(Un)Ethical Organizational Intentions Influence both Types and Range of Turnover Intention: Testing a Multi Variable Hypotheses Model in the UK and Greece

Abstract

This study linked the research topics of business ethics and employee turnover as both are of great interest from an academic as well as practical perspective. The aim of this study was to investigate particular issues that required further attention, thus contributing to the knowledge in the areas of turnover and ethics in organizations. The main objectives of the current study were twofold in both theoretical and practical terms. First, to develop a comprehensive and multi-foci theoretical framework that links turnover and organizational ethics. From a virtue ethics point of view and drawing on Social Identity Theory and organizational identification as a theoretical background, two research questions are addressed and answered in the theoretical paper: (a) how do the (un)ethical organizational intentions perceived by employees within different social groups influence turnover intention? And (b) what particular social groups do people choose to leave or prefer to stay with when they are experiencing (un)ethical organizational intentions?
Second, to develop and test a multi-variable research model that will advance previous knowledge on embedding ethics into organizations. The model puts forward how various aspects of organizational ethics, namely, ethical leadership, ethical climate, and corporate social responsibility, may influence employee intentions to leave the organization through specific socio-psychological pathways.
Taken together, this study expands the existing literature and also provides a fruitful basis for future research and practical implications. It advances our knowledge on the impact ethics have within an organization and on how to manage undesirable turnover more effectively based on ethical conduct in organizations.