ادراک اقلیم کار اخلاقی و تناسب فرد - سازمان در میان کارکنان خرده فروشی در ژاپن و ایالات متحده : اعتبار مقیاس میان فرهنگی

International retailers can only be successful if they understand similarities and differences between cultures. This study compares retail employees' perceptions of ethical work climate and person–organization fit in the U.S. with those of the same employee type in Japan. The results can help retailers understand employee perceptions of their relationship with the firm. An important aspect of this research involves testing the cross-cultural validity of the ethical work climate (EWC) and person–organization fit (POF) scales. Findings suggest that these scales are valid in both different national contexts and can also be used to compare differences between the cultures. Significant differences were noted in the EWC and POF between retail employees in Japan and the U.S. The relationship between EWC and POF varies significantly for employees in Japan and the U.S.

Japanese business environments clearly contrast the Asian from the Western. This contrast means that retail managers must be cautious when applying theory and measures of employee behaviors and attitudes across cultures. Interestingly, although the cultural distance is relatively great, the perceived business prowess observed within Japan leads many western firms to consider adopting Japanese management practices (Lincoln, 1989). Moreover, many U.S. retailers seeking globalization believe Japan offers rich opportunities for retail store expansion (Edelson, 2007). Retail employees are a key link in building customer loyalty since they are the voice and face of the retail firm. As retailers continue to globalize, they need to understand critical differences in employees of different cultures. Workplace ethics has become a prominent academic research topic. However, the question of measuring how ethical an individual employee is, or how ethical the workplace is perceived, is fraught with intricacies inevitably linked to the epistemology of good versus evil. Is measuring how moral a retail employee perceives his/her workplace possible? As more and more firms operate across national boundaries, is measuring workplace ethics across borders possible? Or, is the binding of ethics and culture so absolute that comparing the work climate of retail employees across cultures is impossible? The research aims to provide insight into these questions. This study offers a cross-cultural comparison of the perceptions of EWC and POF between U.S. and Japanese retail employees. Retail employees develop perceptions of how ethical the work climate within which they work truly is. They then assess how well these workplace ethics match their own personal ethics. Is there a fit between the retail firm and its employees? Additionally, in the process of examining these constructs, this study validates cross-culturally the scales for the EWC and the POF constructs originally developed in the United States. Because of differences in the two countries, caution is necessary when applying the same scale to both countries without first validating the scales. The results provide evidence of the usefulness of the EWC and POF scales across cultures and offer insight to retail management in structuring policies for retail control across these cultures.

The research here sheds light on the interplay between culture and ethics suggesting that workplace ethics can be similarly measured even when cultural differences are great. Furthermore, the results suggest that the way that ethics-related constructs are related to personal constructs, like POF, varies between cultures. In this case, the fact that American workers retain a greater sense of independence makes it more important that they feel a sense of fit than do Japanese workers. The results show stronger relationships between EWC dimensions and POF among American workers. In cross-validating the EWC scale, other researchers can turn their attention toward ethics and culture. Such research contributes theoretically, shedding insight onto the outcomes of cultural differences and workplace characteristics, and practically, as companies continue to internationalize and spread their operations into previously unfamiliar cultures.