Purpose Focusing on ethical issues when making organizational decisions should encourage a variety of positive outcomes for companies and their employees. The purpose of this paper is to determine the degree to which data-based ethical decision making, lateral relations and organizational commitment are interrelated in organizations. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from business professionals employed at multiple locations of a financial services firm operating in the USA. Mediation analysis (based on structural equation modeling) was used to test the proposed relationships. Findings Results indicated that employees’ perceptions of data-based ethical decision making were positively related to perceived lateral relations, and that perceived lateral relations were positively related to organizational commitment. Research limitations/implications Given that information was collected using only a self-report questionnaire, common method bias could be an issue. In addition, the study’s cross-sectional design limits conclusions about causality. Another limitation involves the study’s homogenous sample, which decreases the generalizability of the findings. Finally, variable responses could have been impacted by individual frames of reference and other perceptual differences. Practical implications Results suggest that information flow enhancements should support or be consistent with horizontal information flow enhancements, and that together these factors should increase employee commitment. Originality/value Given the dearth of existing research, this interdisciplinary investigation is important because it fills gaps in the management literature. This study is also important because the results could inform decisions regarding the use of data analysis in ethical decisions and lateral forms of organizational structuring to improve work attitudes.

中文翻译：

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基于数据的道德决策，横向关系和组织承诺

目的在制定组织决策时，应将重点放在道德问题上，以鼓励公司及其员工获得各种积极成果。本文的目的是确定组织中基于数据的道德决策，横向关系和组织承诺的相互关联程度。设计/方法/方法数据是从在美国一家金融服务公司的多个地点工作的业务专业人员收集的。中介分析（基于结构方程模型）用于测试建议的关系。调查结果表明，员工对基于数据的道德决策的看法与所察觉的横向关系正相关，而察觉到的横向关系与组织承诺正相关。研究局限性/含义鉴于信息仅使用自我报告调查表收集，因此常见方法偏见可能是一个问题。此外，研究的横截面设计限制了因果关系的结论。另一个限制涉及研究的同质样本，这降低了研究结果的普遍性。最后，变量响应可能已受到各个参考系和其他感知差异的影响。实际意义结果表明，信息流增强应支持横向信息流增强或与之保持一致，并且这些因素共同应增加员工的投入。创意/价值鉴于现有研究的匮乏，这种跨学科研究非常重要，因为它填补了管理文献中的空白。