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This study aims to investigate stakeholders' perception of the most prevalent unethical practices in the Ghanaian construction industry.

Data used for this study came from a cross-sectional survey (questionnaire), which was administered to 273 stakeholders in the construction industry using convenience sampling technique. The data were analyzed using statistical software package SPSSv17 to determine the most prevalent unethical practices. The ranking factor was calculated based on relative importance index (RII) value.

The results of this study reveal that corruption was perceived by major stakeholders as the most prevalent unethical behavior (RII = 0.82) followed by bribery (RII = 0.79). Political interference and kickback came third (RII = 0.77) and fourth (RII = 0.74), respectively. However, the least prevalent unethical behaviors were extortion (RII = 0.56), workplace violence (RII = 0.57), alcohol abuse (RII = 0.59) and harassment (RII = 0.59). The findings suggest that when the various groupings were taken into consideration separately, the differences in their perceptions were obvious.

Data for this study were collected from construction stakeholders in Ghana who were conveniently sampled. As a result, in reference to the sampling framework which focused on major stakeholders in only two regions of Ghana does not sufficiently ensure full generalization of the results.

The findings of the study provide significant information for construction organizations and practitioners regarding unethical practices, which are most prevalent in the Ghanaian construction industry. Construction organizations and practitioners seeking to mitigate the negative effect of unethical practices on their performance should focus on educating construction workers on how to avoid corrupt practices and report same to the authorities. Also, ethics training programs must be instituted for staff coupled with constant and random inspection and checking of ethical compliance, verbal promotion and praise for ethical conduct and in some cases increase in employees pay.

This paper is one of the first to have accessed the views of broader stakeholders, i.e. consultants, contractors, professionals, suppliers, regulators, clients and construction workers in the construction industry regarding the most prevalent unethical practices in the Ghanaian construction industry in one study. This study, therefore, enriches the current literature by providing additional dimension to the understanding of unethical practices in the Ghanaian construction industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the views of construction practitioners on the prevalence of ethical misconduct within the invitation to tender and tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts in Ghana.

Following a critical comparative review of literature resulting in the identification of 18 potential misconducts within the invitation to tender and 11 potential misconducts within the tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 65 construction professionals. Data obtained from the survey were analysed using both descriptive (i.e. frequencies, mean scores and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (paired t-test), followed by gap analysis.

The findings revealed that corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices, client divulging more information to the preferred bidder and inflating tender prices by tenderers in return for kickbacks are key unethical practices prevalent at the invitation to tender stage. Following these key unethical practices, the findings further suggested through gap analysis that submission of bids on non-working days and inadequate time for preparation and submission of tenders were the top two unethical practices that needed serious interventions at this stage. At the tender evaluation and award stage, the findings revealed that interference by influential people in political positions, fake tendering and bid shopping are prevalent. Again, from the gap analysis, interference by influential people in political positions and poor definition of selection criteria were identified to be the two key unethical practices that need urgent intervention at this stage of construction contracts.

This study holds a significant practical implication in the sense that key unethical practices at the invitation to tender and tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts have been identified, and this provides a suitable basis for stakeholders that spearhead such activities to offer suitable interventions to control such practices.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge as it uncovers ethical misconducts within two important phases of construction contracts in a developing country setting. As there is a continuous effort by the international community towards finding lasting solutions to such misconducts, the findings from this study can be used as a starting point for appropriate policies to be put in place in Ghana to control such misconducts.

The study has two objectives: (1) expand our knowledge of the relationship between unethical behaviour and both trust and satisfaction and (2) demonstrate that unethical behaviour research should be examined multi-dimensionally.

Data were collected by resorting to a mixed methods approach. First, individual interviews were performed with 31 bank consumers from six main commercial banks in Bukavu city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Interview notes were submitted for content analysis to identify items and components that underpin the unethical practices construct. Second, a quantitative survey was conducted with 410 consumers from the same six banks. An aggregated-disaggregated structural equations modelling approach was used to test the impact of unethical practices on relationship outcomes through two studies. Study 1 tested a model that links unethical behaviour as a one-dimensional construct to trust and satisfaction. Study 2 tested a model that directly connects the four specific unethical behaviour components to both trust and satisfaction.

Results from study 1 reveal that perceived unethical behaviour negatively influences consumer trust. Results also confirm that trust positively influences customer satisfaction. Results from study 2 confirm that unresponsive, disrespect and lying behaviours negatively influence both trust and satisfaction. Banks which are involving in those specific unethical behaviours can neither satisfy their consumers, nor maintain a sustainable and profitable relationship with them. Therefore, unethical behaviours harm the relationships outcomes in the banking sector.

The perceived unethical behaviour scale derives from a single data set and its reliability and validity need to be improved. Relationships between constructs are tested in a more direct way and ignore moderating variables. Perceived unethical behaviour is connected to relationship outcome variables while its impact on firms’ metrics have been ignored.

Banks have to understand customers’ perception of unethical behaviours and find a way to overcome them. Banks should recruit, motivate and retain employees who demonstrate an ethical inclination in the service encounter and create structures and mechanisms in order to monitor and manage unethical practices.

Banks employees' unethical behaviour and practices not only damage the trust and reputation of banks but also can lead to frustration on the part of customers and damage their relationship with the institution. Our paper is a warning of this danger and might improve the social interactions between organisations (in general) and customers.

Unethical behaviour is measured with a four-component scale in contrast to previous studies that have used bi-dimensional or one-dimensional scales. The study tests a disaggregated model that links four components of perceived unethical behaviour to relationship outcome variables. Perceived unethical behaviours are analysed from the customers’ perspective by resorting to mixed methods strategy.

The importance of ethical considerations in the construction industry is acknowledged. This is particularly the case that the industry plays a significant part in a nation’s development. The Zambian construction industry has seen an increase in activity due, in part, to massive infrastructure development programmes adopted by successive governments, increase in foreign direct investment and housing development. The Zambian construction industry, like any other, is not immune to unethical behaviour. This study aims to investigate students’ perception of the prevalence of unethical practices in the Zambian construction industry. A review of literature demonstrated that a number of contextual factors including location can influence the perception of unethical practices. A focus on Zambia was therefore considered necessary.

In total, 121 students took part in a questionnaire survey to examine their perception of the extent to which unethical practices were prevalent in the Zambian construction industry.

The findings suggest that students perceived bribery/corruption and political/societal influences as the two most common unethical practices, while the least prevalent unethical practices were perceived to be alcohol/drug abuse and workplace violence. The findings are largely consistent with previous studies investigating the ethical perception of professionals in the Zambian construction industry. In addition, the findings suggests that when the year and programme of study are taken into consideration, the differences in perception of unethical practices are evident for these demographic groups.

This study provided an added dimension to the understanding of ethical issues in the Zambian construction industry as it was the first of its kind involving students’ perceptions. This paper therefore contributes to the list of countries where similar studies have been undertaken.

Complying with the code of conduct by professionals in the construction industry worldwide has become a significant issue over the years. This has led to projects' failure, leading to losses to both the client and contractors. The study's objective is to identify the challenges of construction professionals in complying with their code of conduct and preventing corrupt practices.

Quantitative approach was used to collect empirical data by sending questionnaires to 56 construction professionals in South Africa. Data gathered were analysed through Excel statistical tool. Mean values were calculated for the quantitative data, whilst thematic content analyses were used to generate frequencies and percentages for qualitative data.

The findings indicate that construction professionals experience many unethical issues in their work duties such as inflated tender prices, overpricing the rates, tender-based kickbacks, bribes for projects, unethical methods of project execution, use of lower grade materials than specified, discrimination, among others. However, issues such as greediness, acceptance of corruption as usual practice, lack of knowledge about the code of conduct, the only way to get contracts, part of the process, and peer pressure create a challenge in complying with the code of conduct and preventing corrupt practices among construction professionals.

Construction professionals face many unethical and corrupt practices in their project management and execution, which they cannot overcome due to many factors. Therefore, there is the need to sensitise the professionals in the construction industry regarding their code of conduct as well as the danger associated with engaging in corrupt practices in their work and their implication on project performance.

The findings give an insight into the critical factors curtailing the construction professional's ability to comply with their code of conduct and be corrupt-free in their line of duty. Thus, professional associations can use the findings in guiding their members.

The purpose of the study is to explore the various kind of prevailing unethical practices at workplace along with identification of factors triggering such unethical practices. Growing incidences of indulgence of employees in unethical acts in various organisation and negative consequences associated with it for the organisation such as erosion of reputation because of advance digital media coverage, shareholder value and others made compulsive to study the root cause of unethical behaviour at the workplace.

This study extracts meaning from the experiences of top managers working in nine Indian organisations to understand the challenges faced by individuals at the workplace using the Gioia methodology. A total of 33 top management team (TMT) members were interviewed in detail to capture their experience in regard to various challenges that impose a threat to ethical conduct in the organisation.

The authors identified four categories of unethical behaviour, namely, pro-self, lack of autonomy, pro-organisation, systemic and negligence. Further, the authors have developed a taxonomy suggesting strategies to control unethical conduct at the workplace. Besides, the current study unravels the triggers behind different categories of unethical conduct, such as bottom-line mentality, rent-seeking behaviour of government officials, fluid ethical study culture and others.

Various types of unethical behaviour have been identified and frameworks to address such unethical practices are suggested in the paper. TMTs views have been captured to understand the root cause of unethical practices and strategies for addressing them have been discussed in the paper.

This paper aims to discuss unethical behaviors that small real estate agencies encounter in real estate brokerage practices, the factors that give rise to a trust issue and the potential of legal arrangements for offering a solution. Small real estate agencies, almost the only actor in the real estate brokerage industry until the late twentieth century, still strive to survive despite the globalized market, large corporations increasingly dominating the market, the increasing informality and the real estate portals offering certain brokerage services online. While all these developments put pressure on small real estate agencies, the industry’s unethical behaviors diminish their reliability. Despite the efforts to overcome this issue through legal arrangements, the extent to which these regulations will be successful is still a matter of intense debate.

In total, 85 small real estate agencies operating in Istanbul, Turkey, were posed semi-structured open-ended questions and asked to provide an opinion about the unethical behaviors they face and the potential of a legal arrangement to solve those problems. In the second stage, three focus group interviews were held with representatives from large real estate brokerage companies to make a comparison and they were also posed similar questions. The answers were evaluated using content analysis.

It was found that the unethical behaviors in the real estate industry could mainly be evaluated in two categories, i.e. those stemming from structural problems of the industry and those stemming from problems related to service delivery and that a legal arrangement could only solve the first category.

The research is limited to small real estate agencies that operate in Istanbul, the heart of the Turkish economy and the biggest city of the country where intensive efforts are spent to integrate into the global order.

It is considered that categorization of the causes of problems encountered by the numerous small real estate agencies that struggle to survive in the market and an analysis of the root causes of unethical behaviors in the industry and a discussion on potential solutions that may be brought bylaws will contribute to the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to examine human resources (HR) professionals’ self-perceptions of ethically questionable human resource management (HRM) practices (i.e. disregard for the individual, favoring those in power and discrimination). The research sought specifically to determine how these perceptions are influenced by their organizations’ ethical infrastructure and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices.

Data were collected from 134 HR professionals using an anonymous structured questionnaire.

The scope of organizations’ ethics programs and the degree of importance given to developing an ethical infrastructure were found to predict the level of acceptance of unethical HRM practices related to discrimination. These practices are also less acceptable to professionals from organizations that are perceived as more socially responsible regarding their employees.

Additional studies with larger samples are needed to determine more clearly not only the influence of contextual determinants, but also the practical consequences of high levels of acceptance of unethical practices in HRM.

Organizations can decrease their HR professionals’ acceptance of ethically questionable HRM practices by developing and emphasizing a strong ethical infrastructure and CSR practices, especially those affecting employees.

HR professionals’ perceptions of ethical issues have rarely been analyzed using empirically tested methods. By surveying HR professionals, this study contributes to a fuller understanding of their perceptions regarding the ethics of their own practices. The results show that contextual determinants play an important role in predicting the level of acceptance of unethical HRM practices, especially those leading to discrimination.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model that focuses on the cultural drivers and trust outcomes of consumer perceptions on issues pertaining to the unethical marketing behavior of firms. It specifically investigates: the role of cultural orientation in forming consumer ethical ideology; the link between the consumer's ethical ideology and his/her perceptions regarding the unethical marketing behavior of firms; the effect of perceived unethical marketing behavior on trust in firms; and the moderating role of gender, age, and education of the consumer.

The article is based on a quantitative survey conducted among 387 Cypriot consumers aged 18 and above, using stratified random sampling procedures. The items comprising the constructs used were derived from multiple literature sources and these were measured on a seven‐point Likert scale. Data were gathered through personal, face‐to‐face interviews conducted at central locations in all major towns of Cyprus. To test the hypothesized relationships among the constructs of the model, structural equation modeling was employed.

The study confirmed that both power distance and uncertainty avoidance are important in forming idealistic attitudes, while both individualism and masculinity lead to an egoistic attitude. Idealism was observed to have a positive association with perceived marketing unethicality, while egoism was found to negatively affect consumer perceptions of unethical marketing behavior by firms. It was also revealed that perceived unethical marketing behavior decreases consumer trust. The study also revealed that the link between idealism and perceived marketing unethicality is stronger among male and older individuals, while consumer's level of education had no moderating impact on this link. Finally, none of the consumer demographics examined (i.e. gender, age, and education) moderated the association between egoism and perceived unethical marketing behavior.

The originality of the study lies in the fact that: it puts together in a single model both antecedents and outcomes of the marketing unethicality of firms, as this is perceived by the individual consumer; concurrently examines the role of cultural orientation and ethical ideology of the consumer in forming ethical attitudes and responses; focuses on the instrumental role of cultural characteristics on consumer ethical perceptions from the perspective of the individual, rather than the society as a whole; places emphasis on unethical issues taking place across all elements of the marketing mix; and provides useful examination of the effects of unethical marketing practices on consumer trust.

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.