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The Relationship among Ethical Climate Types, Facets of Job Satisfaction, and the Three Components of Organizational Commitment: A Study of Nurses in Taiwan

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Abstract

The high turnover of nurses has become a global problem. Several studies have proposed that nurses’ perceptions of the ethical climate of their organization are related to higher job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and thus lead to lower turnover. However, there is limited empirical evidence supporting a relationship between different types of ethical climate within organizations and facets of job satisfaction. Furthermore, no published studies have investigated the impact of different types of ethical climate on the three components of organizational commitment. This study attempts to explore the different types of ethical climate that exist in hospitals, and the degree of job satisfaction and organizational commitment of nurses in Taiwan. It uses path analysis to understand which types of ethical climate influence different facets of job satisfaction. The study also examines the impact of different types of ethical climate and facets of job satisfaction on the three components of organizational commitment. Questionnaires were distributed to 352 nurses. The relationships among variables were assessed by factor analysis, reliability, descriptive statistics, correlations, and regression. The important conclusion is that hospitals can increase job satisfaction and organizational commitment by influencing an organization’s ethical climate. Hospital administrators can foster within organizations the climate types of caring, independent, and rules climate that increase satisfaction, while preventing organizations from developing the type of instrumental climate that decreases it.

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Correspondence to Chun-Chen Huang.

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Ming-Tien Tsai is a professor of Business Administration at National Chen Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. degree from Columbia University in the United States. Dr. Tsai has published articles in the Quality & Quantity, Journal of Information and Optimization Sciences, Journal of Knowledge Management, International Journal of Management, The Journal of American Academy of Business, and elsewhere.

Chun-Chen Huang is a Ph.D. candidate of Business Administration at National Chen Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. She is also a lecturer of Department of International Business Management, Wu-Feng Institute of Technology, Chiayi, Taiwan. She has taught “Business Ethics” for 8 years.

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Tsai, MT., Huang, CC. The Relationship among Ethical Climate Types, Facets of Job Satisfaction, and the Three Components of Organizational Commitment: A Study of Nurses in Taiwan. J Bus Ethics 80, 565–581 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9455-8

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