The Effects of Explicit and Implicit Ethics Institutionalization
on Employee Life Satisfaction and Happiness: The Mediating
Effects of Employee Experiences in Work Life and Moderating
Effects of Work–Family Life Conflict
Dong-Jin Lee1• Grace B. Yu2• M. Joseph Sirgy3•Anusorn Singhapakdi4• Lorenzo Lucianetti5
Received: 24 January 2015 / Accepted: 30 November 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015
Abstract The purpose of this study was to develop and test a model capturing the effects of ethics institutional-ization on employee experiences in work life and overall life satisfaction. It was hypothesized that explicit ethics institutionalization has a positive effect on implicit ethics institutionalization, which in turn enhances employee experiences in work life. It was also hypothesized that employee work life experiences (job satisfaction, quality of work life, esprit de corps, and organizational commitment) have a positive effect on overall life satisfaction and hap-piness, moderated by work–family life conflict. Data were collected though a survey of marketing managers in Italy. The data provide good but partial support for the model. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Keywords Ethics institutionalization Work life experiences Life satisfaction Employee happiness Work–family life conflict
Introduction
The revelations about ethical misconduct in business in the last several decades have brought about a heightened interest in business ethics among academics and the public
at large. Because of this, many firms began to institution-alize ethics in an attempt to address these challenges (e.g., Gellerman 1986; Murphy1989; Stevens 1994). The prac-tice of an organization to incorporate ethics into its deci-sion-making process is called ‘‘institutionalization of ethics’’ (Singhapakdi and Vitell 2007). Ethics institution-alization can take explicit and implicit forms. Implicit ethics institutionalization refers to a work climate in which ethical behavior is understood by employees to be crucial in the makeup and functioning of the firm. For example, a company that has a high level of implicit ethics institu-tionalization is one that informally expects all of its man-agers to demonstrate a high level of professionalism, honesty, and integrity. In contrast, explicit ethics institu-tionalization refers to the codification of ethical behavior in terms of codes of ethics, policy manuals, orientation pro-grams, and ethics committees (Singhapakdi et al.2010a,b). Ethics institutionalization is a factor affecting ethical decision making in the organization. Specifically, ethics institutionalization in an organization provides ethical guidelines to employees, induces structural and procedural changes such as creating new ethics positions (e.g., ethics ombudsmen, ethics committee), and increases the formal-ization of ethics socialformal-ization through corporate codes of ethics and ethics newsletters (Vitell and Singhapakdi 2008). Many ethics theorists argue that ethics institution-alization is an important factor affecting ethical decision making. For example, in their general theory of marketing ethics, Hunt and Vitell (1993) identified informal norms and formal codes along with code enforcement as part of the organizational environment influencing ethical decision making. Ferrell and Gresham (1985), in their contingency model of ethical decision making, argued that corporate policy regarding reward and punishment (which can also be considered as a manifest of explicit form of ethics & Grace B. Yu
byungheeyu@duksung.ac.kr
1 Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
2 Duksung Women’s University, Seoul, Korea 3 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA 4 Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA 5 University of Chieti and Pescara, Pescara, Italy
institutionalization) is an opportunity factor influencing ethical decision making in a marketing organization. In her interactionist model of ethical decision making in organi-zations, Trevino (1986) points to the ‘‘normative structure’’ as part of the organizational culture influencing ethical behavior of employees.
Much research has documented the fact that ethics institutionalization is an important factor affecting ethical decision making of individual managers. For example, research has shown that a code of ethics influences man-ager’s perception of ethical problems and the perception of remedial alternatives (Singhapakdi 1993). Furthermore, corporate ethical values were found to exert a significant influence on perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility (Singhapakdi et al. 1995) and on perceived moral intensity (Singhapakdi et al. 1999). Research has also shown that ethical climate and value-based ethical programs influence ethical decision making of managers (Verbeke et al.1996; Weaver and Trevino1999).
Much research also has documented that ethics institu-tionalization is an important factor affecting various aspects of employees’ work-related outcomes (see Fig.1). Specifically, explicit ethics institutionalization was found to have a positive impact on implicit ethics institutional-ization (Marta et al. 2013; Singhapakdi et al. 2010a, b; Singhapakdi and Vitell2007). Furthermore, implicit ethics institutionalization was found to have a positive effect on quality of work life (Koonmee et al. 2010; Marta et al. 2013; Singhapakdi et al. 2010b; Singhapakdi and Vitell 2007; Vitell and Singhapakdi 2008).
Although significant research has demonstrated the effect of ethics institutionalization on ethical decision making and employee work life experiences (e.g., job satisfaction, organizational commitment, esprit de corps, and quality of work life), we do not know much about the effect of ethics institutionalization on employees’ overall life satisfaction and happiness.
The main focus of our study was to empirically test a model that focuses on the effects of ethics institutional-ization on employees’ experiences in work life and overall life satisfaction. The study examines the effects of ethics institutionalization on employees’ work life experiences, namely job satisfaction, esprit de corps, organizational commitment, and quality of work life. Furthermore, the study also examines the effects of employees’ work life experiences on employees’ overall life satisfaction and happiness as moderated by work–family life conflict (see Fig.2).
Thus, this study builds on past research in three ways. First, the study extends past research by making an attempt to link the effect of ethics institutionalization on employee life satisfaction (i.e., non-work life satisfaction). Second, the study extends this program of research by testing how
work–family life conflict moderates the effect of work life experiences on life satisfaction. Third, the study simulta-neously examines relationships among the constructs in the model. We believe this is critical in helping us better understand the relationships between ethics institutional-ization and employees’ work life and non-work experience as well as life satisfaction.
In addition to its theoretical contribution, the study find-ings have significant managerial implications. Specifically, our study findings imply that organizations should try to institutionalize ethics because the positive consequences can be far beyond work-related outcomes. The effects are more substantial in that they impact employees’ overall life sat-isfaction and happiness. The study findings should also fur-ther prompt human resource management in making decisions about programs to reduce work–family life con-flict. The reason is that the study provides us with a better understanding of the moderating role of work–family life conflict on the effects of work life experiences on life satis-faction. Given the ever increasing emphasis on both orga-nizational ethics and employee well-being in recent years, we believe, as discussed above, this study should contribute significantly to both research and practice.
The paper proceeds as follows. First, we discuss the ethics institutionalization construct including its conceptu-alization, dimension, and measurement. We then discuss the effects of explicit and implicit forms of ethics institution-alization on an employees’ experiences in work life, specifically job satisfaction, esprit de corps, organizational commitment, and quality of work life. Next, we discuss the effects of work life experiences on life satisfaction and happiness. In doing so, we discuss the moderating role of work–family life conflict on the relationship between employees’ work life experiences and life satisfaction/ happiness. Finally, we highlight the research and manage-rial implications of the study findings.
Conceptual Development
Figures1and2show two models. The first one (shown in Fig.1) shows conceptual links that have been established by past studies. Figure2 shows the conceptual model. In this section, we will discuss the concepts of institutional-ization of ethics, breaking this concept down into two forms, implicit and explicit institutionalization, and addressing their interrelationship.
Institutionalization of Ethics
Institutionalization of ethics refers to ‘‘the degree to which an organization explicitly and implicitly incorporates ethics into its decision-making processes’’ (Singhapakdi and
Vitell2007, p. 284). An organization can institutionalize its ethics in terms of two basic forms: explicit forms and implicit forms (Brenner1992; Jose and Thibodeaux 1999; Singhapakdi and Vitell2007).
Explicit institutionalization of ethics means that ‘‘ethical behavior is formally expressed without vagueness’’ (Sing-hapakdi and Vitell2007, p. 285). Examples of explicit ethics institutionalization include codes of ethics, policy manuals, ethical training materials, and ethics committees (Vitell and Singhapakdi2008). That is, explicit institutionalization of ethics involves formal systems and procedures to establish what is considered ethical behavior and monitor how ethical principles, norms, and rules are implemented in the organi-zation (Majluf and Navarrete2011).
Implicit institutionalization of ethics means that ‘‘ethical behavior is implied, or not directly expressed, and is understood to be crucial’’ (Singhapakdi and Vitell 2007, p. 284). Through an implicit institutionalization of ethics, an organization strives to create an environment that induces ethical behavior. Thus, in the context of implicit institutionalization, ethics are inherently incorporated or embedded in the culture of organization (Brenner 1992). Examples of implicit ethics institutionalization include
ethical leadership, ethical climate, incentive systems, and performance evaluation systems (Vitell and Singhapakdi 2008).
It should be pointed out that there have been other attempts to conceptualize different aspects of ethics insti-tutionalization. For example, Hunt et al. (1989, p. 79) conceptualized corporate ethical values as ‘‘a composite of the individual ethical values of managers and both the formal and informal policies on ethics of the organization.’’ One can argue that the corporate ethical values construct is similar to the institutionalization of ethics construct. According to Singhapakdi and Vitell (2007), however, the corporate ethical values construct is general in nature reflecting overall ethical values of an organization, which comprises both implicit and explicit forms of ethics institutionalization.
Another construct highly akin to ethics institutionaliza-tion is ethical work climate, conceptualized by Victor and Cullen (1988, p. 101) as the ‘‘prevailing perceptions of typical organizational practices and procedures that have ethical content.’’ That is, ethical climate is a shared per-ception about what ethical conduct is and how ethics decisions should be made (Victor and Cullen 1988). One Explicit Ethics Institutionalization Implicit Ethics Institutionalization Employee’s work life experiences (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, espirit de corps) - Life Satisfaction - Employee Happiness Work-family life conflict H1(+) H2(+) H3(+) H4(-)
Fig. 2 Conceptual model of this study Explicit Ethics Institutionalization Implicit Ethics Institutionalization Quality of Work Life (need satisfaction in work life) Employee’s Work Experiences (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, esprit de corps) Overall Life Satisfaction 3,4,5 1,3,5 1, 2, 3, 4 1
Fig. 1 Previous studies on ethics institutionalization and life satisfaction (1Koonmee et al.2010;2Vitell and Singhapakdi2008;3Singhapakdi et al.2010b;4Singhapakdi and Vitell2007;5Marta et al.2013)
can argue that ethical climate is simply a form of implicit ethics institutionalization. Implicit ethics institutionaliza-tion can take different forms to include ethics leadership, open communications, incentive and evaluation systems, and ethical climate (Brenner1992; Vitell and Singhapakdi 2008). In addition, we argue that ethical climate is an outcome of other implicit forms of ethics institutionaliza-tion. Ethical climate is facilitated through various forms of ethics institutionalization programs including ethics lead-ership, open communications on ethics, and incentive and evaluation systems encouraging ethical behavior. In other words, ethical work climate is essentially a composite of employees’ perceptions of ethical practices in the organization.
Implicit and Explicit Forms of Ethics Institutionalization
As previously mentioned, the construct institutionalization of ethics was conceptualized by Singhapakdi and Vitell (2007) as the degree to which an organization incorporates ethics into its decision-making processes. The same authors also categorized the construct into implicit and explicit forms and developed an institutionalization of ethics scale having both implicit and explicit dimensions. These two dimensions were described in one of their follow-up studies as follows (Singhapakdi et al.2010b, p. 78):
Implicit ethics institutionalization refers to a work cli-mate in which ethical behavior is understood by employees to be crucial in the makeup and functioning of the firm. For example, a company that has a high level of implicit ethics institutionalization is one that informally expects all of its managers, including its marketing managers, to demon-strate a high level of professionalism, honesty, and integ-rity. In contrast, explicit ethics institutionalization refers to the codification of ethical behavior in terms of codes of ethics, policy manuals, orientation programs, and ethics committees.
Based on Singhapakdi and Vitell’s (2007) research, the explicit institutionalization subscale consists of seven items and the implicit institutionalization subscale consists of nine items. An example of a typical explicit institutional-ization item is ‘‘Top management evaluates the ethics training programs on a regular basis.’’ An example of typical implicit institutionalization item is ‘‘Top manage-ment has established a legacy of integrity for the organization’’.1
What is the relationship between implicit and explicit ethics institutionalization? According to a study by Sing-hapakdi et al. (2010a,b), explicit ethics institutionalization has a significant influence on implicit ethics institutional-ization, not vice versa. As such, we argue that explicit form of ethics institutionalization (e.g., code of ethics) has a positive influence on implicit ethics institutionalization for the following reasons. First, explicit ethics institutional-ization should provide employees with a clear under-standing on what employee behaviors are ethical and what is not. This type of ethics institutionalization should pro-vide employees with specific guidelines for ethical con-duct; thus, should foster an ethical climate within the organization (Schwartz 2001). Second, explicit ethics institutionalization should heighten ethical sensitivity among employees (Vitell et al.2015), which in turn should also foster an ethical climate—a form of implicit ethics institutionalization. Once ethical values are internalized within the organization, the implicit form of ethics insti-tutionalization becomes increasingly dominant in ethical decision making throughout the organization. Based on this discussion, we propose the following hypothesis.
H1: Explicit form of ethics institutionalization has a positive predictive effect on implicit form of ethics insti-tutionalization in the organization.
Experiences in Work Life
In this section, we will discuss the potential effects of implicit ethics institutionalization on employee experiences in work life. The specific experiences in work life inves-tigated in this study are job satisfaction, esprit de corps, organizational commitment, and quality of work life.
Job satisfaction is defined as affective experiences at work, overall evaluative judgment about the job, and beliefs about jobs (Wanous et al. 1997; Weiss 2002). Measurement items for this construct include (1) ‘‘Gener-ally speaking, I am very satisfied with this job,’’ (2) ‘‘I frequently think of quitting this job’’ (reverse coded), (3) ‘‘Most people on this job are very satisfied with the job’’ (Dubinsky et al.1986).
Esprit de corps is defined as ‘‘the extent to which a team spirit prevails in the organization’’ (Jaworski and Kohli 1993, p. 60). People in an organization with a high esprit de corps tend to be genuinely concerned about the needs and problems of one another. Jaworski and Kohli (1993) developed a measure of esprit de corps based on the aforementioned definition of the construct. Examples of measurement items are (1) ‘‘People in this business unit are genuinely concerned about the needs and problems of each other,’’ and (2) ‘‘People in this organization feel like they are in it together.’’
1 It should be noted that these items were extracted from a total of 44
items developed from a set of minimum requirements for ethical compliance programs specified by the US Sentencing Commission in 1994 and from the ‘‘Integrity Manager’’ checklists provided by LeClair et al. (1998).
Organizational commitment is defined as ‘‘affective attachment, continuance intention, and moral obligation to the organization’’ (Allen and Meyer 1990, p. 2). Mea-surement items include (1) ‘‘The bonds between this organization and its employees are weak’’ (reverse coded), and (2) ‘‘It is clear that employees are fond of this business unit’’ (Jaworski and Kohli1993). Research has shown that organizational commitment is influenced by work envi-ronment (e.g., Westerman and Simmons 2007), person– organizational fit (e.g., Valentine et al.2002), and corpo-rate ethical values (e.g., Valentine and Barnett 2003; Valentine and Fleischman2008). Research also has shown that employees with organizational commitment are also likely to define themselves as organizational members (Homburg et al.2009).
The construct of quality of work life has been defined in many ways (Sirgy2012). These include meaningful work (Wrzeniewski2003), affective responses to work environ-ment (Judge and Klinger2008), experiences of job uplifts and hassles (Staats et al. 1995), need satisfaction at work (Efraty and Sirgy1990), and satisfaction in the work life domain (Hart1994). To facilitate the discussion that relates quality of work life with ethics institutionalization, we will adopt the need satisfaction approach to quality of work life (Sirgy et al.2001). That is, we define quality of work life as employee satisfaction with a variety of needs through resources, activities, and outcomes stemming from partici-pation in workplaces. In that vein, quality of work life is viewed as having two dimensions: higher-order need satis-faction (HQWL) and lower-order need satisfaction (LQWL). LQWL focuses on employee satisfaction of health and safety needs as well as economic and family-related needs facilitated by the employer. In contrast, HQWL involves satisfaction with social, esteem, self-actualization, aesthetic, and knowledge needs (Lee et al.2007).
Research has identified various factors affecting quality of work life. For example, research has shown that quality of work life is high when employees are satisfied with the work environment and job requirements (Sirgy et al.2001), do not experience role conflict (Greenhaus and Beutell 1985), and have appropriate work resources and supportive supervision (Jayaratne1993; Sirgy et al.2008). In addition, quality of work life is high when employees are engaged in their work (Stairs and Gaplin2010), have ample opportu-nity to utilize their skills (Campion and McClelland1993), and are intrinsically motivated to do their work (Deci and Ryan 1985). Quality of work life is higher among the managers in small firms than managers in larger firms (Singhapakdi et al.2010a).
Focusing on consequences, research has shown that quality of work life has a positive influence on satisfaction of non-work life domains (Danna and Griffin 1999). Quality of work life also has a positive influence on overall
life satisfaction (Andrews and Withey 1976; Rice et al. 1980; Sirgy et al.2001). Furthermore, quality of work life has a positive influence on other organizational outcomes such as voluntary and citizenship behaviors (e.g., Warr 1999), customer satisfaction (e.g., Lau and May1998), and low turnover and reduced absenteeism (e.g., Farrell and Stamm 1988; Hom et al. 1992; Huang et al. 2007). In addition, quality of work life is also positively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and esprit de corps (e.g., Koonmee et al.2010; Lee et al.2007).
Implicit Ethics Institutionalization and Employee Experiences in Work Life
Our study focuses on the effects of ethics institutionaliza-tion on employee experiences in work life. Specifically, the study investigates the following question: What is the impact of ethics institutionalization on employee experi-ences in work life? Research has shown that implicit ethics institutionalization has a positive influence on employee experiences in work life (Marta et al. 2013; Singhapakdi and Vitell2007; Singhapakdi et al.2010a,b). It should be noted that while explicit ethics institutionalization has an impact on perceived importance of ethics, it does not have a direct impact on job satisfaction, esprit de corps, or organizational commitment (Singhapakdi and Vitell2007). Consistently, our study posits that the effect of explicit ethics institutionalization on employee experiences in work life is fully mediated by implicit ethics institutionalization (Marta et al. 2013; Singhapakdi et al.2010a,b).
In this section, we will discuss the effects of implicit ethics institutionalization on job satisfaction, esprit de corps, organizational commitment, and quality of work life. Overall, we argue that implicit ethics institutionalization has a positive effect on different aspects of employees’ experiences in their work life domain.
Job Satisfaction
We argue that implicit form of ethics institutionalization has a positive effect on job satisfaction for the following reasons. First, implicit ethics institutionalization is an environmental factor affecting individual employee’s eth-ical decision making. Implicit ethics institutionalization fosters an ethical work climate within the organization. Thus, implicit ethics institutionalization should reduce the incident of unfair treatment within the organization and enhance employee’s sense of security in the workplace. Feelings of security in the work place should increase employee job satisfaction.
Second, implicit ethics institutionalization increases employee perceptions of organizational justice. Specifically,
ethical decision making, which is a form of implicit ethics institutionalization, is likely to increase the perception of distributive justice (e.g., fair reward relative to efforts; fair treatment in performance evaluation, promotion, and com-pensation), procedural justice (e.g., fair procedures of doing things), and interactional justice (e.g., empathetic and courteous interactions among employees) (Baker et al.2006; Berry and Hansen 1996; Ma and Roese 2013; Moorman 1991; Pappas and Flaherty2008; Porath et al.2010; Sing-hapakdi and Vitell2007). Employee perceptions of organi-zational justice should increase job satisfaction.
Third, implicit ethics institutionalization within the organization (e.g., ethical work climate) should enhance the firm’s public image and reputation. Employees are likely to be satisfied with their jobs when they are working for an ethical firm (Chan and Lam 2011; Valentine and Fleischman2008). Employee perception of positive orga-nizational image should increase employee’s pride and job satisfaction. Based on the above discussion, we would expect implicit form of ethics institutionalization to have a positive influence on job satisfaction. Therefore, we pro-pose the following hypothesis (see Fig.2).
H2a: Implicit ethics institutionalization has a positive predictive effect on job satisfaction.
Esprit de Corps
We argue that implicit form of ethics institutionalization has a positive impact on esprit de corps of employees for the following reasons. First, implicit ethics institutional-ization should help protect employees from unfair treat-ment and other unethical practices, and so should enhance employees’ overall morale (e.g., Baker et al. 2006; Dab-holkar and Abston 2008). Unfair treatment and unethical practices adversely affect morale.
Second, implicit institutionalization of ethics reinforces the sharing of ethical values among employees and thus enhances team spirit within the organization. That is, when employees perceive their organization as ethical and socially responsible, they become increasingly motivated to work together as a team for the organization (Dutton et al.1994). Based on the discussion, we propose the fol-lowing hypothesis:
H2b: Implicit ethics institutionalization has a positive predictive effect on employees’ esprit de corps.
Organizational Commitment
We also argue that implicit ethics institutionalization has a positive effect on organizational commitment of
employees. This may be due to the following reasons. First, implicit ethics institutionalization should foster an ethical work climate, which enhances job satisfaction building trust among employees. Research reveals that employees’ job satisfaction and firm trust have a positive impact on their commitment to the firm (Geyskens et al. 1996; Maxham and Netemeyer2003; Pappas and Flaherty 2008; Valentine et al.2006). Second, an organization with implicit ethics institutionalization is likely to be perceived by its employees favorably. Thus, employees in such organizations are likely to feel a sense of pride working for their employers. They are likely to feel identified with the organization—their social identities become associated with the firm at large. Such feelings should contribute to organizational commitment (Dutton et al. 1994; Homburg et al.2009; Maignan and Ferrell2001). Based on the dis-cussion, we hypothesize that:
H2c: Implicit ethics institutionalization has a positive predictive effect on employees’ organizational commitment.
Quality of Work Life
We believe that implicit ethics institutionalization has a positive relationship with quality of work life of employees by increasing the likelihood of need satisfaction—both higher- and lower-order needs. First, implicit institutional-ization of ethics, which amounts to creating an ethical work climate, ensures fair treatment of employees, thereby increasing the likelihood of satisfying employees’ lower-order needs (e.g., satisfaction of health and safety needs, economic and family needs). Second, implicit ethics insti-tutionalization is likely to increase employees’ trust in the firm, caring social interactions, voluntary sharing of ethical values, and a sense of identification with the organization (Valentine and Fleischman 2008; Valentine et al. 2002). These conditions increase the likelihood of satisfying higher-order needs (e.g., satisfaction of social needs, esteem needs, actualization needs, and knowledge needs). Based on the discussion, we propose the following hypothesis. H2d: Implicit ethics institutionalization has a positive predictive effect on employees’ quality of work life.
Experiences in Work Life and Employee Life Satisfaction
In this study, we have defined experiences in work life in terms of four aspects: job satisfaction, esprit de corps, organizational commitment, and quality of work life. Research has shown that job-related outcomes in work life domain are interrelated. For example, quality of work life
is positively related to job satisfaction (Danna and Griffin 1999; Lee et al.2007) and esprit de corps (Lee et al.2007). Research also has demonstrated that job satisfaction is associated with employee esprit de corps and organiza-tional commitment (Homburg et al.2009). Employees with a high level of esprit de corps are likely to experience positive social encounters with other employees, thereby increasing job satisfaction (Berry and Hansen1996).
What is the relationship between employee experiences in work life and overall life satisfaction? We argue that employees’ positive experiences in work life should have a positive impact on their overall life satisfaction and hap-piness. This relationship can be explained using the bot-tom-up spillover theory of life satisfaction (Andrews and Withey 1976; Campbell et al. 1976; Diener 1984; Sirgy 2002). According to this theory, satisfaction with overall life is influenced by satisfaction from a set of life domains including work life, family life, leisure life, economic life, among others. Positive experiences in work life spill over vertically to more abstract life domains, thus influencing life satisfaction and happiness. Specifically, concrete affective experiences in work life tend to be associated with more abstract experiences in a satisfaction hierarchy (i.e., overall life satisfaction and happiness). Thus, expe-riences of positive affect in work life (in our case, job satisfaction, esprit de corps, organizational commitment, and quality of work life) are likely to vertically spill over and influence overall feelings about life in general (Sirgy et al.2001). Based on the discussion, we hypothesize that: H3a: Employees’ positive experiences in work life have a positive predictive effect on their overall life satisfaction. H3b: Employees’ positive experiences in work life have a positive predictive effect on their feelings of happiness in life.
Positive Experiences in Work Life, Work–Family Life Conflict, and Quality of life
Bottom-up spillover theory of life satisfaction posits that satisfaction in one life domain tends to influence satisfac-tion in overall life satisfacsatisfac-tion (Diener1984; Sirgy 2002, 2012). That is, the greater satisfaction with work life, the greater the overall life satisfaction and happiness in life. This theory posits that the degree of positive spillover from one life domain (e.g., work life) to overall life satisfaction is likely to be high under the following conditions. First, the degree of spillover from satisfaction in work life to overall life satisfaction is high when the work life domain is very important in the mind of the individual (Sirgy 2002). Second, the degree of spillover from work life to overall life is high when the work life has a high degree of spillover into other neighboring life domains such as
family life and leisure life (Diener and Larsen1984; Frone et al.1997). Third, the degree of spillover from work life to overall life is high when there is no role conflict or role stress in work life.
Work–family life conflict is an inter-role conflict in which role pressures from work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect (Greenhaus and Beutell 1985; Greenhaus and Parasuraman 1994). Work– family life conflict is influenced by work overload and commitment to other roles outside of work (Aryee et al. 2005; Edward and Rothbard 2000; Kofodimos 1990). Research has shown that work–family life conflict has a directly negative impact on work life experiences and overall life satisfaction (Allen et al. 2000; Kossek and Ozeki1998).
What exactly is the effect of work–family life conflict on satisfaction spillover from work life domain to overall life? We argue that the degree of positive spillover of satisfaction from work life to overall life is moderated by the degree of work–family life conflict. Specifically, we argue that the degree of positive spillover from work life experiences (job satisfaction, esprit de corps, organiza-tional commitment, and quality of work life) to overall life satisfaction is likely to be greater when work–family life conflict is low than high. This is because work–family life conflict should reduce satisfaction in family life, which in turn should reduce overall life satisfaction. Based on the discussion, we propose the following hypotheses.
H4a: The degree of positive spillover from work life (job satisfaction, esprit de corps, organizational commitment, and quality of work life) to overall life satisfaction is greater when work–family life conflict is low than high. Conversely, the degree of negative spillover from work life to life overall is greater when work–family life conflict is high than low.
H4b: The degree of positive spillover from work life (job satisfaction, esprit de corps, organizational commitment, and quality of work life) to happiness in life is greater when work–family life conflict is low than high. Conversely, the degree of negative spillover from work life to happiness is greater when work–family life conflict is high than low.
Method
Survey DesignThe conceptual model as shown in Fig.2 was tested through a web-based self-administered questionnaire. The participants targeted as a sampling frame were Italian marketing managers from the directory of Italian Market-ing Association. We decided to collect data from Italian
managers for two main reasons. First, Italy is the country with a high emphasis on family (Richards1994). We want to test the moderating role of work–family life conflict on the positive spillover effect from work life to overall life in a country that emphasizes family values. Second, Italy is a country whose decision making is significantly influenced by peers and colleagues (Westerman and Simmons2007). As such, we wanted to examine the effect of ethics insti-tutionalization on work life experiences among employees who are receptive to peer pressure.
The data collection process was designed to ensure total anonymity of the respondents. As part of the cover letter and the instructions, respondents were informed that the main purpose of this study is to collect data on ethical practices in the company and employee work life experi-ences. The letter also informed them that the researchers were only interested in their opinions, and their opinions would be treated confidentially and anonymously.
Of the 2000 letters delivered inviting them to access the survey questionnaire, 242 persons responded for an effec-tive response rate of 12 %. This response rate is compa-rable to a similar study done by Singhapakdi and Vitell (2007). In addition, we checked for non-response bias by comparing early and late respondents on main variables used in this study. Early respondents were 158 people who responded to the survey in the first half of the survey period, and late respondents were 74 people who partici-pated during the second half. Results indicate that there were no significant differences in the mean scores of the main constructs used in this study (i.e., ethics institution-alization, work life experiences, work life conflict, life satisfaction, and happiness), indicating an absence of non-response bias (Armstrong and Overton1977).
The demographic profile of the sample is shown in Table1. We randomly selected managers from firms in various industry sectors in order to increase generalizability of the findings. Among the 240 respondents, 63.7 % were male and 36.3 % were female. In terms of education, more than 92 % of the respondents reported some college edu-cation. In terms of age, the respondents were under 29 (19.6 %), 30–39 (42.1 %), 40–49 (25.4 %), and 50–59 (11.3 %). The years of business experience were under 10 years (20.2 %), 10–19 years (29.4 %), 20–29 years (31.5 %), 30–39 years (15.4 %), and over 40 years (3.5 %). In terms of firm size, respondents were working in the firms with less than 30 employees (38.8 %), 30–99 employees (16.9 %), 100–299 employees (14.5 %), 300–999 employ-ees (10.7 %), and over 1000 employemploy-ees (19 %). In terms of the industry type, 44.2 % of respondents did not answer this specific question; yet, the remaining respondents reported that they were working in the firms in manufacturing industry (24 %), the service industry (25.6 %), and the retailing/wholesaling industry (6.2 %).
Measures
Responses were captured on a 7-point rating scale varying from ‘‘strongly disagree’’ (or 1) to ‘‘strongly agree’’ (7).
Ethics Institutionalization
We used the institutionalization of ethics measure devel-oped by Singhapakdi and Vitell (2007). This measure consists of two dimensions: explicit institutionalization (seven items) and implicit institutionalization (nine items). The entire measure is shown in its entirety in ‘‘Appendix.’’ An example of an explicit ethical institutionalization sur-vey item is ‘‘Top management evaluates the ethics training programs on a regular basis’’; an example item of implicit ethics institutionalization is ‘‘Top management has estab-lished a legacy of integrity for the organization.’’
Employee Experiences in the Work Life Domain
The measures of employee experiences in work life are job satisfaction, organizational commitment, esprit de corps, and quality of work life. For job satisfaction, a five-item measure developed by Dubinsky et al. (1986) was adopted in this study. An example of a job satisfaction item is ‘‘Generally speaking, I am very satisfied with this job.’’ See entire measure in ‘‘Appendix.’’
Organizational commitment was measured with seven-item scales developed by Jaworski and Kohli (1993). The measure was designed to tap ‘‘the extent to which a busi-ness unit’s employees were fond of the organization, and were willing to make personal sacrifices for the business unit’’ (Jaworski and Kohli1993, p. 60). An example of an organizational commitment item is ‘‘Employees often go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure this business unit’s well-being.’’ See entire measure in ‘‘Appendix.’’
The esprit de corps scale developed by Jaworski and Kohli (1993) was adopted in this study. The measure consists of seven items designed to assess ‘‘the extent to which a team spirit prevailed in the organization’’ (Ja-worski and Kohli1993, p. 60). An example of an esprit de corps item is ‘‘People in this business unit are genuinely concerned about the needs and problems of each other.’’ See entire measure in ‘‘Appendix.’’
Regarding quality of work life, exact survey items of Sirgy et al. (2001)’s measure were used. The basic premise of the quality of work life construct and measure is that employees bring a cluster of needs to their organizations and are likely to perceive a higher quality of work life to the extent that those needs are satisfied through work in that organization. Specifically, quality of work life involves satisfaction of two sets of needs: lower and higher order. Lower-order needs include those related to health, safety,
finance, and family. Specifically, health and safety needs involve protection from ill health and injury at work and outside of work, and enhancement of good health. Satis-faction of economic and family needs involves pay, job security, and other family needs. Satisfaction of higher-order needs includes satisfaction of social, esteem, self-actualization, aesthetic, and knowledge needs. Specifically, satisfaction of social needs involves collegiality at work and leisure time off work. Satisfaction of esteem needs involves recognition and appreciation of one’s work within the organization and outside of it. Satisfaction of actual-ization needs involves realactual-ization of one’s potential within the organization and realization of one’s potential as a professional. Satisfaction of knowledge needs involves learning to enhance job skills and professional skills. Sat-isfaction of aesthetic needs involves creativity at work, personal creativity, and general aesthetics. See entire measure in ‘‘Appendix.’’
Employee Life Outcomes
Life satisfaction was measured with five indicators adopted from Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) by Diener et al. (1985). An example of a life satisfaction item is ‘‘I am satisfied with my life.’’ Employee happiness was measured by Lyubomirsky and Lepper’s (1999) four-item subjective happiness scale. An example of a subjective happiness item is ‘‘Compared to most of my peers, I consider myself [‘not a very happy person (1)’ to ‘a very happy person (7)’].’’See entire measure in ‘‘Appendix.’’
Work–Family Life Conflict
The measures of work–family life conflict were adapted from Carlson, Kacmar, and Williams (2000). Specifically, work–family life conflict has two dimensions: (1) role conflict from work life to family life (three items), and (2)
role conflict from family life to work life (three items). An example of the former includes ‘‘When I get home from work I am often too frazzled to participate in family activ-ities/responsibilities’’; an example item of the latter is ‘‘Due to all the stress at home, I am often preoccupied with family matters at work.’’ See entire measure in ‘‘Appendix.’’
Results
The results section reports findings related to the mea-surement model followed by results related to the structural model.
Testing the Measurement Model
To examine the measurement properties of the measures used in this study, we assessed the convergent and dis-criminant validity of the constructs by conducting a con-firmatory factor analysis (CFA) using LISREL VIII (Joreskog and Sorbom 1993). The CFA results indicate a satisfactory fit to the data [v2(p value) = 862.510 (0.00), df = 550; CFI = 0.954, GFI = 0.843, NNFI = 0.947, RMSEA = 0.043, SRMR = 0.043]. The results also indi-cate that all factor loadings are significant, and composite reliabilities of all constructs are greater than 0.774, and all variance extracted estimates are greater than 0.735. Quality of work life was conceptualized as a formative construct. These results demonstrate adequate evidence of convergent validity and reliability of the measures (cf. Fornell and Larcker1981).
To assess discriminant validity, we first tested the 95 % confidence intervals of the Phi estimates and found none includes 1.0. We then ran the v2difference tests for all con-structs in pairs and found that the unconstrained models have significantly better fit than the models that are constrained to be equal (p \ 0.05). We also found that the shared variance Table 1 Sample characteristics
Sample characteristics (n = 242)
Age Work experience Corporate size (# of employee)
B29 years 19.60 % \10 years 20.20 % \30 38.80 %
30–39 years 42.10 % 10–19 years 29.40 % 30–99 16.90 %
40–49 years 25.40 % 20–29 years 31.50 % 100–299 14.50 %
50–59 years 11.30 % 30–39 years 15.40 % 300–999 10.70 %
C60 years 1.70 % C40 years 3.50 % C1000 19.00 %
Gender Education Work experience in this organization
Female 36.30 % High school or less 7.50 % \5 years 48.30 %
Male 63.70 % Bachelor’s degree 19.50 % 5–9 years 24.40 %
between all possible pairs of constructs is significantly lower than the average variance extracted for the individual con-struct (cf. Fornell and Larcker 1981). These results provide evidence of discriminant validity (Tables2,3).
Test of Common Method Bias
As all the data were perceptual and were collected from the same source (i.e., self-report), there is a possibility of common method bias. Following Cote and Buckley (1987), we tested for the potential of common method bias. Three models were estimated. M1 was a method-only model in which all items were loaded on one factor [v(594)2 = 4072.964, p = 0.000; CFI = 0.483, GFI = 0.409, RMSEA = 0.199]; M2 was a trait-only model in which each item was loaded on its respective scale [v(550)2 = 862.510; CFI = 0.954, GFI = 0.843, RMSEA = 0.043]; M3 was a trait and method model in which a common factor linking to all the measurement items was added into M2 [v(504)2 = 764.566; CFI = 0.961, GFI = 0.860, RMSEA = 0.041]. Comparing these three models, M3 and M2 showed a much better fit than M1 to the data, and the fit of M3 is only slightly better than that of M2. This shows the trait rather than the common method factor explains most of the variance. We also run a single-factor model with all items loaded onto it, and the single-factor test does not provide a good fit to the data. These results provide sufficient evidence that common method bias is not a signifi-cant threat in this study.
Hypotheses Testing
We tested the proposed conceptual model (shown in Fig.2) using structural equation modeling and MANOVA. The results indicate that the fully mediated model best reflects the data. The empirical estimates for the model are shown in Table4. The results indicate a good fit to the data [v2(p value) = 738.341 (0.00), df = 392; CFI = 0.938, NNFI = 0.931, RMSEA = 0.060, SRMR = 0.071].
H1 states that explicit ethics institutionalization has a positive predictive effect on implicit ethics institutional-ization. The results indicate that explicit institutionalization does indeed have a positive predictive effect on implicit institutionalization (estimate = 0.588, p \ 0.05), support-ing H1 (see Table4).
H2 states that implicit institutionalization of ethics has a positive predictive effect on employee experiences in work life. The results indicate that implicit ethics institutional-ization does indeed have a positive predictive effect on job satisfaction (estimate = 0.739, p \ 0.05), esprit de corps (estimate = 0.738, p \ 0.05), organizational commitment (estimate = 0.779, p \ 0.05), and quality of work life
(estimate = 0.720, p \ 0.05). These results provide sup-port for H2 (see Table4).
H3 deals with the relationship between employee experi-ences in work life and subjective well-being (life satisfaction and happiness). Specifically, H3a posits that employees’ positive experiences in work life have a positive predictive effect on overall life satisfaction. The results showed that job satisfaction (estimate = 0.409, p \ 0.05) and quality of work life (QWL, estimate = 0.419, p \ 0.05) have a positive pre-dictive effect on life satisfaction. H3b posits that employees’ positive experiences in work life have a positive predictive effect on happiness in life. The results showed that job satis-faction (estimate = 0.335, p \ 0.05) and QWL (esti-mate = 0.395, p \ 0.05) have a positive predictive effect on happiness. It should be noted that esprit de corps and organi-zational commitment did not have significant positive effect on employee well-being (neither overall life satisfaction nor feelings of happiness in life). These results provide only par-tial support for H3a and H3b (see Table4).
H4 deals with the moderating effect of work–family life conflict on the relationship between work life experiences and employee well-being. H4a states that the degree of positive spillover from positive experiences in work life to overall life satisfaction is greater when work–family life conflict is low than high. The results indicate that the effects of organizational commitment and quality of work life on overall life satisfaction are greater when work– family life conflict is low than high [for organizational commitment, F(1,58) = 3.231, p \ 0.05; for quality of work life, F(1,65) = 3.387, p \ 0.1] (see Tables5, 6). These results provide only partial support for H4a.
H4b states that the degree of positive spillover from positive experiences in work life domain to happiness is greater when work–family life conflict is low than high. The moderation effects are significant for only esprit de corps [F(1,82) = 3.360, p \ 0.1] and organizational commitment [F(1,58) = 8.720, p \ 0.05]. These results provide only partial support for H4b (see Tables7,8). In summary, the results provide some evidence that the effect of affective experiences in work life (job satisfaction, esprit de corps, organizational commitment) on overall life satisfaction and happiness is greater when work–family life conflict is low.
Discussion
The findings of this study suggest that implicit form of ethics institutionalization has a positive predictive effect on all four aspects of employee experiences in work life, namely job satisfaction, esprit de corps, organizational commitment, and quality of work life. It should be noted from our results that explicit ethics institutionalization can have a significant effect on implicit ethics
institutionalization, but explicit ethics institutionalization does not have a direct effect on the four aspects of employee experiences in work life. That is, the effect of explicit form of ethics institutionalization on work life experiences is fully mediated by implicit ethics institu-tionalization. The study findings also indicate that some aspects of employee experiences in work life (namely job satisfaction and quality of work life) have a positive pre-dictive effect on overall life satisfaction and happiness in
life. Furthermore, the study results provide some evidence that the positive spillover effect from some aspects of work life experiences (namely organizational commitment and esprit de corps) on overall life satisfaction (and happiness in life) is greater when work–family life conflict is low than high.
Managerial implications of this study are as follows. First, consistent with Singhapakdi et al. (2010a, b), the findings of this study indicate that explicit form of ethics Table 2 Reliability and validity assessment of the measures (CFA)
Variables Items Coefficient t value Cronbach’s-a Average variance extracted Composite reliability
Explicit ethics institutionalization Exp1 0.731 12.908 0.926 0.825 0.926
Exp3 0.856 16.307
Exp4 0.880 17.062
Exp5 0.922 18.472
Exp6 0.826 15.427
Implicit ethics institutionalization Imp1 0.851 16.087 0.911 0.816 0.917
Imp2 0.833 15.567
Imp3 0.760 13.563
Imp5 0.723 12.655
Imp8 0.833 15.562
Imp9 0.821 15.226
Job satisfaction Jsat1 0.864 15.881 0.787 0.735 0.774
Jsat3 0.747 12.972
Jsat4 0.561 8.978
Esprit de corps Esprit2 0.858 16.570 0.946 0.917 0.954
Esprit3 0.879 17.229 Esprit4 0.952 19.799 Esprit5 0.972 20.569 Commitment Cmt4 0.839 15.263 0.799 0.833 0.872 Cmt5 0.839 10.503 Cmt7 0.820 14.773 QWL qwl 1.000 – – – – Life satisfaction Ls1 0.820 15.166 0.891 0.836 0.887 Ls2 0.784 14.187 Ls3 0.899 17.560 Ls4 0.673 11.489 Ls5 0.721 12.588
Employee happiness Happy1 0.912 17.248 0.809 0.786 0.825
Happy2 0.804 14.351
Happy3 0.611 9.987
Conflict from work life to family life Work1 0.894 17.266 0.914 0.880 0.911
Work2 0.916 17.937
Work3 0.826 15.280
Conflict from family life to work life Family1 0.760 13.357 0.896 0.849 0.885 Family2 0.924 17.647
Family3 0.854 15.716 v2(p value) = 862.510 (0.00), df = 550
institutionalization can have a positive influence on implicit ethics institutionalization. Thus, it is important that codes of ethics and guidelines be established and strictly enforced to make it clear to employees what is the proper
conduct (e.g., Gellerman 1986; Laczniak and Murphy 1985; Singhapakdi and Vitell 1990). The explicit institu-tionalization of ethics may influence the formation of the implicit institutionalization of ethics through the process of impression formation. Employees form impressions about the employer based upon the explicit codes of ethics and guidelines within the organization. Apparently, explicit codes of ethics and guidelines within the organization serve as ethical cues for employees. Some of these observable cues may also come from the organizational mission statement and the company’s press releases, among other sources. All these constitute various forms of explicit ethics institutionalization.
Second, the findings of this study indicate that implicit ethics institutionalization has a positive predictive effect on employee job satisfaction, esprit de corps, organizational commitment, and quality of work life. Thus, managers should make a concerted effort to develop and institu-tionalize ethics within the organization to ensure that all employees are protected from unfair treatment and share a common perception of justice within the organization.
Third, our findings also indicate that the effect of explicit ethics institutionalization on employee experiences in work life is fully mediated by implicit ethics tionalization. The direct effect of explicit ethics institu-tionalization on work life experiences was not significant. This finding suggests that it is important for managers to ensure the explicit form of ethics institutionalization (e.g., codes of ethics and statement of values) is shared and internalized among the employees, thereby enhancing the Table 3 Correlations among constructs
a b c d e f g h i j k l EXP (a) 1 IMP (b) 0.552** 1 JSAT (c) 0.331** 0.577** 1 ESPRIT (d) 0.410** 0.654** 0.610** 1 CMT (e) 0.446** 0.568** 0.470** 0.686** 1 QWL (f) 0.376** 0.603** 0.777** 0.702** 0.603** 1 LSAT (g) 0.343** 0.379** 0.486** 0.440** 0.340** 0.599** 1 HAPPY (h) 0.219** 0.267** 0.352** 0.299** 0.216** 0.469** 0.680** 1 WORK (i) -0.199** -0.381** -0.466** -0.417** -0.264** -0.569** -0.459** -0.401** 1 FAM (j) -0.054 -0.132 -0.191** 0.024 -0.027 -0.114 -0.344** -0.241** 0.190** 1 Degree (k) -0.180** -0.351** -0.448** -0.301** -0.213** -0.480** -0.515** -0.428** 0.854** 0.673 1 Gender (l) -0.113 -0.163* -0.171** -0.175** -0.024 -0.212** -0.153** -0.105 0.192** -0.09 0.08 1 EXP explicit institutionalization, IMP implicit institutionalization, JSAT job satisfaction, ESPRIT esprit de corps, CMT organizational com-mitment, QWL quality of work life, LSAT life satisfaction, HAPPY employee happiness, WORK conflict from work to family life, FAM conflict from family to work life, Degree degree of work life conflict, Gender 0: male; 1: female
**p \ .05, *p \ .10
Table 4 Test of main effects (H1–H3)
Hypothesis Relationship Standardized estimate (t- value) H1 EXP ? IMP 0.588** (8.648) H2 IMP ? JSAT 0.739** (11.096) IMP ? ESPRIT 0.738** (11.397) IMP ? CMT 0.779** (10.699) IMP ? QWL 0.720** (12.483) H3a JSAT ? LS 0.409** (4.627) ESPRIT ? LS -0.029 (-0.402) CMT ? LS -0.024 (-0.279) QWL ? LS 0.419** (5.790) H3b JSAT ? HAPPY 0.335** (3.397) ESPRIT ? HAPPY -0.219** (-2.536) CMT ? HAPPY 0.005 (0.049) QWL ? HAPPY 0.395** (4.754) v2(p value) = 738.341 (0.00), df = 392
CFI = 0.938, GFI = 0.831, NNFI = 0.931, RMSEA = 0.060, SRMR = 0.071
EXP explicit institutionalization, IMP implicit institutionalization, JSAT job satisfaction, ESPRIT esprit de corps, CMT organizational commitment, QWL quality of work life, LS life satisfaction, HAPPY employee happiness
ethical climate in the organization. In other words, insti-tutionalization of ethics must involve more than simple drafting the code of ethics or creating explicit form of ethics program (Brenner1992; Murphy1989). The primary requisites for implicit ethics institutionalization include top management commitments and ethical leadership as well as actions that essentially amount to changes in the ‘‘cul-ture’’ of the organization itself. As Laczniak and Murphy (1985, p. 284) argued: ‘‘Formal efforts … do not by themselves ensure a corporate environment that both encourages ethical conduct and discourages misdeeds. To achieve that, we need to look at the informal aspects of corporate life-culture, values, and even managerial style.’’
Fourth, our findings indicate that some aspects of employees’ positive experiences in work life (namely job satisfaction and quality of work life) can have a positive predictive effect on their overall life satisfaction and hap-piness. It is important to note that ethics institutionalization can indirectly contribute to employees’ life satisfaction and happiness through positive experiences in work life. It is also important to note the evidence that the positive spil-lover from work life (in the form of esprit de corps and organizational commitment) to overall life satisfaction (and happiness) is high when there is no work–family life conflict. Thus, it is important for managers to design work requirements so that employees can have a balanced life at Table 5 Interactive effect of
work–family life conflict and job satisfaction on life outcomes
IVs DVs F ratio Sig. level
Job satisfaction Life satisfaction F(1,59) = 14.622** 0.001
Employee happiness F(1,59) = 13.011** 0.001 Degree of work–family life conflict Life satisfaction F(1,59) = 17.055** 0.001 Employee happiness F(1,59) = 11.338** 0.001 Job satisfaction*
Degree of work–family life conflict
Life satisfaction F(1,59) = 1.868 0.177 Employee happiness F(1,59) = 0.227 0.635
Table 6 Interactive effect of work–family life conflict and esprit de corps on life outcomes
IVs DVs F-Ratio Sig. level
Esprit de corps Life satisfaction F(1,82)= 13.158** 0.001
Employee happiness F(1,82)= 5.083** 0.027
Degree of work-family life conflict
Life satisfaction F(1,82)= 26.821** 0.001
Employee happiness F(1,82)= 13.582** 0.001
Esprit de corps* Life satisfaction F(1,82)= 1.364 0.246
Degree of
work-family life conflict Employee happiness F(1,82)= 3.360* 0.071
DV: IV: Esprit
de corps
Moderator: Degree of work-family life conflict
F-Ratio (p-value) F(1, 82)=
Low High
Employee happiness Low 3.000 4.200 3.360* (p<.10)
High 3.889 4.292
Low = low work-family life conflict High = high work-family life conflict
work and with family. For example, work–family life conflict can be minimized by reducing role conflict and balancing role commitments in the two life domains, work and family.
This study has several limitations that should be addressed in future research. First, this study was con-ducted through a survey design in a single point in time, and all data in this study are correlational in nature. To test the causal relationships assumed in this study, future research should test the model using experimental and/or longitudinal study design.
Second, we collected data from marketing managers in Italy. One can argue that cultural and organizational characteristics of the sample can influence the study’s findings. Future research should formally incorporate these variables as covariates to control their effects.
Third, the study was conducted in a single-country context. Cross-cultural studies should be employed in future research to examine the external validity of this study’s findings and identify the role of cultural values in the overall model (cf. Marta et al. 2013). For example, employees in a low context culture, who place greater
emphasis on written or spoken word, are likely to be influenced by explicit forms of ethics institutionalization. In contrast, employees in a high context culture are likely to be more influenced by implicit ethics institutionaliza-tion. Our managerial recommendations should only be implemented after conducting cross-cultural research to validate the model.
Fourth, the results indicate that the bottom-up spillover effect of work life experiences on overall life satisfaction is high when work–family life conflict is low. Future research should formally develop and test a model that includes both bottom-up and horizontal spillover effects simultaneously along with coping strategies. Specifically, people are motivated to maintain an adaptation level of satisfaction related to life overall. So what happens when negative affect spills over from one domain to the next? Such spillover is likely to decrease overall life satisfaction. To guard against significant decreases in life satisfaction, people use several cognitive strategies, namely segmenta-tion and compensasegmenta-tion (Sirgy 2002). Specifically, some people segment different life domains to prevent the spil-lover of negative affect from one life domain into another Table 7 Interactive effect of work life conflict and organizational commitment on life outcomes
IVs DVs F-Ratio Sig. level
Organizational commitment
Life satisfaction F(1,58)= 10.245** 0.002
Employee happiness F(1,58)= 4.252** 0.044
Degree of work-family life conflict
Life satisfaction F(1,58)= 19.729** 0.001 Employee happiness F(1,58)= 13.227** 0.001
CMT*
Degree of work-family life conflict
Life satisfaction F(1,58)= 3.231* 0.078
Employee happiness F(1,58)= 8.720** 0.005
DV: IV: CMT Moderator: Degree of
work-family life Conflict
F-Ratio (p-value) F(1,58)=
Low High
Life satisfaction Low 3.579 5.727
3.231* (p<.10)
High 5.300 6.211
Employee happiness Low 2.842 4.364
8.720** (p<.05)
High 4.000 4.158
Low = low work-family life conflict High = high work-family life conflict
life domain. For example, some people who have negative experiences at work resulting in dissatisfaction in work life make a deliberate decision to compartmentalize work dis-satisfaction by erecting a psychological boundary in the work domain to prevent contagion to family life and other life domains. Other people use a compensation strategy. For example, if a person is unhappy at work, he or she may try to engage in activities in non-work that result in sig-nificantly increased positive affect. The resulting increased positive affect in non-work life ‘‘compensates’’ for the decreased affect in work life. Doing so restores an adap-tation level of life satisfaction. Evidence of the compen-sation effect comes from studies showing a negative correlation between work and non-work involvement (e.g., Clark et al.1978). As such, future research could investi-gate the roles of segmentation and compensation in work– family life conflict, specifically how these coping strategies may moderate the relationship between work life experi-ences and employee well-being.
Fifth, in this study, we focused on the job-related and life-related consequences of ethics institutionalization. Future research should examine antecedents to explicit and
implicit forms of ethics institutionalization (Singhapakdi et al.2010a,b). One might argue that ethics institutional-ization is influenced by a host of individual and organiza-tional variables (Ferrell and Gresham 1985; Hunt and Vitell 1986; Tsalikis and Fritzsche 1989). Ethics institu-tionalization can be influenced by the individual’s ethical orientation. This orientation might encompass, but not be limited to, Machiavellianism (Schepers2003; Singhapakdi, and Vitell1990), personal moral philosophy (Forsyth1992; Singhapakdi et al. 1999; Vitell et al. 1993), ethical cyni-cism (Trevino and Nelson 1995), moral development (Goolsby & Hunt 1992), and moral identity (Reed et al. 2007). Also, ethics institutionalization is influenced by various organizational factors such as ethical climate (Cullen et al. 1993; Herdon et al. 2001; Loe and Ferrell 1997; Shafer 2002) and enforcement of a code of ethics (Chonko et al.2003). Future research could empirically test a model of antecedents to explicit and implicit ethics institutionalization.
Sixth, in this study, we focused on the effects of ethics institutionalization on job-related and life-related out-comes. We still have a limited understanding regarding the Table 8 Interactive effect of work life conflict and quality of work life on life outcomes
IVs DVs F-Ratio Sign. level
Quality of work life (QWL) Life satisfaction F(1,65)= 16.676** 0.001 Employee happiness F(1,65)= 5.721** 0.020 Degree of work-life conflict Life satisfaction F(1,65)= 20.792** 0.001 Employee happiness F(1,65)= 11.818** 0.001 QWL* Degree of work-life conflict Life satisfaction F(1,65)= 3.387* 0.070 Employee happiness F(1,65)= 1.074 0.304
DV: IV: QWL Moderator: Degree of
work-life conflict
F-Ratio (p-value) F(1,65)=
Low High
Life satisfaction Low 3.296 5.600
3.387* (p<.10)
High 5.429 6.407
Low = low work-family life conflict High = high work-family life conflict
effects of a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on employees’ work life experiences and overall life satisfaction. It has been proposed that CSR activities of a firm increase employees’ organizational commitment (e.g., Maignan and Ferrell2001; Maignan et al.1999) and organizational identification to the firm (e.g., Glavas and Godwin 2013). Future research can be conducted to test job-related and life-related outcomes of firm’s CSR activities.
Seventh, we measured organizational commitment by allowing respondents to respond to organizational com-mitment items in the abstract, not personally. Here is an example of an item used to measure organizational com-mitment: ‘‘Employees feel as though their future is inti-mately linked to that of this organization.’’ Note that this is phrased in the abstract in the sense that respondents may think about others in the company, not themselves. Hence, one flaw of this study is the fact that we may not have captured organizational commitment per se. Future research should replicate this study with organizational commitment items requiring the respondent to answer them personally, not in the abstract.
Eighth, we collected data through a self-report survey, and we provided respondents with the information about the nature of the study. Although we assured anonymity and confidentiality, there is a possibility that social desir-ability bias may have influenced the study findings (cf. Randall and Fernandes 1991). Future research should examine the validity of this study’s findings by using measurement items that may not elicit socially desirable responses. Alternatively, a social desirability measure should be included in the survey questionnaire to be treated as a covariate in the statistical analyses.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical study that examined the effect of ethics institutionalization on employees’ overall life satisfaction and happiness. We found that implicit and explicit forms of ethics institu-tionalization have direct and indirect effects on employee work life experiences and employee well-being. We hope that more research will be conducted in the future to replicate and build on this program of research.
Appendix: Measures Used in This Study
Explicit Ethics Institutionalization1. My organization does not conduct ethics audits on a regular basis.
2. Top management evaluates the ethics training pro-grams on a regular basis.
3. My organization does not have a top-level person(s) re-sponsible for ethics compliance programs.
4. Top management is not involved in ethical training programs.
5. My organization does not have training programs that effectively communicate ethical standards and policies.
6. My organization does not have an ethics committee or team that deals with ethical issues in the organization. 7. In order to prevent misconduct within my organization, there are training programs to create an effective ethical culture.
[7-point scale: strongly disagree (1)–strongly agree (7)].
Implicit Ethics Institutionalization
1. Top management has established a legacy of integrity for the organization.
2. Top management believes that ethical behavior, not just legal compliance, is paramount to the success of the organization.
3. In my organization, there is a sense of responsibility among employees for maintaining an ethical reputation. 4. Top management in my organization accepts respon-sibility for unethical and illegal decision making on the part of employees.
5. There is open communication between superiors and subordinates to discuss ethical conflicts and dilemmas. 6. Some employees in my organization are allowed to perform certain questionable actions because they are successful in achieving other organizational objectives. 7. In my organization, there are no rewards for good
ethical decisions.
8. There is a shared value system and an understanding of what constitutes appropriate behavior in my organization. 9. Top management believes that our organization should help to improve the quality of life and the general welfare of society.
[7-point scale: strongly disagree (1)–strongly agree (7)].
Job Satisfaction
1. Generally speaking, I am very satisfied with this job. 2. I frequently think of quitting this job.
3. I am generally satisfied with the kind of work I do in this job.
4. Most people on this job are very satisfied with the job. 5. People on this job often think of quitting.
Esprit de Corps
1. People in this business unit are genuinely concerned about the needs and problems of each other.
2. A team spirit pervades all ranks in this business unit. 3. Working for this business unit is like being part of a
big family.
4. People in this business unit feel emotionally attached to each other.
5. People in this organization feel like they are ‘‘in it together.’’
6. This business unit lacks an ‘‘esprit de corps.’’ 7. People in this business unit view themselves as
independent individuals who have to tolerate others around them.
[7-point scale: strongly disagree (1)–strongly agree (7)].
Organizational Commitment
1. Employees feel as though their future is intimately linked to that of this organization.
2. Employees would be happy to make personal sacrifices if it were important for the business unit’s well-being. 3. The bonds between this organization and its employees
are weak.
4. In general, employees are proud to work for this business unit.
5. Employees often go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure this business unit’s well-being.
6. Our people have little or no commitment to this business unit.
7. It is clear that employees are fond of this business unit. [7-point scale: strongly disagree (1)–strongly agree (7)].
Quality of Work Life
(1) Lower-order needs
Need satisfaction of health and safety needs 1. I feel physically safe at work.
2. My job provides good health benefits. 3. I do my best to stay healthy and fit.
Need satisfaction of economic and family needs 1. I am satisfied with what I’m getting paid for my work. 2. I feel that my job is secure for life.
3. My job does well for my family. (2) Higher-order needs
Need satisfaction of social needs 1. I have good friends at work.
2. I have enough time away from work to enjoy other things in life.
Need satisfaction of esteem needs 1. I feel appreciated at work.
2. People at work and/or within my profession respect me as a professional and an expert in my field of work. Need satisfaction of actualization needs
1. I feel that my job allows me to realize my full potential.
2. I feel that I am realizing my potential as an expert in my line of work.
Need satisfaction of knowledge needs
1. I feel that I’m always learning new things that help do my job better.
2. This job allows me to sharpen my professional skills. Need satisfaction of aesthetic needs
1. There is a lot of creativity involved in my job. 2. My job helps me develop my creativity outside of
work.
[7-point scale: strongly disagree (1)–strongly agree (7)].
Work–Family Life Conflict (Conflict from Work Life to Family Life)
1. When I get home from work, I am often too frazzled to participate in family activities/responsibilities. 2. I am often so emotionally drained when I get home
from work that it prevents me from contributing to my family.
3. Due to all the pressures at work, sometimes when I come home, I am too stressed to do the things I enjoy. [7-point scale: strongly disagree (1)–strongly agree (7)].
Work–Family Life Conflict (Conflict from Family Life to Work Life)
1. Due to all the stress at home, I am often preoccupied with family matters at work.
2. Because I am often stressed from family responsibil-ities, I have a hard time concentrating on my work.
