Organizational Justice in the Proposal Development Industry: The Influence of Gender, Nationality, and Training on Business Ethics Perceptions and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

This study examines business ethics and organizational justice perceptions among members of the Association for Proposal Management Professionals (APMP), the only organization offering certification to bid and proposal practitioners. The study analyzes the effects of gender, nationality, and ethics training on member perceptions of business conduct, proposal practices, workplace treatment, and job satisfaction. Data were gathered through an online cross-sectional survey offered to 7,351 APMP members in 40 countries in 2018; 1,254 responded (17.1%), producing 1,113 valid cases analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. The study adds a previously unstudied professional group to the literature on business ethics (Abend, 2013; Baumhart, 1961; Byrne & Cropanzano, 2001; De George, 1987, 2005; Donaldson et al., 1994; Hunt & Vitell, 1986; McClaren, 2013) and on organizational justice (Adams, 1963; Bies & Moag, 1986; Colquitt et al., 2001; Greenberg, 1987; Leventhal, 1980; Thibaut & Walker, 1975). This study may also contribute to literature on job satisfaction (Dube, Giuliano, & Leonard, 2019; Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman, 1959; Locke, 1969, 1976; Lu & Gursoy, 2013; Valentine, 2019) and human resource management issues such as gender pay inequity and workplace bias and abuse (Blau & Kahn, 2017; Fortin, 2006; Goldin, 2006; Joshi, Son, & Roh, 2015). In addition to developing a profile of this work population for the first time, significant findings include the unexpected dominance of interactional justice over procedural justice in determining job satisfaction (p < .001), alignment of the Herzberg et al. (1959) theory of job satisfaction with organizational justice principal component analysis results, and the overweighting of females (93.6%) in the group that experienced toxic work environments, perceived pay inequity (p < .001), and experienced gender workplace penalties (p < .001). The study population reported concurrent high levels of positive job satisfaction indicators such as recognition (87.7%) with negative indicators such as overwork and burnout (82%). Women demonstrated a stronger ability to detect ethical misconduct than men (p < .001) while nationality was not significant (p = .296). Ethics training decreased the observation of workplace violations (p < .001), despite 88.6% believing such training to be ineffective or irrelevant. Wave analysis demonstrated a greater proportion of negative comments in later responders (Yessis & Rathert, 2006).