Individual Values, Employment Characteristics and the Ethical Climate in Tourism

Abstract

Purpose-The ethical climate represents the employees' perception of standards and norms of acceptable behaviour within the organization. However, the ethical climate might be shaped by the employees' individual values, such as security, self-respect, being well-respected, self-fulfillment, sense of belonging, excitement, fun and enjoyment, good inerpersonal relationships and the sense of accomplishment. On the other hand, employment characteristics, such as employment on the seasonal basis or throughout the whole year, full or modified working hours and the length of the employees' working tenure, could also shape the ethical climate perception. Accordingly, this research was aimed at identifying the impact of individual values and selected employment characteristics on perception of the ethical climate among the employees in hotels of Kopaonik, popular tourism destination of Serbia. Methodology-This survey research started in Kopaonik in 2013 and it was continued until the 2015. It was conducted on the sample of 211 hotel employees. Collected data were analysed by using the Statistical Programme for Social Sciences, in order to identify the influence of individual values and employment characteristics on the ethical climate perception. Findings-The research results pointed out that four out of nine individual values (sense of belonging, good interpersonal relations, self-fulfilment, being well respected) shape the employees' perception of certain ethical climate types, together with the working status and the working tenure of the employees. Further research might be oriented towards different countries in order to identify similarities and differences between results gained in this research, conducted within transitional society, comparing to the countries considered as developed in terms of economy and ethical standards. Contributions-Besides theoretical contributions, the research results might have practical implication, due to the fact that the awareness on the employees' individual values, together with providing the adequate conditions related to their employment, could encourage the positive ethical climate, while, in opposite, it could cause different negative outcomes for general business performances.