The purpose of this research was to investigate, for the first time, tertiary education students’ ethical judgements in the Republic of Cyprus academic environment. The authors developed and administered a quantitative questionnaire to a sample of 1,000 individuals currently pursuing accredited degrees at two tertiary institutions. Statistical analysis revealed four factors, named violation of school regulations, selfishness, cheating, and computer ethics that describe students’ ethical judgements in the academic environment. The results indicate that students exhibit the lowest tolerance (...) with ethical issues relevant with selfishness and highest with issues relevant with computer ethics. In addition, a number of differences were revealed when the authors investigated the relationship between the four retained factors and variables such as gender, year of study, type of academic discipline, and religion. Finally, reflecting on the research findings, a number of practical recommendations are made mainly to educational institutions that wish to redefine their policies and procedures regarding ethics within their academic environment. (shrink)

Our soft survey reveals that the assumption underlying much of the business ethics literature -- that the conduct of business can and ought to support the social good -- is not accepted within the workplace. This paper considers an apparent dichotomy, with companies investing in ethical programs whose worth their employees and managers question. We examine the relationship between work, bureaucracy and "the market" and conclude that employees often question the existence of business ethics because there is no good (...) and bad between which to choose. The choice is between success and failure. A common view of success and the "good life" is one determined by hard work in a well-organised company operating in a free market. Analysing the three aspects of this view (the free market, hard work, bureaucracy) we suggest these are mere fictions. A major problem we identify in business is that organisations are designed as profit making mechanisms and have no interest in the good of society. The challenge is to convince such organisations that a direct benefit accrues to them through their own ethical behaviour. In order to do this organisations must first be shown the importance of long termism. Executives, managers and other employees can be expected to attain high ethical standards only when they feel they are a integral part of an organisation and the organisation itself respects those standards. One of the keys to unravelling the undesirable situation of a perceived absence of ethics in business is in encouraging a greater identity community, company and workforce. We provide some examples of ways companies can meet the challenge of encouraging more ethical, long-sighted behaviour. In addition, we highlight ways in which the expectations of the organisations of the organisation can be communicated more strongly through corporate structures that foster ethical action that benefits the long term interests of the individual and the organisation. Overall implementing a successful ethical program is shown to parallel that of the implementation of a quality program. (shrink)

Abstract:Analysis of ethical conduct of business organizations has hitherto placed primary emphasis on the conduct of that corporation’s managers because ethical conduct, like all conduct, must manifest itself through individual behavior. This paper argues that in the real world corporate actions are influenced, to a considerable extent, by external market-based conditions. Therefore, a more comprehensive explanation of ethical business conduct must incorporate both corporate, i.e., internal considerations, and competitive, industry structure-based, i.e., external considerations. A framework is (...) presented that provides a systematic analysis of the interactive effect between different types of external market-based competitive conditions, institutional opportunities to engage in ethical behavior, and the likelihood that corporations would do so. The analytical framework leads to recommendations as to the types of actions that might be more effective in improving business ethical conduct under varying sets of market-based competitive conditions. (shrink)

The ethical behavior of marketing managers was examined by analyzing their responses to a series of different types of ethical dilemmas presented in vignette form. The ethical dilemmas addressed dealt with the issues of (1) coercion and control, (2) conflict of interest, (3) the physical environment, (4) paternalism, and (5) personal integrity. Responses were analyzed to discover whether managers' behavior varied by type of issue faced or whether there is some continuity to ethical (...) class='Hi'>behavior which transcends the type of ethical problem addressed. (shrink)

A measure of ethics termed ethical behavior (EB) is postulated and tested across the moral philosophy types of managers. The findings suggest that certain managers, classified as rule deontologists, appear to rank higher on the EB scale than any other philosophy type tested.

This study examines factors impacting ethical behavior of 203 hospital employees in Midwestern and Northwestern United States. Ethical behavior of peers had the most significant impact on ethical behavior. Ethical behavior of successful managers, professional education in ethics and sex of the respondents also significantly impacted ethical behavior. Nurses were significantly more ethical than other employees. Race of the respondent did not impact ethical behavior. Overclaiming scales indicated (...) that social desirability bias did not significantly impact the results of our study. Implications of this study for researchers and practitioners are discussed. (shrink)

Performance appraisals are widely used as an HR instrument. This study among 332 police officers examines the effects of performance appraisals from a behavioral ethics perspective. A mediation model relating justice perceptions of police officers’ last performance appraisal to their work affect, perceived supervisor and organizational support and, in turn, their ethical (pro-organizational proactive) and unethical (counterproductive) work behavior was tested empirically. The relationship between justice perceptions and both, ethical and unethical behavior was mediated by perceived (...) support and work affect. Hence, a singular yearly performance appraisal was linked to both ethical and unethical behaviors at work. The finding that ethical and unethical aspects of employee behavior share several of the same organizational antecedents, namely organizational justice perceptions, has strong practical implications which are discussed as well. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to extend the knowledge about why procedural justice has behavioral implications within organizations. Since prior studies show that PJ leads to legitimacy, the author suggests that, when formal regulations are unfairly implemented, they lose their validity or efficacy. This “rule deactivation,” in turn, leads to two proposed destructive work behaviors, namely, workplace deviance and decreased citizenship behaviors. The results support this mediating role of RD, thus suggesting that it forms part of the generative mechanism (...) through which unfair procedures influence ethical behavior within organizations. The author ends the article by discussing behavioral ethics and managerial implications as well as suggestions for future research. (shrink)

This study examines factors impacting organizational commitment of 214 employees working at a Chinese state-owned steel company. Ethical behavior of peers and ethical behavior of successful managers had a significant impact on organizational commitment. The four facets of job satisfaction (pay, coworker, supervision, and work itself) had a significant impact on organizational commitment. Respondent’s age also significantly impacted organizational commitment. Perceptions of ethical behavior of successful managers, satisfaction with work, and gender were significantly correlated (...) with social desirability bias. (shrink)

The objective of this study was to describe the cultural domain of ethical behaviours in clinical practice as defined by health care providers in Mexico. Structured interviews were carried out with 500 health professionals employed at the Mexican Institute of Social Security in Mexico City. The Smith Salience Index was used to evaluate the relevance of concepts gathered from the free listings of the interviewees. Cluster analysis and factor analysis facilitated construction of the conceptual categories, which the authors refer (...) to as `dimensions of ethical practice'. Six dimensions emerged from the analysis to define the qualities that comprise ethical clinical practice for Mexican health care providers: overall quality of clinical performance; working conditions that favour quality of care; use of ethical considerations as prerequisites for any health care intervention; values favouring teamwork in the health professional—patient relationship; patient satisfaction scores; and communication between health care providers and patients. The findings suggest that improved working conditions and management practices that promote the values identified by the study's participants would help to improve quality of care. (shrink)

The study of ethical behavior in the field of leadership began in the 1990s when Murphy et al. (1992) responded to a call by Randall and Gibson (1990) to develop more rigorous methodologies in empi...

Despite the recent increase in interest in corporate social responsibility and the propagation of corporate governance in both business and academic literature, from observations of actual practice, the author has seen at all company levels, in everyday operations, instances of non-ethical behaviour vis-à-vis the whole gamut of stakeholders. This state of affairs is linked with: pressure from stakeholders, short-term tactics, hegemony of financial considerations, ‘juridisation’ of business, the tyranny of communications and the media and the difficulties in translating strategy (...) into practical implementation. The paper scrutinises the motivation and the psychology of entrepreneurs and business people, and their behaviour is compared to other professional groups and confronted with the decline in ethics in society as described by some important observers. The conclusion drawn is that the recent positive evolutions do not provide sufficient ethical guidelines for the day-to-day activities of middle managers and entrepreneurs in the present competitive environment. Managers will always be confronted by difficult choices with ethical dilemmas. There will always be a tension between theory and pragmatism, but progress can be made with the effective implementation of the ethical discourse in companies. To achieve this, ethical management should not be confined to the large strategic issues but also applied to the small practical matters of everyday business life. Ethics in business and entrepreneurship requires more than corporate governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR). (shrink)

In the wake of corporate ethical scandals that have harmed millions of employees and investors, there has been an increase in the number of works written in the last decade, which aim to answer one apparently simple question: what causes unethical behavior, and what can we do, if anything, to prevent similar transgressions in the future? The extensive research around this question is the best proof of its real complexity as the challenge of disentangling the background of (...) class='Hi'>ethical behavior has obvious academic and practical interest. This study aims to take a further step toward that goal. Much research has noted the impact of multiple aspects of organizational contexts on individuals’ ethical behavior. However, studies that analyze the impact of organizational learning capability (OLC) on employees’ ethical behavior are few and far between. This was the first aim of this study. The second centered on gaining a deeper understanding of the relationship between OLC and ethical behavior by analyzing the mediating role of employability and organizational commitment. We tested our hypotheses through a structural equation methodology applied to a sample of 641 workers from 166 Spanish consultancy firms and found a positive, direct relationship between OLC and employability, OLC and organizational commitment, employability and organizational commitment, and organizational commitment and ethical behavior. (shrink)

Most of research on fostering ethical behavior among students has taken place in US and Europe. This paper seeks to provide additional information to both educators and organizations about the ethical perceptions of Iranian students by investigating the effect of gender on students’ ethical behavior. The authors developed and administered a quantitative questionnaire to a sample of 203 individuals currently pursuing accredited degrees at one of the public universities in Iran. Statistical analysis revealed that male (...) students have a significantly less ethical behavior in three factors (selfishness, academic cheating and computer ethics) than female students. While the topic of students’ ethical behavior and its relationship with gender has been extensively studied before, there have been contrasting findings by different researchers. This paper is among the very few first researches conducted among Iranian university students to investigate the effects of gender on students’ ethical behavior under the four categories of violation of school regulations, selfishness, academic cheating, and computer ethics, hence making an important contribution to the ethics literature on the developing countries, since the study was conducted in Iran. (shrink)

This study examines factors impacting ethical behavior of 208 employees of a Chinese state-owned steel company. Only rules climate had a significant impact on ethical behavior of respondents. Other ethical climate types such as professional, caring, instrumental, independence, and efficiency did not impact ethical behavior of respondents. Ethical behavior of peers, ethical behavior of successful managers, and overclaiming had a significant impact on ethical behavior of subjects.

An organization's management control system can play an important role in influencing ethical behavior among employees. In this paper a theoretical framework of control is developed by linking various ethics related control mechanisms reported in the literature to the primary components of a management control system. In addition, the findings of a survey of the Financial Post's Top 1 000 Canadian industrial and service companies are reported. The survey investigated organizations' use of ethical codes of conduct, whistleblowing (...) systems, ethics committees, judiciary boards, employee training in ethics, and ethics focused corporate governance and reward systems. The findings indicate that ethics related control mechanisms, particularly codes of conduct, are being used by a good number of organizations. However, closer analysis of the data suggests that many companies may only be paying lip service to the importance of promoting ethical behavior. (shrink)

The aim of this study was to develop an Administrative Ethical Behaviour Scale (AEBS) and to determine whether nurses found their head nurses’ behaviours ethical and to reveal head nurses’ ethical and unethical administrative behaviour. It was conducted on 264 nurses working in five state hospitals in Trabzon, Turkey. Content validity index of the scale was 0.87, item-to-total correlations ranged from 0.50 to 0.81 and Chronbach Alpha was 0.98. The scale included five subscales, i.e. truthfulness and honesty, (...) liabilities and supremacy of laws, rights and freedom, good human relationships and humanism, justice and equality. Overall, head nurses’ behaviour was considered ethical by nurses; however, their behaviour in terms of justice and equality, good human relationships and humanism was not found ethical. Positions, satisfaction with head nurses’ behaviour and frequency of contact with them affect nurses’ opinions. (shrink)

Even though potential impacts of political and legal environments of business on ethical behavior of firms (EBOF) have been conceptually recognized, not much evidence (i.e., empirical work) has been produced to clarify their role. In this paper, using Bayesian causal maps (BCMs) methodology, relationships between legal and political environments of business and EBOF are investigated. The unique design of our study allows us to analyze these relationships based on the stages of development in 92 countries around the world. (...) The EBOF models structured through BCMs are used to explain how EBOF in a given country group are shaped by how managers perceive political, legislative, and protective environments of business in these countries. The results suggest that irregular payments and bribes are the most influential factors affecting managers’ perceptions of business ethics in relatively more advanced economies, whereas intellectual property protection is the most influential factor affecting managers’ perceptions of business ethics in less-advanced economies. The results also suggest that regardless of where the business is conducted in the world, judicial independence is the driving force behind managers’ perceptions of business ethics. In addition, the results of this study provide further support for scholars who argue that business ethics is likely to vary among countries based on their socio-economic factors. In addition to its managerial implications, the study provides directions for policy makers to improve the ethical conduct of businesses in their respective countries. (shrink)

The Talmud, the compilation of Jewish oral law, is over 1500 years old and includes extensive discussions of business ethics. This paper presents four levels of ethical behavior in business gleaned from the words of the Talmud. At the lowest level, an individual is just barely inside the law; the highest level is the way of the pious. The author has attempted to relate the ethics in ancient business situations to business practices today.

The report of the Treadway Commission suggests that all public companies should establish effective written codes of conduct in promoting honorable behavior by corporations. The need for written "codes of conduct" for businesses is evident in the current literature. However, there is not sufficient evidence regarding the implication of codes of conduct in a college. Academic dishonesty has become an important issue in institutions of higher education. Codes of conduct can also provide a basis for ethical behavior (...) in colleges and universities. Survey respondents were generally supportive of the concept of codes of ethical conduct in colleges and universities. The results of this study indicate that college codes of conduct tend to follow a "low road" approach. The results also suggest the following needed improvements in college and university codes of conduct: (1) greater emphasis on preventing financial, scientific, and academic fraud; (2) more inclusion of the faculty in the process; and (3) establishment of a proper process for implementation of the code. (shrink)

This paper was designed to explore the relationships of three role conception types (the professional, bureaucratic and service role conceptions) to the ethical behaviour of student nurses from the apprenticeship and degree nursing programmes in Hong Kong. The effect of role discrepancy on ethical behaviour will also be explored. A nonprobability convenience sampling of 140 certificate students from a hospital-based training course and 81 degree nursing students from a tertiary programme were selected. Role conception and role discrepancy were (...) measured by the modified Nursing Role Conception scale originally developed by Corwin. For ethical behaviour, the Judgement About Nursing Decisions scale developed by Ketefian was used. Multiple regression analyses showed that the ideal professional role conception was a significant predictor, accounting for 17% of the variance in the ideal ethical score of the degree students. Actual service role conception was a better predictor of the actual ethical score, explaining 10% and 14% of its variance for the certificate and degree students respectively. Professional and bureaucratic role discrepancies together were found to have a negative effect on the actual ethical behaviour of the degree students. These results suggest that professional values that have been developed through socialization in nurse education programmes could benefit patients only when degree students, in particular, could adapt successfully to the demands of bureaucratic organization. (shrink)

This study considers the relationship between perceptions of ethical behavior and the demographic characteristics of sex, age, education level, job title, and job tenure among a sample of marketing researchers. The findings of this study indicate that female marketing researchers, older marketing researchers, and marketing researchers holding their present job for ten years or more generally rate their behavior as more ethical.

Ethical scandals, as well as unethical behaviour, are becoming major concerns in recent times. Thus, this study focused on the role of ethical climate and employees’ moral identity. Specifically, this study examined the mediation effect of ethical climate on the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ ethical behaviour. Also, the study investigated the moderating role of employee moral identity on the relationship between ethical climate and employees’ ethical behaviour. Data were collected from 620 (...) full-time employees working at thirty-three Iraqi organisations from five Iraqi provinces. These organisations were from various industry sectors such as manufacturing, retailing, medical, insurance, information technology, legal, finance, and telecommunication sectors. The study found that ethical leadership impacted on the ethical behaviour of employees and the ethical climate also significantly mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ ethical behaviour. The moderating role of moral identity on the relationship between ethical climate and ethical behaviour was found to be insignificant in this context. (shrink)

Past research has focused on individual culpability with the assumption that individuals will further their own self interest over that of the organization, given an appropriate opportunity. In contrast, this research shifts the focus from individual motivation to the influence of the formal and informal control systems of organizations on ethical behaviours. An open-ended interview approach was used to collect data. It was found that pressures within the informal system were the dominant influence in the resolution of ethical (...) issues. The dominance of the informal system, however, varies according to the economic position of the organization. (shrink)

“Economic man does not ask himself ethical questions”. Yet securities trading inevitably raises many ethical issues, and ethical behaviour may be restricting and costly. Drawing on his economics background and his executive experience in the insurance and pension investment industry, as well as supervisory positions on the European Option Exchange, Dr Goslings analyses the securities markets and their structure, and explores their moral strengths and weaknesses in The Netherlands and elsewhere, before offering some practical recommendations.

Objective To compare the coping patterns of physicians and clinical psychologists when confronted with clinical ethical dilemmas and to explore consistency across different dilemmas. Population 88 clinical psychologists and 149 family physicians in Israel. Method Six dilemmas representing different ethical domains were selected from the literature. Vignettes were composed for each dilemma, and seven possible behavioural responses for each were proposed, scaled from most to least ethical. The vignettes were presented to both family physicians and clinical psychologists. (...) Results Psychologists’ aggregated mean ethical intention score, as compared with the physicians, was found to be significantly higher =22.44, p<0.001, η2=0.37). Psychologists showed higher ethical intent for two dilemmas: issues of payment and dual relationships. In the other four vignettes, psychologists and physicians responded in much the same way. The highest ethical intent scores for both psychologists and physicians were for confidentiality and a colleague’s inappropriate practice due to personal problems. Conclusions Responses to the dilemmas by physicians and psychologists can be categorised into two groups: similar behaviours on the part of both professions when confronting dilemmas concerning confidentiality, inappropriate practice due to personal problems, improper professional conduct and academic issues and different behaviours when confronting either payment issues or dual relationships. (shrink)

This study empirically examined the effects of ethical leadership and ethical climate on employee ethical behavior in the international port context using survey data collected from 128 respondents who worked in Taiwan International Ports Corporation in Taiwan. Research hypotheses were formulated from the previous literature and tested using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that ethical leadership had a significant impact on ethical climate and the ethical behavior of TIPC employees. Ethical climate (...) was found to be positively associated with employee ethical behavior. The theoretical and practical implications of the research findings are discussed. (shrink)

Ethical behavior — the conscious attempt to act in accordance with an individually-owned morality — is the product of an advanced stage of the maturing process. Three models of ethical growth derived from research in human development are applied to issues of business ethics.

This paper draws on the economics of ethical compliance model to examine the association between ethical reasoning, perceived risk of detection, perceived levels of penalties and Chinese auditors'' ethical behavior in an audit conflict situation. Using 53 Chinese auditors from Shenzen as subjects, and a survey questionnaire, this study found that there is a significant negative association between ethical reasoning and the likelihood of unethical behavior and that this negative association is weaker for auditors (...) who perceive higher risks of detection. (shrink)

This study investigates factors impacting perceptions of ethical conduct of peers of 293 students in four US universities. Self-reported ethical behavior and recognition of emotions in others (a dimension of emotional intelligence) impacted perception of ethical behavior of peers. None of the other dimensions of emotional intelligence were significant. Age, Race, Sex, GPA, or type of major (business versus nonbusiness) did not impact perception of ethical behavior of peers. Implications of the results of (...) the study for business schools and industry professionals are discussed. (shrink)

The mother discipline of organisational behaviour has deep roots in psychology, particularly industrial and organisational psychology. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that new and theoretically incommensurate findings involving human moral behaviour have been met with calls for a more psychologically informed investigation of ethical behaviour in organisational contexts (DeCremer and Tenbrunsel, 2012; Reynolds and Ceranic, 2009). This project, aimed at a fuller understanding of the psychology of ethical behaviour, typically falls under the label of Organisational Ethical (...) Behavior (OEB). (shrink)

There is a growing need to identify what really can converge classroom learning to the real-life practising of ethical principles. We examine if the effectiveness of ethics education can be improved through meditation-based mindfulness intervention. Our baseline experiment is a procedurally modified version of the anagram exercise (Ruedy and Schweitzer 2010) for measuring unethical behaviour. We introduce a brief meditation intervention to induce instant mindfulness. Our findings indicate substantive evidence confirming the positive effect of the state of mindfulness on (...) ethical behaviour. Subjects in the meditation group engage in more low-level cheating compared to the control group who cheated more severely. Gender and academic grade do not influence ethical behaviour. Mindfulness fosters composure, mental poise, and a conducive environment for upholding ethical values, as indicated by a lower incidence of cheating in our study. We propose to promote a learning environment with mindfulness intervention in educational programmes. (shrink)

This study develops and tests an integrated model that explains how Schwartz’s higher order personal values of Openness to Change, Conservation, Self-Transcendence and Self-Enhancement influence the ethical behavior of accountants. The study further explores the influence of ethics training, gender and religiosity on ethical behavior. A survey instrument was administered to 252 accounting students and the findings reveal that some of the higher order personal values are significant in explaining the ethical behavior of accounting (...) students. The findings also reveal that gender and ethical training influence ethical behavior, and that effect of the personal value Self-Transcendence differs depending on participant gender and also religiosity. The implications of the findings are discussed. (shrink)

A framework is presented for studying ethical conduct in public accounting practice. Four levels of analysis are distinguished: individual, local office, multi-office firm and professional institute. Several propositions are derived from the framework and discussed: (1) The effects of ethical vs. unethical behavior on an accountant's prospects for advancement are asymmetrical in nature; (2) the way individuals perceive or frame the decision problem at hand will make an ethical response more or less likely; (3) the economic (...) incentives present in competitive markets influence the work goals of firms and offices, and lead to ethical dilemmas for individuals; and (4) initiatives at the firm or institute level aimed at compliance with professional ethical standards will by themselves have little effect on individual ethical behavior. Research into ethical behavior of practitioners will capture self-conscious and biased responses unless it is designed so as to permit indirect observation and recording of spontaneous comments. To assure valid research findings, practitioners should be interviewed and their motives assessed indirectly. A longitudinal approach is recommended, beginning with students who are choosing an accounting career. Two types of questions for use in these interviews are described. (shrink)

Nowadays there is a growing interest in business ethics, both in academia and professionally. However, moral lapses continue to happen in business activities, leading academicians and professionals to rethink what is being done and reinventing new strategies to successfully manage ethics in business organisations. Thus, whereas efforts to promote ethics are basically oriented to using and developing explicit, written formal mechanisms, the literature suggests that other instruments are also useful and necessary to achieve this. Thus, studying the role of the (...) Human Resource Management (hereafter, HRM) in promoting ethics is an emerging research topic due to the heavy influence that HRM practices are thought to have on employees. This paper is aimed at developing a thorough analysis of HRM's role in promoting ethics, and specifically at focusing on one of its practices, training. As an illustrative example of the utility of this practice, an empirical study was conducted on a range of Spanish banking companies in which an impact was found on the employees' ethical behaviour when ethics training was being provided inside the organisation. Finally, the practical implications of these findings and directions for future research are presented. (shrink)

The presentation will illustrate an approach to teaching business ethics.

This paper is designed to do three things while discussing the challenge of ethical behavior in organization. First, it discusses some reasons why unethical behavior occurs in organization. Secondly, the paper highlights the importance of organizational culture in establishing an ethical climate within an organization. Finally, the paper presents some suggestions for creating and maintaining an ethically-oriented culture.

This study examines the impact of various factors on ethical behavior of 507 employees working for three state-owned Chinese firms. Regulation of one’s emotions had a significant positive impact on ethical behavior of respondents. Organizational commitment also had a significant positive impact on ethical behavior of the respondents. Among various facets of job satisfaction, satisfaction with promotion, coworker, and supervision had a significant positive impact on ethical behavior of respondents. Among control variables, (...) age of the employee had a significant negative impact on ethical behavior, which indicated that the young employees showed a better ethical behavior than the old employees. (shrink)

This paper aims to examine the impact of national cultural values on the relation between auditing and reporting standards and ethical behaviours of firms. Based on a regression analysis using data regarding 54 countries between the years 2007 and 2012, we found that the impact of the perceived strength of auditing and reporting standards on the perceived ethical behaviours of firms is accentuated when a society is characterized by low power distance and in-group collectivism, and high institutional collectivism, (...) future orientation and uncertainty avoidance. Empirically, the study addresses a gap in the literature by highlighting the influence of national culture on the effectiveness of legal settings and regulations on ethical behaviours. (shrink)

The ethical behavior of a national sample of marketing professionals was examined by analyzing their responses to four different types of ethical dilemmas presented in vignette form. The ethical situations operationalize the concepts of coercion and control, deceit and falsehood, conflict of interest, and self integrity, within the context of the marketing mix elements – place, promotion, price, and product. Responses were examined to determine whether behavior varied by type of ethical situation, and whether (...) demographic factors affected their responses. The results indicate that marketing professionals vary their ethical decisions depending on which marketing mix decision they face. Among demographic variables, age, gender, and education level had significant but mixed influence on respondents' ethical decisions across the different situations. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Ethical leaders can influence followers’ ethical behaviors by establishing an ethical climate. However, followers’ responses to an ethical climate may also differ according to the amount of attention they devote to moral questions. This study analyzes whether moral attentiveness augments the positive effect of an ethical climate on employees’ ethical behaviors, as well as the indirect effect of ethical leadership on employee ethical behavior through an ethical climate. Data from (...) 270 employees in the Malaysian manufacturing industry indicate that the positive impact of an ethical climate on ethical behavior is greater among employees who exhibit high rather than low moral attentiveness; this moderating role also applies to the relationship between ethical leadership and employee ethical behavior through the ethical climate. This study thus sheds new light on the notable role of moral attentiveness in ensuring that ethical leadership and ethical climate enhance ethical behavior in the workplace. (shrink)

The South African business world is increasingly characterised by the absence of clear ethical norms and behaviour. However, changing business circumstances has made South African organizations ethically more vulnerable. Furthermore, new perspectives on the benefits of ethical behaviour make the implementation thereof essential. A theoretical model of ethical behaviour for generating an improved understanding of ethical behaviour in organizational context is discussed. This model is used as a basis for presenting practical suggestions on the implementation of (...) ethical behaviour in organizational context. (shrink)

I argue in this paper that moral philosophers need to incorporate into their teaching and writing a number of empirical findings on ethical practices. Principal among these is clearer guidelines on speaking out against wrongdoing, as well as the development of codes of ethics that have been proven to work. The adoption of the critical thinking and the analytical methodology of other disciplines is also suggested. Several benefits will result. The most noticeable will be a strengthening of ethical (...) practices and behavior in the institutions and organizations with which we live and work. A second benefit will be the education and employment of a body of people—graduates in moral philosophy—with the skills and knowledge to bring about, and further strengthen, this enhanced ethical environment. A third benefit will be the matching of the claims of philosophical thought with actual reality. (shrink)

Compiling empirical work from management and social science disciplines, the Research Companion to Ethical Behavior in Organizations provides an entry point for academic researchers and compliance officers interested in measuring the moral dimensions of individuals. Accessible to newcomers but geared toward academics, this detailed book catalogs the varied and nuanced constructs used in behavioral ethics, along with measures that assess those constructs. With its cross-disciplinary focus and expert commentary, a varied collection of learned scholars bring essential studies into (...) one volume, creating a resource that promises to enhance the burgeoning field of behavioral ethics"--Publisher's web site. (shrink)

Unethical behavior is important to study because it may have an adverse influence on organizational performance. This paper is an attempt to better understand why individuals behave as they do when faced with ethical dilemmas. We first explore the definition, theories and models of ethical behaviors and accountability. This discussion of societal ethics and accountability as forms of social control segues into a discussion of how accountability may influence ethical behaviors. Based on the business ethics and (...) accountability literatures, we suggest a number of research questions and hypotheses that need to be tested, as well as an appropriate research strategy. (shrink)

The research presented in this article aims to contribute both quantitatively and qualitatively to the discussion on family versus non-family businesses' differences in ethical core values, culture and ethical climate. The purpose of our article is to better understand the association between the degree of involvement of a family in an enterprise and its influence on the enterprise's core values, culture and ethical climate as the constitutional elements of enterprise ethical behaviour. The research indicates that family (...) as well as non-family enterprises maintain positive attitudes towards the core values with ethical content. Regarding the type and strength of culture as well as the type of ethical climate, our research results indicate significant differences between family and non-family enterprises. (shrink)