Title

When does Ethical Code Enforcement Matter in the Inter-Organizational Context? The Moderating Role of Switching Costs

Authors

Authors

S. R. Colwell; M. J. Zyphur;M. Schminke

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

J. Bus. Ethics

Keywords

Ethical code enforcement; Switching costs; Commitment; Inter-organizational relationships; SIDE-BET THEORY; METHOD VARIANCE; SOCIAL-RESPONSIBILITY; ORGANIZATIONAL; RESEARCH; EMPIRICAL-ANALYSIS; COMMITMENT; PERFORMANCE; DISTRIBUTOR; INDUSTRY; POLICY; Business; Ethics

Abstract

Drawing on signaling theory, we suggest that a supplier's enforcement of ethical codes sends signals about the supplier that affect a buyer's decision to continue their commitment to the supplier. We then draw on side-bet theory to hypothesize how switching costs influence the importance of a supplier's enforcement of ethical codes in predicting a buyer's continuance commitment to a supplier. We empirically test our model with data from 158 purchasing managers across three manufacturing industries. Results confirm the connection between ethical code enforcement and continuance commitment, but suggest that a supplier's enforcement of ethical codes matter less when switching suppliers is perceived as too costly.

Journal Title

Journal of Business Ethics

Volume

104

Issue/Number

1

Publication Date

1-1-2011

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

47

Last Page

58

WOS Identifier

WOS:000296087400003

ISSN

0167-4544

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