The Impact of moral disengagement on counterproductive work behaviour: The moderating role of ethical infrastructures

An analytical study of the opinions of workers in the engineering projects department of the al-Abbas’s holy shrine in Karbala

A thesis submitted to the Council of the College of Administration and Economics / University of Karbala

 It is part of the requirements for obtaining a PhD in Business Administration

Submitted By

 Nadia Nasser Okla

Supervisor    

     Prof. Dr  .                                                                       Ass. Prof. Dr.

 Meithak Hatef                                                         Mohammad Turki

   Alfatlawy                                                                      Abdel  Abbass

Abstract

The study aimed to reveal the relationship and effect between moral disengagement and its dimensions (moral justification, euphemism, useful comparison, shifting responsibility, distributing responsibility, ignoring and distorting consequences, dehumanization, attributing blame)And counterproductive work behavior, which includes two dimensions: counterproductive behavior directed at the individual and counterproductive behavior directed at the organization) and defining the modifying role of the ethical infrastructure with its dimensions (ethical code, ethical training, Punishments and incentives based on morality(Ethical Reporting System, Ethics Review System) on that relationship, and the study relied on the descriptive analytical approach, as data was collected using a questionnaire that was distributed to a sample of members of Engineering Projects Department of the Abbasid Holy Shrine in Karbala Governorate Which amounted to 300 members, and were then analyzed and processed statistically using a set of statistical methods as basic structural tests for the validity of the adopted measures, as well as conducting descriptive statistical analyzes such as the Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling, based on the employee’s practice of counterproductive work behavior as a result of his tendency to morally disengage and that providing a structure Ethical infrastructure reduces the impact of this. The results supported our hypotheses. The study also concluded that the employee deals with ethical issues by restructuring them cognitively in a way that makes unethical behavior ethical and practices it in his work without being subject to the control of self-regulation. The sample community has a level of ethical infrastructure that reduces From the effect of members’ practice of moral disengagement mechanisms that push them to display adverse behavior, a set of recommendations were presented, the most important of which is that it is necessary to pay attention to the behavior of members, try to understand it, identify the factors that make it positive behavior, and remove ambiguity from some of the rules and laws related to ethical behavior within the department’s work environment. Adding precise details and explanations to it, as this step can give results similar to what the process of creating a new rule, law, or punishment gives..

Keywords: Moral Disengagement, Counterproductive Work Behavior, Ethical Infrastructure, Engineering Projects Department at the Al-Abbas’s  holy shrine.