Title

When Does Ethical Code Enforcement Matter In The Inter-Organizational Context? The Moderating Role Of Switching Costs

Keywords

Commitment; Ethical code enforcement; Inter-organizational relationships; Switching costs

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. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Publication Date

11-1-2011

Publication Title

Journal of Business Ethics

Volume

104

Issue

1

Number of Pages

47-58

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0888-8

Socpus ID

80255123414 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/80255123414

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