of Psychology, 55, 803–832.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boss, S. R., Kirsch, L. J., Angermeier, I., Shingler, R. A., & Boss, R. W. (2009). If someone is watching, I’ll do what I’m asked: Mandatoriness, control, and information security. European Journal of Information Systems, 18(2), 151–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boudreau, M. C., Gefen, D., & Straub, D. W. (2001). Validation in information systems research: A state-of-the-art assessment. MIS Quarterly, 25(1), 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brady, F. N., & Dunn, C. P. (1995). Business meta-ethics: An analysis of two theories. Business Ethics Quarterly, 3, 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brady, F. N., & Wheeler, G. E. (1996). An empirical study of ethical predispositions. Journal of Business Ethics, 15(9), 927–940.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calluzzo, V. J., & Cante, C. J. (2004). Ethics in information technology and software use. Journal of Business Ethics, 51(3), 301–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavusoglu, H., Raghunathan, S., & Cavusoglu, H. (2009). Configuration of and interaction between information security technologies: The case of firewalls and intrusion detection systems. Information Systems Research, 20(2), 198–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cenfetelli, R. T., & Bassellier, G. (2009). Interpretation of formative measurement in information systems research. MIS Quarterly, 33(4), 689–707.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S., Sarker, S., & Fuller, M. (2009). Ethical information systems development: A Baumanian postmodernist perspective. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 10(11), 787–815.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, X. P., & Li, S. (2005). Cross-national differences in cooperative decision-making in mixed-motive business contexts: The mediating effect of vertical and horizontal individualism. Journal of International Business Studies, 36, 622–636.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, H. K., Sims, R. R., & Teegen, H. (1997). To purchase or to pirate software: An empirical study. Journal of Management Information Systems, 13(4), 49–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chin, W. W., Marcolin, B. L., & Newsted, P. R. (1996, December 16–18). A partial least squares latent variable modeling approach for measuring interaction effects: Results from a Monte Carlo simulation study and voice mail emotion/adoption study. Paper presented at the 17th International conference on information systems, Cleveland, OH, USA.

  • Chin, W., Marcolin, B., & Newsted, P. (2003). A partial least squares latent variable modeling approach for measuring interaction effects: Results from a Monte Carlo simulation study and an electronic mail emotion/adoption study. Information Systems Research, 14(2), 189–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, E., & Cornwell, L. (1989). A question of ethics: Developing information system ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 8(6), 431–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (1979). Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis for field settings. Chicago: Rand McNally.

    Google Scholar 

  • Culnan, M., & Williams, C. (2009). How ethics can enhance organizational privacy: Lessons from the ChoicePoint and TJX data breaches. MIS Quarterly, 33(4), 673–686.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Arcy, J., & Hovav, A. (2007). Deterring internal information systems misuse. Communications of the ACM, 50(10), 113–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Arcy, J., Hovav, A., & Galletta, D. F. (2009). User awareness of security countermeasures and its impact on information systems misuse: A deterrence approach. Information Systems Research, 20(1), 79–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davison, R. M., Martinsons, M. G., Ou, C. X. J., Murata, K., Drummond, D., Li, Y., et al. (2009). The ethics of IT professionals in Japan and China. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 10(11), 834–859.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamantopoulos, A., & Siguaw, J. A. (2006). Formative versus reflective indicators in organizational measure development: A comparison and empirical illustration. British Journal of Management, 17(2006), 263–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamantopoulos, A., & Winklhofer, H. M. (2001). Index construction with formative indicators: An alternative to scale development. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(2), 269–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, T. (1996). Values in tension: Ethics away from home. Harvard Business Review, 74(5), 48–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, D. E., Cronan, T. P., & Behel, J. D. (2007). Equity perceptions as a deterrent to software piracy behavior. Information & Management, 44(5), 503–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Earley, P. C. (1989). Social loafing and collectivism. Administrative Science Quarterly, 34, 565–581.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, R., Ferreira, M. C., Assmar, E. M. L., Redford, P., & Harb, C. (2005). Organizational behaviour across cultures: Theoretical and methodological issues for developing multi-level frameworks involving culture. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 5(1), 27–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, R. J. (1993). Social desirability bias and the validity of indirect questioning. Journal of Consumer Research, 20(2), 303–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiske, A. P. (2002). Using individualism and collectivism to compare cultures—A critique of the validity and measurement of the constructs: Comment on Oyserman et al. (2002). Psychological Bulletin, 128(1), 78–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1981), 39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraley, R. C. (2007). Using the internet for personality research: What can be done, how to do it, and some concerns. In R. W. Robins, R. C. Fraley, & R. F. Krueger (Eds.), Methods in personality psychology (pp. 130–148). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gan, L. L., & Koh, H. C. (2006). An empirical study of software piracy among tertiary institutions in Singapore. Information & Management, 43(5), 640–649.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gattiker, U. E., & Kelley, H. (1999). Morality and computers: Attitudes and differences in moral judgments. Information Systems Research, 10(3), 233–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gefen, D., & Straub, D. W. (2005). A practical guide to factorial validity using PLS-Graph: Tutorial and annotated example. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 16(5), 91–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haines, R., & Leonard, L. N. K. (2007). Situational influences on ethical decision-making in an IT context. Information & Management, 44(3), 313–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, J. V., Lowry, P. B., Meservy, R., & McDonald, D. (2007). Genetic programming for prevention of cyberterrorism through dynamic and evolving intrusion detection. Decision Support Systems, 43(4), 1362–1374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrington, S. J. (1996). The effect of codes of ethics and personal denial of responsibility on computer abuse judgments and intentions. MIS Quarterly, 20(3), 257–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herath, T., & Rao, H. R. (2009a). Encouraging information security behaviors in organizations: Role of penalties, pressures and perceived effectiveness. Decision Support Systems, 47(2), 154–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herath, T., & Rao, H. R. (2009b). Protection motivation and deterrence: A framework for security policy compliance in organisations. European Journal of Information Systems, 18(2), 106–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilton, T. (2000). Information systems ethics: A practitioner survey. Journal of Business Ethics, 28(4), 279–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (1984). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work related values. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Book Company Europe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences—Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (2002). The pitfalls of cross-national survey research: A reply to the article by Spector et al. on the psychometric properties of the Hofstede value survey module 1994. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 51(1), 170–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, S. D., & Vitell, S. J. (1986). A general theory of marketing ethics. Journal of Macromarketing, 6(Spring), 5–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Husted, B. W. (2000). The impact of national culture on software piracy. Journal of Business Ethics, 26(3), 197–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Husted, B., & Allen, D. (2008). Toward a model of cross-cultural business ethics: The impact of individualism and collectivism on the ethical decision-making process. Journal of Business Ethics, 82(2), 293–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Husted, B. W., Dozier, J. B., McMahon, J. T., & Kattan, M. W. (1996). The impact of cross-national carriers of business ethics on attitudes about questionable practices and form of moral reasoning. Journal of International Business Studies, 27(2), 391–411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaworski, B. J., & MacInnis, D. J. (1989). Marketing jobs and management controls: Toward a framework. Journal of Marketing Research, 26, 406–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, A. C., & Warkentin, M. (2010). Fear appeals and information security behaviors: An empirical study. MIS Quarterly, 34, 549–566.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, T. M., & Ryan, L. V. (1997). The link between ethical judgment and action in organizations: A moral approbation approach. Organization Science, 8(6), 663–680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keith, M., Shao, B., & Steinbart, P. (2009). A behavioral analysis of passphrase design and effectiveness. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 10(2), 63–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kock, N. (2010). WarpPLS 1.0 user manual. Laredo, TX: ScriptWarp Systems.

  • Lee, S. M., Lee, S. G., & Yoo, S. (2004). An integrative model of computer abuse based on social control and general deterrence theories. Information & Management, 41, 707–718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leonard, L. N. K., & Cronan, T. P. (2001). Illegal, inappropriate, and unethical behavior in an information technology context: A study to explain influences. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 1(12), 1–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leonard, L. N. K., Cronan, T. P., & Kreie, J. (2004). What influences IT ethical behavior intentions—Planned behavior, reasoned action, perceived importance, or individual characteristics? Information & Management, 42(2004), 143–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang, H., Saraf, N., Hu, Q., & Xue, Y. (2007). Assimilation of enterprise systems: The effect of institutional pressures and the mediating role of top management. MIS Quarterly, 31(1), 59–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loch, K. D., & Conger, S. (1995). Evaluating ethical decision making and computer use. Communications of the ACM, 39(7), 74–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowry, P. B., Romano, N. C., Jenkins, J. L., & Guthrie, R. W. (2009). The CMC interactivity model: How interactivity enhances communication quality and process satisfaction in lean-media groups. Journal of Management Information Systems, 26(1), 159–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowry, P. B., Vance, A., Moody, G., Beckman, B., & Read, A. (2008). Explaining and predicting the impact of branding alliances and web site quality on initial consumer trust of e-commerce web sites. Journal of Management Information Systems, 24(4), 199–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCoy, S., Galletta, D. F., & King, W. R. (2005). Integrating national culture into IS research: The need for current individual-level measures. Communications of the AIS, 15, 211–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merhout, J. W., & Havelka, D. (2008). Information technology auditing: A value-added IT governance partnership between IT management and audit. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 23(26), 463–482.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mick, D. G. (1996). Are studies of dark side variables confounded by socially desirable responding? The case of materialism. Journal of Consumer Research, 23(2), 106–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moores, T. T., & Chang, J. C.-J. (2006). Ethical decision making in software piracy: Initial development and test of a four-component model. MIS Quarterly, 30(1), 167–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moores, T. T., & Dhaliwal, J. (2004). A reversed context analysis of software piracy issues in Singapore. Information & Management, 41(8), 1037–1042.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myyry, L., Siponen, M., Pahnila, S., Vartiainen, T., & Vance, A. (2009). What levels of moral reasoning and values explain adherence to information security rules? An empirical study. European Journal of Information Systems, 18(2), 126–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oyserman, D. (2006). High power, low power, and equality: Culture beyond individualism and collectivism. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 16(4), 352–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oyserman, D., Coon, M., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2002). Rethinking individualism and collectivism: Evaluation of the theoretical assumptions and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 128(1), 3–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oyserman, D., & Lee, S. W. S. (2008). Does culture influence what and how we think? Effects of priming individualism and collectivism. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 311–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patel, T., & Schaefe, A. (2009). Making sense of the diversity of ethical decision making in business: An illustration of the Indian context. Journal of Business Ethics, 90(2), 171–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavlou, P., Liang, H., & Xue, Y. (2007). Understanding and mitigating uncertainty in online exchange relationships: A principal-agent perspective. MIS Quarterly, 31(1), 105–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peace, A. G., Galletta, D. F., & Thong, J. Y. L. (2003). Software piracy in the workplace: A model and empirical test. Journal of Management Information Systems, 20(1), 153–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petter, S., Straub, D. W., & Rai, A. (2007). Specifying formative constructs in information systems research. MIS Quarterly, 31(4), 623–656.

    Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Posey, C., Bennett, R., Roberts, T. L., & Lowry, P. B. (2011). When computer monitoring backfires: Invasion of privacy and organizational injustice as precursors to computer abuse. Journal of Information System Security, 7(1), 24–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ralston, D. A., Holt, D. H., Terpstra, R. H., & Kai-Cheng, Y. (2008). The impact of national culture and economic ideology on managerial work values: A study of the United States, Russia, Japan, and China. Journal of International Business Studies, 39(1), 8–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ransbotham, S., & Mitra, S. (2009). Choice and chance: A conceptual model of paths to information security compromise. Information Systems Research, 20(1), 121–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao, M. T., Brown, C. V., & Perkins, W. C. (2007). Host country resource availability and information system control mechanisms in multinational corporations: An empirical test of resource dependence theory. Journal of Management Information Systems, 23(4), 11–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ringle, C. M., Wende, S., & Will, S. (2005). SmartPLS 2.0 (M3) Beta. Retrieved September 17, 2010, from http://www.smartpls.de.

  • Robertson, C. J., & Crittenden, W. F. (2002). Mapping moral philosophies: Strategic implications for multinational firms. Strategic Management Journal, 24(4), 327–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, C., Crittenden, W., Brady, M., & Hoffman, J. (2002). Situational ethics across borders: A multicultural examination. Journal of Business Ethics, 38(4), 327–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, C., & Fadil, P. A. (1999). Ethical decision making in multinational organizations: A culture-based model. Journal of Business Ethics, 19(4), 385–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, C., Gilley, K., & Crittenden, W. (2008). Trade liberalization, corruption, and software piracy. Journal of Business Ethics, 78(4), 623–634.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, S. L., & Bennett, R. J. (1995). A typology of deviant workplace behaviors: A multidimensional scaling study. Academy of Management Journal, 38(2), 555–572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, S. L., & O’Leary-Kelly, A. M. (1998). Monkey see, monkey do: The influence of work groups on the antisocial behavior of employees. Academy of Management Journal, 41(6), 658–672.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlegelmilch, B. B., & Robertson, D. C. (1995). The influence of country and industry on ethical perceptions of senior executives in the U.S. and Europe. Journal of International Business Studies, 26(4), 859–881.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schminke, M., Ambrose, M. L., & Noel, T. W. (1997). The effect of ethical frameworks on perceptions of organizational justice. Academy of Management Journal, 40(5), 1190–1207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schminke, M., & Wells, D. (1999). Group processes and performance and their effects on individuals’ ethical frameworks. Journal of Business Ethics, 18(4), 367–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shin, S. K., Ishman, M., & Sanders, G. L. (2007). An empirical investigation of socio-cultural factors of information sharing in China. Information & Management, 44(2), 165–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siponen, M., & Vance, A. (2010). Neutralization: New insights into the problem of employee information systems security policy violations. MIS Quarterly, 34, 487–502.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siponen, M., & Vartiainen, T. (2007). Unauthorized copying of software and levels of moral development: A literature analysis and its implications for research and practice. Information Systems Journal, 14(4), 387–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, H. J., & Hasnas, J. (1999). Ethics and information systems: The corporate domain. MIS Quarterly, 23(1), 109–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, H. J., & Keil, M. (2003). The reluctance to report bad news on troubled software projects: A theoretical model. Information Systems Journal, 13(1), 69–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, H. J., Keil, M., & Depledge, G. (2001). Keeping mum as the project goes under: Toward an explanatory model. Journal of Management Information Systems, 18(2), 189–227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Son, J.-Y., & Kim, S. S. (2008). Internet users’ information privacy-protective responses: A taxonomy and a nomological model. MIS Quarterly, 32(3), 503–529.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sproull, L., & Kiesler, S. (1991). Connections. Boston: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Srite, M., & Karahanna, E. (2006). The role of espoused national cultural values in technology acceptance. MIS Quarterly, 30(3), 679–704.

    Google Scholar 

  • Staples, D. S., Hulland, J. S., & Higgins, C. A. (1999). A self-efficacy theory explanation for the management of remote workers in virtual organizations. Organization Science, 10(6), 758–776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Straub, D. W. (1989). Validating instruments in MIS research. MIS Quarterly, 13(2), 147–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Straub, D. W. (1990). Effective IS security: An empirical study. Information Systems Research, 1(3), 255–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Straub, D. W., Boudreau, M. C., & Gefen, D. (2004). Validation guidelines for IS positivist research. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 14(2004), 380–426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Straub, D. W., & Welke, R. J. (1998). Coping with systems risk: Security planning models for management decision making. MIS Quarterly, 22(4), 441–469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, S. (1998). Predicting and explaining intentions and behavior: How well are we doing? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28(15), 1317–1338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, S. G., Khazanchi, D., Hampton, C., & Arnold, V. (2008). Risk analysis in extended enterprise environments: Identification of critical risk factors in B2B e-commerce relationships. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 9(3/4), 151–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swinyard, W. R., Rinne, H., & Kau, A. K. (1990). The morality of software piracy: A cross-cultural analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 9(8), 655–664.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tavakoli, A. A., Keenan, J. P., & Crnjak-Karanovic, B. (2003). Culture and whistleblowing an empirical study of Croatian and United States managers utilizing Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Journal of Business Ethics, 43(1/2), 49–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thong, J. Y. L., & Yap, C.-s. (1998). Testing an ethical decision-making theory: The case of softlifting. Journal of Management Information Systems, 15(1), 213–237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torelli, C. J. (2006). Individuality or conformity? The effects of independent and interdependent self-concepts on public judgments. Journal of Consumer Research, 16(3), 240–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Triandis, H. C., & Gelfand, M. J. (1998). Converging measurement of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 118–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsui, J., & Windsor, C. (2001). Some cross-cultural evidence on ethical reasoning. Journal of Business Ethics, 31(2), 143–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuttle, B., Harrell, A., & Harrison, P. (1997). Moral hazard, ethical considerations, and the decision to implement an information system. Journal of Management Information Systems, 13(4), 7–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vardi, Y. (2001). The effects of organizational and ethical climates on misconduct at work. Journal of Business Ethics, 29, 325–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitell, S. J., Nwachukwu, S. L., & Barnes, J. H. (1993). The effects of culture on ethical decision-making: An application of Hofstede’s typology. Journal of Business Ethics, 12(10), 753–760.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voronov, M., & Singer, J. A. (2002). The myth of individualism-collectivism: A critical review. Journal of Social Psychology, 142(4), 461–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J., Chaudhury, A., & Rao, H. R. (2008). A value-at-risk approach to information security investment. Information Systems Research, 19(1), 106–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J., Chen, R., Herath, T., & Rao, H. R. (2009). Visual e-mail authentication and identification services: An investigation of the effects on e-mail use. Decision Support Systems, 48(1), 92–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winter, S., Stylianou, A., & Giacalone, R. (2004). Case of Machiavellianism and ethical ideology. Journal of Business Ethics, 54(3), 279–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, D., & Lowry, P. B. (2008). Issues, limitations, and opportunities in cross-cultural research on collaborative software in information systems. Journal of Global Information Management, 16(1), 61–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, D., Lowry, P. B., Zhou, L., & Fu, X. (2008). The impact of individualism-collectivism, social presence, and group diversity on group decision making under majority influence. Journal of Management Information Systems, 23(4), 53–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J., Luo, X., Akkaladevi, S., & Ziegelmayer, J. (2009). Improving multiple-password recall: An empirical study. European Journal of Information Systems, 18(2), 165–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zviran, M., & Erlich, Z. (2006). Identification and authentication: Technology and implementation issues. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 17(4), 90–105.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Business, City University of Hong Kong, P7912, Academic Building I, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong, China

    Paul Benjamin Lowry

  2. Information Systems, Statistics and Management Science, Culverhouse College of Commerce, The University of Alabama, Box 870226, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Clay Posey

  3. Department of Management and Information Systems, College of Business, Louisiana Tech University, P.O. Box 10318, Ruston, LA, 71272, USA

    Tom L. Roberts & Rebecca J. Bennett

Authors
  1. Paul Benjamin Lowry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Clay Posey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tom L. Roberts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rebecca J. Bennett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Benjamin Lowry.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 23 kb)

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

See Table 5.

Table 5 Measurement items
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lowry, P.B., Posey, C., Roberts, T.L. et al. Is Your Banker Leaking Your Personal Information? The Roles of Ethics and Individual-Level Cultural Characteristics in Predicting Organizational Computer Abuse. J Bus Ethics 121, 385–401 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1705-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1705-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation