An examination of change management strategies contributing to a work climate supportive of ethical employee behavior and decisions in U.S. colleges

Ethical lapses in higher education continue to make national headlines despite the significant toll on reputation, enrollment, and fundraising such public scandals can levy. To foster ethical behavior and decisions among employees, college leaders must be able to influence the ethical work climate, which can be understood as employee perceptions of ethical standards that impact ethical behavior and decisions. This study focused on the identification of change management strategies that senior academic administrators at U.S. colleges can implement to cultivate an ethical work climate supportive of ethical employee behavior and decisions. Following an evidence-based management approach, this dissertation used a systematic review with realist synthesis and a theoretical lens that incorporated ethical leadership, ethical work climate, change management, moral disengagement, and a typology of ethical lapses in higher education. Study findings confirmed that ethics institutionalization in the work culture of an organization is the primary change management strategy by which college leaders can cultivate an ethical work climate that supports ethical employee behavior and decisions. Further, ethical leadership and change management are interrelated interventions to establish an ethical work culture, which is a necessary antecedent to an ethical work climate. Specific change management mechanisms positively related to ethical employee behavior and decisions include ethics training, ethics codes, accountability, mastery goals, corporate social responsibility, supervisory support, social norms, and quality-related human resources practices.Running Head: FOSTERING ETHICAL EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGES 1 An Examination of Change Management Strategies Contributing to a Work Climate Supportive of Ethical Employee Behavior and Decisions in U.S. Colleges Matthew Hisrich A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of University of Maryland University College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Management Deborah Wharff, D.M. James Gelatt, Ph.D. Wanda Wagner, D.M. 2018 FOSTERING ETHICAL EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGES 2 © Copyright by Matthew Hisrich 2018 FOSTERING ETHICAL EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGES 3 Abstract Ethical lapses in higher education continue to make national headlines despite the significant toll on reputation, enrollment, and fundraising such public scandals can levy. To foster ethical behavior and decisions among employees, college leaders must be able to influence the ethical work climate, which can be understood as employee perceptions of ethical standards that impact ethical behavior and decisions. This study focused on the identification of change management strategies that senior academic administrators at U.S. colleges can implement to cultivate an ethical work climate supportive of ethical employee behavior and decisions. Following an evidence-based management approach, this dissertation used a systematic review with realist synthesis and a theoretical lens that incorporated ethical leadership, ethical work climate, change management, moral disengagement, and a typology of ethical lapses in higher education. Study findings confirmed that ethics institutionalization in the work culture of an organization is the primary change management strategy by which college leaders can cultivate an ethical work climate that supports ethical employee behavior and decisions. Further, ethical leadership and change management are interrelated interventions to establish an ethical work culture, which is a necessary antecedent to an ethical work climate. Specific change management mechanisms positively related to ethical employee behavior and decisions include ethics training, ethics codes, accountability, mastery goals, corporate social responsibility, supervisory support, social norms, and quality-related human resources practices. Keywords: systematic review, evidence-based management, realist synthesis, higher education, change management, ethical lapses, ethical leadership, ethics institutionalization, ethical work culture, ethical work climate, moral disengagement FOSTERING ETHICAL EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGES 4 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge my wife Heidi and our two daughters, Anna and Lily. They have been infinitely supportive throughout the entire journey of this doctoral program and have endured lost weekends and endless hours of me on the computer. I am deeply appreciative of their sacrifice of my time, attention, and resources. I hope to make it up to them as best as I can in the coming years. I would like to thank former Earlham School of Religion Dean Jay Marshall, who has been a mentor since I graduated from ESR. He encouraged me to pursue this kind of training when I approached him about what I might need to do to prepare one day to step into a role such as his. Beyond this, he was willing to grant me the flexibility to engage in the kind of work necessary to complete this degree while also continuing to work at ESR. In this respect, I should also extend my appreciation to the entire ESR community, whose members – staff, faculty, students, graduates, board members, and supporters – have consistently offered encouragement and understood my many absences from common meals, worship services, birthday parties, more. I am looking forward to being a more regular presence on campus once this process is complete. During and following the interview process for Acting Dean of ESR, both former Earlham President Alan Price and current Interim President Avis Stewart expressed their support for me completing this degree even as I was assuming these new responsibilities. For that I am very grateful. ESR graduate John Todd deserves special mention her for his willingness to help edit this dissertation. I couldn’t have done it without your help, John! From the University of Maryland University College’s Doctor of Management program, I would like to my cohorts – both assigned and adopted – for their support, humor, patience, and all around awesomeoness. I could not have completed the program without you. I would also FOSTERING ETHICAL EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGES 5 like to thank Leslie Dinauer for her consistent encouragement and the attention and care she places into program design and our residencies – always finding ways to inspire us toward reaching the goal. Laura Witz both tried our cohort by fire in our initial courses and bandaged us back together, so we could move forward stronger and with more confidence in our abilities as emerging practitioner-scholars. I appreciate her expertise in both tasks now – even though I didn’t always appreciate the trials at the time! Wanda Wagner’s courses were phenomenally fulfilling, as she both helped me hone my skills and strongly encouraged me to develop the Weak Leadership framework using an evidence-based management approach. Finally, Deborah Wharff – who served as my primary dissertation advisor – was and continues to be not only just an academic advisor but also a colleague, mentor, sympathetic ear, strong advocate, and most importantly a friend. Thank you for your service above and beyond the call of duty, Deborah. FOSTERING ETHICAL EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGES 6 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Jackie and Tim Hisrich. They have always been my biggest supporters and fans, and from my earliest days I’ve always known I could do anything knowing that they were there behind me every step of the way. Their unflagging interest in reading my latest papers – even when I thought they were dry as dust! – continues to amaze and inspire me to be that kind of parent to Anna and Lily. I am incredibly blessed to call you Mom and Dad and hope I can continue to make you proud. Thank you. FOSTERING ETHICAL EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGES 7 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 4 Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... 6 List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview .................................................................................... 12 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 12 Background .............................................................................................................................. 13 Problem Statement .................................................................................................................. 22 Purpose and Scope of the Study ............................................................................................. 23 Significance of Study to Management Practice and Scholarship ....................................... 26 Research Question ................................................................................................................... 27 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................... 28 Organization of Dissertation .................................................................................................. 29 Chapter 2: Literature Review ................................................................................................... 30 Introduction to Chapter and Review of Study Background ............................................... 30 Discussion of Theoretical Framework ................................................................................... 30 Typologies of ethical lapses ................................................................................................. 31 Ethical climate...................................................................................................................... 35 Moral disengagement .......................................................................................................... 37 Ethical leadership ................................................................................................................ 39 Change management ........................................................................................................... 40 Scoping Literature Review ..................................................................................................... 42 The relationship between ethical leadership and ethical climate .................................... 42 FOSTERING ETHICAL EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGES 8 Ethical lapse types ............................................................................................................... 45 Moral disengagement .......................................................................................................... 48 CIMO graphic ...................................................................................................................... 50 Cultivating an ethical work climate through effective change management ................. 51 A review of ethical qualifications included in job postings .............................................. 53 A review of ethical qualifications included in association and accrediting guidelines .. 54 Thesis statement ...................................................................................................................... 58 Conceptual Framework and Narrative ................................................................................. 59 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................... 63 Chapter 3: Methodology............................................................................................................. 64 Introduction to the Chapter ................................................................................................... 64 Evidence-based Systematic Review for Management .......................................................... 64 Systematic Review ............................................................................................................... 64 Configurative approach ...................................................................................................... 66 Realist synthesis ................................................................................................................... 66 Search Strategies ..................................................................................................................... 67 Quality Appraisal of Literature ............................................................................................. 69 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria........................................................................................ 70 Weight of Evidence assessment .......................................................................................... 70 Synthesis Methodology ........................................................................................................... 74 Expert Panel Review ............................................................................................................... 86 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................... 89 Chapter 4: Findings: Analysis and Discussion ......................................................................... 91 FOSTERING ETHICAL EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGES 9 Introduction to the Chapter ................................................................................................... 91 Findings and Discussion Based on Synthesis and Analysis ................................................. 91 Finding 1 ............................................................................................................................... 94 Finding 2 ............................................................................................................................... 97 Finding 3 ............................................................................................................................. 101 Conceptual Model and Narrative ........................................................................................ 111 Alternative Perspectives ....................................................................................................... 113 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................. 114 Chapter 5: Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 116 Introduction to the Chapter ................................................................................................. 116 Overall Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 116 Implications for Management .............................................................................................. 118 Recommendations for Management .................................................................................... 119 Limitations ............................................................................................................................. 121 Implications for Scholars and Future Research ................................................................. 121 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................. 123 References ................................................................................................................................. 124 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................ 148 Appendix B ................................................................................................................................ 194 Appendix C ................................................................................................................................ 214 Appendix D ................................................................................................................................ 215 Appendix E ................................................................................................................................ 233 FOSTERING ETHICAL EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGES 10 List of Figures Figure 1. Distinguishing between culture, climate, and their relevant subsets. ........................... 15 Figure 2. Initial concept map of college employee ethical violations ......................................... 19 Figure 3. Initial CIMO logic model. ............................................................................................ 26 Figure 4. Typology of ethics failure in academia ........................................................................ 32 Figure 5. Model of ethical context of organizations.................................................................... 37 Figure 6. Mechanisms through which moral self-sanctions are selectively disengaged from detrimental conduct at different points in the moral control process ............................................ 38 Figure 7. Preliminary CIMO logic concept graphic of fostering ethical employee behavior in colleges. ....................................................................................................................................... 51 Figure 8. Revision of CIMO: Conceptual framework for an ethical work climate supportive of ethical employee behavior and decisions in U.S. colleges. ...................................................... 60 Figure 9. Revised conceptual framework for an ethical work climate supportive of ethical employee behavior and decisions in U.S. colleges. ...................................................................... 62 Figure 10. Systematic review steps. ............................................................................................. 66 Figure 11. PRISMA flow chart. ................................................................................................... 73 Figure 12. Initial network display of codes. ................................................................................. 80 Figure 13. Secondary network display of codes. .......................................................................... 82 Figure 14. Establishing an ethical work culture. ........................................................................ 108 Figure 15. Final conceptual framework for an ethical work climate supportive of ethical employee behavior and decisions in U.S. colleges. .................................................................... 112 FOSTERING ETHICAL EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGES 11 List of Tables Table 3. 1 Weight of Evidence Logic Chart ................................................................................. 71 Table 3. 2 Article Code Designation ............................................................................................. 76 Table 3. 3 Code and Code Count Sampling of 115 Total Data Set .............................................. 77 Table 3. 4 Depth and Breadth of Codes ........................................................................................ 77 Table 3. 5 Top 10 Codes Based on Breadth/Depth Averaging ..................................................... 78 Table 3. 6 Consolidated Codes ..................................................................................................... 81 Table 3. 7 Ethical Leadership Characteristics ............................................................................... 83 Table 3. 8 Change Management Tactics ....................................................................................... 84 Table 3. 9 Ethical Leadership and Change Management Results ................................................. 85 Table 3. 10 Summary of Subject Matter Expert Credentials ........................................................ 86 Table 3. 11 Subject Matter Expert Evaluation & Feedback Form Prompts ................................. 88 Table 4. 1 Data Set Study Contexts .............................................................................................. 93 Table 4. 2 Linking Findings to the Research Question ............................................................... 109 FOSTERING ETHICAL EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGES 12 Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview Introduction Research on four-year colleges and universities in the United States (hereafter referred to as simply colleges) suggests that scandals among employees negatively impact enrollment (Luca, Rooney, & Smith, 2016), and colleges can suffer fundraising losses, as well (Ryan, Hamilton, & Pringle, 2018). College scandals continue to make headlines, however, undermining public trust in the ability of both leadership and institutional safeguards to maintain an ethical organizational culture. Consider the following examples: In September 2015, Arizona State University placed history professor Matthew Whitaker on leave after multiple accusations of plagiarism, including a dispute over allegedly plagiarized training materials with the Phoenix Police Department (Ryman, 2016). In October 2015, a prominent University of California at Berkeley astronomer resigned under pressure from faculty colleagues following repeated allegations of sexua