Purpose – Although there have been several studies on corporate justice and employee ethical behavior,
little is known about the conditions in which this link develops. The purpose of this study is to investigate the
direct effect of organizational justice and moral attentiveness toward employee ethical behavior. Importantly,
this study also considers the moderating role of moral attentiveness on the links between organizational
justice and employee ethical behavior.
Design/methodology/approach – The data was collected from 350 employees who were assessed
directly to supervisors in 12 manufacturing companies placed in Malaysia, operated full-time, and had regular
interaction with their direct supervisors. In particular, using two-wave survey data obtained from 270
employees working in the manufacturing industry in Malaysia.
Findings – Results showed that organizational justice and moral attentiveness positively impact the employee
ethical behavior as predicted. New to the literature, findings disclose that moral attentiveness strengthens this
relationship. Importantly, the positive impact of organizational justice is sharply positive under high than low moral
attentive employees and ceases to be significant among low morally attentive personnel.
Research limitations/implications – This research focused on the notion of ethics and how important
it is for society. The principles, norms and ideals that guide an individual’s behavior are referred to as ethics.
Because the authors need to be treated with dignity as human beings, ethical behavior is essential in society.
Practical implications – The findings of this study send a clear signal to managers that “failing to ensure
that their employees perceive organizational justice” may undermine every effort made by them to improve their
organizations’ ethical quality. Importantly, the findings emphasize the role of moral attentiveness in improving the
ethical behavior of employees both directly and by strengthening the effectiveness of organizational justice to
impact such a behavior positively. So, given the advantages of moral attentiveness in terms of improving employee
ethical conduct, businesses should make every effort to hire and choose people who meet this requirement because
it is not easy to spot this personality trait. Human resource managers may assess candidates’ moral attentiveness
using a range of methods such as group debate, an in-basket exercise, organized interviews and business games
that concentrate on specific ethical concerns.
Social implications – This research focused on the notion of ethics and how important it is for society.
The principles, norms and ideals that guide an individual’s behavior are referred to as ethics. Because the
authors need to be treated with dignity as human beings, ethical behavior is essential in society
