Ethical Climate at the Frontline: A Meta-Analytic Evaluation

Abstract

Long-term customer relationships develop over repeated interactions, underscoring the importance of frontline employees (FLEs) engaging in ethical behaviors. Therefore, organizations must understand how a strong ethical climate (EC) may affect attitudes and behaviors among FLEs. This study reviews frontline-related EC research and employs a meta-analytic approach to investigate the direct, indirect, and contingent effects of EC on FLE actions, attitudes, and outcomes. The authors reviewed 67 frontline-related studies comprising a sample of 21,118 respondents to assess meta-analytic associations and derive a model for structural testing. The findings from this study show that a strong EC drives customer-oriented behaviors, fosters desirable job attitudes, reduces felt stress, increases perceived performance, and decreases turnover intentions among FLEs. The strength of theses associations is often predicated on individual-level (FLE experience), study-level (response rate), and country-level (perceived corruption, individualism/collectivism) factors. This study offers theoretical and managerial contributions germane to multiple uncertainties in service literature about EC’s implications on FLEs, including EC’s ability to break through sources of tension-facing FLEs, the mediated nature of EC’s impact on perceived performance through frontline actions, and the generalizability of the economic and human benefits of EC across service contexts and frontline roles that foster greater diffusion in practice.