Organizational ethical climate, perceived organizational support, and employee silence: A cross-level investigation

Abstract

This article reports on a study investigating the cross-level relationships of organizational ethical climate on employee silence. Using a sample of 408 full-time employees from 24 high-technology firms in Taiwan, the study conducted multilevel analyses to examine its hypotheses. The results showed that instrumental climate – one type of organizational ethical climate – had a positive association with acquiescent silence, but not with defensive silence. Another two types of organizational ethical climate – caring climate and independence climate – had a negative association with both acquiescent silence and defensive silence. Rules climate and the law and code climate, the remaining types of organizational ethical climate, were not associated with either the acquiescent silence or the defensive silence. The results also showed that the associations of the instrumental climate, caring climate, and independence climate with acquiescent silence and defensive silence are mediated by the perceived organizational support – an individual-level variable. Implications for management and future research are discussed.