How and When Ethics Lead to Organizational Performance: Evidence from South Asian Firms

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors,

I have some suggestions to improve your research entitled ”Maximizing Organizational Performance: The Power of Intellectual Capital, Business Ethics, and Technological Change: Evidence from South Asian Countries”:

The Abstract: The research has more than one objective. This is not allowed. A research has one main objective. It is missing the period analysed and the target country group. I see from the title of the paper that your research Asian countries. Which one? It is not necessary to specify the softwere you have used. I suggest to avoid using special characters like &. Use ”and” because in an research we should use the language literally.

 Introduction is too long. It is recommended to avoid splitting the Introduction. Introduction must be … Introduction.

 The research objective in Introduction is ”This paper investigates the role of dimensions of Business ethics including HR management ethics, ethics in corporate governance, and ethics in sales & marketing, to boost the performance of the high-tech industry. The paper further analyzes the impact of multiple serial mediations of Business ethics, dimensions of intellectual capital (human capital, structural capital & relational capital) in an association between exogenous and endogenous constructs within the high-technology industry in South Asian countries (India, Pakistan & Bangladesh)”

 The research objective in Abstract is ”The objective of this research is to analyze the effect of determinants of Business ethics (HR management ethics, ethics in corporate governance, and ethics in sales & marketing) on the organizational performance of the high-tech industry. The study further examines the influence of multiple serial mediations of human, structural, structural, and relational capital on the connection between Business ethics and organizational performance. Additionally, this research examines how technological change moderates the relationship between Business ethics and organizational performance”.

 And

 ”This paper examines the significance of ethical behavior in three facets of business ethics and its potential to enhance organizational performance. Specifically, we will analyze how ethical behavior in sales & marketing, corporate governance, and HR management can impact organizational performance. This research provides insights into the importance of ethical behavior in business and how it can contribute to the long-term sustainability of organizations [4]. Therefore, another objective of this research is to investigate the mediation of human capital, structural capital & relational capital (dimensions of intellectual capital) on the association between business ethics and the performance of high-tech organizations. Specifically, we examine how structural, human, and relational capital mediate the association between business ethics and the performance of the high-tech organization [31]”.

The main objective of any research is the same and only one indifferent where it appears in the article. The quotations are not allowed in the objective.

 Some statements from Introduction are, theoretically, parts of Conclusions (novelty and utility).

 Methodology: I suggest to develop the technical presentation of the method used. Between meles and females the imbalance is big and this is not a hard point for your results. The group age has the same week point. Only 30-45 years old?

The variables are not presented and explained.

Discussions are a very important part of any research. The Discussions would be developed and corelated with the situation of your target countries and literature.

 The Conclusions would be improved correlated with the literature.

 So, your paper is interesting, the results of the empirical analysis are nicely presented but the structure of a scientific paper is not properly respected. I recommend more attention to detail, structure and especially discussion which obviously needs real improvement. 

In the case of the questionnaire - bring additional information as the analysis is not credible, including from the literature (for robustness).

Author Response

Reviewer 1

Reviewer’s comment:

The Abstract: The research has more than one objective. This is not allowed. Research has one main objective. It is missing the period analyzed and the target country group. I see from the title of the paper that your research Asian countries. Which one? It is not necessary to specify the software you have used.

Authors’ response

We have rewritten the abstract and made corrections as suggested by the reviewer on Page No. 1 and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer’s comment:

I suggest avoiding using special characters like &. Use ”and” because in research we should use the language literally.

Authors’ response

We have changed all “&” signs with “and” throughout the paper as suggested by the reviewer.

Reviewer’s comment:

The introduction is too long. It is recommended to avoid splitting the Introduction. The introduction must be … Introduction.

Authors’ response

We have rewritten the introduction section and omitted the redundant parts from the introduction and make it short. Moreover, we have also eradicated the sub-headings in the introduction section on Page No. 1, Page No. 2., and Page No. 3 as suggested by the reviewer, and highlighted with RED color. 

Reviewer’s comment:

The research objective in the Introduction is ”This paper investigates the role of dimensions of Business ethics including HR management ethics, ethics in corporate governance, and ethics in sales & marketing, to boost the performance of the high-tech industry. The paper further analyzes the impact of multiple serial mediations of Business ethics, dimensions of intellectual capital (human capital, structural capital & relational capital) in an association between exogenous and endogenous constructs within the high-technology industry in South Asian countries (India, Pakistan & Bangladesh)”

 The research objective in the Abstract is” The objective of this research is to analyze the effect of determinants of Business ethics (HR management ethics, ethics in corporate governance, and ethics in sales & marketing) on the organizational performance of the high-tech industry. The study further examines the influence of multiple serial mediations of human, structural, structural, and relational capital on the connection between Business ethics and organizational performance. Additionally, this research examines how technological change moderates the relationship between Business ethics and organizational performance”.

 And

”This paper examines the significance of ethical behavior in three facets of business ethics and its potential to enhance organizational performance. Specifically, we will analyze how ethical behavior in sales & marketing, corporate governance, and HR management can impact organizational performance. This research provides insights into the importance of ethical behavior in business and how it can contribute to the long-term sustainability of organizations [4]. Therefore, another objective of this research is to investigate the mediation of human capital, structural capital & relational capital (dimensions of intellectual capital) on the association between business ethics and the performance of high-tech organizations. Specifically, we examine how structural, human, and relational capital mediate the association between business ethics and the performance of the high-tech organization [31]”.

The main objective of any research is the same and only one indifferent where it appears in the article. The quotations are not allowed in the objective.

Authors’ response

The problems and shortcomings that were identified by the reviewer have been corrected both in the Abstract and Introduction sections and made a coherent statement as discussed above by the reviewer. Moreover, we have eradicated the quotations from the objectives. We have made corrections on Page No 1, and Page No. 3, as suggested by the reviewer, and highlighted with RED color. 

Reviewer’s comment:

Some statements from Introduction are, theoretically, parts of the Conclusions (novelty and utility).

Authors’ response

Now, we have shifted the novelty, significance, and utility part from the introduction to the conclusions section on Page No. 22, as suggested by the reviewer, and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer’s comment:

Methodology: I suggest developing the technical presentation of the method used. Between males and females, the imbalance is big and this is not a hard point for your results. The group age has the same week point. Only 30-45 years old?

Authors’ response

We have now developed the methodology section and developed a technical presentation in research design, sampling strategy & data collection, measurement scaling, estimation techniques, and demographic analysis on Page No. 8, Page No. 9, and Page No. 10 as suggested by the reviewer and highlighted with RED color.  I have also provided the reason for taking more males than females and secondly also given the reason for taking most of the respondents of the age bracket of 30–45 years. We have also added the comprehensive Table 1 of the Demographic analysis on Page No. 10 and Page No. 11 as suggested by the reviewer and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer’s comment:

The variables are not presented and explained.

Authors’ response

We have presented and explained the variables in the Methodology section as a sub-section of 3.2 Definition of variables on Page No. 8 and Page No. 9 as suggested by the reviewer and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer’s comment:

Discussions are a very important part of any research. The Discussions would be developed and correlated

with the situation of your target countries and literature.

Authors’ response

We have rewritten the discussions section and incorporated all the suggestions of the reviewer on Page No. 20 and Page No. 21, and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer’s comment:

The Conclusions would be improved and correlated with the literature.

Authors’ response

We have improved and rewritten the conclusions section and incorporated the suggestions of the reviewer on Page No. 21, Page No. 22, and Page No. 23, and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer’s comment:

So, your paper is interesting, the results of the empirical analysis are nicely presented but the structure of a scientific paper is not properly respected. I recommend more attention to detail, structure, and especially discussion which obviously needs real improvement. 

Authors’ response

We have made significant changes in the abstract, introduction, review of literature, methodology, discussions, and conclusion, and made it more structured and scientific as suggested by the reviewer and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer’s comment:

In the case of the questionnaire - bring additional information as the analysis is not credible, including from the literature (for robustness).

Authors’ response

We have provided the details of the questionnaire, its items, and citations, we have presented the questionnaire in Appendix I as Table A1 as suggested by the reviewer on Page No. 23, Page No. 24, and Page No. 25 and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer 2 Report

Maximizing Organizational Performance: The Power of Intel-  lectual Capital, Business Ethics, and Technological Change: Evidence from South Asian Countries

Abstract

The abstract is too long and  unattractive, it should follow the solid scientific work structure, I suggest that it be restructured and shortened  in a way that includes the following clearly:

 

·         The contextualization of the study

·         The main objective

·         The justification

·         The sample used

·         The methods used

·         The main findings and conclusions

·         The novel contribution

Introduction

No comments

 Literature Review

No comments .  

Methodology. 

1. How many times have the authors visited or contacted such places (“The data was collected from the high-tech industrial cities of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, for instance, India (Bangalore, Hyderabad & Pune), Pakistan (Karachi, Lahore & Islamabad), and Bang-  ladesh (Dhaka, Chittagong & Sylhet).”)? Explain  in details how the survey was distributed. How did the authors contact the respondents? What is the response rate? Does the authors' sample represent the population?.

2. Measurement scaling and  Estimation techniques were so complicated, could you pleas simplified it .

Results.

 No Comments

 Discussions

1.      The discussions are somewhat broad and general. I can’t see the clear explanation about this argument. I need to see the  clear answers to questions:

  (How to do business ethics - such as ethics in HR management, corporate governance, sales, and marketing- impact innovation performance in the high-tech industry? How does the mediating association of dimensions of intellectual capital (human  capital, structural capital & relational capital) between Business ethics, determinants of  Business ethics, and performance of high-tech industry acts as multiple serial mediators? To what extent do intellectual capital dimensions mediate the relationship between  business ethics and organizational performance in the high-tech industry? How to do organizational capabilities like technological change moderate this rela-  tionship? What are the significant theoretical & managerial implications for the performance  of the high-tech industry, and how can they use their intellectual capital to improve their  innovation performance?

2.       I can’t see the clear explanation about 10 hypotheses.

3.     3. Some aspects of the discussion are included under the results section

4.       Please provide a supporting explanation for this argument and citation.

The conclusions.

No comments

Good luck

 Minor editing of English language required

Author Response

Reviewer - 2

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Reviewer’s comment:

Abstract

The abstract is too long and unattractive, it should follow a solid scientific work structure, I suggest that it be restructured and shortened in a way that includes the following clearly:

• The contextualization of the study
• The main objective
• The justification 
• The sample used
• The methods used
• The main findings and conclusions
• The novel contribution

Authors’ response

We have rewritten the abstract and followed the guidelines of the reviewer, made it very concise, scientific, and structured as suggested by the reviewer and highlighted it with RED color on Page No. 1.

Methodology.  

Reviewer’s comment:

1. How many times have the authors visited or contacted such places (“The data was collected from the high-tech industrial cities of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, for instance, India (Bangalore, Hyderabad & Pune), Pakistan (Karachi, Lahore & Islamabad), and Bangladesh (Dhaka, Chittagong & Sylhet).”)? Explain in detail how the survey was distributed. How did the authors contact the respondents? What is the response rate? Does the authors' sample represent the population?

Authors’ response

We have provided the entire details regarding the data collection on Page No. 9 and Page No. 10, in the methodology section, in sub-section 3.3 data collection method as suggested by the reviewer and highlighted with RED color. 

Reviewer’s comment:

2. Measurement scaling and Estimation techniques were so complicated, could you please simplify it? 

Authors’ response

We have made corrections in estimation techniques and measurement scaling and made it easy to understand on Page No. 10, we have also added the questionnaire in Appendix I as TA1 with citations on Page No. 23, Page No. 24, and Page No. 25 as suggested by the reviewer, and highlighted with RED color.

Discussions

Reviewer’s comment:

1. The discussions are somewhat broad and general. I can’t see a clear explanation for this argument. I need to see the clear answers to questions:

(How do business ethics - such as ethics in HR management, corporate governance, sales, and marketing- impact innovation performance in the high-tech industry? How does the mediating association of dimensions of intellectual capital (human capital, structural capital & relational capital) between Business ethics, determinants of Business ethics, and performance of high-tech industry acts as multiple serial mediators? To what extent do intellectual capital dimensions mediate the relationship between business ethics and organizational performance in the high-tech industry? How do organizational capabilities like technological change moderate this relationship? What are the significant theoretical & managerial implications for the performance of the high-tech industry, and how can they use their intellectual capital to improve their innovation performance?

Authors’ response

We have rewritten the entire section of Discussions and incorporated all the changes that were suggested by the reviewer on Page No. 20 and Page No. 21, and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer’s comment:

2. I can’t see a clear explanation for 10 hypotheses.

Authors’ response

We have explained the 10 hypotheses in the conclusion and implications section on Page No. 21, and Page No. 22 as suggested by the reviewer, and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer’s comment:

3. Some aspects of the discussion are included in the results section

Authors’ response

We have made suggested changes and shifted some aspects of results to the discussions section as suggested by the reviewer and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer’s comment:

4. Please provide a supporting explanation for this argument and citation.

Authors’ response

We have provided the supported explanation for the arguments with supported citations as suggested by the reviewer in the discussions section on page No. 20 and Page No. 21 and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer 3 Report

Improve your title e.g.  

How and when ethics lead to organizational performance: Evidence from South Asian firms. 

Consider rewriting the abstract as follows: 

The objective of this research is to analyze the effect of determinants of business ethics on the organizational performance of the high-tech industry. The study examines the influence of human serial mediation on the connection between business ethics and organizational performance. Additionally, this research examines how technological change moderates. Data was collected from the information technology sector in various cities in South Asian countries through structured questionnaires. PLS-SEM modelling was used via Smart-PLS 4.0 software for analysis. The research results suggest that ethics in corporate governance, HR management ethics, and ethics in sales and marketing have a notable positive effect on business ethics, leading to a substantial and affirmative impact on organizational performance. The findings further suggest technological change significantly & positively moderates the relationship between business ethics and organizational performance in the high-tech industry. This research offers substantial theoretical and managerial implications to research scholars and industry practitioners.

Propose one mediation hypothesis as you have lost control over the 9 mediations in sub-hypotheses (H9 a–i), and its theory is unclear. Removing many mediation hypotheses and updating the result section can make the conceptual model clear and easy to understand. 

Follow APA format in tables by removing extra grid lines and updating the result section by eliminating hypotheses. 

Enhance the discussion section by adding special headings about limitations& future research, and cite at least two articles. 

 

Family business governance: what’s wrong? What’s right? What’s next?. Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies 9, no. 1 (2019): 1-23.

Beyond diversity: why the inclusion is imperative for boards to promote sustainability among agile non-profit organisations?. International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, 14(2), 254-275.

Impact of digitalization on employee's autonomy: evidence from French firms." VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems ahead-of-print (2021). 

Task Challenge and Employee Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model of Resilience and Digitalization. Behavioral Sciences, 13(2), 119.

Good luck

 

Need proofreading. 

Author Response

Reviewer - 3

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Reviewer’s comment:

Improve your title e.g.  

How and when ethics lead to organizational performance: Evidence from South Asian firms. 

Authors’ response

We have changed the Title of the research as suggested by the reviewer, “How and when ethics lead to organizational performance: Evidence from South Asian firms” on Page No 1, and highlighted with RED color. 

Reviewer’s comment:

Consider rewriting the abstract as follows: 

The objective of this research is to analyze the effect of determinants of business ethics on the organizational performance of the high-tech industry. The study examines the influence of human serial mediation on the connection between business ethics and organizational performance. Additionally, this research examines how technological change moderates. Data was collected from the information technology sector in various cities in South Asian countries through structured questionnaires. PLS-SEM modeling was used via Smart-PLS 4.0 software for analysis. The research results suggest that ethics in corporate governance, HR management ethics, and ethics in sales and marketing have a notable positive effect on business ethics, leading to a substantial and affirmative impact on organizational performance. The findings further suggest technological change significantly & positively moderates the relationship between business ethics and organizational performance in the high-tech industry. This research offers substantial theoretical and managerial implications to research scholars and industry practitioners.

Authors’ response

We have rewritten the abstract as suggested by the reviewer on Page No 1 and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer’s comment:

Propose one mediation hypothesis as you have lost control over the 9 mediations in sub-hypotheses (H9 a–i), and its theory is unclear. Removing many mediation hypotheses and updating the result section can make the conceptual model clear and easy to understand. 

Authors’ response

We have reduced the sub-hypotheses of multiple mediation and made just two main multiple mediation hypotheses (H8 & H9) as suggested by the reviewer on Page No. 7, and highlighted with RED. Moreover, we have updated the result section of mediating hypotheses, on Page No. 16 and Page No. 17 as suggested by the reviewer, and highlighted with RED color. Finally, we have redrawn Figure 1 of the conceptual framework on the basis of new changes on Page No. 8 as suggested by the reviewer.

Reviewer’s comment:

Follow APA format in tables by removing extra grid lines and updating the result section by eliminating hypotheses. 

Authors’ response

We have removed extra grids from all the Tables according to the APA style as suggested by the reviewer, and highlighted with RED color, we also updated the results after removing the extra hypotheses on Page No. 16 and Page No. 17 and highlighted with RED color.

Reviewer’s comment:

Enhance the discussion section by adding special headings about limitations& future research, and cite at least two articles. 

Family business governance: what’s wrong? What’s right? What’s next? Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies 9, no. 1 (2019): 1-23.

Beyond diversity: why inclusion is imperative for boards to promote sustainability among agile non-profit organizations? International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, 14(2), 254-275.

Impact of digitalization on employee's autonomy: evidence from French firms." VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems ahead-of-print (2021). 

Task Challenge and Employee Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model of Resilience and Digitalization. Behavioral Sciences, 13(2), 119.

Authors’ response

We have enhanced the discussions by adding the heading “Limitations & future studies” at the end of the discussions section on Page No. 21., and also added three citations in “limitations & future studies” as suggested by the reviewer, and added & highlighted references in the reference list on Page No. 30 with RED color.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors,

 It is evident that you have made significant efforts to improve your research.

Best of luck!

Author Response

Reviewer 1

Reviewer’s comment:

The introduction can be improved further.

Authors’ response

We have included a paragraph on the contribution of the current study in the introduction section on Page No. 3 as suggested by the reviewer and highlighted with Track changes in MS Word and RED color in the PDF file.

Reviewer’s comment:

I Methodology can be improved further.

Authors’ response

We have further improved the methodology section, especially, sub-section, 3.1. The research design of the study, 3.3. Data collection method and sampling strategy, 3.4. Measurement scaling, and 3.5. Estimation techniques on Page No. 8, Page No. 9, and Page No. 10 as suggested by the reviewer, and highlighted with Track changes in MS Word and RED color in PDF file.

Reviewer’s comment:

Discussions can be improved further.

Authors’ response

We have further improved the discussions section by adding a few sub-headings 5.1. Theoretical, contextual, and methodological contribution, 5.2. Limitations and potential areas of future studies, and 5.3. Implications for Managers and Firms on Page No. 21 and Page No. 22 as suggested by the reviewer, and highlighted with Track changes in MS Word and RED color in PDF file.

Reviewer’s comment:

The Conclusions can be improved further.

Authors’ response

We have further improved the conclusion section on Page No. 23 as suggested by the reviewer and highlighted with Track changes in MS Word and RED color in the PDF file.

Reviewer 3 Report

Dear Authors

The introduction part needs to discuss the key contributions of your study. 

Replace the last heading with discussion and contributions. 

Try to link your contributions from the intro in this part 

using the following subheadings in this final part of the paper

contributions of study (

Explain theoretical, contextual and methodology contributions.

Limitations and future research

Implications for Managers and firms

Conclusion 

 

The following paper may enhance your discussion part.

Corporate board for innovative managerial control: implications of corporate governance deviance perspective. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 21(3), 450-462.

Good luck

looks fine

 

Author Response

Reviewer - 3

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Reviewer’s comment:

Replace the last heading with discussion and contributions. 

Authors’ response

We have replaced the heading discussions with discussions and contributions on Page No. 20 as suggested by the reviewer and highlighted with Track changes in MS Word and RED color in the PDF file.

Reviewer’s comment:

Try to link your contributions from the intro in this part 

using the following subheadings in this final part of the paper

contributions of study (Explain theoretical, contextual, and methodology contributions).

Limitations and future research

Implications for Managers and firms

Conclusion

Authors’ response

We have linked the contribution which was provided in the introduction into the section of Discussions and Contribution with sub-headings such as 5.1. Theoretical conceptual, and methodological contribution, 5.2. Limitations and future research studies, and 5.3. Implications for Managers and Firms suggested by the reviewer on Page No 1, and highlighted with Track changes in MS Word and RED color in PDF file. Finally, we modified the section of Conclusion on Page No. 22 and Page No. 23 as suggested by the reviewer, and also highlighted with Track changes in MS Word and RED color in the PDF file.

Reviewer’s comment:

The following paper may enhance your discussion part.

Corporate board for innovative managerial control: implications of corporate governance deviance perspective. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 21(3), 450-462.

Authors’ response

We have enhanced the discussions by incorporating the suggested citation and reference on Page No. 20 Page No. 21 and also added the references on Page No. 31 as suggested by the reviewer and highlighted with Track changes in MS Word and RED color in the PDF file.