Ethical compliance behavior in small and young firms: The role of employee identification with the firm

Abstract

We explored whether employees in smaller, younger firms would be more ethically compromised, and whether employee identification moderates this relationship.We collected survey data from 154 working professionals enrolled in an MBA program in the southeastern United States. We found that employees of smaller, younger firms selected more compromised ethical choices than employees of larger, older firms. Contrary to our expectations, employee identification had no effect in smaller, younger, firms, yet in larger, older firms, identification actually reduced ethical compliance, suggesting that there is not a simple relationship between identification and ethical compliance.

Citation

Houghton, S. and Simon, M. (2009), "Ethical compliance behavior in small and young firms: The role of employee identification with the firm", New England Journal of Entrepreneurship, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 15-25. https://doi.org/10.1108/NEJE-12-02-2009-B002