ETHICAL ISSUES IN MODERN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Student’s Name

FACULTY OF BUSINESS

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Contents
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER ONE:.............................................................................................................................................5
BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM................................................................................................................5
Statement of the Issue............................................................................................................................6
General Objectives..................................................................................................................................7
Research Questions and Hypotheses.......................................................................................................8
Research Questions.................................................................................................................................8
Introduction to Chapter 2:...........................................................................................................................9
Literature Review....................................................................................................................................9
Definitions of Key Concepts...................................................................................................................12
The Employee Risk Triangle Theory.......................................................................................................14
General Discussion................................................................................................................................15
China Square Ethical Values...................................................................................................................17
Performance of China Square................................................................................................................18
Empirical Literature Review...................................................................................................................18
Research Gap.........................................................................................................................................22
CHAPTER THREE........................................................................................................................................23
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES................................................................................................................23
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................23
Population of the Review......................................................................................................................25
Sample and Sampling Techniques.........................................................................................................26
Data Collection......................................................................................................................................27
Types of Data Primary...........................................................................................................................27
Secondary Data......................................................................................................................................28
Questionnaire:.......................................................................................................................................28
Interviews..............................................................................................................................................28
Data Validity..........................................................................................................................................29
Dependability of Information................................................................................................................30
Confidentiality Concerns.......................................................................................................................30
Building Relationships...........................................................................................................................31
Review of Policy and Procedure Manuals..............................................................................................31
CHAPTER FOUR..........................................................................................................................................32
RESEARCH FINDING ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION..................................................................................32
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................32
Age and gender.....................................................................................................................................33
Age and Ethical Conduct Awareness....................................................................................................34
Measure of Relationship (Pearson Correlation Coefficient)...................................................................35
The research's findings and analysis are as follows...............................................................................35
Age and Other Variables........................................................................................................................35
Gender and Other Variables..................................................................................................................36
Sufficiency of Morals the board in Upgrading Association Execution and Different Factors..............37
Frequency Analysis................................................................................................................................38
Areas of Awareness of Employees Ethical Conduct to Organization Performance................................38
Adequacy of Ethics Management in Enhancing Organization Performance..........................................39
Examples of Ethical Issues in Human Resources....................................................................................41
CHAPTER FIVE............................................................................................................................................47
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS..............................................................................................47
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................47
Summary of the Findings...................................................................................................................47
Awareness of the Relationship between Employees'............................................................................47
 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................49
Recommendations.................................................................................................................................50
Implication of the Results......................................................................................................................50
Limitations of the Study.........................................................................................................................52

ETHICAL ISSUES IN MODERN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Student’s Name

THIS DISSERTATION IS SUBMITTED TO FULFILL

THE PARTIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE IN

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

TO THE

FACULTY OF BUSINESS & ACCOUNTANCY

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to determine how ethical behavior by employees affects how

well an organization does. Public organizations have been viewed as a liability rather than an

asset by taxpayers for quite some time. This is due to the fact that their services rendering
activities frequently include weak control, corruption, and low productivity, erosion of work

ethics, indiscipline, and flagrant violations of rules, regulations, and procedures. China Square

hasn't met 81% of its performance goals, according to statistics. Water losses, collection

efficiency, and water pressure to customers were all notable failures.

The increased reports of unethical behavior by respective employees and the unstable

performance of public organizations in China, particularly China Square, raise the question of

whether the two have any connection to one another. The researcher used survey monkey

software, a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and documentary analysis, all of which

were adaptable and sensitive to the social context. Statistical Package for the Software System

(SPSS) version 16 was used to conduct a quantitative analysis of the data. Employee ethical

behavior was found to have a significant impact on company performance, according to the

study.

The relationship played a significant role in unethical behavior that led to the

organization's poor performance. The assessment came to the conclusion that the performance of

an organization is influenced by a variety of factors and that ethical behavior on the part of

employees is a factor, but not the primary one. It is argued, based on the findings, that

organizational performance is influenced by a variety of factors in addition to ethical behavior on

the part of employees.

CHAPTER ONE:
BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM
Background of the Problem Employee ethical behavior in organizations is not a novel

idea or problem; it frequently appears in newspaper headlines. According to Steinberg's

argument from 1994, "ordinary decency" refers to qualities like honesty, fairness, and integrity in

the business world. According to Adenubi, ethical behavior is seen as a part of a person's social

responsibility to an organization in order to ensure its stability and survival. According to Geetu

(2003), ethics cannot be ignored by an organization. Indeed, ethics has been incorporated into

some companies' core values. However, in order for organizations to successfully integrate

ethical practices and competencies, they must first develop a greater and more widespread

understanding of ethics.

Organizational ethics, according to numerous researchers, play a significant role in

ensuring that company goals are achieved. According to Peters and Waterman (1982), cited by

Lok, this has influenced the creation of a formal code of ethics that regulates the ethical conduct

of employees. Rossy found that more than 85% of businesses have developed and distributed

organizational codes of conduct to significantly influence the ethical behavior of their

employees. According to the suggestions, the existence of a formal code of ethics will typically

guarantee the highest standards of behavior and stop members of an organization from acting

unethically. However, experience demonstrates that adhering to norms—informal codes

characterized primarily by isolation and solidarity—frequently undermines these formal codes,

Chye argues. It is no longer possible to ignore the growing demand from stakeholders like

customers, investors, and the community for businesses to act ethically and responsibly.

Investors' concerns about the moral actions of business leaders have skyrocketed in recent years.
Hian argues that the corporate sector as a vehicle for investors' funds suffers when directors and

executives routinely disclose unethical behavior.

The frequency of reports about scandals, questionable business practices, and political

behavior in numerous organizations is extremely high. Anand and others 2004) details corporate

scandals involving multinational corporations like Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing, and

Parmalat and how they draw attention to the pressing need for corporate governance, CSR, and

ethical behavior within organizations. However, according to McDonald (1999), ethics programs

are implemented to encourage moral behavior within organizations and to encourage employees

to act morally. The extent of stakeholders' widespread criticism of employees' unethical and

hostile behavior in a variety of public organizations, which prompted the need for behavior

change, sparked interest in this study.

Statement of the Issue

For a considerable amount of time, public organizations have been viewed as a liability

rather than an asset by taxpayers. This is because their services, including the President's Office,

have been found to have low productivity, deteriorating work ethics, indiscipline, flagrant

disregard for rules, regulations, and procedures, weak control, and widespread corruption (1999).

According to Kleinhempel (2009), unethical behavior costs businesses a lot of money. According

to a number of studies, businesses with illegal records have not only had to pay for investigations

and fines, but they have also seen their stock prices drop significantly and report, on average,

lower rates of profitability than their law-abiding counterparts. In fact, a lot of them have seen

sharp drops in sales, higher costs for equity, and significant harm to their reputations among

customers and other stakeholders.

 Using China Square as an example, it has been quickly reported that unethical behavior

and unstable performance in public organizations have increased recently. The Water Utilities

Performance Report (2010–2011) reveals that China Square has failed to meet 81 percent of the

established performance goals. Water losses, collection efficiency, and water pressure to

customers were all notable failures. China Square met the targets by 53% for which there is no

financial penalty for noncompliance; the main failure was increasing the number of service

hours. The majority of illegal and unethical practices that appear to affect the organization's

operations appear to be carried out by China Square employees themselves, according to the

China Square

Technical Report (2010). Despite the provision of the necessary facilities and training on

ethical conduct for employees, awareness of its existence among individuals has not yet been

raised, this unstable performance of public organizations in China, particularly China Square,

and the increased reports on unethical conduct by respective employees raise the question of

whether the two have any related impact on each other. Even in reputable organizations where it

has been established, very little is known about its availability and capabilities outside of its

implementers. Even though every effort has been made to improve ethical behavior, very little is

known. As a result, the goal of this study is to examine the effects of employees' ethical behavior

on company performance.

General Objectives
The purpose of this study was to find out how employees' ethical behavior affects how

well an organization does.

The following are the specific objectives of this study:

 i. To investigate the impact of employees' ethical behavior on the performance of the

organization.

ii. To measure how well an organization is doing by how well its employees follow ethical

guidelines.

iii. To investigate the organization's dissemination of ethical knowledge and skills.

Research Questions and Hypotheses

This study relied on the alternative hypothesis, in which the researcher predicted that

unethical behavior on the part of employees was significantly associated with poor

organizational performance. The researcher was of the opinion that employees' risk of social

disorder and stress would have motivated them to act unethically.

Research Questions

The following were the research questions for this study:

i. Are employees aware of and able to describe ethical behavior within the organization?

ii. What factors will enhance the ethical behavior of service providers' employees?

iii. How would employees describe the application of ethical conduct?

The significance of the research The findings of this study will be of great assistance to

the government, private, and public organizations in China in assessing their performance as an

organization within the framework of their respective institutions and determining how

employees' ethical actions affect them. The study also makes it easier for authorities in
organizations, like China Square, to look at how their organizations perform and how employees'

ethical behavior affects them.

However, scholars and researchers who intend to investigate the same phenomenon in

greater depth will find this study to be an additional resource.

Introduction to Chapter 2:
Literature Review
This chapter aims to highlight other studies that are either directly or generally related to

the research topic. It describes the study's conceptual and theoretical framework, empirical

review, theoretical literature review, research gap, and conceptual framework. For the past few

decades, practitioners and academics have been interested in researching how employees'

performance affects an organization's success. Employee performance has been linked to various

predictors in previous research. Employee performance is a behavior that is directly observable

and includes both the mental actions and products that lead to organizational outcomes like

achieving goals. One of these important predictors that is well-liked in the banking industry is

ethical behavior.

According to Abushal & Adenubi (2000), individuals in any organization are seen as

having a social responsibility to act ethically in order to ensure the organization's stability and

survival. Ethical behavior is crucial to the organization's smooth operation, performance, and

long-term viability. Adhikari (2008) states that every employee, including managers, must

behave ethically and adhere to high moral standards. In a similar vein, Alzolo (2012) stated that

ethical behavior has a significant impact on a company's relationships with a variety of

stakeholders and is crucial to the company's success. Booth and Schulz (2004) say that managers'
perceptions of business ethics are linked to things like the ability to tell the difference between

good and bad behavior, proper manners, and other things.

Similarly, ethics entails determining what is right and wrong and acting accordingly

(Ferrell et al., 1998). Walker (2014) asserts that the alignment of employee and organization

values is crucial to an organization's success. In addition, respect is an essential organizational

value that is crucial to strong culture, engagement, and recognition. Organizational culture and

respect perceptions are inextricably linked, and a lack of either can have a significant negative

impact on the business. According to Huo & Binning (2008), individuals' perceptions of being

welcomed or accepted by a group increased when respect was shown to them. Phina and others

According to the findings of this study (2018), in order for teams to perform at a high level,

certain team members need to have skills in interpersonal communication, problem-solving, and

decision-making as well as technical expertise.

In a similar vein, Abdulle and Aydintan (2019) stated that while individuals may help

organizations achieve their goals or objectives, teams' success (teamwork) remains their primary

accomplishment. In addition, they discovered that employee performance is significantly and

positively impacted by teamwork, team trust, performance evaluations, and rewards. In

workplace situations, reward and punishment as a gift to demonstrate acceptance of the behavior

and actions

In a similar vein, Pratheepkanth (2011) stated that the company is expected to keep

motivated, qualified employees. This can be accomplished by assigning a particular system or

strategy that strikes a balance between the expected contributions and the rewards or awards that

are given. Supervisors in the workplace use punishment to control or modify employees'

behavior. The discipline go on in spite of the call from the board to kill discipline from
authoritative discipline in light of casualties' negative responses to the directed discipline

(O'Fallon and Butterfield, 2013). Similarly, Panekenan et al. 2019) discovered that employees

readily accept punishment. In a similar vein, Noon (2001) demonstrated that the severity of the

punishment may not be the most significant factor in individuals' performance improvement.

Putra and Damayanti (2020) came to the conclusion that punishing employees improves their

performance for the company.

Workers will rely on a significant event of the leadership style that is operational within

an organizational setting in order to improve an employee's performance, according to

Babatunde (2015). According to Belas (2013), a negative leadership example is like cancer for

an organization's ethics. However, ethics, according to Velthouse and Kandogan, has no

significant effect on performance. Ghaffari and co. According to the findings of their study

(2017), respect for employees is positively correlated with job satisfaction. Similarly, Lamar

(2010) made sense of that the apparent absence of trust and regard prompts diminished work

fulfillment and obligation to the association's objectives and exercises. According to Abdulle and

Aydintan's (2019) conclusion, all of the study's teamwork measures are; Employee performance

is positively and significantly impacted by team cohesiveness, trust, and knowledge sharing.

According to Boakye (2015), teamwork and other indicators of team performance were

positively correlated with employees' performance.

According to Hameed and Waheed (2011), gender discrimination in facilities and

promotions hurts employee performance. In a similar vein, Surji (2014) discovered that the

leadership team has a beneficial effect on the performance of the workforce within the

organization as well as the setting of the workplace. Gautam (2018) came to the conclusion that

the effectiveness of the team and the performance of the employees are positively correlated in
the context of Nepal. In a similar vein, Uprety (2016) made the observation that leadership

performance is positively correlated with their decisions. According to Shrestha and Mishra

(2011), employee commitment to change and leadership styles have a significant impact on

organizational performance. Yadav and co. 2016) found that ethical flaws hurt costs because

they affect an organization's profitability and result in annual losses for these organizations.

Stephen (2012) came to the conclusion that discipline procedures have a positive effect on

performance and punctuality.

According to Williams and Kedir (2016), corruption can result in a deadweight loss that

hinders firm growth and, in turn, reduces welfare and social surplus. Kuncorowati and

Rokhmawati (2018) say that discipline is becoming more and more ingrained in workers' bodies,

causing them to voluntarily submit to decisions, rules, and high standards for work and behavior.

In today's competitive environment, banks' activities need to focus on fostering public

confidence and trust by instilling a number of ethical values like respect, trust, discipline,

integrity, responsibilities, and accountability, among others. Every single time (John et al.,

2018). As a result, whether or not the Chinese commercial banks are moving in this particular

direction is an issue. A growing consensus exists that the banking sector is fundamentally flawed

as a result of these scandals and crises. However, the issue is that the banking industry is

becoming more complicated, making it harder to tell what is legitimate from what isn't. It has

been discovered that professional and ethical standards and values are still not strictly adhered to

in the banking industry. As a result, research into employee performance and ethical behavior is

of greater significance. In addition, a lot of research has been done on the region in a western

setting; however, some research has been done in a Chinese setting.

Definitions of Key Concepts
Definitions of the important concepts used in the study are;

Ethics

Rossy states that: "Ethics is the art and the discipline of applying principles and

frameworks to analyze and solve complicated moral dilemmas." Trevino (2001) defines ethics as

moral principles that define what is right or wrong, good or bad, and appropriate or inappropriate

in various contexts. According to Candy (2005), ethics is the set of rules that determine how

values should be arranged. Additionally, Miner (1998) defines ethics as a philosophy of human

behavior; reflecting current values, particularly moral ones. To summarize the previous

definitions, ethics can be thought of as moral standards that direct individuals and organizations

to adhere to particular standards of behavior when interacting with one another. Some aspects of

ethics, such as duties and rights—most of which are legal—are obligatory for everyone, while

others, such as values, aspirations, or best practices—which are desirable but not required and

can vary from organization to organization—are soft.

The actual output or results of an organization as compared to its intended outputs (or

goals and objectives) are included in this category. Organizational performance, as defined by

Richard (2009), encompasses three distinct areas of firm outcomes. Product market performance

(sales, market share), shareholder return (total shareholder return, economic value added), and

financial performance (profits, return on assets, and return on investment) are examples of these.

In most cases, improving an organization's performance entails determining its desired outcomes,

devising strategies for achieving those outcomes, carrying out those strategies, and assessing

whether or not those outcomes were achieved.

 Baehr et al.'s three psychosocial theories of human behavior support the idea that

employees in many organizations are significantly influenced by external and internal forces to

engage in unethical behavior. 1993). the following theories were examined: The Employee Risk

Triangle Theory, the Stress Facilitation Theory, and the Social Disorder Theory are the three

main theories. The following is a discussion of how each theory relates to the performance of the

organization and the risk of unethical employee behavior.

The Employee Risk Triangle Theory

Identifies three factors that influence an employee's propensity to act unethically.

Attitude, Need, and Opportunity are the three forces. "Employee Risk Triangle Theory has a

great contribution in providing a common-sense theory of employee crime and deviance, Terris,"

say researchers at DePaul University in Chicago. This theory has made a significant contribution

to this study and provides a framework for a better understanding of employees' ethical conduct

in organizations in light of the increase in unethical conduct by employees in most public

organizations, particularly China Square, as described in the China Square Technical Report

(2010). However, this theory has primarily focused on the attitudinal components and does not

address the question of whether other forces, besides these attitudinal forces, may influence the

ethical behavior of employees within the organization.

According to Jones (1982), this theory traces the influence of social stress as a catalyst

for employees to engage in unethical behavior in organizations. According to the Stress

Facilitation Theory, a multiplicative theft response is facilitated when dishonest employees

experience increased job stress. According to Travers and Cooper (1996), job candidates and

employees who endorse intolerant and punitive attitudes toward theft are more likely to steal at

work than employees who endorse dishonest attitudes. Additionally, employees who are stressed
out are more likely than those who are not to engage in counterproductive behavior while they

are at work. As a result, compared to businesses that did not screen their workforces for integrity

and ethics attitudes, those that did so should be more immune to the stress brought on by a

difficult economic environment. The related objectives of this theory will be tested in public

organizations, with China Square serving as the case study.

The Social Disorder Theory Recent experimental research from the University of

Groningen in the Netherlands supported the idea that "signs of disorder" in a neighborhood can

cause other social norms to be broken and delinquent behaviors to follow (Keizer and

Lindenberg, 2008). This theory is relevant to this study because it examines the social forces that

may influence employees' ethical behavior as they interact with one another while providing

their services. However, the theory does not describe the outcome of the affected ethical

behaviors or how they relate to an organization's performance. This study will critically evaluate

how ethical employee conduct and organizational performance are affected by external and

internal social phenomena in public organizations, with China Square as the case study.

General Discussion
Numerous organizations in China adhere to ethical practices, whether formally or

formally. While many of these organizations strive to comply with externally enforced ethics,

others actually strive to incorporate ethics into everyday operations. By institutionalizing ethics,

the goal of ethical behavior is frequently to incorporate ethics into all aspects of organizational

life and decisions. Reputation can be destroyed in a matter of seconds, but it can be rebuilt with

great effort, consistency, and time. The point is made very clearly: an organization's ethical

values are important. Whether an organization is facing criminal charges or only its customers or

employees are questioning its behavior, they can account for true competitive advantages, and
their absence can threaten organizational growth and impair its survival. An ethics program is a

collection of activities, policies, and procedures designed to help employees comprehend and

adhere to the company's ethical standards and policies.

The Ethics Resource Center defines misconduct as "behavior that violates the law

organizational ethics standards" in its definition of misconduct. Strong ethics programs have a

positive impact on employee behavior, ethical attitudes, and corporate culture, and companies

with strong ethics programs report improvements in ethical conduct. 1998). although the manner

and extent of each factor's influence on employees' attitudes and behavior may vary, it is likely

that each factor has some effect. Proenca's (2004) suggestions included: a code of ethics, an

ethics officer, a program for ethics training, a system for ethics audits, and telephone hotlines

specifically for ethics. The ethics program begins with the creation of a code of ethics to help

employees understand what constitutes ethical behavior. According to Schwartz (2004), ethics

codes have an impact on behavior. The second part is ethics training to help employees

understand the organization's ethical goals and values, improve their ability to deal with ethical

issues, and encourage ethical behavior (Proenca, 2004).

The third component is the implementation of mechanisms to frequently provide ethics

information by appointing an ethics officer to advise employees, investigate allegations of ethical

problems, develop and coordinate ethics and compliance policies, and supervise employees'

ethical behavior in an organization. The fourth component is the provision of an anonymous

reporting system to reduce employee fear of retaliation for reporting workplace misconduct and

to enable employees to provide information on ethical violations in an organization. The

evaluation of an employee's ethical performance is linked to the fifth and final component,
disciplining violators. A system of rewards and punishments is one of the most important ways

to encourage ethical behavior, according to Baucus and Beck-Dudley (2005).

Additionally, many businesses incorporate ethics into their performance evaluations,

according to Petry and Tietz. Evaluating ethical behavior is used as a tool to encourage

employees to act ethically, and creating a sense of threat is one way to increase employee

compliance with ethical standards. Every business has a business plan to achieve its strategic

goals. For managers at all levels, setting goals and deadlines for performance is common

practice. But it can be hard to resist the urge to "cut corners" when reward systems are

disproportionately dependent on achieving set goals. When targets for reducing costs, increasing

output, and increasing sales are set by management without being discussed with those who are

responsible for achieving them, it can lead to issues. Ethical behavior can be seriously

undermined by this focus on the immediate future. The issue tends to be aggravated by the

requirement that publicly traded businesses submit quarterly results reports.

China Square Ethical Values

In any organization, discussions of ethics typically focus primarily on individual moral

responsibility. Every member of the organization bears moral responsibility for their own

actions, and any efforts to alter those actions primarily focus on the actions of individual

members. The Water Utilities Performance Report 2011–12 clearly outlines the manner in which

China Square employees are reported to engage in unethical behavior. The majority of illegal

connections appear to be made by China Square employees, and many of those laid off in 2007

are believed to still be making money in this way. Excessive charges and embezzlement of water

bills are also still being reported. The corporate moral responsibility, on the other hand, reveals a

different way to comprehend organization ethics. In this context, people are not viewed as
distinct individuals but rather as members of communities that share some responsibility for the

actions of their members. Therefore, in order to comprehend and attempt to change an

individual's behavior, we must comprehend and attempt to change the communities to which

they belong. This can be assessed by reflecting society's perception of China Square's ethical

values, which appears to be negative due to the rise in public complaints.

Another major challenge, according to the Water Utilities Performance Report 2011–12,

is the organization's inability or unwillingness to provide adequate salaries and more motivating

working conditions. This is thought to have a significant impact on unethical behavior among

China Square employees and, as a result, the organization's public image. However, the most

difficult part of discussing ethics in organizations is figuring out how to design organizations to

encourage individuals and the company as a whole to adhere to the required ethical standard. The

purpose of this study is to determine if ethical behavior on the part of employees has any

relationship to individual performance.

Performance of China Square

Over the past three years, China Square's performance has not been particularly

promising. The Water Utilities Performance Report 2011–12 provides specifics on how China

Square has failed to meet 81 percent of the targets that have been subject to financial penalties.

Water losses, collection efficiency, and water pressure to customers were all notable failures.

The primary goal of this study is to determine whether this poor performance in public

organizations, specifically China Square, has any connection with employees' ethical conduct.

For the targets that are not subject to a financial penalty for noncompliance, China Square met

them by 53%.
Empirical Literature Review
The findings of the research carried out by McManus and White (2011), which examined

the difficulties corporations face in incorporating ethics into their strategic management

processes, were based on a survey of issues and the literature that had been published in Asia,

North America, and Europe. They found that there was a distinct gap between corporations'

implementation of strategy and their moral and ethical responsibilities. It is proposed that ethics

be brought back to the forefront of strategic management and integrated into the process of

strategic management in light of the decline in business ethics and recent corporate scandals.

The study's conclusion was that strategic decisions made by any large economic

enterprise in a competitive global environment have both positive and negative effects. Senior

managers are responsible for distributing benefits and harms among their company's

stakeholders. When or if done with more thought, some businesses do this arbitrarily. The ethical

principle offer is the only way to analyze this. From an academic point of view, evidence that a

company is committed to its future will guarantee cooperative and innovative efforts. One can

see that there is still a lot of work to be done in this area when looking to the future.

Based on justice theory and re-cognitive and dissonance theory, Chye (2004) conducted a

Singapore study titled "Organizational Ethics and Employee Satisfaction" to investigate the

connection between organizational ethics and organizational outcomes. The questionnaire survey

of 237 Singaporean managers yielded the sample data. Based on the results of decision trees,

leaders in organizations can use organizational ethics to achieve positive organizational

outcomes.

Additionally, the findings reveal a connection between ethics and organizational

commitment, as well as significant and positive links between ethical behavior and
organizational career success and job satisfaction. The findings have the implication that top

management's support for ethical behavior and the link between ethical behavior and career

success can be influenced. Thus, top management can increase employee job satisfaction and

organizational commitment within the workplace by consciously working on these variables.

According to the current findings, organizational ethics may contribute to greater job satisfaction

and commitment within an organization. The aforementioned implication of the findings is that

performance in organizations is likely to be correlated with organizational ethics. This study also

has related goals, but the case study was China Square, a public organization. The phenomenon

was tested in public organizations. In Kehinde's (2010) Nigerian paper titled "Effects of Ethical

Behaviors on Organization Operations," The researcher specifies the number.

In a number of business transactions, unethical and illegal business practices present

numerous challenges for modern organizations. He explains how, when properly implemented,

codes of ethics can have an impact on employee behavior. The paper employs a quantitative

approach and presents two null hypotheses. Ethical behavior has an impact on an organization's

operations, and there is a positive correlation between ethical behavior and organizational

outcomes, according to the findings. The appropriate policy recommendations that were

provided will be extremely beneficial to decision-makers in business organizations and

government officials.

The fact that this paper examines the ethical actions of employees and their effects on an

organization's performance reflects the study's theme. However, the research had primarily

focused on Lagos, Nigeria, and its environment. In Yang and Grunig's (2005) Korean study titled

"Decomposing organizational reputation: Cognitive representations of organizations and

evaluations of organizational performance are affected by the outcomes of organization–public

relationship. Common reputation measurement systems were broken down in this study into

behavioral organization–public relationship outcomes, cognitive representations of an

organization in publics' minds, and evaluations of organizational performance. Organization–

public relationship outcomes (such as trust, satisfaction, commitment, and control mutuality) are

hypothesized to have a direct effect on evaluations of organizational performance as well as an

indirect effect via the mediation of cognitive representations of the organization, according to the

proposed model, which suggests that the tendency for active communication behavior and

familiarity are correlated precursors.

The recommendations were analyzed and seen to validate the model across various types

of organizations after the authors investigated various types of five Korean-based organizations

(two domestic corporations in various industries, a multinational corporation, a sports

association, and a non-profit organization). This study's findings suggest that the outcomes of

relationships result in favorable representations of an organization and favorable evaluations of

its performance. According to a study by Schwartz (2007), individuals in an organization have

distinct motivations that can be altered by the executive function to align with the organization's

objectives. The system is deemed effective if the individual and organization's goals align and

the corporation achieves its objectives.

Additionally, if the following conditions are met, people follow orders without question:

understanding of order, conformity to the organization's purpose, compatibility with personal

interests, and the mental and physical capacity to adhere are all important. In addition, Bernard

suggested three major executive functions to establish a communication system, encourage

essential personal efforts to be secured, and formulate and define the organization's goals and

purpose.
 According to Drucker (1954), managers must make decisions that will shape the

economy, society, and the lives of those who live there for a long time to come. Rita (1995)

conducted a study in London based on extensive observation and data collection in 1993 on the

introduction of quality management and the development of employee involvement programs.

According to the study, 85% of respondents believed that their company placed a high value on

quality. As a result, the population participating comes from businesses that have already

implemented quality programs. As a result, there was a useful distinction made between mature

quality programs, transitional development programs, and programs just beginning to develop

Total quality management (TQM).

The purpose of this study was to examine organizations in China, particularly China

Square, and to produce results. The purpose of Michael's research, which was carried out in

Australia and was titled "Management development, "developing ethical corporate culture in

three organizations," was to examine three organizations—a naval shore establishment, a police

academy, and a small, family-owned engineering firm—to determine the extent to which they

had established a culture that was both socially and ethically responsive. The investigation was

carried out through in-depth examination of the relevant documents, interviews with key players,

and observations of their organizations. The results showed that the Navy shares a set of values

with the Department of Defense's more general values.

The Western Australian Police Service employs a strategy for cultivating an ethical

corporate culture that includes the operation of discussion groups and seminars as well as the

creation of a dedicated unit. The engineering company that is owned and operated by a family

uses a more indirect strategy that is based on upholding traditional family values. The following

three conditions were necessary for the establishment of an ethical corporate culture: CEOs were
ultimately accountable for their organizations' morality; In order to impart the necessary

knowledge, formal training programs were required; and formal mechanisms were necessary to

make it easier to report any wrong, unethical, or illegal behavior by members of the organization.

Research Gap
Numerous recent researchers have proposed a connection between the performance of an

organization and the persistence of illegal behavior by employees who have a history of breaking

the law. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether or not there is a similar

relationship in China and how these two variables interact with one another, particularly in the

public organization China Square, which was selected as the case study.

Business leaders frequently employ the use of appropriate stimuli and initiatives to

motivate employees, not only to maintain employee loyalty but also to boost productivity. These

motivators, generally speaking, are communicated in exceptional ways to deal with making

conditions for positive exercises, be it material prizes or different types of endorsement. One of

the many ideas that aim to influence employee productivity and create a productive work

environment is the behavioral motivation theory. As per Cafferky (2017), this impetus model

depends on certain and adverse consequences, including both support and discipline. As such,

pioneers who advance behaviorism as the principal system for impacting representatives try to

control the way of behaving of subordinates through unambiguous drives that infer awards as

well as punishments.

When discussing such a theory, the human dignity-centered framework should also be

considered as an algorithm for monitoring ethically sound human resource management. Mea

and Sims (2019) conduct research that delves deeper into this framework and outlines its key

components, which are inputs, the ethical prism with relevant concepts like courage, control, or
fairness, and results. Since coordinating subordinates' behavior should not violate the ethical

norms of professional interaction, whether in the context of Christian values or labor law, one

can find commonalities and stimuli for implementation by linking this framework with the

behavioral motivation theory that was mentioned earlier. The purpose of this work is to

determine how the behavioral motivation theory relates to the human dignity-centered

framework, provide biblical examples of its application, and identify the behavioral motivation

theory's ethical and legal foundations.

An approach to motivation known as behaviorism involves influencing particular

behaviors through the use of appropriate rewards. According to Cafferky (2017), organizational

behavior is an important part of the corporate culture that most modern businesses promote. It

also gives managers the ability to change people's motives by analyzing how employees act,

react, and other forms of behavior. Behaviorism's main idea is to study behavior rather than

consciousness, which is seen as a collection of stimulus-response connections. Additionally, as

stated by Itri et al. 2019), behaviorism focuses on empirical links between specific stimuli and

employees' responses in a work environment rather than the cause-and-effect pattern of

motivational behavior. Consequently, this idea aids leaders in selecting the most applicable

motivational attitudes for which it is possible to quickly develop an efficient motivation system

with practical suggestions and recommendations.

The behavioral motivation theory is a practical form of incentive that makes sense.

Asadullah and others 2019) contend that "all behavior starts as oblivious conduct" and that every

individual, regardless of status or position, acts in accordance with their own beliefs and visions

(p. 50). Since any behavioral manifestations are frequently unconscious, the leader creates an
environment in which it is difficult to imitate performance or other valuable qualities by

rewarding or punishing the employee based on this approach. Furthermore, this idea is a

moderately basic plan of inspiration: According to Asadullah et al., changes in the system of

influencing stimuli, as well as their connections with reactions and learning, cause changes in

behavior rather than variations in the internal, psychological factors that control it. 2019).

Therefore, leaders can target specific operational tasks based on the responses of their

subordinates by combining and adjusting these incentives. Preventing subjective assessment,

which may violate the moral nature of behaviorism as a motivational theory, is one of the crucial

nuances in this instance.

A phenomenon that can be examined ethically in two contexts is the juxtaposition of

behavioral aspects and motivational incentives: justified when both reinforcing and punishing

actions are reasonable, and unjustified when appropriate incentives cannot be introduced without

first meeting certain conditions. Edwards et al.'s adaptation of behaviorism to motivation ( 2019),

read as follows: The effectiveness of reinforcing or punishing particular types of events and the

control of behavior by discriminative stimuli that are historically relevant to those events are

both modulated by motivating operations (p. 6). The employee has a clear understanding of the

company's tasks and responsibilities and is aware that their productivity and dedication are direct

indicators of leadership initiatives. A person adapts to relevant behavioral patterns by associating

stimuli with responses. As a result, specific actions are performed unconsciously at the level of

physiological reflexes (Edwards et al., 2019). Since the leader actually dominates and directs the

actions of the subordinate, this definition reflects an inadequate level of ethical relations between
them. However, this kind of control at the organizational level enables employee dedication and

productivity.

Both ethically and legally, behaviorism in the context of employee motivation is

frequently criticized. “Any account of loyalty that attributes a motivational element to

compliance with norms of (fiduciary) loyalty must explain why behaviorism is incorrect,”

according to Galoob and Leib (2020) (p. 44). This indicates that a form of coercion that involves

influencing motivation through the requirement of loyalty may conflict with regulations that

protect workers, even if the employer sets objectively important tasks for subordinates.

Incentives based on a system of rewards and punishments, for instance, could be used by a

business owner to encourage employee commitment and motivate them. However, a direct

violation of labor laws occurs when basic employee rights are violated, such as the right to rest,

disability leave, or other legal rights. Employers may break labor laws in an effort to protect their

employees' profits and productivity. As a consequence of this, the behavioral motivation theory

is associated with ambiguous manifestations of stimulating the work process. In the event that

inadequate efforts are taken, these manifestations may go against legal norms and lead to

operating mode inspections by authorities in charge.

Not all leadership initiatives meet the legal definition, despite subordinates' willingness to

comply with orders and requests from management. By following the behaviorism model, the

owner of the business prioritizes the interests of the business over the well-being of its

employees. This is not only an unethical position but also a violation of corporate norms that
define freedom of labor relations. Galoob and Leib (2020) argue that "behaviorism would deny

the wisdom of the rebuttable presumption of appropriate motivation" while analyzing this

approach to the formation of motivation (p. 59). Employees who experience excessive

management pressure can report instances of ethical interaction principles violations, such as

coercion through threats of punishment, by referring to the relevant legislative regulations. This

result demonstrates the behavioral model's inability to influence motivation and can cause

significant difficulties for the business, harming its reputation and its leaders. Therefore,

managers should consider the methods of influence and assess whether they use adequate

methods when promoting this principle of motivating subordinates.

The conventions of the behavioral motivation theory demonstrate that, despite its

straightforward application, this idea is ambiguous from an ethical and legal standpoint. The

basic idea makes sense: Negative reinforcement prevents and restricts undesirable behaviors,

whereas positive reinforcement encourages performance and boosts the efficacy of interventions.

However, because too stringent requirements and penalties may be against labor laws, such a

form of control can create an unfavorable environment and result in employee rights violations

complaints. Therefore, managers should keep a steady balance of positive and negative

incentives when analyzing this motivational concept to avoid losing subordinates' trust and being

accused of breaking the labor code.

Team leaders should be guided not only by their own individual knowledge but also by

the practical tools that are available to ensure a supportive team environment in order to control

and support ethically sound management practices. The human dignity-centered framework,

which Mea and Sims (2019) refer to as a system based on the "validated cause-and-effect

workflow of relationships" rather than a model, is one such instrument (p. 57). According to Mea
& Sims (2019), certain inputs (corporate strategy, organizational structure, and organizational

renewal) are included in this framework. These inputs are transformed into specific practical

results, such as trust, profit, and sustainability, which are important requirements for effective

teamwork. Human dignity, which is realized through the principles of the common good, right

order, and solidarity, is at the center of the ethical prism (Mea & Sims, 2019). According to Mea

& Sims (2019, p. 57), the purpose of such a tool is to "help leaders create an ethos in their firm

where human dignity is of the utmost concern." Managers can ensure ethically competent control

over their subordinates' work and adhere to humanism's principles when interacting with staff by

following this framework in the operational process.

CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES
Introduction
Research studies vary because researchers have different beliefs and ways of seeing and

interacting with the environment. However, a researcher's actions and beliefs are guided by a set

of common standards and guidelines. A paradigm can be used to describe these standards. The

purpose of this chapter was to provide a comprehensive explanation of the strategies that a

researcher employed to collect, process, and analyze data in order to arrive at the conclusion. The

research design (paradigm, approach, strategies, and time line), survey population, research area,
sampling and design, and variable measurement were all included. The research design and

methodology used in this study were discussed. The methods of data collection and analysis that

were associated with them were systematically discussed in order to provide a description of the

variety of research activities that were carried out during this study.

A broad view or perspective of something is known as a research paradigm, according to

Taylor, Kermode, and Roberts. By providing lenses, frames, and procedures through which

investigation is carried out, these are patterns of beliefs and practices that regulate inquiry within

a discipline. A triangulation approach was used in this study to investigate how ethical employee

behavior affects company performance. To encompass the various beliefs that there was a direct

link between the ethical behavior of employees and the performance of the organization, it was

necessary to employ both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. There was no one

paradigm that could adequately address all of the necessary methodological aspects because of

the study's complexity. As a result, the researcher decided that the qualitative/interpretive

paradigm and the quantitative/positivist paradigm needed to be combined. The researcher was

able to statistically analyze the scientific data using this combination of both paradigms, as well

as recognize the intricate psychosocial and emotional factors that influence ethical behavior

issues among employees. The purpose of this study was to investigate, direct, and evaluate the

development and evaluation of ethical behavior on the part of company employees.

In order to encompass the various aspects of ethical and unethical behavior, it was

necessary to employ both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. A mixed methodology was

required to address the diversity and complexity of such employee behavior. The interpretive

paradigm, which backs the idea that there are many truths and multiple realities, shares the

philosophical foundation of the qualitative methodology. In addition, the interpretive paradigm is

more frequently associated with methodological approaches that give research participants a

chance to express their opinions, concerns, and practices Cole.

Descriptive research methods were used in this study to describe, observe, and document

a naturally occurring phenomenon that cannot readily be attributed an objective value in order to

gain different perspectives and draw attention to various factors that affect employee ethical

behavior. Descriptive research, on the other hand, asks questions that aim to describe

relationships and explain what things are like, but do not predict relationships between variables

or the direction of those relationships. The following methods of qualitative and quantitative data

collection were utilized in this descriptive study: focus group interviews, semi-structured

interviews, questionnaires before and after tests, and so on. Morse and Richards (2002) say that

because quantitative methods can easily miss evidence of experience and knowledge, qualitative

descriptive approaches are very helpful. Because the researcher believed that open-ended

questions would be the most effective method for collecting data from stakeholder participants,

the design of this study included semi-structured interviews. In addition, the researcher

conducted interviews with stakeholders to learn more about the issues and experiences that are

currently affecting the performance of the organization.

The subject of the investigation was Dar-es-Salaam's China Square (Magomeni branch),

a public organization. The setting for the investigation was Dar-es-Salaam. The decision of this

study region was because of significant disappointments which were seen in the space of water

misfortunes, assortment effectiveness, and water strain to clients. Additionally, I chose the

location because it was simple to access some relevant data to my field of study. Since the

Magomeni branch is in the city's center and serves as a hub for the city's water supply, it also

provides useful data for the study.

Population of the Review
The populace was heterogeneous, there were senior, junior and different representatives,

and their moral ways of behaving contrast across. In addition, their satisfactory and reasonable

education status demonstrated their comprehension and ability to respond appropriately to the

questions, as shown in the table below.

Sample and Sampling Techniques

This study's population consisted of management officers, operation officers,

accountants, commercial officers, and field technicians at the China Square Magomeni branch.

There are currently 110 employees employed at the branch. Probabilistic sampling, which

incorporates systematic sampling, was used to select the sixty participants. The researcher

approached each participant and inquired about their interest in participating in this study after

identifying the desired participants. 60 participants received information about the research

proposal during the process.

Data Collection
I used the survey monkey software and a questionnaire to gather information. In addition,

I used documentary analysis that was adaptable and sensitive to the social content as well as

semi-structured interviews. The primary and secondary sources of data were the two main

sources of relevant data for this study.

Types of Data Primary

Data In addition to the socioeconomic characteristics of the survey participants, primary

data include information about the ethical behavior of China Square employees. During data

collection, questionnaires were used to collect direct information from China Square employees

about the variables of interest. Six structured questions (closed-ended) were used in the

questionnaire, and respondents were asked to check the appropriate box that corresponded to the

correct response. To avoid bias in this study, I distributed questionnaires to all senior, junior, and

other employees. Saunders et al. 2012).

Secondary Data
The researcher also used secondary sources like journals, reports, books, and other

legally supported materials to ensure the accuracy of the findings. This helped the researcher get

the right results, which helped create a favorable environment for the organization to work in

Saunders et al. (2012). I also used documentary review to gather information from official

sources like books, journals, papers, brochures, websites, and historical documents.

Questionnaire:
A questionnaire is a method for gathering data in which everyone is asked to answer the

same set of questions in a predetermined order. The purpose of the questionnaires was to

determine how ethical behavior by employees affected how well the company performed. After a

thorough review of the published literature, consultation with employees, and consideration of

the researcher's knowledge and professional experience, the research instruments were

constructed. In this study, I administered closed-ended questionnaires to China Square

employees in a manner that provided respondents with a better guide for answering the questions

and made it simple to process and analyze the data. In addition, I tested the level of

comprehension regarding ethical issues with one open-ended question.

Interviews
Interviews are a set of questions that are typically asked of the respondent and may be

modified based on the respondent's level of comfort. Saunders and others 2012). The interviews

took place in the participants' workplaces and lasted anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes, depending

on how engaged the participants were. The researcher respected the participant's wishes and

instead took numerous shorthand notes because the majority of participants were uncomfortable

speaking while being recorded. Because the researcher didn't want to write down incorrect
information, sometimes the participant had to be asked to repeat some information. The most

frequently asked interview questions included;

i. What do you believe were the primary causes of China Square's major failures in the areas of

water losses, collection efficiency, and water pressure to customers?

ii. How do you think ethical behavior affects the performance of the organization?

The responses of the respondents served as the basis for the data analysis. Coding,

editing, classifying, and tabulating the data that was collected were all part of data analysis. Both

subjective and quantitative information were gathered. For quantitative data, tables and charts

were utilized. In this study, interview summaries were combined and used as a source of

information. They were also organized in accordance with how they came to be. Content analysis

was used to present the respondents' perspectives on data that could not be quantified. The

Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 16 computer program was utilized. Due to the

nature of the collected data, quantitative methods of data analysis were used in the analysis,

which was guided by the study objectives. In this study's quantitative analysis, descriptive

statistics like frequencies, cross tabulation, coefficient of correlation, and chart bar were used to

determine the variables' variability and central tendencies. The results were presented as a

frequency distribution table with percentages for each attribute and the number of respondents

for that attribute.

Data Validity
Validity refers to the degree to which an instrument measures what it claims to measure

and is the most important factor in instrument development DeVaus (2002). There are three basic

ways to evaluate an instrument's validity: validity of the criterion, content, and construct. The

primary concern was whether the items in the measurement tool were representative of the
researcher's intended assessment of employees' general knowledge of ethical conduct. The

researcher consulted experts to examine the questionnaire's content in order to address issues of

content validity.

Dependability of Information
To address the dependability of information, the test re-test strategy for unwavering

quality testing was utilized. After four weeks, the researcher sent six questionnaires to

experienced participants. Only one participant was unable to participate further in this testing,

and both the responses to the questionnaires and the tool were evaluated for consistency and

reliability. A Pearson correlation coefficient (r) is used to express the reliability of a comparison

of test scores. A "r" value equal to or greater than 0.7 is considered an acceptable value for a tool

to be regarded as reliable, and this value provides support for the tool's stability.

Confidentiality Concerns
Research ethics entails applying fundamental ethical principles to a wide range of

scientific research-related subjects. There were numerous ethical concerns that needed to be

carefully considered when conducting research. It was necessary to safeguard the privacy and

rights of the participants in the study. When developing interview questions and interviewing

respondents, this study took ethics very seriously. The established interviews and questionnaires

were discussed openly. That implies the specialist was open by presenting the point of this

exploration to the respondents before they began to fill the polls and prior to leading the meeting.

Because the researcher assured the respondents when they provided the information for this

research that the information they provided was confidential to others, the confidentiality of the

information provided by research subjects and the respondents' anonymity were respected. The

participants took part on their own accord and without any coercion. This was due to the fact that
they were given free time to answer questions. Additionally, all research participants' dignity was

upheld.

Building Relationships
The study's design was casual/effect. This is due to the fact that it examined the

relationship between two variables—employees' ethical behavior and organization performance

—where one variable influences another. Employee ethical conduct was the independent variable

in this study, and organizational performance was the dependent variable.

Review of Policy and Procedure Manuals

The researcher had to look over policy and procedure manuals because employees are

responsible for and must follow all of the things in both the local area policy and procedure

manuals and the organization-wide policies. The evaluation of the policy and procedure manuals

for any ethical issues was the primary focus of each review. The inclusion of conduct guidelines

and their legal implications were examined for each ethically related policy. During the review

of the policy and procedure, mandatory reporting laws, evidence storage, and guidelines for the

chain of custody and documentation were some of the guides.

The government of China has been implementing a variety of governance reforms since

the 1990s with the goal of promoting ethics management as a means of bolstering democracy

and public administration's effectiveness and efficiency. The public leadership code of ethics Act

No. 13 of 1995, the establishment of the code of ethics and conduct for public service in 2005,

and the public service reform programs (PSRP) I and II are among the reforms. Despite the

various initiatives China has taken to promote ethics, ethics management in China still faces a

number of obstacles, including: The public is ill-informed about ethical issues due to information
asymmetry, and there is no mechanism in place to distinguish between the business activities of

public leaders and those of governance.

Additionally, ethics is viewed as a personal, ineffective, religious concept that is

irrelevant to work. In the review "Morals the board as a significant part of vote based

improvement and policy management" a contextual analysis of China. The current foundation of

public leadership is the modern democratic state in all of its forms. The qualities of such

authority must be gotten a handle on by grasping the plan of the cutting edge state. However, the

goal of ethics management in China was to promote democratic growth and effective public

administration.

CHAPTER FOUR
RESEARCH FINDING ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Introduction
The analysis of the collected data is used to present the research findings in this chapter.

The analysis has been conducted taking into account the research questions that were to be

answered in order to meet the need of each research objective, and the findings' results have been

presented in a manner that is logical and based on research objectives in order to simplify the

analysis and presentation of the findings. Finally, the findings were used for discussion and

offered suggestions for the next steps. To reduce error variance, age and sex variables were

treated as covariates based on the control's findings Adebayo, (2005).

Analysis and Interpretation of Cross Tabulation I decided to divide age into three groups.

The first group consisted of people under 30 who I believed to be newly hired employees with
opposing viewpoints and graduates. The second group consisted of employees between the ages

of 31 and 45 who had a lot of experience, high expectations, and a strong desire to succeed in

their jobs. Employees over the age of 40, on the other hand, were participants who had a lot of

experience with job satisfaction and were highly committed to their jobs. In order to evaluate

perceptions based on the age factor, age and sex were also required to see how people of

different ages and sexes responded in terms of ethics, and the results

Age and gender

The demographic profile of the respondents is shown in the figure below. It revealed that

of the 25 employees under the age of 30, eight were male and 17 were female. There were eight

men and nine women between the ages of 31 and 45, for a total of 17 employees. Only eight of

those over the age of 45 were women. There are now 16 men and 34 women in total. The

usefulness of these two variables demonstrates that respondents' opinions vary according to age

and sex, as 95% of respondents over 45 suggested that the organization's ethics policy should be

revised to improve performance. Additionally, female employees are perceived as being more

ethical by 85% of respondents than male employees are by 15%.

Age and Ethical Conduct Awareness
Figure 4:2 shows that 25 employees (50 percent of the total workforce) under the age of

30 agreed that the company treats ethical behavior seriously, eight employees (16 percent)

between the ages of 31 and 45 agreed, and nine employees (18 percent) agreed that they are

aware of ethical behavior. Additionally, eight employees (or 16 percent) expressed neither

agreement nor disagreement.

 Age and Organization Policies Adherence On the other hand, 18 percent of employees

under the age of 30 agreed that the organization provides positive support for adhering to ethical

policies. On the other hand, 16 percent of employees could not even describe it, and another 16

percent of employees disagreed. Nine employees (18%) agreed that the organization provides

positive support for adhering to ethical policies, and eight employees (16%) from the 31-45 age

range strongly agreed. Additionally, eight employees (or 16 percent) agreed that the company

encourages compliance with ethical policies.

Age and the Impact of Changes on Ethical Conduct on Organization Performance Nine

employees under the age of 30 (18 percent) agreed that changes in employees' ethical conduct

will impact performance, while eight employees (16 percent) agreed and eight employees (16

percent) were unable to describe it at all. Additionally, 17 employees (34 percent) in the age
range of 31 to 45 and eight employees (16 percent) in the age range of 45 and older agreed that

changes in employees' ethical conduct will affect the performance of the organization.

Measure of Relationship (Pearson Correlation Coefficient)

There are a number of ways to figure out how two variables are related, and the following

were looked at: Do the two or more variables have a correlation or association? If so, to what

extent? Another question to ask is whether a cause-and-effect relationship exists between the two

variables in a bivariate population or between one variable and two or more variables in a

multivariate population? If so, in what ways and to what extent? The degree of the variable's

relationship was measured using Karl Pearson's coefficient of correlation (r). The range of r's

value is 1. A value of r greater than or equal to one indicates a negative correlation between the

variables, while a value of r greater than one indicates a positive correlation. If r has a value of

zero, there is no relationship between the two variables. Perfect positive correlation occurs when

r is greater than 1, while perfect negative correlation occurs when r is less than 1. Saunders and

colleagues

The research's findings and analysis are as follows.

Age and Other Variables
According to Table 4, there was a significant positive relationship between age and the

awareness of employees' ethical conducts to the performance of the organization, with a

correlation coefficient (r) of = 0.383. There was also a significant positive relationship between

age and the necessity of ethical conducts in achieving an organization's objectives, with a

correlation coefficient (r) of = 0.374. However, there was a significant negative relationship

between age and the adequacy of ethical management in enhancing Extending the relationship to

other variables, the results show that age and gender had a slightly weaker positive relationship

than age and employees' ethical behavior in enhancing organization performance, with r = 0.031
—still a weak positive relationship. However, age and gender had a stronger positive relationship

than age and employees' ethical behavior.

Gender and Other Variables

According to Table 4:2, there was a significant strong positive relationship between

gender and the awareness of employees' ethical conducts to the performance of the organization.

The correlation coefficient (r) was = 0.606, and there was a positive relationship between age

and the necessity of ethical conducts in achieving the goals of the organization. However, there

was a weak (negative) relationship between gender and the adequacy of ethical management in

enhancing the performance of the organization. The correlation coefficient (r the results indicate

that there is a slightly weaker positive relationship between gender and age with r = 0.149 when

the relationship is extended to other variables in addition to the ones listed above.

The results show that there was a significant strong positive relationship between the

awareness of employees ethical conducts to organization performance and gender as the

correlation coefficient (r) was = 0.606 and positive relation with age as the correlation coefficient

(r) was = 0.383. The research question attempted to examine the level of awareness on employee

ethical conduct to organization performance. The results indicate that there was a slightly

positive relationship—r = 0.305—between the awareness of employees' ethical conducts to

organization performance and ethical conduct description when the relationship was extended to

other variables in addition to age and ethical conduct awareness. However, the correlation

coefficient (r) was equal to 0.000, indicating that there was no correlation between employee

ethical conduct awareness and organizational performance.

Sufficiency of Morals the board in Upgrading Association Execution and Different
Factors
Table 4:1 uncovers that there was a positive connection between the sufficiency of

morals the board in improving association execution and changes on worker's moral direct as the

connection coefficient (r) was = 0.308 and slight positive connection with mindfulness on moral

lead as the connection coefficient (r) was = 0.305, the relationship was, nonetheless, critical

negative with age as the relationship coefficient (r) was = - 0.543. 4.3.5 Employees' Ethical

Behavior in Enhancing Organizational Performance and Other Variables According to Table 4,

there was no correlation between employee ethical behavior in enhancing organizational

performance and awareness of ethical policies. However, there was a significant positive

relationship between employee ethical behavior in enhancing organizational performance and

impact on ethical conduct, with a correlation coefficient (r) of = 0.690. Additionally, there was a

positive relationship with the organization, giving positive support for ethical policies, with a

correlation coefficient (r) of = 0.308. Because the r-value, or correlation coefficient, was 0.000.

According to Table 4.1, there was a significant positive relationship between the

necessity of ethical conducts in achieving organization performance and other variables. The

correlation coefficient (r) was = 0.690, and the correlation was also significant positive with

gender as the correlation coefficient (r) was = 0.541. On the other hand, the relationship was

significant positive with age, which was = 374.

Frequency Analysis
Areas of Awareness of Employees Ethical Conduct to Organization Performance
According to the data gathered, eight employees (16%) strongly agreed that they are

aware of the connection between employees' ethical conduct and the performance of the

organization, and 34 employees (68%) agreed. On the other hand, eight employees, or 16%, were

unable to adequately describe it. The responses from respondents are presented in Table 4:2

below.
Adequacy of Ethics Management in Enhancing Organization Performance
26 employees (52%) agreed that the information that was obtained showed that there

were eight employees (16%) who strongly agreed that the organization provide positive support

in enhancing employee awareness of its ethical policies. On the other hand, eight employees

(16%) did not agree or disagree, and another eight employees (16%) did not agree. This suggests

that the organization has not significantly improved these skills and knowledge.

Examining Whether Efforts to Change Employee Ethical Conduct Will Improve

Organizational Performance The following table reveals that nine respondents (18%) strongly

agreed and 33 respondents (66%) agreed that if efforts are made to change employee ethical

conduct, it will improve organizational performance. Only eight respondents, or 16%, were

unable to adequately describe it. This suggests that a majority of respondents predicted that an

organization's performance will be affected by changes in ethical behavior. In addition to the

situation that was revealed, respondents suggested actions that could be taken to alter the ethical
behavior of employees.

Necessity of Ethical Conducts in Achieving Organization Performance

According to the data presented in the table below, 16% of respondents agreed that

ethical behavior by employees has an impact on the company's performance, while 34% of

respondents strongly agreed. Contrarily, 34% disagreed and 16% were unable to describe it at

all. Even though different people have different opinions about this, these different opinions

could also be caused by a lack of knowledge and skills that make it hard for them to see how

important ethical behavior is to achieving the goals of an organization.

Examples of Ethical Issues in Human Resources
This issue has many facets, including labor exploitation and discrimination in human

resources as areas and individuals. There will be two main topics discussed in this section.

Discrimination "I wish that one day; my four young children will live in a nation where

their energy, not their skin color, is used to judge them. American civil rights activist Martin

Luther King, Jr. Saga, 2015) Have you ever experienced discrimination's "nagging sense"? This

may have occurred to you during a job interview when someone inquired about your religious

beliefs, marital status, or health. Or, you might have to believe that his age or birth caused him to

miss out on promotions. In circumstances like this, perhaps the facts confirm that there are

genuine reasons that open door get out of your hand. However, if you believe you are being

"stigmatized," knowing what you can do to prepare for the appropriate next steps is essential.

Concurring Oxford Word reference (Word reference, 2016) characterizes segregation as

"unjustifiable treatment or bias against different gatherings, particularly including race, age or

orientation." Discrimination is defined as "the act, action, or situation treated based on the

classification of class or caste," according to Webster's Merriam-Webster. Webster, 2016) In

general, discrimination can be defined as treating someone unfairly because of their visible

cultural or other differences or certain characteristics. However, the legal protections afforded to

these groups from discrimination vary by region and territory. Saga, 2015)

For instance, despite the fact that discrimination based on age, gender, pregnancy, race,

ethnicity, disability, religion or atheism, or genetic information is against the law in every state in
the United States, this behavior could still be considered illegal depending on a number of other

factors (within the federal government). However, the laws governing the protection of various

groups of people vary from state to state.

Discussion Business ethics is a type of "applied ethics" that tries to evaluate the ethical

principles and moral issues that could arise in a business environment (Hartman, 2004). The

beginning of the 21st century has resulted in markets that are increasingly becoming

"conscience-focused," which has led to an increase in the demand for ethical business practices

and procedures in such markets. One of the most important aspects of the general code of

business ethics that governs institutions is the issue of corporate social responsibility. It involves

debating the ethical responsibilities and rights of businesses and society. In other words, in the

context of business ethics, corporate social responsibility ensures that businesses are mindful and

considerate of the societies in the environment in which they operate. Therefore, it is necessary

for the two groups to coexist; if harmony is to be achieved at all.

The management of the company Q appears to prioritize the circumstances and positions

of business entities over those of society. While it is understandable that businesses are first and

foremost concerned with making a profit, giving back to the same society that has helped them

succeed is also necessary.

For the organization is question here, it has needed to shut down a portion of their stores

inferable from a heightening in wrongdoing levels, and which seems to have designated them

explicitness. This particular company (Q) is acknowledged as a member of their community by

the society's pressure on the chain stores to resume operations.

 However, the company now begins selling food items that, despite being organic and thus

health-conscious, are insufficiently available. In addition, the fact that they have a higher margin

demonstrates that the business is still placing a high value on maximizing profits, possibly in an

effort to recoup the stolen merchandise from their stores prior to their closure. Even when

members of a charitable organization try to donate food that is about to be thrown away that is

still a day old, the business points to the loss and throws it away. Even if they have to leave at a

loss, wouldn't it be unethical to throw away food that could have been used and let people go

hungry? Since the food was not sufficiently fresh to be sold, a loss was inevitable regardless.

Even though the management of the company admits that some of their employees might take

advantage of the opportunity to commit acts of fraud and theft in the name of donating food, this

does not mean that those in need should not have access to it.

The purpose of this study was to find out if employees' ethical behavior has an effect on

how well the company does. Employee ethical conduct has an impact on the performance of the

organization, and there was a significant positive weak relationship between it and other

variables. The study found that there was a weak positive relationship between employee's

ethical conducts and organization performance. This weak positive relationship cannot be

ignored in ethical conducts because it is significant at 0.01 levels and insignificant in other

variables such as organization policies, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders. On the other

hand, when the relationship was narrowed down to the streams that make up the studied group, it

was realized that the relationship was greater in the stream of unethical behavior than in the

stream of ethical behavior. The same result was obtained in the Singapore study by Chye (2004).

The findings revealed that there is a connection between ethics and organizational

commitment, as well as significant and positive links between ethical behavior and career
success within the organization and job satisfaction. According to the study, ethical behavior on

the part of employees is a factor in the success of an organization, but not a major or dominant

factor. Additionally, an organization's performance would be improved if management improved

ethical behavior.

The same findings were obtained in Michael's (2005) research, which found that three

conditions were necessary for creating an ethical corporate culture: CEOs were ultimately

accountable for their organizations' morality; In order to impart the necessary knowledge, formal

training programs were required; also, formal systems were fundamental to work with the

revealing of any way of behaving of hierarchical individuals that was considered to be off-base,

dishonest or unlawful By and by, the positive relationship saw from the review implies that the

increment of one variable prompts an expansion in the other. Because of the apparent connection

between these variables, it is analogous to saying that unethical behavior is equivalent to poor

organizational performance. However, the connection is not particularly strong because non-

ethical factors appear to be more closely related to organizational performance than ethical

behavior.

According to the data gathered from the participants who had been interviewed, 12% of

respondents stated that technical issues were to blame for organizational failure, while 85%

stated that major failures were the result of a poor ethics management strategy. In response to a

different question, 82% of respondents thought the organization's ethical conduct was

inadequate, while 18% thought it was adequate. Additionally, the majority of interviewees

attributed individuals' unethical behavior to the management's failure to improve a proper system

for managing ethical behavior, indicating that there is a positive correlation between employee

ethical conduct and organizational performance.

 The interviewee also revealed that some senior leaders were involved in a corruption

scandal, which caused them to miss 81% of their performance goals. This indicates that better

performance is anticipated from the organization if it makes serious efforts to improve the ethical

conduct of individuals by adhering to certain norms of conduct when dealing with one another.

However, a weak positive relationship found in the study indicates that employees are unethical

due to their lack of ethics. To put it another way, if China is to keep its public organization as a

dependable provider of services, the government needs to seriously invest in improving the

organization's performance. Otherwise, the ethical behavior of employees will not be effective.

According to The Water Utilities Performance Report (2010–11), the organization will

eventually consistently perform poorly. It is essential to keep in mind that China Square has

revealed that because it is obvious, as explained by previous studies, even where the analysis

would have shown a strong perfect relationship, meaning that employee ethical conduct is

strongly correlated to organization performance, this would not justify.

The results of this study back up previous research that was done elsewhere: West Africa,

Europe, and the United States to some extent. In most cases, the studies found a positive

correlation Chye, Kehinde, (2010), as well as in other studies, a moderate positive correlation. In

general, the study's findings can be summarized as follows in relation to the established

assumption: First, there is a positive, weakly significant correlation between the performance of

the organization and the ethical behavior of employees. Second, it has been discovered that

employees' behavior shifts are more positively correlated with ethical behavior.

These findings could lead one to believe that poor ethics management in China Square

was the cause of poor performance in the organization, or it could be true that adherence to

informal codes known as norms, which were primarily characterized by isolation and solidarity,
was the cause of poor performance in China Square. Chye , (2004). As a result, unethical

behavior was only one of the factors used to explain poor performance in public organizations. It

is important to remember that poor performance is a result of a combination of several factors,

not just unethical behavior, as the public perceives it. According to the study, other than

unethical factors like governing policy, economic factors, and other control agencies,

organization performance can largely be explained. This infers that assuming association will

invest serious amounts of energy to work on moral behaviors of representatives' better exhibition

would be normal.

It goes without saying that an organization cannot deny that ethical behavior is an

important tool for achieving its goals and a driving force behind all of its activities. The world,

and China in particular, have been emphasizing a paradigm shift from traditional to modern

methods of improving an ethical program for a long time. According to the study, the

organization's poor performance can largely be attributed to factors other than unethical

behavior; factors like inadequate training, inadequate foundations from recruitment, and external

factors. The organization's current poor performance can be explained in part by these and other

deficiencies.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
A summary of the findings is provided in this chapter; conclusion of all research

conducted in this study report and recommendations for others interested in conducting a similar

research project and society as a whole

Summary of the Findings

The purpose of this study was to investigate the connection between employee ethical

behavior and organizational performance, specifically China Square. The finding that there is a

significant positive relationship between the ethical behavior of employees and the performance

of the organization (r=0.308), but only at the 0.01 level, is an interesting one. The following is a

summary of the findings:

Awareness of the Relationship between Employees'

Ethical Conduct and the Performance of the Organization According to the data gathered,

only 68% of respondents strongly agreed that they were aware of the relationship between

employees' ethical conduct and the performance of the organization. On the other hand, 16% of

respondents were unable to even begin to describe it. However, during the interview, some

respondents (18 percent) demonstrated that they were unaware of ethical behavior. This reveals

that some employees acted inappropriately due to a lack of awareness of ethical behavior; the

company should raise employee awareness of ethical behavior in order to improve performance.
 Adherence to Ethical Conducts as a Parameter of Organization Performance According to

the data, 66% of respondents agreed that if efforts are made to change employees' ethical

conducts, it will affect the organization's performance. 18% of respondents strongly agreed that

changes in employee attitude will fever organization performance. Only 16% could not even

begin to describe it. This suggests that a majority of respondents predicted that an organization's

performance will be affected by changes in ethical behavior. In addition to the situation that was

revealed, respondents suggested actions that could be taken to alter the ethical behavior of

employees. The findings demonstrate that ethical behavior on the part of employees is consistent

with the success of the business. For future performance, strategic goals are crucial.

Dissemination of Skills and Knowledge on Ethical Conduct by the Organization

According to the findings, 52% of respondents agreed that the organization provides its

employees with positive support in enhancing their skills and knowledge on ethical conduct. On

the other hand, 16% were neither agreed nor disagreed, and another 16% disagreed. This

suggests that the organization has not significantly improved these skills and knowledge. The

researcher discovered that some of the participants interviewed (32 percent) were unable to

describe the organization's ethical policy. This indicates that management has not effectively

implemented ethics policy skills among individuals. For better organization performance, ethical

knowledge and skills must be improved and reviewed. Based on the findings and discussion, it is
suggested that public organizations adopt ethical behavior so that employees are cultivated from

the beginning of their careers.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I chose to focus primarily on human resources because, as a student, I may

face discrimination and labor exploitation when applying for a job. The majority of potential

suspects in this field will be students. The reason for this is that they are young, studying abroad,

and have little or no knowledge of the labor protection laws in the countries where they are

studying. In addition, the majority of them want to find work to cover their living expenses and

gain experience, making it easy for them to become victims. It is very simple to win their trust

and even their gratitude when someone offers them a job, especially if that person is also from

the same country as them and speaks their mother tongue. As a result, these students will gladly

accept the job without considering the possibility that they will only gain experience with labor

exploitation and additional knowledge about "people."

A nation's economic development depends on the soundness of its organization's

performance; taking into account the community's services encourages the creation of economic

opportunities. The employees' ethical behavior is crucial to the organization's success in

achieving its goals and objectives. The study found that ethical issues pose a significant

challenge to organizations. As a result, the evaluation comes to the conclusion that the

performance of an organization is influenced by a variety of factors and that ethical behavior on

the part of employees has a small but significant impact on performance. As a result, employees

may agree to cooperate and take part in programs to improve ethical behavior. They might get

involved in these fields at some point, giving more of themselves in terms of intellectual and

emotional contribution, but doing so requires more personal involvement. As a result, examining
employees' ethical behavior is an effort that, in some way, contributes to the success of the

organization. In order to achieve and maintain competitive advantages and, as a result, earnings,

there must be a strong connection between the ethical behavior of employees and the

performance of the company.

An ethical officer is often in charge of evaluating the ethical impacts of an organization's

activities, making recommendations for the organization's ethical policies, and disseminating

relevant information to the organization's employees (Milton, 1970). They report directly to the

Chief Executive Officer of the organization.

Additionally, these ethical officers will be in charge of identifying and, whenever

possible, preventing any ethical issues that may arise in an organization.

Recommendations
Based on the opinions of professionals interviewed, the following suggestion can assist in

improving ethical behavior within an organization. The use of ethical behavior should be

prioritized by decision-makers as a way to improve the performance of the organization by

allocating sufficient resources and making a commitment to accomplishing this goal. In order for

graduate professionals to acquire sufficient knowledge, skills, and an appreciation for and

adherence to ethical conduct, responsible training institutions must enhance ethical conduct

training. As the case study, China Square ought to work with the appropriate agencies to

demonstrate the availability of the necessary facilities and, as a result, educate employees. It is

suggested that additional industry stakeholders, such as religious organizations and public

institutions that provide public services, should also play a leading role in ensuring that adequate

initiatives are in place to improve ethical behavior. Since employees' ethical behavior is
positively correlated with the performance of the organization, it is therefore recommended that

the responsible authorities invest in improving working conditions.

Implication of the Results

Based on the findings of the study, researchers can conclude that factors other than

ethical ones, such as governing policy, economic factors, and other control agencies, can largely

explain organizational performance. Core competencies, standards of practice, and quality

indicators for ethics case consultation are rapidly evolving in the field of organization ethics. The

culture and procedures of an entire institution can be impacted by organization policies, which

can have significant repercussions for patients, families, and staff. However, a poorly designed

ethics code can already render an ethics policy ineffective. First, a code might only cover a small

number of topics, like gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest, and how to use the

organization's assets, without addressing larger commitments to all of the organization's

stakeholders. Additionally, a code may be values-based and not provide guidance on how to deal

with ethical quandaries. Instead, it may be compliance-based and merely consist of a set of rules

that employees are expected to follow.

Last but not least, the code might cover employee conduct but not director conduct,

leaving out the organization's most influential decision-makers. All employees, from the CEO

up, should participate in initial and periodic Code of Conduct training sessions that go over both

internal and external guidelines and standards. Preparing endeavors ought to envelop a few

configurations, including classes conveyed by consistence experts, intranet based instructional

exercises with obligatory tests, and certifiable contextual investigations. In addition, it would be

wise for the company to include these training materials in their regular executive education

programs. The drive to guarantee quality needs to expand to encompass all ethics services,
including work on ethics policy reviews. Enhancing the organization's programs for

whistleblowers is one way to prevent unethical behavior. In the past year, numerous government,

legislative, and regulatory reform efforts have centered on whistleblower programs.

Even though there are significant incentives for blowing the whistle, not many people

take advantage of opportunities to do so. Instead, people frequently keep their mouths shut,

effectively becoming passive victims of fraud. Whistleblowing is the governance mechanism

with the greatest potential to stop ongoing fraud (unethical behavior). This entails members of

the organization—past or present—disclosing to a person or organization with the potential to

influence action illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices under their employers' control. In

recent years, some of the biggest frauds, like WorldCom and Enron, were stopped by

whistleblowers. Sometimes, being ethical means going against the flow and taking personal

risks.

Limitations of the Study

During the data and information collection, a few limitations were encountered: The

researcher first had to deal with the issue of insufficient and unreliable data. In some instances,

the obtained data were greatly exaggerated for reasons the source was aware of, while in others,

no data were available because everything was kept confidential. Another issue was that some

respondents were unwilling to cooperate, particularly when it came to filling out the

questionnaires; they were afraid that other people would find out about their information.

Additionally, not all of the questionnaires sent to respondents were returned to the researcher.

Nevertheless, the responses received were sufficient to fulfill the study's objective.

This study has demonstrated the significance of employees' ethical behavior for

organizational performance, but it does have some limitations. First, this study was restricted to
the Magomeni branch of a single public organization (China Square); because this study's

findings and conclusions are only representative of the public organization context, it is

recommended that additional branches be included in the future. Second, comparing the

incidence between the public and private sectors would be a useful research contribution. Lastly,

this study suggests that additional research be conducted to incorporate additional moderating

variables, such as organizational characteristics and the legal and regulatory environment.

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