Browsing by Author "Wimbush, James C."

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    Ethical climates and ethical behavior
    Wimbush, James C. (Virginia Tech, 1991)
    The relationship between five ethical climates -- caring, service, law and code, independence, and instrumentalism -- and four behaviors -- lying, stealing, failure to follow orders, and being an accomplice to a crime -- was tested in a multi-unit, commissioned sales, organization. Drawing extensively from the work of Victor and Cullen (1987;1988) nine hypotheses were formulated and tested to determine the viability of Victor and Cullen’s ethical climate typology and its relationship to various behaviors and firm performance (profitability and shrinkage). The influence of supervisors on ethical climate and subordinates' ethical behavior was also examined. Four of the five types of climate identified by Victor and Cullen were replicated by factor analysis. At the individual level of analysis, 12 of 20 relationships between the ethical climates and behaviors were statistically significant and in the hypothesized directions. However, none of the predicted relationships between the climates and profitability or shrinkage were supported. Nevertheless, these results provide some initial evidence that there is a linkage between ethical climates and ethical behavior. In addition, supervisors were found to have some influence on subordinates ethical behavior. Implications for future research and practice are provided.
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    A longitudinal examination of public recognition and employee absenteeism: an exploratory study
    Wimbush, James C. (Virginia Tech, 1988-09-20)
    The study extended the Scott et al. (1985) research by examining the influence of public recognition on employees' attitudes and perceptions toward absenteeism. The main focus was on why the public recognition program was effective in reducing employee absenteeism. To better understand the effectiveness of recognition in reducing absenteeism, a model of the absenteeism/recognition relationship was developed. The model was based on the integration of the need, expectancy, reinforcement, and goal setting theories. It implies that the influence of recognition on attendance behavior is a function of an employee's (1) desire for recognition; (2) belief that attendance is related to recognition; (3) personal attendance goal setting which is a function of an employee's(a)perceived congruency between individual and management's attendance goals, (b) perceived reasonableness of management's attendance goals, and (c) perceived ability to attend in order to meet goals; and (4) recognition award. It was concluded that even though recognition programs have been shown to yield greater reductions in absenteeism than other approaches (e.g., lotteries, financial incentives, etc.), the reasons for its effectiveness are still not known.