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Ethical climates in South Asian Organizations: empirical findings from India

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Abstract

This exploratory paper identifies ethical work climates in organizations in India using the ethical climate typology developed by Victor and Cullen. India offers interesting opportunities to study ethical decision making in organizations, considering its recent economic growth, rich spiritual heritage, and relatively weak implementation of regulatory provisions. Using the original ethical climate questionnaire, we conduct a survey on Indian workforce to identify key ethical climates the participants relate to. Exploratory factor analysis results in six climate types: (a) Law and Codes of Professional Conduct, (b) Organizational Processes, (c) Integrity and Fairness, (d) Collective Prosperity, (e) Personal Value System, and (f) Pursuit of Excellence. Consequently we assess how organizational and individual characteristics influence the participants’ association with the identified climate types. Multivariate analysis of variance shows that men in Indian workforce are more likely to relate to law, professional codes of conduct and organizational processes, whereas women are more likely to relate to personal value system. We discuss the implications and antecedents of these findings from socio-cultural perspectives, specifically India’s ancient values.

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Data availability statement

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

Notes

  1. The Sanskrit phrase, when translated to English, refers to natural and eternal way to live.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, 400058, India

    Arindam Das

  2. Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, 501510, India

    Dimple Grover

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  1. Arindam Das
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  2. Dimple Grover
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Correspondence to Arindam Das.

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The authors declare that this work has been carried out in their individual capacity and there is no potential conflict in the form of grants, employment by, consultancy for, shared ownership in, or any close relationship with, an organization whose interests, financial or otherwise, may be affected by the publication of the paper.

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Das, A., Grover, D. Ethical climates in South Asian Organizations: empirical findings from India. SN Bus Econ 2, 55 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43546-022-00226-1

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