To quit or not to quit. Understanding turnover intention from the perspective of ethical climate
| Date | 06 August 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-04-2017-0124 |
| Pages | 1062-1076 |
| Published date | 06 August 2018 |
| Author | Sheng-Wuu Joe,Wei-Ting Hung,Chou-Kang Chiu,Chieh-Peng Lin,Ya-Chu Hsu |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM |
To quit or not to quit
Understanding turnover intention from the
perspective of ethical climate
Sheng-Wuu Joe and Wei-Ting Hung
Vanung University, Zhongli, Taiwan
Chou-Kang Chiu
National Taichung University of Education, Taichung, Taiwan, and
Chieh-Peng Lin and Ya-Chu Hsu
National Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose –To deepen our understanding about the development of turnover intention, the purpose of this
paper is to develop a model that explains how ethical climate influences turnover intention based on the
ethical climate theory and social identity theory.
Design/methodology/approach –The hypotheses of this study were statistically tested using a survey of
working professionals from Taiwan’s high-tech industry. Of the 400 questionnaires distributed to the
working professionals from five large high-tech firms in a well-known science park in Northern Taiwan,
352 usable questionnaires were returned for a questionnaire response rate of 88 percent.
Findings –The test results of this study first show that all three dimensions of ethical climate
(i.e. instrumental, benevolent, and principled) are indirectly related to turnover intention via the mediation of
firm attractiveness. Moreover,instrumental andbenevolent climatedirectly relate to turnoverintention, whereas
benevolent climatenegatively moderates the relationship between principled climate and firmattractiveness.
Originality/value –This study finds that benevolent climate plays a dual role as an antecedent and a
moderator in the formation of turnover intention, complementing prior studies that merely concentrate on the
single role of benevolent climate as either an antecedent or a moderator. The effect of principled climate on
organizational identification complements the theoretical discussion by Victor and Cullen (1987) about
deontology in which an ethical workplace climate (such as legitimacy) drives employees to invest in identity
attachments to the organization and influences their future career decision (e.g. turnover).
Keywords Quantitative, Ethics, Social identity,Organizational identification,Human resource management,
Turnover, Ethicalclimate
Paper type Research paper
Defined as a deliberate and conscious willfulness to leave an organization for good within a
foreseeable future (Ertureten et al., 2013), turnover intention is often a neglected but important
issue for business practitioners ( Jones et al., 2007). It is essential for management to learn why
employees develop an intention to quit their job, because a high turnover rate can substantially
harm organizational morale and keep employees from developing an identification toward their
firm (e.g. Van Knippenberg and Schie, 2000; Lee and Shin, 2005). As the best predictor of
turnover behavior (e.g. Griffeth et al., 2000; Van Breukelen et al., 2004), turnover intention has
just started attracting close attention in the context of ethical climate in recent academic
literature (e.g. Demirtas and Akdogan, 2014). Whereas turnover intention has been widely
discussed from various lenses (e.g. job satisfaction, social capital, organizational support,
leader-member exchange, etc.) in previous literature it has been relatively understudied from
the perspective of ethical climate.The purpose of this studyis to complement the literature by
exploring how turnover intention is influenced in depth by different kinds of ethical climate so
that it can be effectively assessed and improved by management in a timely manner.
Personnel Review
Vol. 47 No. 5, 2018
pp. 1062-1076
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-04-2017-0124
Received 22 April 2017
Revised 5 August 2017
Accepted 28 October 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
This study was supported by Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan.
1062
PR
47,5
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