The effects of ethical work climate on organizational commitment in Taiwanese Military units

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between overall ethical work climate (EWC) and overall organizational commitment (OC) and test the effects of types of EWC on three components of OC in Taiwanese military context. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review on EWC and OC provides the basis for the research model and hypotheses. A self-completion questionnaire survey, involving 508 respondents (92.36 per cent response rate) from military officers in Taiwan included both full-time training officers of the National Defense University and officers of Department of Defense. The authors use statistical analysis, including hierarchical regression and structural equation model to test hypotheses about the relationships above. Findings – The results indicated that overall EWC and some climate types significantly positively or negatively influenced overall OC, affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment. Practical implications – The findings can provide helpful perspectives on management and organizations of benefit to scholars and policy-makers to make ethical policy in military organizations. In addition, suggesting for military leaders to foster some types of ethical climates to prevent low OC. Originality/value – Theoretically, the paper serves as a pioneer research for testing the concept of influence of EWC on OC and shows the effects of types of EWC on three components of OC in military context. Practically, the results and recommendations in the paper will be useful to those involved in the field of management in Taiwan military organizations.