TY - JOUR
T1 - Rogues in the ranks of selling organizations
T2 - Using corporate ethics to manage workplace bullying and job satisfaction
AU - Valentine, Sean
AU - Fleischman, Gary
AU - Godkin, Lynn
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Pi Sigma Epsilon National Educational Foundation.
PY - 2015/1/1
Y1 - 2015/1/1
N2 - The literature recognizes that the sales profession is an inherently competitive and self-interested occupation that can be negatively impacted by deviant behavior and rationalizations of unethical conduct. The unique boundary-spanning nature and autonomy of such work means that there is often little management oversight of sales professionals' behavior, which may lead to misbehavior and poor work attitudes. Yet, evidence suggests that the development of corporate ethical values (CEVs) can mitigate concerns about unethical conduct, suggesting that these principles might be used to reduce workplace bullying and enhance job satisfaction. Using a self-report questionnaire, information was collected from national and regional samples of selling professionals employed in different organizations located in the USA (N = 356). While controlling for the effects of sampling and social desirability, results indicated that increased communication of an ethics code was associated with stronger perceptions of CEVs, while ethical values were negatively related to perceptions of workplace bullying and positively related to job satisfaction. Workplace bullying was also negatively related to job satisfaction. The findings suggest that an ethical work environment should be instituted in sales organizations to reduce misconduct and enhance work attitudes.
AB - The literature recognizes that the sales profession is an inherently competitive and self-interested occupation that can be negatively impacted by deviant behavior and rationalizations of unethical conduct. The unique boundary-spanning nature and autonomy of such work means that there is often little management oversight of sales professionals' behavior, which may lead to misbehavior and poor work attitudes. Yet, evidence suggests that the development of corporate ethical values (CEVs) can mitigate concerns about unethical conduct, suggesting that these principles might be used to reduce workplace bullying and enhance job satisfaction. Using a self-report questionnaire, information was collected from national and regional samples of selling professionals employed in different organizations located in the USA (N = 356). While controlling for the effects of sampling and social desirability, results indicated that increased communication of an ethics code was associated with stronger perceptions of CEVs, while ethical values were negatively related to perceptions of workplace bullying and positively related to job satisfaction. Workplace bullying was also negatively related to job satisfaction. The findings suggest that an ethical work environment should be instituted in sales organizations to reduce misconduct and enhance work attitudes.
KW - Corporate ethical values
KW - Job satisfaction
KW - Workplace bullying
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84957066958&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/08853134.2015.1010542
DO - 10.1080/08853134.2015.1010542
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84957066958
SN - 0885-3134
VL - 35
SP - 143
EP - 163
JO - Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management
JF - Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management
IS - 2
ER -