Search results

This work aims to study the relationship between individuals' love of money and their propensity to engage in unethical behaviour.

Data were collected through a questionnaire, with the final sample consisting of 297 Portuguese individuals. The hypotheses were tested using linear regression models.

The results demonstrate that there is no significant relationship between the love of money and the propensity to engage in unethical behaviour. However, there was a significant relationship between the level of budgeting and the propensity to engage in unethical behaviours – for those individuals who have a greater ability to manage their money are less likely to engage in behaviours unethical. The existence of a significant relationship between the “evil” factor and the propensity to engage in unethical behaviour was also validated, which demonstrates that when individuals both associate negative feelings with money and consider love of money to be the “root of evil”, then they are less likely to be involved in unethical behaviour.

This work contributes theoretically and empirically to a better understanding of individuals' attitudes towards money and their propensity to engage in unethical behaviour. The results are of particular academic and organisational relevance due to the implications for human resource management.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar as relações entre o amor ao dinheiro dos indivíduos e a sua propensão para o envolvimento em comportamentos não éticos.

Os dados foram recolhidos através de questionário, sendo a amostra final composta por 297 indivíduos portugueses. As hipóteses foram testadas através de regressões lineares.

Os resultados demonstram a não existência de uma relação significativa entre o amor ao dinheiro e a propensão para o envolvimento em comportamentos não éticos. Contudo, comprovou-se a existência de uma relação significativa entre o nível de orçamentação e a propensão para o envolvimento em comportamentos não éticos, à medida que os indivíduos apresentam uma maior capacidade para gerir o seu dinheiro, apresentam um menor propensão para se envolverem em comportamentos não éticos. Também se validou a existência de relação significativa entre o fator maléfico e a propensão para o envolvimento em comportamentos não éticos, demonstrando que quando os indivíduos associam ao dinheiro sentimentos negativos e que consideram o amor ao dinheiro como a raiz da maldade apresentam menor propensão para o envolvimento em comportamentos não éticos.

Este trabalho contribui teórica e empiricamente para melhor compreender as atitudes dos indivíduos perante o dinheiro e a sua propensão para o envolvimento em comportamentos não éticos. Os resultados são de especial relevância académica e organizacional devido às implicações na gestão de recursos humanos.

The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test the earnings management (EM) behavior model to investigate the personal psychological factors that influence individuals’ intentions to engage in EM.

Following a review of literature, personal-psychological factors influencing EM intentions were identified within the scope of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and a dark triad of personality theory. The survey data from 153 MBA students were analyzed using partial least square-structural equation modeling.

The results revealed perceived behavior control is significant in influencing individuals’ EM intentions followed by attitude toward behavior and subjective norms. The results, however, do not support the relationship between moral obligation and intentions to engage in EM and also reported a negative relationship between Machiavellianism and individuals’ EM intentions.

The proposed model will enable organizations to develop focused training programs for managers to reduce EM behavior. It will also help educators in training students to positively shape their ethical behavior and make them more reciprocal toward others and their work environment.

The study develops the EM behavior model and suggests that TPB and Machiavellianism personality traits provide a useful framework to identify the personal psychological factors influencing individuals’ EM intentions. Further, the empirical testing of the model documents and contributes toward a better understanding of the personal psychological factors significantly influencing individuals’ EM intentions.

Organizational justice research traditionally focuses on individuals’ reactions to how they are treated by others. However, little attention has been given to why individuals choose to behave fairly or unfairly in the first place. Our chapter draws on the literature in ethical decision making (Rest, 1986) to identify five distinct factors that influence an individual's decision to treat others fairly. Using this model as a foundation, and drawing on extant research in justice, we explore five different types of roadblocks to fair behavior. We explore the implications of these roadblocks for organizations concerned with creating and maintaining a fair workplace. Finally, we discuss future research suggested by the five factors and some dilemmas, issues, and caveats relevant to the proposed model.

In everyday life, as well as in work organizations, we engage in frequent and quite comfortable discourse about the nature of reputations, and wealso see personal reputation used as a basis for important human resources decisions (e.g., promotions, terminations, etc.). Unfortunately, despite its recognized importance, there has been very little theory and research on personal reputation in organizations published in the organizational sciences. The present paper attempts to address this need by proposing a conceptualization of personal reputation in organizations. In this conceptualization, reputation is presented as an agreed upon, collective perception by others, and involves behavior calibration derived from social comparisons with referent others that results in a deviation from the behavioral norms in one's environment, as observed and evaluated by others. Implications of this conceptualization are discussed, as are directions for future research.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

Scholarship on reputation in and of organizations has been going on for decades, and it always has separated along level of analysis issues, whereby the separate literatures on individual, group/team/unit, and organization reputation fail to acknowledge each other. This sends the implicit message that reputation is a fundamentally different phenomenon at the three different levels of analysis. We tested the validity of this implicit assumption by conducting a multilevel review of the reputation literature, and drawing conclusions about the “level-specific” or “level-generic” nature of the reputation construct. The review results permitted the conclusion that reputation phenomena are essentially the same at all levels of analysis. Based on this, we frame a future agenda for theory and research on reputation.

Effective risk management (RM) requires not only proactive prevention, but also reactive response where the role of individual managers is pivotal as they are the main players to perform RM behavior. Hence, the key questions related to effective corporate RM can be identified as how actively managers engage in RM behaviors and how well the firm supports their RM behavior. The purpose of this paper is to understand the mechanism of managers’ engagement in an active RM behavior and highlight the role of knowledge and organizational support in explaining the mechanism.

A structural model built on the theory of planned behavior and the institutional theory is proposed to empirically examine the factors affecting managers’ RM intention. The survey of 150 senior managers from different divisions of six major companies in Korean food industry was conducted.

The data analysis brings forward three key findings: individual factors (behavioral belief about RM, social pressure and RM knowledge) positively influence RM intention; organizational factor (organizational RM support) positively affects managers’ RM knowledge; and both individual and organizational factors are affected by organizational environment and/or RM championship.

This study contributes to the literature by identifying the mechanism in that managers perform RM behavior voluntarily. This study also contributes to the practice by informing practitioners of the importance of implementing a company-wide RM system and motivating managers for an active RM behavior.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the existing project management literature by conceptualizing the influence of personality and cognitive traits on project managers’ risk-taking behaviour.

The paper is based on an in-depth analysis of the existing literature to develop framework for conceptualizing risk propensity in project management.

The results indicate that the Big Five personality traits cannot capture risk propensity in risk-taking behaviour on their own. Cognitive traits are indispensable components in risk propensity.

The paper examines the association between risk propensity theories and personality traits. The paper framed project managers’ personality traits that can impact their tendency to take risky decisions, that is risk propensity.

This paper expands literature by increasing our understanding of personality and cognitive traits in risk propensity.