Bahaudin G. Mujtaba & Randi L. Sims
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of an informal
socialization process for reported employee attitudes towards unethical
behavior within a large retail organization. This study compares the
reported ethical attitudes of full-time employees who were socialized
using an informal approach, to the reported ethical attitudes of their
managers who were socialized using a formal approach. The results indicate
that the informal approach to ethical socialization was not as effective
as the formal approach to ethical socialization. Employees were more
accepting of unethical behavior than were their managers. Implications are
discussed and recommendations provided.
Keywords: business ethics, informal socialization, retail employees
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