Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), defined as “individual behaviors that are discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that promote organizational effectiveness” (Organ, Reference Organ1988: 4), significantly contribute to organizational well-being and success (Sidorenkov, Borokhovski, & Vorontsov, Reference Sidorenkov, Borokhovski and Vorontsov2023). Given the strategic importance and challenging nature of OCBs, organizations constantly seek to identify ways to promote these behaviors (Pham, Jabbour, Pereira, Usman, Ali, & Vo‐Thanh, Reference Pham, Jabbour, Pereira, Usman, Ali and Vo‐Thanh2023; Tagliabue, Sigurjonsdottir, & Sandaker, Reference Tagliabue, Sigurjonsdottir and Sandaker2020). Previous studies (e.g., Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff, & Blume, Reference Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff and Blume2009; Rioux & Penner, Reference Rioux and Penner2001) have mostly established a connection between employees’ psychological and emotional states and OCBs, demonstrating that satisfied, committed, and engaged employees exhibit more discretionary efforts. Although studies typically emphasize affective factors that promote OCBs, the literature on behavioral ethics also highlights the importance of moral cognitive influences (e.g., moral evaluation, moral reasoning) that explain employees’ decisions to engage in OCBs. Such studies suggest that OCBs stem from individuals’ ethical and moral consciousness, thus reflecting their intrinsic moral drive to foster the well-being of an organization and its members through virtuous conduct (Gerpott, van Quaquebeke, Schlamp, & Voelpel, Reference Gerpott, van Quaquebeke, Schlamp and Voelpel2019; Ruiz-Palomino & Martínez-Cañas, Reference Ruiz-Palomino and Martínez-Cañas2014; Ryan, Reference Ryan2001; Valentine, Hollingworth, & Eidsness, Reference Valentine, Hollingworth and Eidsness2014; Zhao, Chen, & Liu, Reference Zhao, Chen and Liu2023; Zhao, Zhou, He, & Jiang, Reference Zhao, Zhou, He and Jiang2021). Although research on the moral antecedents of OCBs is limited, the few studies on this topic predominantly focus on ethical leadership and the ethical climate (e.g., Resick, Hargis, Shao, & Dust, Reference Resick, Hargis, Shao and Dust2013; Shin, Reference Shin2012), and what remains less explored is the role of organizational structures and practices in promoting morally induced OCBs.
To address the aforementioned literature gap, studies on strategic human resource management (HRM) often refer to social exchange theory, suggesting that fair and supportive HRM practices foster a sense of trust, positive psychological contract, commitment, and obligation among employees, which motivates them to reciprocate through OCBs (Pham et al., Reference Pham, Jabbour, Pereira, Usman, Ali and Vo‐Thanh2023; Pohl, Vonthron, & Closon, Reference Pohl, Vonthron and Closon2019). In addition, the social learning perspective explains how the ethical climate, fostered by HRM practices, models ethics and virtues to influence employees’ perceptions of what is appropriate and ultimately shape their discretionary behaviors (Guerci, Radaelli, Siletti, Cirella, & Rami, Reference Guerci, Radaelli, Siletti, Cirella and Rami2015; Manroop, Singh, & Ezzedeen, Reference Manroop, Singh and Ezzedeen2014). Identity-based studies emphasize that HRM practices foster employees’ feelings of belongingness and positive self-evaluation promote OCBs, as employees feel morally obligated to care about the organizational identity and reputation (Newman, Miao, Hofman, & Zhu, Reference Newman, Miao, Hofman and Zhu2016; Shen & Benson, Reference Shen and Benson2016). Although this literature examines the integration of ethics into HRM to foster employees’ perceptions of fairness, justice, moral identities, and sense of reciprocity, its emphasis on external cues and the modeling effects toward OCBs leaves unanswered the question of how organizations can cultivate employees’ internal ethical cognition and drive to harness greater OCBs through HRM practices (Pham et al., Reference Pham, Jabbour, Pereira, Usman, Ali and Vo‐Thanh2023; Zhao et al., Reference Zhao, Zhou, He and Jiang2021).
Accordingly, we draw on Bandura’s (Reference Bandura, Kurtines and Gewirtz1991) social cognitive theory (SCT) of moral thought and action and the job demands–resources (JD–R) theory to propose that organizations will reap more OCB if they a) design targeted HRM systems that develop and motivate an ethical workforce to attend to the morally relevant aspects of their work, actions, and decision-making and b) create an environment that allows employees to act on these moral motivations and opportunities. Specifically, we present a model (Figure 1) that delineates the mediating role of employees’ moral attentiveness and the moderating role of work-family balance to explain the process and boundary condition of the relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and employees’ OCBs. Although the literature conceptually establishes a link between HRM and ethical cognition (Caldwell, Truong, Linh, & Tuan, Reference Caldwell, Truong, Linh and Tuan2011; Greenwood, Reference Greenwood2013; Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008; Ryan, Reference Ryan2001; Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto, & Rizvi, Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023), empirical studies rarely examine how organizations, through their targeted HRM systems, can foster ethical cognition and motivation for OCBs that go beyond simply responding to modeling influences.
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework
Ethics-oriented HRM systems, defined as “set[s] of HRM practices aimed at developing organizational ethics” (Guerci et al., Reference Guerci, Radaelli, Siletti, Cirella and Rami2015: 332), represent an organization’s targeted HRM practices that aim to provide employees with the knowledge and skills to make ethical decisions, cultivate a sense of purpose and commitment to the organization’s ethical values, and create an environment that supports and encourages ethical behavior (Guerci, Radaelli, Battisi, & Siletti, Reference Guerci, Radaelli, Battisi and Siletti2017; Jiang, Lepak, Han, Hong, Kim, & Winkler, Reference Jiang, Lepak, Han, Hong, Kim and Winkler2012; Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023; Treviño, Den Nieuwenboer, Kreiner, & Bishop, Reference Treviño, Den Nieuwenboer, Kreiner and Bishop2014). Ethics-oriented HRM systems have been shown to enhance employees’ ethical sensitivity, benevolence, and perceptions of the ethical climate (Guerci et al., Reference Guerci, Radaelli, Battisi and Siletti2017; Newman, Round, Bhattacharya, & Roy, Reference Newman, Round, Bhattacharya and Roy2017; Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023). Given that OCBs are driven by individuals’ moral principles of altruism and conscientiousness (Podsakoff et al., Reference Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff and Blume2009; Turnipseed, Reference Turnipseed2002), we anticipate that a heightened focus of ethics-oriented HRM systems on employees’ ethics and morality will foster employees’ willingness to enhance the well-being of an organization and its members by engaging in OCBs.
Knowledge on the employee-level outcomes of ethics-oriented HRM systems is limited and the gap in the literature on employees’ cognitive mechanisms through which such systems influence OCBs is even wider. Therefore, in response to recent calls (Pham et al., Reference Pham, Jabbour, Pereira, Usman, Ali and Vo‐Thanh2023; Sidorenkov et al., Reference Sidorenkov, Borokhovski and Vorontsov2023), we refer to SCT (Bandura, Reference Bandura, Kurtines and Gewirtz1991) to explore the mediating role of employees’ moral attentiveness and explain the influencing mechanism of ethics-oriented HRM systems in promoting OCBs. Moral attentiveness refers to “the extent to which an individual chronically perceives and considers morality and moral elements in his or her experiences” (Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008: 1028). This is built upon Fiske and Taylor’s (Reference Fiske and Taylor1991) conceptualization of attention as a function of salience, vividness, and accessibility. Whereas salience and vividness pertain to the stimuli (i.e., the extent to which the stimuli are important and memorable), accessibility relates to individuals (i.e., the extent to which their cognitive framework allows them to perceive and reflect on the stimuli). Moral attentiveness captures the extent to which such cognitive frameworks focus on morality (Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008). By emphasizing employees’ ethics and morality in decision-making processes and behaviors, ethics-oriented HRM systems can cause the individual’s chronic cognitive framework to focus more thoroughly on moral content. Specifically, they can cultivate employees’ ability, motivation, and opportunity to exercise their chronic cognitive framework such that they apply ethical principles in their day-to-day decisions and actions (Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023; van de Voorde, Veld, & van Veldhoven, Reference van De Voorde, Veld and van Veldhoven2016). Based on the heightened accessibility of the moral framework fostered by ethics-oriented HRM systems, we anticipate that moral attentiveness mediates the relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and enhanced employees’ OCBs.
Furthermore, drawing on the JD–R theory, we consider the job demands associated with an organization’s heightened expectations of ethical decision-making and OCBs (Cooper, Wang, Bartram, & Cooke, Reference Cooper, Wang, Bartram and Cooke2019; Gabriel, Koopman, Rosen, & Johnson, Reference Gabriel, Koopman, Rosen and Johnson2018; Hughes, Levey, Lee, & Jex, Reference Hughes, Levey, Lee and Jex2023) and the possible resulting job resource-depleting spillover effects in employees’ family domain (Deery, Rayton, Walsh, & Kinnie, Reference Deery, Rayton, Walsh and Kinnie2017; Wan, Carlson, Quade, & Kacmar, Reference Wan, Carlson, Quade and Kacmar2022) to explore how work-family balance, defined as the equilibrium between employees’ professional responsibilities and personal life (Greenhaus & Allen, Reference Greenhaus, Allen, Quick and Tetrick2011), can moderate the moral and behavioral trajectories of ethics-oriented HRM systems. The JD–R theory suggests that a positive work environment with manageable job demands and adequate support enables employees to go beyond their formal job requirements and contribute voluntarily to the organization. The literature indicates that employees fulfil multiple work and family responsibilities and often struggle to balance and perform in both domains owing to limited job resources (Hirschi, Shockley, & Zacher, Reference Hirschi, Shockley and Zacher2019). This situation then influences their ability and willingness to perform beyond their job roles (Aarntzen, Derks, van Steenbergen, Ryan, & van der Lippe, Reference Aarntzen, Derks, van Steenbergen, Ryan and van der Lippe2019; Deery et al., Reference Deery, Rayton, Walsh and Kinnie2017; Gabriel et al., Reference Gabriel, Koopman, Rosen and Johnson2018; Hughes et al., Reference Hughes, Levey, Lee and Jex2023; Morgan & King, Reference Morgan and King2012; Wan et al., Reference Wan, Carlson, Quade and Kacmar2022). Furthermore, engaging in too much OCB can harm work-life balance because it depletes personal resources (Halbesleben, Harvey, & Bolino, Reference Halbesleben, Harvey and Bolino2009). Accordingly, organizations that actively support employees’ work and family relationships and address the associated psychological issues benefit from increased employee attention to ethics and OCBs (Thompson, Bergeron, & Bolino, Reference Thompson, Bergeron and Bolino2020). Based on studies that demonstrate the potential of work-family balance to support positive attitudes and behaviors from employees (Carlson, Grzywacz, & Zivnuska, Reference Carlson, Grzywacz and Zivnuska2009) and mitigate the adverse effects of job resource-depleting demands (e.g., Ninaus, Diehl, & Terlutter, Reference Ninaus, Diehl and Terlutter2021), we contend that such a balance enhances employees’ receptivity to the moral demands set forth by ethics-oriented HRM systems that emphasize increased attention to morality and morally induced behaviors. Consequently, as illustrated in Figure 1, we anticipate a moderating role for work-family balance in the path between ethics-oriented HRM systems and employees’ moral attentiveness to influence OCBs.
We contribute to the literature in three ways by developing and investigating our first-stage moderated mediation model. First, by theorizing the relationship between an ethics-oriented HRM system and employees’ OCBs, our study extends the organizational behavior and strategic HRM literature by identifying the systemic foundations and determinants of OCBs. Past studies have largely viewed OCBs from an individual and social exchange perspective, ignoring that “the theoretical point of interest is OCB may be understood in a context beyond economic or social exchange” (Ryan, Reference Ryan2001: 236) and emerge consequent to systemic organizational environments. Second, our study explores the “black box” by investigating an important cognitive mechanism of employees’ moral attentiveness to explain the underlying path through which ethics-oriented HRM systems influence employees’ OCBs. Third, our study extends work that has treated the job resource-enhancing positive effects (Agarwal & Farndale, Reference Agarwal and Farndale2017) and job resource-depleting negative effects (Behravesh, Tanova, & Abubakar, Reference Behravesh, Tanova and Abubakar2020) of HRM practices as mutually exclusive. Instead, consistent with the extant literature (Ogbonnaya & Messersmith, Reference Ogbonnaya and Messersmith2019), we integrate these dual associations by proposing a contingent, moderated pathway showing that ethics-oriented HRM systems may serve as both a job resource and a job demand with positive consequences on OCB depending on the extent to which work-family balance is supported. We thus disentangle what has been termed the paradoxical nature of the effects of strategically targeted HRM systems and posit that the JD–R theory is a lens through which we can weave together research threads on these positive (motivational) and negative (depleting) aspects (Guerci, Hauff, & Gilardi, Reference Guerci, Hauff and Gilardi2022; Li, Fu, Chadwick, & Harney, Reference Li, Fu, Chadwick and Harney2024). In short, despite the known spillover effect of work-family relationships on important workplace outcomes (Aarntzen et al., Reference Aarntzen, Derks, van Steenbergen, Ryan and van der Lippe2019; Greenhaus, Collins, & Shaw, Reference Greenhaus, Collins and Shaw2003; Morgan & King, Reference Morgan and King2012; Wan et al., Reference Wan, Carlson, Quade and Kacmar2022), no study to date (to the best of our knowledge) has examined how work-family balance influences the moral and behavioral trajectories of targeted HRM systems that aim to foster OCBs.
THEORIES, HYPOTHESES, AND APPROACH
Ethics-Oriented Human Resource Management Practices and Organizational Citizenship Behavior
The OCBs of employees comprise altruistic and helping behaviors that are not part of their formal work roles and are not officially recognized or compensated (Organ, Reference Organ1988; Podsakoff et al., Reference Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff and Blume2009). OCBs can be directed at individual members of the organization (e.g., helping coworkers without being asked) or at the organization itself (e.g., giving constructive suggestions and complying with its norms, rules, and policies). The literature highlights a strong ethical and moral foundation for OCBs (Graham, Reference Graham1995; Hannah, Avolio, & Walumbwa, Reference Hannah, Avolio and Walumbwa2011; Ryan, Reference Ryan2001). An individual’s choice to engage (or not) in actions promoting the welfare of others or the organization is viewed as an ethical decision (Hannah et al., Reference Hannah, Avolio and Walumbwa2011; Turnipseed, Reference Turnipseed2002) that involves deliberative moral reasoning (McMahon & Good, Reference McMahon and Good2016; Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008), intrinsic motivation for moral and altruistic behaviors (Podsakoff et al., Reference Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff and Blume2009), and a work environment that values and supports moral decisions and actions (Salas-Vallina, Pasamar, & Donate, Reference Salas-Vallina, Pasamar and Donate2021).
Given such conditions, and in line with our main question of how organizations can promote OCBs, we contend that organizations need to establish cognitive, motivational, and environmental foundations for OCBs to flourish. We integrate Bandura’s (Reference Bandura, Kurtines and Gewirtz1991) SCT of moral thought and action into the ability–motivation–opportunity framework to argue that ethics-oriented HRM systems, comprising practices targeting employees’ ethical ability, motivation, and opportunity, directly influence employees’ OCBs. SCT elucidates how moral reasoning, in conjunction with other psychosocial factors, guides moral conduct by emphasizing the interaction between personal factors such as moral thought, affective responses, and conduct, as well as environmental influences, to shape moral behaviors. The ability–motivation–opportunity framework complements this process by highlighting how the work environment, established through ethics-oriented HRM systems, shapes ethical cognition (ability), promotes and rewards ethical decisions and actions (motivation), and creates opportunities to exercise ethics and morality at work (opportunity) (Obeidat, Mitchell, & Bray, Reference Obeidat, Mitchell and Bray2016).
SCT emphasizes the importance of cognitive abilities such as moral reasoning and moral judgment in shaping moral behavior (Bandura, Reference Bandura, Kurtines and Gewirtz1991). The literature indicates that individuals may lack or differ in the awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary to recognize ethical situations and choices, especially in complex scenarios (Chung & Hsu, Reference Chung and Hsu2017; Graham, Reference Graham1995; McMahon & Good, Reference McMahon and Good2016; Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008). Ethics-oriented HRM systems develop employees’ ethical ability, which represents their knowledge and skills to recognize ethical dilemmas, reason through them, make sound ethical judgments, and act accordingly. Employees with stronger ethical ability are more likely to identify and engage in OCBs that involve ethical considerations such as helping others, adhering to ethical standards, or speaking up against unethical behavior, as these actions require ethical awareness, judgment, and decision-making skills (Small & Lew, Reference Small and Lew2021). By incorporating value-based assessments and behavioral interviews, organizations can identify candidates with a predisposition for ethics and prosocial action, thus forming a strong cognitive foundation for OCBs (Treviño, Weaver, & Reynolds, Reference Treviño, Weaver and Reynolds2006). Additionally, comprehensive ethics training cultivates employees’ moral reasoning and provides them with ethical decision-making frameworks (Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008). Thus, selection and training practices can equip employees with an improved ability to recognize the moral significance and implication of altruistic and helping behaviors (Bandura, Reference Bandura, Kurtines and Gewirtz1991; Graham, Reference Graham1995; Guerci et al., Reference Guerci, Radaelli, Siletti, Cirella and Rami2015; Ritter, Reference Ritter2006; Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023).
Furthermore, SCT underscores the role of motivators for cognitive change in moral principles and the motivators for acting morally (Bandura, Reference Bandura, Kurtines and Gewirtz1991). Ethics-oriented HRM systems enhance employees’ ethical motivation, which represents an individual’s internal drive to act according to moral principles, values, and beliefs, even when faced with personal costs or challenges (Treviño et al., Reference Treviño, Weaver and Reynolds2006). Organizations achieve this by directly linking ethical conduct to performance management and rewards mechanisms. Engagement in OCBs is primarily driven by ethical motives, with altruism being a key factor (Caldwell, Reference Caldwell2011; Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008; Rioux & Penner, Reference Rioux and Penner2001). By clearly incorporating ethical behaviors in performance evaluations and the reward structure, organizations establish the importance of ethics and morality for daily actions (Podsakoff et al., Reference Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff and Blume2009). As these practices cultivate employees’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to uphold ethics, employees perceive that their organization values ethics and moral reputation, and this fosters in employees an intrinsic motivation to go beyond their job requirements for the well-being of their organization and its members (Dysvik & Kuvaas, Reference Dysvik and Kuvaas2008; Ellemers, van der Toorn, Paunov, & van Leeuwen, Reference Ellemers, van der Toorn, Paunov and van Leeuwen2019; Lawrence & Kacmar, Reference Lawrence and Kacmar2017; Ryan, Reference Ryan2001; Zhao et al., Reference Zhao, Zhou, He and Jiang2021).
Finally, SCT recognizes the influence of the work and organizational environments on moral behavior (Bandura, Reference Bandura, Kurtines and Gewirtz1991). Ethics-oriented HRM systems respond to this aspect by fostering ethical opportunities, which represents the conditions within an organization or environment that enable and encourage individuals to make and promote ethical decisions and actions (Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023). Scholars suggest that employees, despite possessing the required ability and motivation to perform OCBs, still may not be able to exhibit morally induced discretionary behaviors because of the lack of discretion and autonomy or the risks and costs associated with these behaviors (Bergeron, Shipp, Rosen, & Furst, Reference Bergeron, Shipp, Rosen and Furst2013; Shen & Benson, Reference Shen and Benson2016; Snape & Redman, Reference Snape and Redman2010). Ethics-oriented HRM systems foster ethical opportunities by designing jobs that permit ethical decision-making, encouraging employees to address ethical issues proactively, protecting whistleblowers, linking career growth to ethical conduct, and involving employees in shaping the ethical infrastructure to promote a conducive environment where ethical actions are not only valued but actively facilitated (Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023; Treviño et al., Reference Treviño, Den Nieuwenboer, Kreiner and Bishop2014). By encouraging employees to contribute actively to decision-making processes and by providing them with the autonomy to navigate social and ethical challenges, organizations nurture a sense of ownership and reinforce trust, thus boosting employees’ engagement in discretionary behaviors that benefit the organization and its stakeholders (Dysvik & Kuvaas, Reference Dysvik and Kuvaas2008; Jiang et al., Reference Jiang, Lepak, Han, Hong, Kim and Winkler2012; Zhao et al., Reference Zhao, Zhou, He and Jiang2021).
In sum, the SCT framework indicates that ethical ability, motivation, and opportunity are critical to understanding and promoting OCBs. When employees possess ethical competencies, are driven by ethical values, and work within an ethically enabling organizational environment, they are more likely to engage in behaviors that benefit the organization and its members. In support of this view, empirical evidence indicates that employees who operate in ethics-oriented organizational settings perceive a greater responsibility for the development and betterment of the organization and its members (Dawson, Reference Dawson2018). HRM practices that focus on employees’ morality and ethics are associated with a reduced likelihood of deviant workplace behavior (Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023) as well as ethical work attitudes among employees (Valentine et al., Reference Valentine, Hollingworth and Eidsness2014), which is a significant determinant of OCBs (Resick et al., Reference Resick, Hargis, Shao and Dust2013; Shin, Reference Shin2012) Hence, we propose the following:
Hypothesis 1: Ethics-oriented HRM systems relate positively to employees’ OCBs.
Mediating Role of Employees’ Moral Attentiveness
In addition to proposing a direct relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and employees’ OCBs, we draw on Bandura’s (Reference Bandura, Kurtines and Gewirtz1991) SCT of moral thought and action to argue that this relationship is mediated by the moral attentiveness of employees. Moral attentiveness represents an individual’s ability to perceive and consider morality and moral elements chronically in their daily experiences (Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008). Moral attentiveness has two related dimensions: perceptual moral attentiveness, defined as “the recognition of moral aspects in everyday experiences,” and reflective moral attentiveness, “the extent to which the individual regularly considers moral matters” (van Gils, van Quaquebeke, van Knippenberg, van Dijke, & de Cremer, Reference Van Gils, van Quaquebeke, van Knippenberg, van Dijke and de Cremer2015: 192). In general, perceptual moral attentiveness pertains to the coloration of external information and thus “in particular precedes moral awareness,” whereas reflective moral attentiveness can be either intentional or reflexive, and thus “in particular directly influences moral behavior” (Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008: 1029).
Although several scholars have viewed moral attentiveness as an individual’s relatively stable dispositional state (van Gils et al., Reference Van Gils, van Quaquebeke, van Knippenberg, van Dijke and de Cremer2015), empirical evidence suggests that it can also be malleable (Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023). For example, attentiveness can be influenced directly and indirectly over time by both formal and informal ethics interventions such as the environment, training, leadership, rewards and punishments, and monitoring mechanisms (Hannah et al., Reference Hannah, Avolio and Walumbwa2011; Jennings, Mitchell, & Hannah, Reference Jennings, Mitchell and Hannah2015; Miao, Eva, Newman, Nielsen, & Herbert, Reference Miao, Eva, Newman, Nielsen and Herbert2020; Moore, Mayer, Chiang, Crossley, Karlesky, & Birtch, Reference Moore, Mayer, Chiang, Crossley, Karlesky and Birtch2019; Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008; Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023; Smith-Crowe, Tenbrunsel, Chan-Serafin, Brief, Umphress, & Joseph, Reference Smith-Crowe, Tenbrunsel, Chan-Serafin, Brief, Umphress and Joseph2015; Zhao et al., Reference Zhao, Zhou, He and Jiang2021). We consider both lines of argument in our conceptualization to posit that moral attentiveness can be cultivated directly and more actively by these systems to influence employees’ OCBs over time. Building on Reynolds’s (Reference Reynolds2008) assertion that moral attentiveness hinges on the cognitive accessibility of a moral stimulus, we argue that ethics-oriented HRM systems can enhance employees’ moral attentiveness in several ways. These systems, through specific HRM practices, can foster abilities, motivation, and opportunities among employees to recognize and consistently consider ethical and moral aspects within everyday work situations.
Ethics-oriented HRM systems address these objectives at the early stage of recruitment and selection by incorporating assessments that measure candidates’ moral reasoning and ethical predispositions as well as how they have handled ethical dilemmas in the past to select individuals who exhibit strong ethical values and are likely to uphold moral standards in their roles (Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023). Subsequently, ethics training workshops that use case studies, scenarios, decision-making alternatives, and discussions and reflections on moral issues further hone employees’ ability to recognize ethical issues and consider the ethical implications of their decisions and actions (Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008). Furthermore, ethics-oriented HRM systems promote job designs that emphasize ethical decision-making and prioritize the display of ethical decisions and behaviors in employees’ performance evaluations and rewards. Employees in a system emphasizing ethical decision-making in job design, performance evaluations, and rewards exhibit heightened moral attentiveness and make more ethical choices (Grant, Reference Grant2007; Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023; Zhao et al., Reference Zhao, Zhou, He and Jiang2021). Finally, by providing avenues for open communication, encouraging employee participation in ethical decision-making, and involving employees in formulating ethical policies, ethics-oriented HRM systems make ethics readily accessible in the everyday work environment. When employees feel comfortable raising concerns and discussing ethical dilemmas, moral issues become more top-of-mind and easier to integrate into their decision-making processes (Hannah et al., Reference Hannah, Avolio and Walumbwa2011; McMahon & Good, Reference McMahon and Good2016; Pham et al., Reference Pham, Jabbour, Pereira, Usman, Ali and Vo‐Thanh2023; Wurthmann, Reference Wurthmann2013). Overall, well-designed ethics-oriented HRM systems create an environment where both the enhanced recognition and the active contemplation of moral issues and behaviors within the organization are encouraged (Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023; Shen & Benson, Reference Shen and Benson2016; Treviño et al., Reference Treviño, Den Nieuwenboer, Kreiner and Bishop2014; van de Voorde et al., Reference van De Voorde, Veld and van Veldhoven2016).
When individuals become attuned over time to identifying and considering morality regularly in all workplace matters, they tend to exhibit more morally appropriate behaviors such as OCBs, as they consider the positive effect of such behaviors on the performance and well-being of the organization and its colleagues (Jennings et al., Reference Jennings, Mitchell and Hannah2015; Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008). As argued earlier, employees’ decision to engage in OCBs is a moral choice (Penner, Midili, & Kegelmeyer, Reference Penner, Midili and Kegelmeyer1997; Turnipseed, Reference Turnipseed2002) largely driven by their values and deliberate consideration of the moral implications of such behaviors (Wurthmann, Reference Wurthmann2013). People with high moral attentiveness tend to view opportunities to help others through the lens of morality and make sense of helping others as highly moral; therefore, they tend to go beyond their basic job duties and contribute positively to the organization and their colleagues (Jennings et al., Reference Jennings, Mitchell and Hannah2015; McMahon & Good, Reference McMahon and Good2016).
As such, we theorize that ethics-oriented HRM systems cultivate moral attentiveness by enhancing the accessibility of ethics and morality through various HRM practices (Dawson, Reference Dawson2018; Fiske & Taylor, Reference Fiske and Taylor1991; Wurthmann, Reference Wurthmann2013), which, in turn, enables employees to identify and consider the moral implications of altruistic behaviors and exhibit more OCBs. Several empirical studies have found that employees’ moral cognition, including moral attentiveness, is an important psychological mechanism that influences employees’ positive attitudes and behaviors through organizational interventions and practices (e.g., Afsar & Umrani, Reference Afsar and Umrani2020; Li, Liang, Zhang, & Li, Reference Li, Liang, Zhang and Li2023; Miao et al., Reference Miao, Eva, Newman, Nielsen and Herbert2020; Salas-Vallina et al., Reference Salas-Vallina, Pasamar and Donate2021; Wurthmann, Reference Wurthmann2013; Zhao et al., Reference Zhao, Zhou, He and Jiang2021). Shahzad et al. (Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023) found employees’ moral attentiveness to be a significant mediating mechanism for ethics-oriented HRM systems to mitigate employees’ engagement in deviant workplace behaviors. Based on these conceptual and empirical arguments, we propose the following:
Hypothesis 2: Moral attentiveness mediates the relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and employees’ OCBs.
Moderating Role of Work-Family Balance
SCT indicates that HRM systems can have a strong impact on employees’ OCBs, and the JD–R theory suggests that this relationship can be amplified by work-family balance. Work-family balance is an important contextual factor that, if properly attended to, can amplify the effectiveness of ethics-oriented HRM systems, but if neglected, can also undermine it. Work-family balance refers to the “accomplishment of role-related expectations that are negotiated and shared between an individual and his or her role-related partners in the work and family domains” (Grzywacz & Carlson, Reference Grzywacz and Carlson2007: 458). Research indicates that work demands cause work-family conflicts (Nayak & Pandey, Reference Nayak and Pandey2022) and employees often struggle to meet expectations in both work and family domains (Hirschi et al., Reference Hirschi, Shockley and Zacher2019), which leads to moral stress, moral dissonance, and reduced engagement in extra-role behaviors (Aarntzen et al., Reference Aarntzen, Derks, van Steenbergen, Ryan and van der Lippe2019; Deery et al., Reference Deery, Rayton, Walsh and Kinnie2017; Gabriel et al., Reference Gabriel, Koopman, Rosen and Johnson2018; Morgan & King, Reference Morgan and King2012; Wan et al., Reference Wan, Carlson, Quade and Kacmar2022).
The JD–R model (Bakker, Hakanen, Demerouti, & Xanthopoulou, Reference Bakker, Hakanen, Demerouti and Xanthopoulou2007) suggests that engagement in ethically demanding cognitive and behavioral activities imposes considerable psychological and emotional demands (Ames, Bluhm, Gaskin, & Lyytinen, Reference Ames, Bluhm, Gaskin and Lyytinen2020; Ames, Gaskin, & Goronson, Reference Ames, Gaskin and Goronson2020; Gabriel et al., Reference Gabriel, Koopman, Rosen and Johnson2018; Guerci et al., Reference Guerci, Hauff and Gilardi2022; Reynolds, Owens, & Rubenstein, Reference Reynolds, Owens and Rubenstein2012; Topcic, Baum, & Kabst, Reference Topcic, Baum and Kabst2016). Thus, moral and altruistic demands put forth by ethics-oriented HRM systems may be viewed as additional cognitive and emotional demands if employees encounter an imbalance in the work and family domains. Work-family imbalance reflects a situation in which an individual does not meet the expectation of work or family, which imposes significant moral constraints on an employee’s ability to cope with additional moral responsibilities, particularly in relation to tasks requiring the application of significant cognitive and emotional resources (Allen, Herst, Bruck, & Sutton, Reference Allen, Herst, Bruck and Sutton2000; Mariappanadar, Reference Mariappanadar2020; Wan et al., Reference Wan, Carlson, Quade and Kacmar2022; Wang, Reference Wang2006).
Given this dynamic, work-family balance can act as an important job resource through which organizations can equip employees to meet and balance the ethical and altruistic demands (Tomazevic, Kozjek, & Stare, Reference Tomazevic, Kozjek and Stare2014; Wang, Reference Wang2006) put forth by ethics-oriented HRM systems without extracting resources from the family domain. By implementing policies such as flexible work arrangements and offering strong work and family benefits, organizations can create a work environment that fosters both job resources and work-family balance (Vaziri et al., Reference Vaziri, Wayne, Casper, Lapierre, Greenhaus, Amirkamali and Li2022). When employees achieve equilibrium in the work and family domains, they experience higher satisfaction, reduced moral stress, and increased cognitive clarity (Kossek, Valcour, & Lirio, Reference Kossek, Valcour, Lirio, Cooper and Holland2014). This enhanced cognitive clarity allows them to develop greater mental and emotional bandwidth to pay attention to and internalize ethical principles (Tomazevic et al., Reference Tomazevic, Kozjek and Stare2014). In such scenarios (i.e., high work-family balance), ethics-oriented HRM systems can have a stronger positive influence on employees’ moral attentiveness. Their increased moral attentiveness, in turn, empowers employees to go beyond their core job duties and engage in helpful OCBs. However, when work-family balance is low (with low job resources), the positive effect of ethics-oriented HRM systems on moral attentiveness may be weaker, as employees may have less cognitive and emotional energy to absorb ethical principles actively (Choi, Kim, Han, Ryu, Park, & Kwon, Reference Choi, Kim, Han, Ryu, Park and Kwon2018), even with strong ethical HRM practices in place, and this leads to a diminished influence on OCBs.
The empirical literature indicates that HRM practices can create a foundation for ethical conduct, but achieving impactful results hinges on employees having the resources to engage fully with those principles (Shao & Peng, Reference Shao and Peng2023; Shen & Benson, Reference Shen and Benson2016). Studies also suggest that employees with higher work-family balance exhibit a more positive attitude toward organizations’ ethical interventions and expectations of altruistic and helping behaviors (Choi et al., Reference Choi, Kim, Han, Ryu, Park and Kwon2018; Greenhaus et al., Reference Greenhaus, Collins and Shaw2003; Kossek et al., Reference Kossek, Valcour, Lirio, Cooper and Holland2014). Mansour and Tremblay (Reference Mansour and Tremblay2018) asserted that family-friendly policies serve as crucial “resource caravan passageways” and significantly influence the work-family interface and job outcomes. Nayak and Pandey (Reference Nayak and Pandey2022) found that family-friendly practices significantly moderate the relationship between work demands and work-family conflict.
Based on all this conceptual and empirical evidence, work-family balance is expected to serve as an important job resource-enhancing factor (Leung, Mukerjee, & Thurik, Reference Leung, Mukerjee and Thurik2020; Morgan & King, Reference Morgan and King2012) that organizations can foster to enhance the effectiveness of their ethics-oriented HRM systems in cultivating employees’ moral attentiveness and the resultant OCBs (Bolino, Klotz, Turnley, & Harvey, Reference Bolino, Klotz, Turnley and Harvey2013; Carlson et al., Reference Carlson, Grzywacz and Zivnuska2009; Choi et al., Reference Choi, Kim, Han, Ryu, Park and Kwon2018; Gabriel et al., Reference Gabriel, Koopman, Rosen and Johnson2018; Leung et al., Reference Leung, Mukerjee and Thurik2020). Therefore, we argue for a moderated mediation model in which work-family balance acts as the first-stage moderator that modifies the mediated relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and employees’ OCBs. Hence, we propose the following:
Hypothesis 3: Work-family balance moderates the mediating role of moral attentiveness in the relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and employees’ OCBs such that the mediated relationship is stronger for employees with a high work-family balance.
Approach
We conducted two studies to examine our hypotheses (Wright & Sweeney, Reference Wright and Sweeney2016). In Study 1, our goal was to establish the core causal relationships in our theorizing. Specifically, we conducted a recall experiment in which we manipulated ethics-oriented HRM systems to test whether they interact with work-family balance to predict employees’ moral attentiveness. Building upon the results of Study 1, we then administered a multi-wave multi-source field survey in Study 2 to validate the interaction effect of ethics-oriented HRM systems and work-family balance on employees’ moral attentiveness.
STUDY 1: ESTABLISHING THE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS
Methodology
Design and Sample
We adopted an ethics-oriented HRM (high vs. low) × work-family balance (continuous) experimental design, with participants randomly assigned to recall a current or previous organization for which they had worked that could be characterized as engaging in either high or low ethics-oriented HRM. Before data collection, we conducted a power analysis (G*Power; Faul, Erdfelder, Buchner, & Lang, Reference Faul, Erdfelder, Buchner and Lang2009) based on an estimated small-to-medium effect size for an experimentally manipulated ethics-oriented HRM system. Given our design, to ensure 95 percent power in an f-test and detect an effect size f = 0.30 (at α = 0.05), at least 147 participants were required. Considering participant inattentiveness and dropout rates (Hauser & Schwarz, Reference Hauser and Schwarz2016), and the possibility that some participants might not be able to recall an organization as required by their experimental conditions, we aimed to recruit 160 participants through Cloud Research, a leading participant-sourcing platform formerly known as Turk Prime that helps researchers collect high-quality data from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (Litman, Robinson, & Abberbock, Reference Litman, Robinson and Abberbock2017). When recruiting participants for the current study, we required that they reside in the United States, speak English as their native language, have participated in more than 100 similar research studies, and have provided legitimate answers in at least 95 percent of the completed studies. Participants were paid the equivalent of $12/hour.
Our design required that participants accurately recall an organization that engaged in either high or low ethics-oriented HRM; hence, we explicitly emphasized in the recruitment advertisement on Cloud Research that to qualify for this study, participants should have worked in multiple organizations with different HRM practices. A total of 178 participants accepted the invitation and started the recall experiment. Before they could proceed to the actual experiment, they were asked to confirm that they had worked in multiple organizations with different HRM practices. Ten participants were removed from the sample based on this criterion. The remaining participants then proceeded to read the recall task required in the experimental conditions, and eleven participants reported that they were unable to recall an organization as required and were guided to exit the study, thus resulting in the final sample of 157 participants (50% female; M age = 41.34; SD age = 12.26).
Procedures
This study combined a random experimental assignment with a critical incident technique (Flanagan, Reference Flanagan1954) that required participants to recall real events or experiences at work. This approach has been widely used in experimental studies (e.g., Qin et al., Reference Qin, Zhou, Hu, Zhang, Yang, Tao, Xie, Ma, Shang, Wang and Tian2020). To maximize the realism of the recall experience and increase ecological validity, we followed the principles set out in Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz, and Stone’s (Reference Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz and Stone2004) memory reconstruction method. Specifically, we asked participants to recall, visualize, and describe as much detail as they could remember about the organization and its HRM practices. After the recall task, participants reported the actual moral attentiveness they had while working for this organization. Finally, they reported the work-family balance they experienced while working for this organization and provided information for the control variables and demographics.
To ensure data quality, we included an attention-check question (in which we asked participants to select a designated anchor), and all participants passed this attention-check item. After assuring them they would be paid for their time, we asked participants at the end of the survey to disclose honestly how much effort they put forth toward the study (1 = almost no effort, 3 = some effort, 5 = a lot of effort). All participants reported 3 or more to this question (M = 4.82, SD = 0.43).
Materials
Unless otherwise specified, a seven-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree) was used for the scales in our studies. All the scale items are available in the online supplementary materials.
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• Ethics-oriented human resource management. We employed Shahzad et al.’s (Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023) fifteen-item scale to manipulate the level of ethics-oriented HRM that participants recalled. This scale measures the prevalence of ethical ability- (six items), ethical motivation- (four items), and ethical opportunity-enhancing (five items) HRM practices of an ethics-oriented HRM system in the organization. In the manipulation, participants in the high/low ethics-oriented HRM condition were shown the fifteen ethics-oriented HRM items and asked to recall an organization for which they have worked that constantly and frequently/rarely or never engaged in these HRM practices.
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• Moral attentiveness. Moral attentiveness was measured using Reynolds’s (Reference Reynolds2008) twelve-item scale that has seven items assessing perceptual moral attentiveness and five measuring reflective moral attentiveness (α = 0.94).
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• Work-family balance. Participants completed Carlson et al.’s (Reference Carlson, Grzywacz and Zivnuska2009) six-item scale (α = 0.94) to indicate the level of their work-family balance.
Control Variables
Many studies on OCB (Chattopadhyay, Reference Chattopadhyay1999) and strategic HRM (Jiang et al., Reference Jiang, Lepak, Han, Hong, Kim and Winkler2012) suggest that demographic characteristics and dissimilarities influence employees’ tendency to engage in OCBs and how they perceive organizational HRM practices. Accordingly, we controlled for participant age, gender (0 = male, 1 = female), tenure in the organization, and organization size in the analysis. Furthermore, to provide a more conservative test, we measured and controlled for an alternative predictor of participants’ moral attentiveness when working in the organization they recalled, that is, the ethical leadership of the supervisor. Specifically, on a seven-point Likert scale (1 = not at all, 7 = a lot), participants reported the ethical leadership of their supervisor in the organization they recalled using the ten-item scale (e.g., “discusses business ethics or values with employees”; α = 0.96) from Brown, Treviño, and Harrison (Reference Brown, Treviño and Harrison2005).
Results
After reporting the key study variables, participants used a seven-point Likert scale (1 = not at all, 7 = very much so) to report the extent to which the organization they recalled engaged in ethics-oriented HRM using the fifteen items (α = 0.98) that we selected from Shahzad et al. (Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023). Participants in the high ethics-oriented HRM condition reported a higher level of ethics-oriented HRM (M = 5.17, SD = 1.51) than those in the low ethics-oriented HRM condition (M = 3.00, SD = 1.72), t[126] = 9.89, p < 0.001). Thus, the manipulation was deemed effective. Table 1 reports the descriptive statistics and correlations among the study variables.
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics, Reliabilities, and Correlations (Study 1)
Note. Ethics-oriented HRM System: 0 = low, 1 = high. Age and organizational tenure are measured in years. Gender: 0 = male, 1 = female. Organization size is log transformed to reduce skewness. Internal consistency reliabilities are reported in parentheses on the diagonal. SD = standard deviation;
* p < .05.
** p < .01.
We tested whether ethics-oriented HRM and work-family balance interact to predict moral attentiveness using PROCESS SPSS (Model 1; Hayes, Reference Hayes2013; all the bootstrap analyses across the studies used 5,000 resampling iterations). Both ethics-oriented HRM and work-family balance were mean-centered and the control variables were standardized. The results reveal a significant interaction between ethics-oriented HRM and work-family balance (B = 0.48, SE = 0.19, t = 2.57, p = .011, CI95% = [0.11, 0.85]). Specifically, when work-family balance is low, the relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and moral attentiveness is not significant (B = −0.42, SE = 0.33, t = −1.26, p = .21, CI95% = [−1.07, 0.24]). By contrast, when work-family balance is high, the relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and moral attentiveness is significant (B = 0.74, SE = 0.32, t = 2.31, p = .02, CI95% = [0.11, 1.38]). The interaction pattern is illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Two-Way Interaction between Ethics-Oriented HRM Systems and Work-Family Balance on Moral Attentiveness (Study 1)
Discussion
Study 1 demonstrates the interaction effect of ethics-oriented HRM systems and work-family balance on employees’ moral attentiveness, providing support for our core theoretical arguments. Although insightful, this study is limited in several ways. First, despite taking great care to ensure that participants accurately recall ethics-oriented HRM practices that they have experienced first-hand, our experimental manipulation is not equivalent to actual ethics-oriented HRM practices in the field. Second, all the variables are reported by the participants themselves in the current study; hence, to enhance the methodological rigor, it is important to replicate the results using data collected from multiple sources. Third, given that moral attentiveness may not be easily changed or manipulated in the short run (Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008), we do not experimentally investigate the relationship between moral attentiveness and OCB. To address these limitations, we conducted Study 2 in which we collected data from multiple sources across multiple times in the field to test our proposed moderated mediation model comprehensively.
STUDY 2: CORROBORATING THE INTERACTION EFFECTS
Methodology
Design and Sample
We employed a longitudinal survey design and collected data in three waves and from two sources between September 2018 and December 2019. We first obtained a list of 300 client organizations from two professional agencies that offer different management development training programs to private sector organizations throughout Pakistan. At Time 1, we contacted the focal people in these organizations and requested them to distribute the questionnaire randomly to five full-time employees. The questionnaire requested those employees to provide information on their demographics, perceptions of the organization’s HRM practices, and immediate supervisor’s name and contact details. We received 595 responses. At Time 2 (after a time lag of 12 months), we recontacted those employees and distributed the second part of the questionnaire, which contained questions about their moral attentiveness, work-family balance, and supervisor’s contact details. We received 395 responses. At Time 3 (three months after Time 2), we contacted the supervisors of participating employees and requested them to rate the OCBs of their respective subordinates. We received responses from 311 supervisors on the OCBs of 332 subordinates, where twenty supervisors rated more than one subordinate’s OCB.
Our final sample consisted of these 332 individual responses from 118 organizations, achieving a 39 percent organizational response rate. Considering the long time lag of fifteen months, participants provided information on any major changes in their organization’s HRM policy or direction during the previous year at Time 2 and Time 3. Four responses that indicated considerable policy changes were excluded. The majority of the participants in our final sample of 328 were men (55.5 percent), had at least a university degree (93 percent) and more than five years of work experience (53.4 percent), and were aged 25–38 years (63.8 percent). Meanwhile, the majority of the firms were from the service sector (63.4 percent) and employed more than 150 employees (59.2 percent).
Procedure
At Time 1, we measured employees’ perceptions of ethics-oriented HRM. At Time 2, after twelve months, we measured their moral attentiveness and work-family balance. At Time 3, we obtained the ratings of employees’ OCBs from their respective supervisors. We employed a twelve-month time lag between Time 1 and Time 2 following established research practices (e.g., Collins & Clark, Reference Collins and Clark2003; McClean & Collins, Reference McClean and Collins2019; Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023) and recommendations from our expert panel. For instance, Huselid and Becker (Reference Huselid and Becker1996) argued that it sometimes takes years for HRM practices to become effective at the organizational level. Related studies further suggest that the full impact of HRM systems is realized only when employees have participated in all the practices in an organization, especially appraisals, promotions, increments, and rewards (Gerhart, Wright, McMahan, & Snell, Reference Gerhart, Wright, McMahan and Snell2000), which are usually conducted annually (McClean & Collins, Reference McClean and Collins2019). Collins and Clark (Reference Collins and Clark2003: 742) argued that “even if a set of [HR] practices can be imitated, there will be a considerable time lag between the implementation of a system and its impact.” They accordingly employed a one-year lag to collect data on the outcomes of strategic HRM practices. Giardini and Kabst (Reference Giardini and Kabst2008) employed a five-year time lag to capture the effect of work-family HRM practices on employees’ absenteeism and perceived performance. Following a similar logic, McClean and Collins (Reference McClean and Collins2019) collected data on employee turnover twelve months after collecting data on high-commitment HRM practices.
Measures
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• Ethics-oriented human resource management systems. Consistent with Study 1, the items for examining ethics-oriented HRM systems were taken from Shahzad et al. (Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023), including ethical ability- (six items; α = 0.93), ethical motivation- (four items; α = 0.87), and ethical opportunity-enhancing (five items; α = 0.91) HRM practices. Responses were measured on a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree).
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• Moral attentiveness. As in Study 1, moral attentiveness was measured using Reynolds’s (Reference Reynolds2008) twelve-item scale, with seven items assessing perceptual moral attentiveness (α = 0.92) and five measuring reflective moral attentiveness (α = 0.95). Responses were measured on a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree).
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• Organizational citizenship behavior. Employees’ OCBs were assessed using Kehoe and Wright’s (Reference Kehoe and Wright2013) six items. Supervisors rated their subordinates’ OCBs on a five-point Likert scale (1 = never, 5 = always, α = 0.92).
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• Work-family balance. Similar to Study 1, work-family balance was assessed using Carlson et al.’s (Reference Carlson, Grzywacz and Zivnuska2009) six items. Employees rated their level of work-family balance on a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree, α = 0.93).
Control Variables
The literature suggests that certain individual and organizational characteristics may influence an individual’s tendency to engage in moral behaviors such as OCB. Therefore, in this study, gender (1 = male, 2 = female), age (1 = 18–24 years, 2 = 25–31 years, 3 = 32–38 years, 4 = 39–45 years, and 5 = 46 and above), education (1 = intermediate, 2 = graduate, 3 = master’s, 4 = doctorate), and tenure with the firm (1 = less than 1 year, 2 = 1–5 years, 3 = 5–10 years, 4 = 10–15 years, and 5 = 15 years and above) were considered as the individual-level control variables, whereas industry (1 = manufacturing, 2 = services) and firm size (1 = fewer than 50 employees, 2 = 51–150 employees, 3 = 150–250 employees, and 4 = more than 250 employees) were taken as the firm-level control variables (Wurthmann, Reference Wurthmann2013).
Results
We employed confirmatory factor analysis to establish the convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement model. The hypothesized four-factor model shows a good fit for the data (χ2 = 1275.77, χ2/df = 2.07, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.057) after removing one item of moral attentiveness and one item of work-family balance because of poor loadings (see the online supplementary materials for the scales and removed items).Footnote 1 All the remaining items are statistically significant (p < .001) and load onto their respective factors, ranging from 0.72 to 0.93, thus supporting convergent validity. For discriminant validity, we compared the hypothesized model with alternative models of different conceptually related combinations such as combining OCB and work-family balance, ethics-oriented HRM and moral attentiveness, and OCB and moral attentiveness. Using the Akaike information criterion, we find that the hypothesized four-factor model demonstrates the best fit, supporting the discriminant validity of our model. Furthermore, the single-factor model shows a severely poor fit, which indicates that common method bias does not affect the study.
Descriptive Statistics
Table 2 presents the descriptive statistics and correlations of all the variables in the model. None of the control variables correlate significantly with OCB. All the latent variables correlate significantly with each other. The tolerance and variance inflation factor values are within acceptable ranges, indicating that multicollinearity is not a serious issue in this study.
Table 2: Descriptive Statistics, Reliabilities, and Correlations (Study 2)
Note. N = 328. Composite reliability on the diagonal. OCBs = organizational citizenship behaviors. All the control variables are measured/coded in categories.
* p < .05.
** p < .01.
*** p < .001.
Hypotheses Testing
We used stepwise hierarchical regression to test our hypotheses via direct effects separately estimated by the mediating and dependent variables (Aiken & West, Reference Aiken and West1991). In Step 1, only the control variables were included (Models 1 and 4 in Table 3). In Step 2, we added the independent variable of ethics-oriented HRM systems to test these systems’ direct effect on moral attentiveness and employees’ OCBs (Models 2 and 5 in Table 3). In Step 3, we added the mediating variable to test the direct effect of moral attentiveness on employees’ OCBs (Model 6 in Table 3). In Step 4, we added the interaction term between the independent and moderating variables to test the direct moderating role of work-family balance in the first stage of the mediated relationship, specifically, the relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and moral attentiveness (Model 3 in Table 3). As all the key variables are constructed through the latent variables, we conducted structural equation modeling. All the continuous and control variables were standardized for hypotheses testing.
Table 3: Regression Results (Study 2)
Note. N = 328. Standard errors are in parentheses.
* p < .05.
** p < .01.
*** p < .001.
Based on these direct effect judgments, we followed the method of Preacher, Rucker, and Hayes (Reference Preacher, Rucker and Hayes2007) to examine the mediating and moderated mediation effects. Hypothesis 1 postulates the positive direct effect of ethics-oriented HRM systems, including ethical ability-, ethical motivation-, and ethical opportunity-enhancing practices, on employees’ OCBs. The results of Model 5 in Table 3 indicate that ethics-oriented HRM systems are positively related to employees’ OCBs (β = 0.336, SE = 0.05, p = .000), thus supporting Hypothesis 1.
Hypothesis 2 postulates that moral attentiveness mediates the relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and employees’ OCBs. First, Table 3 shows that ethics-oriented HRM systems relate positively to moral attentiveness (Model 2: β = 0.68, SE = 0.03, p = .000) and that moral attentiveness relates positively to employees’ OCBs (Model 6: β = 0.62, SE = 0.04, p = .000), thus showing a good fit of the mediating effect based on the direct effects. Next, we tested for the mediating effect following the approach outlined by Preacher et al. (Reference Preacher, Rucker and Hayes2007) using a bootstrapping test of indirect effects. The test provides evidence that the mediating effect is significant if the bias-corrected 95 percent confidence interval (CI) for an indirect effect does not straddle zero. The results in Table 4 show that the indirect effect is positive and significant (β = 0.43, SE = 0.07, CI = [0.303, 0.574]). Therefore, Hypothesis 2 is supported.
Table 4: Bootstrapping Results for Testing the Mediating Role of Moral Attentiveness in the Relationship between Ethics-Oriented HRM Systems and Employees’ OCBs (Study 2)
Note. N = 328. Bootstrap sample size = 5,000. BSE = bootstrap standard error. CI = confidence interval.
Hypothesis 3 postulates that work-family balance moderates the conditional indirect effect of ethics-oriented HRM systems on employees’ OCBs through moral attentiveness. We first investigated whether a significant interaction exists in the relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and moral attentiveness. The results of Model 3 in Table 3 show that the interaction between ethics-oriented HRM and work-family balance is positive and significant (β = 0.656, SE = 0.027, p = .000). In addition, following Preacher et al. (Reference Preacher, Rucker and Hayes2007), we employed a bootstrapping approach to test for the significance and difference of the conditional indirect effects under high and low values of the moderators. As shown in Table 5, the conditional indirect effects of ethics-oriented HRM systems on employees’ OCBs through moral attentiveness are positive and significant for low work-family balance (one standard deviation below the mean; β = 0.177, SE = 0.048, CI = [0.083, 0.272]), moderate work-family balance (mean value; β = 0.320, SE = 0.062, CI = [0.199, 0.441]), and high work-family balance (one standard deviation above the mean; β = 0.463, SE = 0.085, CI = [0.296, 0.629]). The effect strengthens as work-family balance moves from low to high values. Figure 3, which presents a graph of the interaction plots using the “marginsplot” command in Stata, indicates that the effect of ethics-oriented HRM systems becomes stronger with increases in work-family balance. Therefore, these test results support Hypothesis 3.
Table 5: Bootstrapping Results for Testing the Moderated Mediation Effect of Work-Family Balance (Study 2)
Note. N = 328. Bootstrap sample size = 5000. BSE = bootstrap standard error. CI = confidence interval. SD = standard deviation.
Figure 3: The Interaction of Ethics-Oriented HRM Systems and Work-Family Balance on Moral Attentiveness (Study 2)
Robustness Tests
Additional factors may have influenced the estimation results owing to the presence of control variables; thus, we checked whether our results remained robust without the control variables. We found that the results are almost the same in the presence or absence of the control variables. Specifically, considering that few of the control variables are significant in the models (Table 4), we deem that the control variables do not interfere with the reliability of the results.
In this study, we used a three-dimensional model to measure an ethics-oriented HRM system comprising ethical ability, ethical motivation, and ethical opportunity. Similarly, moral attentiveness had two dimensions: perceptual moral attentiveness and reflective moral attentiveness. The confirmatory factor analysis results show the superior model fit of the combination of these dimensions, and our structural equation modeling estimations including all the dimensions support these results (Table 3), thus supporting our hypotheses.
However, we also needed to examine further whether statistically significant different effects existed between each of these unidimensional constructs; if they did, it would be necessary to make further distinctions between these dimensions to clarify the specific mechanisms implied behind the impact of each dimension. As suggested by Hollenbeck and Wright (Reference Hollenbeck and Wright2017), we adopted post hoc analyses to check whether the estimated coefficients of each unidimensional construct were equal. Specifically, we selected each dimension as an individual variable (i.e., the three measures of ethics-oriented HRM systems and two measures of moral attentiveness) and conducted comparative analyses based on the path coefficients obtained from any two dimensions to check whether any statistically significant difference existed between the dimensions for the three hypotheses. As shown in Table 6, no statistically significant difference exists between each unidimensional construct except for the direct effect of ethics-oriented HRM systems between ethical ability and ethical opportunity. We further estimated the direct effects of ethical ability and ethical opportunity on employees’ OCBs and found that both ethical ability (β = 0.283, SE = 0.056, p = .000) and ethical opportunity (β = 0.372, SE = 0.054, p = .000) are positively related to employees’ OCBs, thus supporting an undifferentiated impact. The results of the post hoc analyses suggest that the results estimated by the multidimensionally combined models are valid and robust.
Table 6: Results of the Post Hoc Multidimensional Analyses (Study 2)
GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
This study empirically examined a moderated mediation model that explains the relationship between strategically targeted ethics-oriented HRM systems and employees’ OCBs. The results of our experiment and survey show that: a) ethics-oriented HRM systems characterized by ethical ability-, ethical motivation-, and ethical opportunity-enhancing HRM practices relate positively to employees’ OCBs both directly and through moral attentiveness; and b) work-family balance significantly moderates this mediated relationship. Given these findings, this study offers important insights into behavioral ethics and strategic HRM, along with implications for organizations.
Theoretical Implications
First, our study addresses recent debates in the strategic HRM literature about the role of strategically targeted HRM systems in shaping employees’ psychological and behavioral outcomes in the workplace (Jiang et al., Reference Jiang, Lepak, Han, Hong, Kim and Winkler2012; Ogbonnaya & Messersmith, Reference Ogbonnaya and Messersmith2019; Raineri, Reference Raineri2017) as well as those in the behavioral ethics literature suggesting that individuals’ moral cognition and behaviors require targeted organizational interventions (Egorov, Verdorfer, & Peus, Reference Egorov, Verdorfer and Peus2019; Pham et al., Reference Pham, Jabbour, Pereira, Usman, Ali and Vo‐Thanh2023). As scholars have noted, organizational behavior studies focusing on social exchanges and influences have not sufficiently examined the promotion of OCBs through formal organizational practices (Ryan, Reference Ryan2001; Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023; Zhao et al., Reference Zhao, Zhou, He and Jiang2021). Our findings show that ethical ability-, ethical motivation-, and ethical opportunity-enhancing practices of ethics-oriented HRM systems work in combination to promote employees’ OCBs by cultivating their moral cognitive processes to interpret, evaluate, and exhibit discretionary helping behaviors with greater moral import. This extends support to previous assertions that OCBs have moral foundations (Resick et al., Reference Resick, Hargis, Shao and Dust2013; Ryan, Reference Ryan2001) and that formal organizational HRM practices can strongly promote morally induced discretionary behaviors (Guerci et al., Reference Guerci, Radaelli, Battisi and Siletti2017; Pham et al., Reference Pham, Jabbour, Pereira, Usman, Ali and Vo‐Thanh2023; Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023; Shen & Benson, Reference Shen and Benson2016; Zhao et al., Reference Zhao, Zhou, He and Jiang2021).
Second, and most importantly, as scholars consistently recommend unpacking the black box of HRM systems’ effects (Jiang et al., Reference Jiang, Lepak, Han, Hong, Kim and Winkler2012; Jiang & Messersmith, Reference Jiang and Messersmith2018; Shen & Benson, Reference Shen and Benson2016), we show that employees’ moral attentiveness significantly mediates the relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and employees’ OCBs in organizations. Empirical research on the mediating mechanism of the HRM systems–OCBs relationship is limited and studies have focused on the social influences and exchange processes (Kehoe & Wright, Reference Kehoe and Wright2013; Newman et al., Reference Newman, Miao, Hofman and Zhu2016; Ryan, Reference Ryan2001; Shahzad et al., Reference Shahzad, Hong, Muller, DeSisto and Rizvi2023; Snape & Redman, Reference Snape and Redman2010; Zhao et al., Reference Zhao, Zhou, He and Jiang2021). Accordingly, our study extends SCT by exploring cognitive moral attentiveness that goes beyond observational learning, reciprocation, and modeling explanations to reveal the cognitive mechanisms of employees’ OCBs. Specifically, building on the literature that highlights the moral trajectories of OCBs (Penner et al., Reference Penner, Midili and Kegelmeyer1997; Turnipseed, Reference Turnipseed2002), our findings show that ethics-oriented HRM systems foster employees’ moral attentiveness, which, in turn, enhances their engagement in OCBs. These findings support the long-standing debate in the literature about the psychological mechanisms of HRM practices in influencing employees’ discretionary behaviors (Morrison, Reference Morrison1996). In line with Bandura’s (Reference Bandura, Kurtines and Gewirtz1991) SCT and prior research advocating the advancement of moral attentiveness through focused interventions such as training and education (Ritter, Reference Ritter2006; Wurthmann, Reference Wurthmann2013), our study establishes the significance of ethics-oriented HRM systems as a formal contextual stimulus influencing employees’ moral attentiveness.
Our findings and robustness tests also support the assertion that discretionary behaviors such as OCBs are driven by both an individual’s recognition of moral behavior and their consideration of its moral implications (Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008). Most previous studies have reported reflective moral attentiveness as a significant predictor and mechanism of employees’ discretionary behaviors (Miao et al., Reference Miao, Eva, Newman, Nielsen and Herbert2020; Wurthmann, Reference Wurthmann2013). Our findings support the potential of an ethical ability-, motivation-, and opportunity-enhancing HRM system for promoting and reinforcing the self-regulatory perceptual and reflective processes of moral attentiveness to enhance employees’ engagement in OCBs. In doing so, we highlight the importance of the cognitive and conscious moral trajectories of OCBs (Penner et al., Reference Penner, Midili and Kegelmeyer1997; Turnipseed, Reference Turnipseed2002) and the critical role of the ethics-oriented context and individuals’ moral cognitive processes in promoting OCBs.
Third, scholars stress the consideration of important boundary conditions that limit or strengthen HRM systems’ effects on employees’ attitudes and behaviors (Chen, Jiang, Tang, & Cooke, Reference Chen, Jiang, Tang and Cooke2018). The literature on the HRM systems–OCB relationship largely considers individual or organization-related boundary conditions; hence, the effects of the link between work and family life has seldom been considered (Chen et al., Reference Chen, Jiang, Tang and Cooke2018). However, our experimental and survey findings show that work-family balance significantly moderates the indirect effects of ethics-oriented HRM systems on employees’ OCBs through moral attentiveness. Specifically, the positive relationship is stronger for employees who have high work-family balance. This important contribution to the HRM field extends empirical support to the literature that asserts that the work-family interface has contingent value for HRM effectiveness (Chen et al., Reference Chen, Jiang, Tang and Cooke2018; White, Hill, McGovern, Mills, & Smeaton, Reference White, Hill, McGovern, Mills and Smeaton2003).
Our findings also extend support to the integration of SCT and the JD–R model by implying that employees do not derive job resources only from the workplace or family; instead, it is the interaction between work and family that establishes a context to support the moral trajectories of ethics-oriented HRM systems in promoting employees’ OCBs. In doing so, we also extend the JD–R model into the behavioral ethics literature by explaining how ethical demands and resources influence employees’ behavior. Traditionally, the JD–R model has been applied to job demands such as workload and conflicting tasks as well as job resources such as autonomy and social support (Bakker et al., Reference Bakker, Hakanen, Demerouti and Xanthopoulou2007). Meanwhile, our conceptualization extends the JD–R model by integrating ethics-oriented HRM systems and work-family balance, positing that such systems place moral demands on employees (Shao & Peng, Reference Shao and Peng2023; Shen & Benson, Reference Shen and Benson2016), whereas work-family balance serves as a job resource that allows employees to focus more on moral considerations and decisions (Choi et al., Reference Choi, Kim, Han, Ryu, Park and Kwon2018; Kossek et al., Reference Kossek, Valcour, Lirio, Cooper and Holland2014).
Furthermore, our finding that work-family balance modifies the influencing mechanism of ethics-oriented HRM systems counters the substantial bias that exists toward unitarist assumptions in which the positive relationship between HRM practices and firm performance is assumed to have positive effects on employees (Godard, Reference Godard2001). Specifically, our model supports the recent assertion (Guerci et al., Reference Guerci, Hauff and Gilardi2022; Li, Fu, et al., Reference Li, Fu, Chadwick and Harney2024) that HRM practices aiming to promote individual and organizational ethics may also place additional demands on employees and, because of the required additional efforts, can impede employees’ positive discretionary behaviors (Cooper et al., Reference Cooper, Wang, Bartram and Cooke2019; Deery et al., Reference Deery, Rayton, Walsh and Kinnie2017; Gabriel et al., Reference Gabriel, Koopman, Rosen and Johnson2018; Wan et al., Reference Wan, Carlson, Quade and Kacmar2022). Our results suggest merit in rebalancing unitarist assumptions and recognizing that the positive impact of HRM practices may be conditional on employees’ circumstances that enable the direction of redundant resources (Ogbonnaya & Messersmith, Reference Ogbonnaya and Messersmith2019). Such a contingent approach is particularly pertinent to current research, as it is often positioned as seeking to encompass the duality of economic rationality as well as moral values and relational reality.
Finally, our findings enrich the HRM and OCB literature about the functioning, influencing mechanism, and boundary conditions of strategically targeted HRM systems (i.e., ethics-oriented HRM systems) in developing country contexts. Understanding ethics and morality concerning the HRM systems–OCB relationship in collectivist cultures and developing economies holds specific value (Leung, Reference Leung2007; Watoo, Cao, & Shuming, Reference Watoo, Cao and Shuming2023). Firms in developing countries have more varying social and moral values toward altruistic and helping behaviors than those in developed countries. Such firms thus provide an interesting setting to understand how and when strategically targeted HRM systems can influence the important psychological and behavioral outcomes of employees. Individuals in organizations with a collectivist focus may manage their work and family responsibilities in distinct ways and thus interpret and respond to HRM practices differently, owing to the influence of their cultural and family values (Pham et al., Reference Pham, Jabbour, Pereira, Usman, Ali and Vo‐Thanh2023).
Practical Implications
This study offers important implications for organizations that seek to promote OCBs through HRM practices. First, ethics-oriented HRM systems influence employees’ OCBs significantly. This implies that organizations should actively design and implement HRM practices that emphasize ethical ability, motivation, and opportunity within their workforce. Doing so entails recruiting and selecting ethical individuals, providing ethics training and development programs, and rewarding and recognizing employees who demonstrate ethical and helping behaviors. By implementing these practices, organizations can develop a robust ethical culture, reduce the risk of ethical lapses, boost employee morale, promote trust and collaboration, and enhance their reputation as an ethical and responsible business (Treviño et al., Reference Treviño, Weaver and Reynolds2006). These proactive HRM investments have the potential to shape employees’ moral thinking positively and drive them to engage in discretionary behaviors that benefit the organization and its members (Hannah et al., Reference Hannah, Avolio and Walumbwa2011; McMahon & Good, Reference McMahon and Good2016; Zhao et al., Reference Zhao, Zhou, He and Jiang2021).
Moreover, the understanding that employees’ moral attentiveness serves as a mediator between ethics-oriented HRM systems and OCBs suggests that managers need to go beyond simply promoting ethical behavior and should regularly consider ethics and morality among employees (Treviño & Weaver, Reference Treviño and Weaver2001). This can be achieved by incorporating ethics training into employee development programs, encouraging open communication channels for discussing ethical concerns, promoting cognitive conflicts, and providing ethical decision-making frameworks (Reynolds, Reference Reynolds2008). By nurturing employees’ ethics and morality, managers can build a workforce more sensitive to the ethical considerations of decisions and actions and accordingly encourage employees to engage in extra-role behaviors that contribute positively to the organization (Graham, Reference Graham1995; Grant, Reference Grant2007; Treviño & Weaver, Reference Treviño and Weaver2001).
Additionally, recognizing the moderating role of work-family balance on the indirect effect of ethics-oriented HRM systems on OCBs highlights the importance of supporting employees in managing their work and personal lives. Managers should prioritize initiatives that promote work–life balance such as offering flexible work arrangements and compressed workweeks as well as providing resources for stress management (Shockley & Allen, Reference Shockley and Allen2012). Organizations can also implement family-friendly policies such as parental leave, on-site childcare and eldercare assistance, and employee assistance to share the burden of family responsibilities (Hammer, Kossek, Yragui, Bodner, & Hanson, Reference Hammer, Kossek, Yragui, Bodner and Hanson2009). These policies can enhance work-family balance (Kossek et al., Reference Kossek, Valcour, Lirio, Cooper and Holland2014; Vaziri et al., Reference Vaziri, Wayne, Casper, Lapierre, Greenhaus, Amirkamali and Li2022) and the effectiveness of ethics-oriented HRM systems in promoting moral attentiveness and OCBs. Organizations’ training and awareness programs for both employees and managers can enhance their understanding of work-family balance issues (Carlson et al., Reference Carlson, Grzywacz and Zivnuska2009; Kiburz, Allen, & French, Reference Kiburz, Allen and French2017) and their critical role in implementing HRM practices. These managerial implications offer a holistic approach that managers should consider in integrating ethics into HRM practices to foster moral attentiveness among employees and support work-family balance to promote OCBs and overall organizational competitiveness.
Limitations and Future Directions
We recognize that our study has limitations. First, the study sample was derived from a list of firms that have attended management development training programs. Other firms may have different HRM priorities and arrangements and thus caution is warranted when generalizing this study’s findings to other organizations. Future studies could expand the sample by including a larger pool of enterprises.
Second, we measured the HRM system in terms of its frequency and presence; however, other important aspects such as strength and effectiveness remain unaddressed. Although we used validated measures, assessing HRM systems with greater specificity would allow capturing the complexity of such systems. For example, future studies could examine the strength, quality, and satisfaction aspects of strategically targeted HRM systems to measure their outcomes. In addition, the connection between HRM systems and employees’ perceptions of HRM practices is assumed in our study, as in most current HRM research; however, investigating this assumption could further clarify the influence of ability–motivation–opportunity-based HRM initiatives.
Further, while our study investigated an important mediator (moral attentiveness) in the relationship between ethics-oriented HRM systems and OCBs, other mechanisms such as the norm of reciprocity and identity-based explanations could also contribute to this relationship. Individuals high in moral attentiveness may indeed feel a heightened personal obligation to uphold the moral qualities and purpose of HRM practices, which could lead to increased engagement in OCBs. However, our study did not directly examine these alternative explanations, and further research is needed to explore these potential influences. Moreover, future research could examine the process through which ethics-oriented HRM practices differentially relate to employee motivation (extrinsic vs. intrinsic) to engage in OCBs.
Conclusion
Employees’ engagement in OCBs is vital for the growth and competitiveness of organizations. Their deliberate engagement in positive extra-role behaviors is an ethical decision shaped by their moral characteristics. Our study provides evidence that a strategically targeted ethics-oriented HRM system—through its integrated ethical ability-, motivation-, and opportunity-enhancing HRM practices—promotes employees’ OCBs by influencing their moral attentiveness. In addition, a high level of work-family balance strengthens the capacity of ethics-oriented HRM systems to promote OCBs in organizations.
Supplementary material
To view supplementary material for this article, please visit http://doi.org/10.1017/beq.2024.23.
Khuram Shahzad (he/him) is a distinguished faculty member in the Department of People, Organisation, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship (POSE) at Roehampton Business School, University of Roehampton, UK. His research mainly focuses on HRM systems and practices that shape the strategic behaviors and performance in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Leveraging research, he assists international development agencies and governments for developing policies and designing support programs to foster SME competitiveness and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Jun Gu (he/him) is the associate professor of Leadership and Negotiations in the Department of Management, Macquarie Business School Macquarie University, Australia. He specializes in management topics such as behavioral ethical decision-making, leadership, and negotiation. His work has appeared in journals such as Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Research Policy, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and The Leadership Quarterly.
Rebecca Mitchell (she/her) is director of the Health & Wellbeing Research Unit at Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University, Australia. She is an academic member of the Australian Psychological Society and her research interests lie in the area of organizational behavior and healthcare management, including well-being at work, leadership, and professional roles in healthcare organizations.
Ying Hong (she/her) is the Patricia Ramsey Distinguished Scholar and associate professor in the Leading People and Organizations area at the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University. She specializes in research in the strategic role of human-resource management. Her work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Resource Management, and Journal of Business Ethics.
Marco De Sisto is associate professor in management and the industry engagement coordinator at the Graduate School of Business and Law, RMIT University. His research interest focuses on the implementation of strategic management principles to improve the decision-making processes of top management teams in uncertain or extreme environments to achieve a greater (societal) impact.
Yumeng Luo (yumeng.luo@uon.edu.au, corresponding author) received her master’s degree from Qingdao University, China, and is currently a PhD candidate at the Newcastle Business School, the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research interests focus on non-market strategy and green innovation in emerging economies. Her work has been published in several high-ranked journals such as Information Processing & Management and Safety Science.
