Abstract
Unethical pro-organizational behaviors (UPB) are actions that break rules or established standards, but are undertaken for the purposes of helping the organization or coworkers. Although research has already examined the role of work ethic and organizational commitment in shaping employee behaviors, little is known about the reason for and antecedents of employees undertaking UPB. In a sample of 425 working adults from multiple industries, we tested whether work ethic and organizational commitment dimensions predict the readiness to undertake UPB. The time-lagged study showed that the work ethics dimension “hard work,” and normative and affective organizational commitment, are positive predictors of UPB. The ethics dimensions “morality/ethics,” “delay of gratification,” “centrality of work” and “anti-leisure attitudes” are negative predictors of UPB.
1 INTRODUCTION
A growing number of studies show increasing scholarly interest in the concept of unethical pro‐organizational behavior (UPB) (Tsiavia, 2016), since the first publication of the original article by Umphress, Bingham, and Mitchell (2010). Because it is common and costly for organizations, the subject is of interest to practitioners and schol‐ ars alike (Matherne, III & Litchfield, 2012). To date, there is empiri‐ cal evidence that confirms relations between UPB and identification with the leader or organization (Effelsberg, Solga, & Gurt, 2014; Kong, 2016). Yet, there is a gap between work ethic (Weber, 1958) and organizational commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991) and the study of UPB. The present research fills this gap and provides new evi‐ dence on the antecedents of UPBs.
3.4 Limitations of the study and future research directions
This study has some limitations to acknowledge. The main constraint is the fact that it was carried out on Polish employees only. Thus, a question arises whether the result received is typical of the Polish cul‐ ture or does it also apply to other countries? To answer this question, more extended cross‐cultural research comprising other countries should be conducted. It is possible that in the Polish, more particu‐ laristic culture than universalistic American culture (Trompenaars & Hampden‐Turner, 1997), relations between organizational commit‐ ment and UPB are more visible, which can be suggested in research of Umphress and colleagues (2010). Connections between organi‐ zational commitment and UPB are stronger in our research than relations between organizational identification and willingness to engage in UPB in the research of Umphress and colleagues (2010). It should be highlighted that UPB underlines a perspective of parti‐ curalism, where people are more focused on relationships (organi‐ zational aims) than on rules, because inner morality of organization allowing UPB becomes more important than universalistic morality of the social system forbidding UPB.
