Effects of ethical context on conflict and commitment among Chinese accountants
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to addresses the impact of organizational ethical context
(ethical climate and ethical culture) and Machiavellianism on organizational-professional conflict
(OPC) and affective organizational commitment (OC) among Chinese accountants. The paper also aims
to test for interactive effects of ethical context and Machiavellianism.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a field survey of 89 professional
accountants employed by companies operating in Mainland China.
Findings – Two aspects of the organizational ethical culture, expectations of obedience to authority
and strong ethical norms/incentives, emerged as the dominant influences on both OPC and affective
commitment. Strong negative correlations are observed between OPC and OC, and between
Machiavellianism and OC. Contrary to expectations, the organizational ethical context had the greatest
impact on OC among high Machiavellians. For low Machiavellians, OPC fully mediated the
relationship between ethical context and OC, but no such mediation effects are found for high
Machiavellians.
Originality/value – This is the first study of the relationships among ethical context, OPC and OC
among industry accountants in China, and the first study of the effects of Machiavellianism on these
relationships. The results generally support our contention that organizational ethical context will be a
key determinant of OPC and OC. The fact that weaker ethical cultures were strongly associated with
increased conflict and decreased commitment suggests that managers of accounting/auditing
departments should take a proactive approach to developing and nurturing positive or supportive
cultures. The differences in results for high and low Machiavellians also raise interesting questions
that should be addressed in future research.
Keywords Accountants, Ethics, China, Conflict