How Socially Responsible Human Resource Management Facilitates Ethical Workplace Behavior

The concept of socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) continues to gain traction as integral part of an organization's corporate social responsibility strategy. However, important questions remain concerning how it enables employees to behave more ethically at work. Drawing on social learning theory, we advance current knowledge by reconciling distinct cognitive and moral pathways through which SRHRM influences ethical workplace behavior. We then investigate the role of supervisor ethical leadership as an important boundary condition for this relationship. Based on time-lagged data from 243 employees in 67 Taiwanese organizations, Study 1 shows that SRHRM promotes ethical workplace behavior both directly and indirectly via value commitment and moral ownership, respectively. Study 2 replicates these findings using time-lagged data from 302 employee–supervisor dyads in 81 Vietnamese organizations. The study also highlights the role of supervisor ethical leadership as a first-stage moderator, such that the positive indirect links between SRHRM and ethical workplace behavior are stronger when supervisors exhibit an ethical leadership style. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.