윤리부조화와 신뢰간의 관계 : 유통업체 실무자 및 학생대상 실험연구

초록

This study has the purpose that We highlighted the possibility of ethical values, a major issue in the modern corporate environment, as an important factor in building trust in the relationships. Ethical values are incorporated in the proposed research model in the form of ethical dissonance, and it is assumed that trust emerges based on ethical value evaluation. Trust is a relatively subjective concept that can be understood from the viewpoint of individual managers in firms. Likewise, so are ethical values. Since individual managers in supplier firms and buyer firms are at the frontline in the inter-firm relationships, their perception of ethical values and trust is crucial for the successful operation of Supply Chains. When managers in a buyer firm feel that the firm’s code of ethics is supported by decisions and business actions, they perceive low levels of ethical dissonance. In turn, managers in a supplier firm might feel consistency from face-to-face contact with buyers and their activities, and thus perceive less uncertainties. Mutual trust can be naturally developed in this process. Efforts to diminish ethical dissonance and to strengthen trust would help improve Supply Chain collaboration. Buyer firms are typically larger in size and more influential than supplier firms. If managers in buyer firms perceive discrepancies in ethical values, they try to reduce tensions that stem from the conflict experienced. Consequently, their ethical beliefs might be shaken. In most cases, they have to give up their own ethically preferred behaviors to conform to their organizational direction. Such dilemmas give rise to inconsistent behaviors, which can be perceived by managers in supplier firms. They may doubt the counterpart’s sincerity and, as a result, mutual trust cannot be easily developed. To obtain valid and reliable research findings, it needs to be assumed that the ethical dissonance perceived by managers in a buyer firm causes a sense of suspicion to managers in a supplier firm, ultimately resulting in inconsistent inter-firm transactions and the erosion of mutual trust. Hence an experimental setting is designed to test such relationships. Particularly, cross-cultural approaches in regard to the relationships as well as the sequential structural model can contribute to generalize the theory. The research findings of the american student group indicate negative relationships between ethical dissonance and the two trust factors. And these relationships did show statistical significance, but the findings of the other two groups didn’t.

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