Bridging the chasm between intentions and behaviors: Developing and testing a construal level theory of internalwhistle-blowing

The recent wave of corporate scandals has necessitated a more systematic investigation of internal whistle-blowing as a potential way to prevent wrongdoing. Our understanding of whistle-blowing, however, has been hampered by a deep chasm that exists between employees’ intent to blow the whistle and...

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Main Authors: VADERA, Abhijeet K., TENBRUNSEL, Ann E., DIEKMANN, Kristina A.
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Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7501
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/8500/viewcontent/BridgingChasm_WhistleBlowing_av.pdf
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spelling sg-smu-ink.lkcsb_research-85002024-10-11T03:13:04Z Bridging the chasm between intentions and behaviors: Developing and testing a construal level theory of internalwhistle-blowing VADERA, Abhijeet K. TENBRUNSEL, Ann E. DIEKMANN, Kristina A. The recent wave of corporate scandals has necessitated a more systematic investigation of internal whistle-blowing as a potential way to prevent wrongdoing. Our understanding of whistle-blowing, however, has been hampered by a deep chasm that exists between employees’ intent to blow the whistle and their whistle-blowing behaviors. We argue that to fully bridge this gap, we need to consider employees’ cognitive states at the time of whistle-blowing intentions versus behaviors and to link these cognitive states to the ethical systems within the organization’s ethical infrastructure to understand which systems are more effective in cultivating whistle-blowing intentions and which systems help translate those intentions into behaviors. Across one multisource field study and one multiwave experiment, we found support for our arguments that top management valuesbased communication systems, which are more high construal (abstract), affect whistleblowing intentions whereas ethical accountability systems and ethical retaliatory systems, which are more low construal (concrete), moderate the relationship between whistleblowing intentions and behaviors. By linking ethical systems within the organization’s ethical infrastructure to the two stages (intentions and behaviors) of the whistle-blowing process and the accompanying cognitive states, we develop and empirically test a construal level theory of internal whistle-blowing. 2024-05-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7501 info:doi/10.1287/orsc.2021.15292 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/8500/viewcontent/BridgingChasm_WhistleBlowing_av.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University whistle-blowing intentions whistle-blowing behaviors ethical infrastructure construal fit construal level theory Organizational Behavior and Theory Organization Development
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic whistle-blowing intentions
whistle-blowing behaviors
ethical infrastructure
construal fit
construal level theory
Organizational Behavior and Theory
Organization Development
spellingShingle whistle-blowing intentions
whistle-blowing behaviors
ethical infrastructure
construal fit
construal level theory
Organizational Behavior and Theory
Organization Development
VADERA, Abhijeet K.
TENBRUNSEL, Ann E.
DIEKMANN, Kristina A.
Bridging the chasm between intentions and behaviors: Developing and testing a construal level theory of internalwhistle-blowing
description The recent wave of corporate scandals has necessitated a more systematic investigation of internal whistle-blowing as a potential way to prevent wrongdoing. Our understanding of whistle-blowing, however, has been hampered by a deep chasm that exists between employees’ intent to blow the whistle and their whistle-blowing behaviors. We argue that to fully bridge this gap, we need to consider employees’ cognitive states at the time of whistle-blowing intentions versus behaviors and to link these cognitive states to the ethical systems within the organization’s ethical infrastructure to understand which systems are more effective in cultivating whistle-blowing intentions and which systems help translate those intentions into behaviors. Across one multisource field study and one multiwave experiment, we found support for our arguments that top management valuesbased communication systems, which are more high construal (abstract), affect whistleblowing intentions whereas ethical accountability systems and ethical retaliatory systems, which are more low construal (concrete), moderate the relationship between whistleblowing intentions and behaviors. By linking ethical systems within the organization’s ethical infrastructure to the two stages (intentions and behaviors) of the whistle-blowing process and the accompanying cognitive states, we develop and empirically test a construal level theory of internal whistle-blowing.
format text
author VADERA, Abhijeet K.
TENBRUNSEL, Ann E.
DIEKMANN, Kristina A.
author_facet VADERA, Abhijeet K.
TENBRUNSEL, Ann E.
DIEKMANN, Kristina A.
author_sort VADERA, Abhijeet K.
title Bridging the chasm between intentions and behaviors: Developing and testing a construal level theory of internalwhistle-blowing
title_short Bridging the chasm between intentions and behaviors: Developing and testing a construal level theory of internalwhistle-blowing
title_full Bridging the chasm between intentions and behaviors: Developing and testing a construal level theory of internalwhistle-blowing
title_fullStr Bridging the chasm between intentions and behaviors: Developing and testing a construal level theory of internalwhistle-blowing
title_full_unstemmed Bridging the chasm between intentions and behaviors: Developing and testing a construal level theory of internalwhistle-blowing
title_sort bridging the chasm between intentions and behaviors: developing and testing a construal level theory of internalwhistle-blowing
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2024
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7501
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/8500/viewcontent/BridgingChasm_WhistleBlowing_av.pdf
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