Asia Pacific Educ. Rev.

(2012) 13:137–146
DOI 10.1007/s12564-011-9183-8

The relationship of organizational corruption with organizational

culture, attitude towards work and work ethics: a search
on Turkish high school teachers
Ali Balcı • Murat Özdemir • Çiğdem Apaydın •

Fatmanur Özen

Received: 28 June 2010 / Revised: 28 July 2011 / Accepted: 9 August 2011 / Published online: 24 August 2011
Ó Education Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea 2011

Abstract The aim of this study is to analyse organiza-
tional corruption and to determine its level of relation to
attitude towards work, work ethics and organizational
culture. The data in study have been collected from 441
public high school teachers employed in the central dis-
tricts of Ankara in the school year of 2008–2009. Data have
been collected through ‘Scale for Organizational Corrup-
tion’, ‘Scale for Attitude towards Work’, ‘Scale for Work
Ethics’ and ‘Scale for Organizational Culture’, all of which
were developed by the researchers in this study. Correla-
tion and regression analysis techniques have been used in
analysing the data. It is concluded from the study that there
is a significant, though at an average level, relation between
organizational corruption, organizational culture and work
ethics and that there is a negative significant relation,
A. Balcı
Department of Educational Administration and Policy, Faculty
of Educational Sciences, Ankara University, Cebeci Kampusü,
Ankara, Turkey
e-mail: alibalc@gmail.com; balci@education.ankara.edu.tr
M. Özdemir (&)
Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Art, Çankırı
Karatekin University, Fatih Mah, TOKİ Konutları, Kıbrıs Sok.
No: 3, Çankırı, Turkey
e-mail: mrtozdem@gmail.com; mozdemir@karatekin.edu.tr
Ç. Apaydın
Faculty of Education, Akdeniz University, Dumlupinar Bulvari,
Kampus, 07058 Antalya, Turkey
e-mail: cigdemapaydin@akdeniz.edu.tr;
cigdemapaydin@mynet.com
F. Özen
Ministry of National Education, Beşevler Kampusü, Ankara,
Turkey
e-mail: fatmanurozen2004@yahoo.com
though at a low level, between organizational corruption
and attitude towards work. It is also concluded that the
variables for attitude towards work, work ethics and
organizational culture explain 38% of the variation in
organizational corruption.
Keywords Organizational corruption  Organizational
culture  Attitude toward work  Work ethics
Introduction
Scandals in both public and private sectors and several
cases of corruption in the form of siphoning public prop-
erty and abusing authority have often been appearing in the
media. It is noted that considering ‘news related to cor-
ruption’, there are 1,960,000 web pages in Turkish and
3,49,000 web pages in English on the Internet, from which
it can be concluded that there has been an increase in the
number and nature of corruption and unethical behaviour.
The term ‘corruption’, which is often referred to ‘cor-
ruption’ or ‘level of corruption’ in social life, has two
dimensions. One is individuals or organizations giving
bribes or gifts to public servants with the purpose of
avoiding having to deal with laws, regulations and
bureaucracy and with the purpose of having individual or
organizational benefit while making agreements or to
evade punishment for any offense which has been com-
mitted. The other dimension is civil servant demanding gift
or bribe from the citizen or organization to have personal
benefit so that he would complete the work which he is
assigned to accomplish (Klitgaard 1998). In both dimen-
sions, corruption is a dangerous, illegal, unethical and
illegitimate incident for developed and undeveloped soci-
eties and economies (Johnston 1994).

123
138
Organizational corruption is also categorized as venal
corruption and systematic corruption. ‘Venal corruption is
the pursuit of private economic interests through the
political process. Venal corruption occurs when economics
corrupts politics’ (p. 298). Systematic corruption is both a
concrete form of political behaviour and an idea. ‘Sys-
tematic corruptions occur when politics corrupts econom-
ics’ (p. 301) (Wallis 2006, in Waite and Waite 2009).
Corruption is a crime that is committed to obtain per-
sonal benefit by abusing the authority one has within the
organization (Anechiaryco and Goldstock 2007). Oxford
English Dictionary (OED) (2008) defines corruption as
mainly civil servants who work in public sector swerving
to obtain personal benefit. Definitions related to organiza-
tional corruption generally focuses on public administra-
tion (Adaman et al. 2001; Palmier 1983, p. 207).
On the other hand, Sayed and Bruce (1996) (in Waite
and Allen 2003, p. 282) define organizational corruption as
‘any illegal conduct or misconduct involving the use of
occupational power for personal, group or organizational
gain’. According to Waite and Allen (2003), organizational
corruption is related to culture and it is something more
than financial benefits. They think that organizational
corruption is abusing of position or public power for
individual, collective or organizational benefits. In the
current study, Waite and Allen’s definition is found
appropriate because of the reason that educational organi-
zations are largely cultural organizations.
One of the variables—and probably the most impor-
tant—that may be related to corruption is organizational
culture. Groups, organizations and nations, which are large
social structures, are culturally, historically and psycho-
logically dependent on each other (Ellis and Maoz 2003).
Culture is the whole of beliefs, attitudes, knowledge,
incentives, values and aims that determine people’s style of
living. Culture is a system of inherited concepts and ideas
that come into existence through symbols that arise from
experience and that are reflected on the symbolic com-
munication in human relations (Herskowitz 1948, Akt:
Hawkins 1997; Geertz 1973). Organizational culture is a
system of norms, attitudes, values, beliefs and habits that
guide members of the organization (Dinçer 1996). Such a
system shows the commonly shared expectations of the
members of the organization and the aim of the organiza-
tion while reflecting its stature and reinforcing social
integration between individuals (Kilmann 1982 ref. by
McKevitt and Lawton 1994; Parsons 1964).
Within an organization, the individual may direct his
rational behaviour towards his personal benefit and such a
behaviour may sometimes seem acceptable or be ignored
by other members of the organization. Schein (1985)
defines this culture as ‘culture of corruption’. Involvement
in the culture of corruption may sometimes turn into a
123
A. Balcı et al.
requirement that is needed for the culture to exist, as a
result of which changes are observed in the individual’s
attitude towards work and understanding of work ethics.
For example, a teacher who regards ‘going to class on
time’ as an ethical principle and responsibility may adopt
‘going to class late’ if the principle of ‘going to class on
time’ is not being embraced in the school where he is
teaching.
Values and work ethics that are thought to be markers of
rational behaviour function as a guide for people in their
professional life. Hence, work ethics have a limiting force
in organizations against illegal behaviours. According to
Welch (1997), ethical behaviour stems from the desire of
being a member of a legitimate organization and doing
acceptable deeds. According to Suar (2004), work ethics is
a vague field, where abstract features such as integrity,
determination, being fair, honesty, modesty, tolerance,
endeavour, courage and responsibility are related to work
ethics (Atilla 1999; Milton-Smith 1997; Suar 2004).
When the culture of the organization does not generate
any ethical codes, the probability of destructive policies,
aggressiveness and violence seems to increase, and this
consequence makes some employees feel disappointed
(Bukley et al. 2001) while it makes others adopt a rational
behaviour giving priority to personal benefits rather than
public benefits. Such a transformation causes the corrup-
tion of existing rules, standards and ethical principals about
what is right and wrong related to work ethics, which,
according to Velasquez (1988), creates a problem about
how to apply ethical standards.
Since ethical codes are prone to change as the envi-
ronment changes, a standard in ethics may not exist and
ethical codes of each organization may change occasion-
ally. How ethical codes will respond to the changing
conditions is a significant issue. In Turkey, the concept of
work ethics has been receiving attention in public and
private sectors only recently, which could be explained
with the fact that devoted to customs and traditions, and
work ethics has generally been related to morality since the
period of the Ottoman Empire (Arslan 2005).
The level of harmony between the understanding of
work ethics for the organization and the individual is clo-
sely related to the individual’s attitude towards work.
Attitudes are positive or negative opinions regarding peo-
ple, objects and events (Robbins 2003, p. 19). Attitude has
three dimensions as cognitive, emotional and behavioural.
It is cognitive since it includes certain patterns of thought.
It is emotional as these patterns of thoughts may have
positive or negative impacts. It is behavioural since it
evokes the individual in a certain direction (Baron and
Byrne 1987). Two factors determine the attitude. One is the
personality of the individual, and the other is the social
environment of the individual (Moorhead and Griffin
The relationship of organizational corruption
1995). Similarly, Kurt Lewin regards the formation of
attitude as a common function of the individual and
personality.
Introvert attitude of individuals has a significant effect
on their within-organization behaviours. Attitudes also
imply what kind of a respond they are likely to give to
certain cases. For example, several studies related to atti-
tude towards work indicate that employees with negative
attitude generally tend to get to work late (Luthans 1995).
Attitude towards work is considered within job satisfaction,
job involvement and commitment (Robbins 2003). Job
satisfaction is the level of pleasure employees get from
work. Such variables as payment, relations with colleagues,
superiors, autonomy at work, work difficulty, work envi-
ronment, work safety and expectations have an influence
on the level of job satisfaction. On the other hand, there is a
close relation between low level of job satisfaction and
avoiding work, leaving work, early retirement, involve-
ment in union activities, uprising, complaint and sabotage
(Vecchio 1995; Moynihan and Pandey 2004). Those with
high level of job satisfaction are helpful to their colleagues,
have better communication with customers and are inclined
to cooperation (Luthans 1995).
Another concept related to attitude towards work is
organizational commitment. Organizational commitment is
the loyalty one feels towards the organization he works for.
Organizational commitment is closely related to the vari-
ables of age and seniority as well as organizational vari-
ables such as work pattern and leadership style of the
manager. Studies indicate that there is a strong relation
between organizational commitment and performance at
work, avoiding work and leaving work. It is also claimed
that the relation between organizational commitment and
the above-mentioned behaviours is stronger than the rela-
tionship between job satisfaction and the mentioned vari-
ables (Balcı 2003; Luthans 1995). The other type of
attitude towards work is the level of job involvement. Job
involvement is the level at which the employee psycho-
logically embraces his work (Muchinsky 2000). When job
involvement is high, the employee tries to improve his
performance by learning methods and means so as to better
do his work. On the other hand, when the level of job
involvement decreases, the employee regards his job only
as a means to earn money and can be motivated only by
external incentives (Moorhead and Griffin 1995).
As it could be concluded from the arguments mentioned
above, attitude towards work is observed in different forms
such as job satisfaction, job involvement and devotion.
These variables are also related to the individual’s under-
standing of work ethics. For example, positive correlation
has been noted between organizational commitment and
organizational ethical values and also between organiza-
tional citizenship and positive organizational climate.
139
Similarly, it is known that the level of job satisfaction is
higher among those who work in organizations where ethical
values are institutionalized (Vitell and Singhapakdi 2008).
It is possible that organizational corruption can exist in
educational organization, which is the main focus of the
current study. Heyneman (2004), who thinks that the
studies on organizational corruption at schools are limited,
mentions the main organizational corrupt behaviours at
schools as the following;
1. to get a present from a student for a good mark or
being chosen for special programme,
2. to give a grade to a student according to his race,
culture or social class,
3. to force the student to admit his own values,
4. to disclose the private information about the students,
5. to abuse the students sexually or to discriminate,
6. to make the students buy a certain publisher’s books or
his own materials,
7. to ignore his colleague’s bad behaviours on students,
8. to use the school’s materials for his own financial
purpose,
Because of their position, school administrators hold and
use public power. Therefore, it can be expected that the
organizational corrupt behaviour may be common among
school administrators. But also as a consequence of their
position, teachers can take part in organizational corruption
(Heyneman 2004). The reason why this study is held on
teachers is the thought that they are the workers who can
directly observe and evaluate the school administrators.
The aim of this study is to determine the degree of
relationship between organizational corruption and work
ethics and that of between organizational culture and atti-
tude towards work at schools. In relation to the aim of the
study, the research questions are as following: According
to the views of the teachers who work in high schools in
Ankara province,
1. Is there a meaningful relation between organizational
corruption and attitude towards work, work ethics and
organizational culture?
2. To what extent is the variation in organizational
corruption explained by attitude towards work, work
ethics and organizational culture?
Method
Population and sampling
Target population of the research is 6,414 teachers who are
employed in public secondary schools located in 9 different
central regions of Ankara in the academic year 2008–2009.
123
140 A. Balcı et al.

Considering the impossibility of reaching all teachers, the Table 1 Validity and reliability analysis results of scales to gather
research has been carried out on a sampling from the target data
population. ‘stratified sampling’ method has been used in Scale Number of Variance Alpha Item-total
forming the sampling. For this purpose, the total number of items (n) explained (%) value correlations
teachers in the 9 regions where the teachers are employed
Corruption 22 49 .95 94.12–94.48
and the number of teachers to be included in the sample
Attitude 13 27 .68 63.54–71.96
have been determined. It has been decided that 364 sub-
Attitude 1 6 45.48 .70 59–77
jects, with an error rate of 5%, would represent the popu-
Attitude 2 7 38 .37 21–49
lation that is composed of 6,414 subjects (Balcı 2005,
Work ethics 19 62 .96.15 95.82–96.37
p. 95). However, considering possible problems while
Culture 22 41.29 .92.14 91.48–92.71
completing the survey, it has been decided that 500
teachers would be asked to fill in the questionnaire. Five
hundred teachers in the sample representing the target
population have been given the questionnaire, 441 of who
were returned fully completed. Two hundred and fifity- factor is 49%, alpha value is .95 and item-total correlations
three of the subjects (57.4%) in the sampling are female range between 94.12 and 94.48. Hence, the scale has been
teachers, and 188 of them (42.6%) are male teachers. noted to have the required level of validity and reliability.
Average age of the teachers is 3,779, and the average year Item discrimination of items ranges between .63 and .71,
of teaching is 16–20 years. Average year of teaching at the and therefore, the scale is believed to have appropriate
same school is 7–9 years. validity and reliability levels to confirm its applicability.
Validity and reliability analyses indicate that the scale
Data gathering scales for attitude towards work is made up of 13 items and has
two factors (see ‘Appendix’). Total variation explained by
Four different scales designed by the researchers have been the factors is 27%, and internal consistency coefficient is
used in this study to measure and analyse organizational .68. The first factor of the scale for attitude towards work
corruption, work ethics, organizational culture and attitude has been named as ‘Attitude 1’. The scale is made up of 6
towards work (see ‘Appendix’). The procedure followed items, and the total variation explained by the factor is
while developing the scales is as following: Firstly, an item 45.48%. Reliability level of the scale is .70, and item dis-
pool has been prepared about each scale based on the crimination ranges between .59 and .77. It has, therefore,
conceptual basis and the related research. Then, these item been concluded that the scale can be applied. The second
pools have been discussed several times in groups, and the factor of the scale for attitude towards work is composed of
most appropriate items that measure the related concepts 7 items, and the total variation explained by the factor is
are selected. Next, four different scales are developed 38%. Internal consistency coefficient of the scale is .37, and
under a cover letter, which explains how each scale is to be item discrimination ranges between .21 and .49. Therefore,
filled in. Draught scales have been made ready to be used the applicability of this scale has also been confirmed.
after being discussed with some colleagues and practitio- Validity and reliability studies of the scale for work
ners once again. Pre-application has been made on a group ethics indicate that this scale is made up of 19 items, and
of 75 teachers who have the same characteristics as those in total variation explained by the factor is 62%. Reliability
the sampling but who will not be in the sampling of this level of the scale is 96.15, and item discrimination ranges
research. Validity of each subscale has been checked with between 95.82 and 96.37 (see ‘Appendix’). Based on these
factor analysis, and reliability has been checked with alpha values, the applicability of the scale has been confirmed.
reliability coefficient and item-total correlation. Validity and reliability studies of the scale for organiza-
However, it was suggested that some items in the scale tional culture show that this scale is made up of 22 items
be deleted to be able to get permission from the Ministry of and has one factor (see ‘Appendix’). Total variation
Education to apply the scale. Therefore, validity and reli- explained by the factor is 41.29%. Internal consistency
ability studies based on pre-application have become coefficient of the scale is 92.14, and item discrimination
meaningless. Due to time constraints, validity and reli- ranges between 91.48 and 92.71. Therefore, the applica-
ability studies of scales had to be made on real data. The bility of this scale has also been confirmed.
analysis in the pre-application has been made again, and
the results are summarized in Table 1. Data analysis
As can be seen in Table 1, the scale for organizational
corruption is made up of 22 items and has one single factor In the analysis of the data collected through the scales
(see ‘Appendix’). The total variation explained by the developed for this study, Pearson r has been used for the

123
The relationship of organizational corruption 141

analysis of the first question and multiple regressions has
been used for the analysis of the second question.
Results
Descriptive statistics related to the data collection scales
used in the study are shown in Table 2.
As seen in Table 2, among the subscales used in this
study, ‘Attitude towards Work’ is the one for which par-
ticipants expressed relatively close views (7.62 SD), and
‘Work Ethics’ is the one for which participants expressed
relatively different views (17.95 SD). Pearson Moments
Multiplication Correlation technique has been used to see
whether there is a meaningful relationship between data
collection tools and the scales, regarding the first question
in the study, summary of the results of which are shown in
Table 3.
As seen in Table 3, there is a significant—though low—
negative relation (-.18) at the significance level of .01
between the dependant variable ‘Organizational Corrup-
tion’ and the independent variable ‘Attitude’. There is a
significant, but low, negative correlation (-.16) at the
significance level of .01 between ‘Organizational Corrup-
tion’ and ‘Attitude 1’. There is a significant, but low,
negative correlation (-.12) at the significance level of .05
between ‘Organizational Corruption’ and ‘Attitude 2’.
There is a moderate correlation (.40) between ‘Organiza-
tional Corruption’ and ‘Organizational Culture’ at the
significance level of .01. Similarly, the correlation between
Table 2 Descriptive statistics related to data collection scales
X r
Corruption 40.7338 15.2108
Attitude 37.9352 7.6210
Attitude 1 16.1644 4.6610
Attitude 2 19.2940 4.0253
Culture 59.2037 17.7497
Ethics 65.7894 17.9453
‘Organizational Corruption’ and ‘Work Ethics’ is moderate
(.59) at the significance level of .01.
Considering the results obtained, the independent vari-
able of ‘Work Ethics’ has the highest degree of relationship
with the dependent variable of ‘Organizational Culture’,
which means ‘Work Ethics’ is the variable which has rel-
atively the most effect on ‘Organizational Corruption’.
Thirty-five per cent of the variable of ‘Organizational
Corruption’ can be explained by the variable of ‘Work
Ethics’. On the other hand, among all independent vari-
ables, ‘Work Ethics’ is the one which has the lowest
relation with ‘Organizational Corruption’. The relation
between ‘Organizational Corruption’, and ‘Total attitude,
‘Attitude 1’ and ‘Attitude 2’ is quite low in the negative
direction (between -.12 and -.18), indicating that among
the independent variables, ‘Work Ethics’ has the lowest
effect on ‘Organizational Corruption’.
It is understood from the correlation analysis that con-
sidering the independent variables, the lowest correlation
(-.34) is between ‘Attitude towards Work’ and ‘Organi-
zational Culture’ and the highest correlation (.45) is
between ‘Attitude towards Work’ and ‘Work Ethics’. The
correlation between ‘Work Ethics’ and ‘Culture’ is quite
high (-.73), from which it can be concluded that when the
cultural values that lead to corruption arise, practices of
work ethics decrease.
Among the independent variables, there is a high-level
positive (.85) relation between ‘Attitude’ and ‘Attitude 1’
at the significance level of .01, and the same trend (.85) is
seen between ‘Attitude’ and ‘Attitude 1’ at the significance
level of .01. Similarly, there is a high-level positive (.79)
relation between ‘Attitude’ and ‘Attitude 2’ at the signifi-
cance level of .01. However, there is a moderate negative
N (-.34) relation between ‘Attitude’ and ‘Organizational
432 Culture’ at the significance level of .01. The relation
432 between ‘Attitude’ and ‘Ethics’ is moderate and positive
432 (.45) at the significance level of .01 and that of between
432
‘Attitude 1’ and ‘Attitude 2’ is moderate and positive (.38)
432
at the significance level of .01. There is a low and negative
432
(-.24) relation between ‘Attitude 1’ and ‘Organizational
Culture’, and the relation between ‘Attitude 1’ and ‘Work

Table 3 Correlation between the variables of organizational corruption, work ethics, attitude towards work and organizational culture
Variables Corruption Attitude Attitude 1 Attitude 2 Culture Ethics

Corruption 1.00
Attitude -.18** 1.00**
Attitude 1 -.16** .85** 1.00**
Attitude 2 -.12* .79** .38** 1.00**
Culture .40** -.34** -.24** -.33** 1.00**
Ethics -.59** .45** .32** .44** -.73** 1.00**
* p B .05; ** p B .01

123
142
Ethics’ is moderate and positive at the significance level of
.01. There is a moderate and positive relation (.38) between
‘Attitude 2’ and ‘Attitude 1’ at the significance level of .01,
and there is a moderate and negative (-.33) relation
between ‘Attitude 2’ and ‘Organizational Culture’ at the
significance level of .01. The relation between ‘Attitude 2’
and ethics is moderate and positive (.44) at the significance
level of .01. There is a low and negative relation (-.24)
between ‘Organizational Culture’ and ‘Attitude 1’ at the
significance level of .01. The relation between ‘Organiza-
tional Culture’ and ‘Attitude 2’ is low and negative (-.33)
and that of between ‘Organizational Culture’ and ‘Ethics’
is high and positive (.73) at the significance level of .01.
Considering the second research question, to what extent
independent variables foresee the dependent variable of
‘Organizational Corruption’ has been studied by multiple
regression analysis. The results of the analysis are given in
Table 4.
As seen in Table 4, the independent variables of ‘Atti-
tude towards Work’, ‘Organizational Culture’ and ‘Work
Ethics’ explain 38% of the dependent variable, namely
‘Organizational Corruption’. Considering standard regres-
sion coefficients, relative sequence of importance/sequence
of the prediction of independent-predictive variables on
‘Organizational Corruption’ is as ‘Work Ethics’ (-.71),
‘Attitude’ (-.51), ‘Attitude 2’ (.46), ‘Attitude 1’ (.33) and
‘Organizational Culture’ (-.07). t-test results to check how
meaningful regression coefficients are to indicate that the
variables of ‘Work Ethics’ and ‘Attitude 2’ are meaningful
predictors at the significance level of .05. Other variables
do not indicate any meaningful impact. Regression parity
related to predicting ‘Organizational Corruption’ according
to regression analysis is as following:
Organizational Corruption ¼ 71:31 þ 1:07 Attitude 1
þ 1:75 Attitude 2
 5:56 Organizational Culture
 :61 Work Ethics:
Considering how independent variables explain
‘Organizational Corruption’, there is a low and negative
(-.16) relation between ‘Attitude’ (total) and ‘Organizational
Table 4 Results of multiple regression analysis to predict organizational corruption
Variable B Standard errorB
Constant 71.308 6.041
Attitude -1.020 .533
Attitude 1 1.068 .581
Attitude 2 1.748 .577
Culture -5.562E-02 .048
Ethics -.601 .050
R = .62, R2 = .38, F(5,426) = 52.07, p = .000
123
A. Balcı et al.
Corruption’, and when other variables are considered, there
is a low and negative relation (-.09). There is a low and
negative correlation (-.15) between ‘Attitude 1’ and
‘Organizational Corruption’. However, when other
variables are considered, there is a low but positive
correlation (.09) between the two variables. There is a
low and negative correlation (-.11) between ‘Attitude 2’
and ‘Organizational Corruption’ but when the effect of
other variables is considered, there is a low and positive
correlation (.15).
The correlation between ‘Organizational Culture’ and
‘Organizational Corruption’ is moderate and positive (.40),
and when the effect of other variables is also taken into
consideration, there is a low and negative correlation
(-.06) between the two variables. There is a moderate and
negative correlation (-.59) between ‘Ethics’ and ‘Orga-
nizational Corruption’, but when the effect of other vari-
ables is also considered, there is a moderate and negative
correlation (-.50) between the two variables.
These findings indicate that the independent/predictor
variable that has relatively the highest relation (-.59) with
‘Organizational Corruption’ is ‘Work Ethics’. The variable
that has the relatively lowest relation with ‘Organizational
Corruption’ is ‘Work Ethics’ (-.15 for ‘Attitude 1’ and -
.11 for ‘Attitude 2’), based on which it could be concluded
that as corruption increases in a company, practices related
to work ethics decrease. On the other hand, ‘Attitude
towards Work’ has a low but meaningful relation with
‘Organizational Corruption’. In other words, there is no
significant relation between the increase in attitude towards
work and the decrease in organizational corruption.
Discussion
Corruption has become a significant problem in public
organizations in recent years (Özdemir 2008). As a result
of this, academic attention has increased towards corrup-
tion while fighting against corruption has become the most
important publicity of political parties (Robinson 1998,
p. 1; Theobald 1999, p. 491).
b T p Binary r Partial r
11.804 .000
-.511 -1.912 .057 -.169 -.092
.327 1.839 .067 -.146 .089
.463 3.028 .003 -.109 .145
-.065 -1.158 .248 .398 -.056
-.710 -11.915 .000 -.587 -.500
The relationship of organizational corruption
Most of the studies in the field which are based on
corruption focus on the types of corruption. According to
these studies, majority of the corruptive practices seen in
public organizations are acquiring property unfairly,
defalcation, larceny, embezzlement, not complying with
job responsibilities, stretch of authority, abusing authority,
favouritism, insult and vices (Aydın 2002, p. 68; Bozkurt
and Ergun 1998, p. 117; Eryılmaz 2002, p. 241; Jhonson
and Sharma 2004, p. 3). Heyneman (2004) mentioned that
the professional misconduct is the most common corrupt
behaviour at educational organizations. It is inevitable that
such corruptions affect students more than adults.
Some of the studies in the field focus on the reasons for
corruption. These studies indicate that in general, low pay,
insufficient deterring precautions, good intention of
employees, friendship, citizenship and similar reasons lead
to corruption (Palmier 1983, 2009; Ergun 2004, p. 360).
Another reason for the corruption is the economic and
political climate of post-war period. In that period, states
were not successful in producing the public services.
Hence, some public reforms including privatization and
deregulations were triggered in many developed and
developing countries in 1980s. Unfortunately, states could
not manage effectively the transformation process, so
corrupt behaviours of public servants became prevalent
(Ackerman 1999; Jhonson and Sharma 2004).
Some other studies are related to the strategies to pre-
vent corruption. These studies propose that surveillance
and inspection shall help prevent corruption (Anechiaryco
and Goldstock 2007, p. 117). Some studies emphasize that
developing an ethical climate in public institutions shall
have a significant effect to prevent corruption (Ackerman
1999, p. 38). Heyneman (2004) suggests structural reforms,
administrative and judicial reforms, prevention mecha-
nisms and punishment systems to prevent the corruption in
educational organizations. Structural reforms include the
formation of independent examinations and accreditation
units, separating diplomas and certification from the
schools and tax exemption for the schools which has not
goal of profit. Administrative and judicial reforms include
professional commissions or boards, school boards, public
ombudsman, code system rules between students and
teachers. Prevention mechanisms comprise of blue ribbon
evaluation committee, annual report of educational cor-
ruption evaluation, sharing financial spending of the school
with public, developing relation code systems between
teachers, school administrators and students and announce
all the code systems to the public, formation of a com-
mittee against the corruption and lastly publish a free
education journal. Punishment mechanisms include pun-
ishment of the people who commit professional and eco-
nomical corruption, revelation them to the public, firing,
compensation to the victims and abolish their licence.
143
However, studies related to organizational dimension of
corruption and studies that focus on the relation between
various factors of organizational life seem to be insufficient,
and this study aims at fulfilling the gap in this field. Teachers’
attitudes towards work and the relation between organiza-
tional corruption and work ethics and organizational cor-
ruption have been studied in this research. The findings
obtained in this study indicate that all the mentioned vari-
ables explain organizational corruption at a moderate level.
However, individual analysis of each variable indicates a
relatively higher correlation between organizational cor-
ruption and work ethics. Similarly, other studies on work
ethics indicate that this variable considerably limits illegit-
imate practices. For example, Welch (1997) defines the
fundamental principle of work ethics as ‘being a decent
member of the organization’. Therefore, this study is thought
to support the preposition in this field, and it would be pos-
sible to predict that employees with high level of work ethics
display relatively fewer illegitimate practices.
Another result obtained in the study is the low but
negative correlation between organizational corruption and
attitude towards work. Studies on job satisfaction, which is
one of the main components of attitude towards work,
reveal that those who have low job satisfaction display
such negative attitudes as tardiness (Luthans 1995), sol-
diering, rebellion and sabotage at work (Vecchio 1995;
Moynihan and Pandey 2004).
The employees with a high level of work loyalty, which
is another important component of attitude towards work,
are not likely to commit the mentioned unethical behav-
iours (Luthans 1995). Therefore, it is possible to conclude
that in the field the tendency is that those with positive
attitude towards work shall have fewer corruptive prac-
tices. The findings obtained in this study also confirm this
general belief in the field, indicating a negative correlation
between organizational corruption and attitude towards
work, though at a low level.
The relation between organizational corruption and
organizational culture is also studied in this research. Studies
related to the effects of organizational culture on employees
indicate that, as a subvariable, in organizations that cannot
produce ethical codes, the employees give priority to their
own interest rather than the public interest (Bukley et al.
2001). The results of this study seem to support this finding
as a moderate correlation is observed between organiza-
tional culture and corruption. However, regression analysis
indicates that when considered together with attitude
towards work and work ethics, organizational culture has a
low and negative correlation with organizational corruption.
Considered as a whole, the current study indicates that
the phenomenon of organizational corruption can be mod-
erately explained by the variables of work ethics, attitude
towards work and organizational culture. Therefore, other
123
144 A. Balcı et al.

variables related to the individual and organizations which 1. I do not think that I work for an important work
are thought to be related to organizational corruption should 2. I do not think that I get enough money in return for
be tested empirically. my effort
Based on the results obtained in this study, it is believed 3. I have an opportunity to promote in my job
that organizational corruption can be reduced at a certain 4. Working conditions in this workplace are the best for me
level through precautions to increase employees’ positive 5. My superiors show interest in me
attitude towards work, as well as developing codes of 6. I want to work at this workplace until I retire
ethics within the organization and creating an organiza- 7. I consider my workplace problems as if they are my
tional culture that is free of corruption. own problems
8. I do not think to be out of my job
9. I would change my job in case I was offered for a
Appendix better job
10. The most important thing in my life is my job
22-Item version of the scale for organizational 11. If I had come to the world again, I would prefer the
corruption same work
12. I prefer to continue working even the working hours end
1 = Strongly disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Agree some; 13. My work is my life
4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly agree.
In this school, 19-Item version of scale for work ethics
1. There is favouritism towards acquaintances
2. Works are not done according to the rules 1 = Strongly disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Agree some;
3. Employees take bribes to perform their duties 4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly agree
4. There is misconduct in office In this school,
5. Employees use public authority for their self-interests 1. There is a transparent administration
6. Employees use public properties for their self- 2. Administrative works are clear and achievable
interests 3. Necessary information is open for everyone
7. Superiors mistreat subordinates 4. Administrators are responsible towards teachers and
8. Sources are not distributed equally among employees school
9. Duties are not distributed equally among employees 5. Accountability is a way of life
10. Employees are joked for their deficiency 6. There is no stealing
11. Students are forced to choose specific private school 7. There is no forgery
12. Teachers give private lesson to their students for 8. The relationship between administrators and teachers
money is based on trust
13. Absenteeism is common among employees 9. Complaint of parents and teachers is taken into
14. Teachers go to classrooms late consideration
15. Teachers attend the lessons without making preparation 10. Employees are appreciated for their works
16. Cheating and plagiarism are common 11. Employees keep their words
17. Administrators and teachers do not spend proper time 12. Documents are true and complete
for their students 13. Documents are licit
18. Students are not treated fairly 14. Employees obey the school’s goals and policies
19. Students do not have equal opportunities for being 15. There is not giving or taking present improperly
chosen for specific school activities 16. Gender, ethnicity, language and religion are per-
20. Teachers are not treated equally according to their gender ceived as a richness
21. Teachers do not effort to improve their professional 17. Employees show respect to secrets of private life
knowledge 18. There is no favouritism
22. Administrators charge unskilled workers with an 19. Different opinions are supported
important duties
22-Item version of scale for organizational corruption
13-Item version of scale for attitude towards work culture

1 = Strongly disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Agree some; 1 = Strongly disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Agree some;
4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly agree 4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly agree

123
The relationship of organizational corruption 145

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