Purpose

Recent high-profile ethical scandals in start-up organizations have made people wonder whether entrepreneurship may cultivate a work environment with less emphasis on ethics. This study examined a psychological process about how an organization’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO) can affect its treatment of probationary employees, a vulnerable yet understudied group of workers.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors recruited 241 participants through Amazon Mechanical Turk. They answered an online survey about their experiences as probationary employees.

Findings

This study found that job feedback and meaning moderated the relationship between EO and ethical climate, such that this relationship was statistically significant and positive only among participants who reported high levels of feedback and job meaning. Ethical climate, in turn, was found to be related to a reduction in workplace incivility experienced by probationary employees. The indirect effect of EO on incivility via ethical climate was contingent on job feedback and meaning.

Research limitations/implications

This study extends the discussion on the entrepreneurial context, adds to EO literature with findings on its indirect effect on nonfinancial performance and reinforces institutional theory through job characteristics’ moderating roles. However, a methodological limitation is conducting a cross-sectional single-source survey due to limited access to firms and probationary employees, considering the hidden population involved.

Practical implications

This study found no evidence of probationary employee exploitation in high EO organizations. Job seekers should embrace probationary work at start-ups. Entrepreneurial leaders should balance being proactive, innovative and caring toward employees.

Originality/value

It is debatable whether entrepreneurship leads to unethical organizational conduct. By studying a vulnerable group of employees, the authors discovered that EO, when paired with favorable job design factors, can create a more ethical workplace where temporary talents are treated with dignity and respect.

中文翻译：

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企业家是否虐待试用期员工？感知道德氛围的中介作用和核心工作特征的调节作用

目的

最近在初创组织中发生的备受瞩目的道德丑闻让人们怀疑创业是否可以营造一个不太重视道德的工作环境。这项研究探讨了组织的创业导向 (EO) 如何影响试用期员工待遇的心理过程，试用期员工是一个弱势但尚​​未得到充分研究的工人群体。

设计/方法论/途径

作者通过 Amazon Mechanical Turk 招募了 241 名参与者。他们回答了一项关于他们作为试用期员工的经历的在线调查。

发现

这项研究发现，工作反馈和意义调节了道德氛围与道德氛围之间的关系，因此这种关系只有在报告高水平反馈和工作意义的参与者中才具有统计显着性和积极性。反过来，道德氛围也被发现与试用期员工在工作场所不文明行为的减少有关。EO 通过道德氛围对不文明行为的间接影响取决于工作反馈和意义。

研究局限性/影响

本研究扩展了对创业环境的讨论，在 EO 文献中添加了其对非财务绩效的间接影响的研究结果，并通过工作特征的调节作用强化了制度理论。然而，考虑到所涉及的隐藏人群，由于对公司和试用期员工的访问有限，因此进行横断面单一来源调查存在方法上的局限性。

实际影响

这项研究没有发现高 EO 组织中试用期员工受到剥削的证据。求职者应该接受初创企业的试用工作。企业家领导者应该在积极主动、创新和关爱员工之间取得平衡。

原创性/价值

创业精神是否会导致不道德的组织行为是有争议的。通过研究弱势员工群体，作者发现，EO 与有利的工作设计因素相结合，可以创造一个更加道德的工作场所，让临时人才得到尊严和尊重。