Impact of Islamic work ethic on employee ethical behavior: the serial mediation of moral identity and felt obligation
| Date | 29 November 2024 |
| Pages | 350-370 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-01-2024-0045 |
| Published date | 29 November 2024 |
| Author | Ozlem Topcan,Bulent Uluturk,Ekin Kaynak Iltar,Rabia Akcoru |
Impact of Islamic work ethic
on employee ethical behavior:
the serial mediation of moral
identity and felt obligation
Ozlem Topcan
Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkiye
Bulent Uluturk
Turkish National Police, Mus, Turkiye
Ekin Kaynak Iltar
Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkiye, and
Rabia Akcoru
Independent Researcher, Antalya, Turkiye
Abstract
Purpose –Drawing on conservation of resources, social cognitive and self-verification theories, the current
study endeavors to extend our comprehension of the mechanisms linking Islamic work ethics (IWE) to
employee ethical behavior. More specifically, the current study investigates the potential impact of IWE on
employees’ ethical behavior through the serial mediating roles of moral identity and felt obligation.
Design/methodology/approach –By utilizing two-wave data collected from 513 employee-co-worker dyads
in the education sector in Turkey,we employed AMOS to conduct a confirmatory analysis and the PROCESS
macro for SPSS to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings –The results provide evidence for our hypothesized model. Our results indicate that employees with
higher levels of IWE are more likely to exhibithigher levels of ethical behavior. Our results also reveal that IWE
has a significant and positive impact on employees’ moral identity and sense of obligation, which in turn
enhances their ethical behavior.
Originality/value –By integrating multiple theories, the current research addresses a dearth in the literature and
provides a nomological network from Islamic work ethics to ethical employee behavior through the serial
mediating role of moral identity and felt obligation. This study adds value to the literature on human resource
management and work ethics by examining how IWE affects the attitudes and behaviors of employees in both
the public and private sectors. Accordingly, organizations can strengthen their workforce’smoral identities and
instill a sense of obligation to behave morally by incorporating workplace ethics into HRM processes.
Keywords Islamic work ethic, Moral identity, Felt obligation, Ethical behavior
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Studies on ethical behavior have recently attracted growing attention owing to ethical scandals
and corruption (Jennings et al., 2015;Veetikazhiet al., 2022). Therefore, there is an increasing
need to understand the root of employee ethical behaviors and act to create more ethical
PR
54,1
350
Data availability statement: Data available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Disclosure statement: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public,
commercial, or for-profit sectors.
Ethical approval: All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards
of the research committee at the first author’s institution and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later
amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Ethical approval for the study was granted by the ethical committee of Akdeniz University with the
number 14.02.2023–579069.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0048-3486.htm
Received 16 January 2024
Revised 30 June 2024
23 September 2024
Accepted 10 November 2024
PersonnelReview
Vol.54 No. 1, 2025
pp.350-370
©Emerald Publishing Limited
0048-3486
DOI10.1108/PR-01-2024-0045
organizations (Al Halbusi et al., 2021;Alqhaiwi et al., 2023). Employee ethical behavior,
based on universal moral principles such as integrity and fairness, involves actions or decision-
making aligned with the organization’s code of ethics (Al Halbusi et al., 2023). Research in
this area has largely focused on how to reduce unethical behavior among employees (Alqhaiwi
et al., 2023;Belle and Cantarelli, 2017,2019;Kish-Gephart et al., 2010;Kuenzi et al., 2020;
Wang et al., 2023) by examining the effects of individual, group, or organizational factors
(Trevi~
noet al., 2006), such as personal characteristics, leadership styles, organizational
culture, work ethics, and ethical climate. Therefore, scholars have called for more research on
how to improve ethical behaviors and the factors that influence employee ethical behaviors
(Al Halbusi et al., 2023;Nauman et al., 2023a). In response, this study examines how
individual ethical principles driven by Islamic work ethic influence employee ethical behavior
and the potential mediating roles of moral identity and sense of obligation in this relationship.
Workethic, which refers to a set of beliefs and attitudes reflecting the fundamental value of
work (Meriac et al., 2010, p. 316), is likely to be critical for improving employee ethical
behavior. Moreover, given that religions set a higher level of ethical standards and serve as
ethical guidelines (Fisher and Rinehart, 2017), religious beliefs are likely to positively
influence work ethics and employee ethical behavior (Taghavi and Segalla, 2023). Regarding
religion-based work ethics, the Protestant work ethic (PWE), derived from the writings of Max
Weber, places a strong emphasis on morality that promotes hard work and high productivity
(Zhang et al., 2020). Ali (1988) introduced the concept of Islamic work ethic (IWE), which is
based on Islamic values and emphasizes duty and virtue to maintain balance in one’ssocial and
personal lives, as an alternative because PWE is Western-centered and reflects the values of
prostestant societies, making it not universal (Kalemci and Kalemci Tuzun, 2019;Murtaza
et al., 2016;Suryani et al., 2021).
IWE is a set of moral principles derived from Islamic faith that guides professional conduct
and emphasizes trustworthiness, responsibility,accountability, justice, respect for others, hard
work, dedication, and cooperation (Ahmad and Owoyemi, 2012). Recent research indicates
that IWE is positively related to work engagement (Shaheen et al., 2020), job embeddedness
(Suryani et al., 2021), knowledge sharing (Chaudhary et al., 2023;Islam et al., 2021a;Suryani
et al., 2021), prosocial voice behavior (Akhmadi et al., 2023), job satisfaction (Khan et al.,
2015), organizational commitment (Aman-Ullah and Mehmood, 2023), organizational
citizenship behavior (Suryani et al., 2023), task performance (Hassi et al., 2021;Qasim et al.,
2022), and organizational performance (Badar et al., 2024). On the other hand, IWE has been
negatively linked to knowledge hiding (Islam et al., 2021b;Khalid et al., 2018), workplace
bullying (Ahmad et al., 2021), and deviant workplace behavior (G€
urlek, 2022;Javed et al.,
2019;Maqbool et al., 2024).
However, few studies have investigated the relationship between employees’ work ethics
and their moral behavior, all of which concentrated on reducing unethical or deviant behavior
rather than improving ethical behavior (Alqhaiwi et al., 2023;G€
urlek, 2022;Javed et al., 2019;
Nauman et al., 2023b). Thus, this study answers to the call for more research to investigate the
relationship between IWE and ethical behavior from a human resource management (HRM)
perspective (Alqhaiwi et al., 2023). Hence, we argue that IWE directly impacts how
individuals behave ethically or make ethical decisions in an organization, as Muslims believe
that Almighty Allah watches over them and will eventually reward them for their good deeds
(Javed et al., 2019;Nauman et al., 2023a,b). As IWE may serve as a personal resource
according to conservation of resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll et al., 2018;Javed et al., 2019),
individuals with IWE are expected to follow a set of higher levels of ethical standards as their
personal resource. In this way, organizations where employees behave ethically through IWE
as their personal resource would be “less vulnerable to resource loss and more capable of
resource gain” (Hobfoll et al., 2018, p. 107).
Moreover, while research indicates a link between IWE and work-related outcomes, our
understanding of the underlying mechanisms is limited, necessitating further research (Qasim
et al., 2022). Therefore, it is crucial to investigate how IWE affects employees’ psychological
Personnel Review
351
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