The influence of job performance outcomes on ethical assessments

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how ethical assessments of employees are influenced by job performance outcomes, that is, by an employee's success or failure as measured by a successful or unsuccessful job appraisal.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 180 employees rated the performance of a fictitious salesperson described in one of four written vignettes as successful/ethical, successful/unethical, unsuccessful/ethical or unsuccessful/unethical.FindingsJob performance outcomes bias the ethical assessments of raters, even raters with stronger ethical beliefs. Successful employees were judged to have exhibited more ethical behaviors than unsuccessful employees.Research limitations/implicationsJob performance outcomes are a systematic source of bias that should be examined to determine the locus of effect as either rater perception and/or recall of ethical behavior that is biased by the job outcomes achieved by ratees. Studies should also examine other rater characteristics such as cognitive moral development; whether ethical intensity of the incidents in the vignettes influences assessments; whether training or other sources of appraisal (e.g. customers or peers) moderates bias; and field settings.Practical implicationsManagers who reward unethical performance with positive job appraisals will influence other employees to be more accepting of unethical behavior and may undermine organizational processes such as background checks. Organizations may try to counter these effects by other sources of appraisal (e.g. customers or peers), training, or supplementary methods.Originality/valueThe research provides important new empirical evidence regarding incorporating ethical behavior into performance appraisals, and has implications for managers seeking to improve employees' ethical behaviors, and for researchers examining performance appraisals, cognition, ethics, and organizational processes.

Investigating the Impacts of Organizational Factors on Employees’ Unethical Behavior Within Organization in the Context of Chinese Firms

“…Employees' job performance outcomes may influence their ethical assessments and evaluations as a source of systematic bias (Selvarajan and Cloninger 2009). If employees know that they will be audited by their peers, their supervisors, and their top management teams, they are more likely to follow the company's codes of conduct and improve their job performance.…”

Effectiveness of performance appraisal on performance of employees

“…Feedback richness elaborates the specific appraisal environment by which frequent, specific and timely feedback is provided by employees to employers regarding job (Kinicki et al, 2004). Perceived accuracy of performance appraisal has been regarded as an important aspect to evaluate the satisfaction and motivation in employees in relation to performance appraisal (Wood and Marshall, 2008;and Selvarajan and Cloninger, 2009). In this regard, prior studies suggest that if employee perceive that appraisal outcomes are accurate, they are more likely to recognize these results and act on them (Roberson and Stewart, 2006).…”

“…Contrary to this, motivation represents the degree to which employees are willing to make improvements in their performance (Roberson and Stewart, 2006). Some authors suggest that perceptions about fairness hold a critical importance within organizations because it avoids negative outcomes such as disruptive behaviors and employee turnover and also enhance positive outcomes of organizations such positive citizenship, commitment and satisfaction with the job (Selvarajan and Cloninger, 2009). …”

“…However, this particular topic has not been researched appropriately in the Asian context specifically in perspective of Pakistan. Selvarajan and Cloninger (2009) have also noted that performance appraisal is not effectively developed process within Pakistani organizations, but the evidence and prior literature on this topic is rare. Moreover, the prior literature on this subject aims at observational aspects and little emphasis is made on the empirical findings of the effectiveness of performance appraisal and its influence on employee performance (Selvarajan and Cloninger¸ 2008).…”

The Impact of Organizational Justice on Employee Intrinsic and Extrinsic Performance : A Case Study in Kota Kinabalu Polytechnic , Malaysia

“…Thus, the relationship between organizational justice and job performance is not only dependent on job tasks but also involves interpersonal elements and motivations which also contribute to job performance. Good job performance will increase if management put efforts to improve ethical behaviour in the organization (Selvarajan & Cloninger, 2009). Therefore, organizational justice must exist in the organization to encourage good performance among the workers.…”