Kadic-Maglajlic, S, Micevski, M, Lee, N et al. (2 more authors) (2019) Three Levels of Ethical Influences on Selling Behavior and Performance: Synergies and Tensions. Journal of Business Ethics, 156 (2). pp. 377-397. ISSN 0167-4544
Abstract
In general, the business ethics literature has treated the conceptual domains and outcomes of macro-level (industrial), meso-level (organizational), and micro-level (individual) ethical influence separately. However, this singular treatment ignores the synergies and tensions that can arise across these different types of ethical influence. Using sales as a research context, the current study argues that all three ethical frames of references are important in shaping employee behavior and performance and, as such, should be examined simultaneously. The findings show that industrial ethical climate and salesperson moral equity are positively associated with salesperson customer orientation. In addition, industrial and organizational ethical norms have a stronger joint effect on customer orientation than either ethical climate alone. More specifically, a more ethical organizational climate enhances the positive effects of the industrial ethical climate on customer orientation. Furthermore, whereas salesperson moral equity is significantly associated with salesperson customer orientation, strong moral equity beliefs in situations requiring adaptive selling result in weaker sales outcomes. This study concludes with a set of theoretical and actionable implications, as well as a discussion of future research avenues.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2017. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Journal of Business Ethics. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3588-1. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Industrial ethical climate; Organizational ethical climate; Moral equity belief; Customer orientation; Adaptive selling; Salespeople |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Business (Leeds) > Marketing Division (LUBS) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 23 May 2017 11:26 |
Last Modified: | 21 May 2019 12:59 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s10551-017-3588-1 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:116739 |