An Empirical Investigation of the Influence of Selected Personal, Organizational and Moral Intensity Factors on Ethical Decision Making

This exploratory study of ethical decision making by individuals in organizations found moral intensity, as defined by Jones (1991), to significantly influence ethical decision making intentions of managers. Moral intensity explained 37% and 53% of the variance in ethical decision making in two decision-making scenarios. In part, the results of this research support our theoretical understanding of ethical/unethical decision-making and serve as a foundation for future research.

[1]  James R. Rest.  Moral Development: Advances in Research and Theory , 1986 .

[2]  J. Harrison,et al.  STAKEHOLDERS, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, AND PERFORMANCE: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE AND THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES , 1999 .

[3]  M. Singer,et al.  Observer Judgements about Moral Agents' Ethical Decisions: The Role of Scope of Justice and Moral Intensity , 1997 .

[4]  M. Singer,et al.  The role of moral intensity and fairness perception in judgments of ethicality: A comparison of managerial professionals and the general public , 1996 .

[5]  Lawrence B. Chonko,et al.  Corporate Ethical Values and Organizational Commitment in Marketing , 1989 .

[6]  O. C. Ferrell,et al.  A Contingency Framework for Understanding Ethical Decision Making in Marketing , 1985 .

[7]  S. Deshpande.  The impact of ethical climate types on facets of job satisfaction: An empirical investigation , 1996 .

[8]  Gilbert A. Churchill,et al.  Organizational Climate and Job Satisfaction in the Salesforce , 1976 .

[9]  L. Ferrell,et al.  A Review of Empirical Studies Assessing Ethical Decision Making in Business , 2000 .

[10]  S. Vitell,et al.  The Influence of Norms on Ethical Judgments and Intentions: An Empirical Study of Marketing Professionals , 1998 .

[11]  William A. Kahn.  Toward an Agenda for Business Ethics Research , 1990 .

[12]  Clint B. Tankersley,et al.  Perceptual Differences in Market Transactions: A Source of Consumer Frustration , 1975 .

[13]  R. Ford,et al.  Ethical decision making: A review of the empirical literature , 1994 .

[14]  Joseph G. P. Paolillo,et al.  The Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility: A Study of Marketing Professionals , 2003 .

[15]  S. Vitell,et al.  The relationship between ethics and job satisfaction: An empirical investigation , 1990 .

[16]  S. Jain,et al.  Standardization of International Marketing Strategy: Some Research Hypotheses , 1989 .

[17]  Kenneth L. Kraft,et al.  The perceived role of ethics and social responsibility: A scale development , 1996 .

[18]  L. Treviño.  Ethical Decision Making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interactionist Model , 1986 .

[19]  Michael Bommer,et al.  A behavioral model of ethical and unethical decision making , 1987 .

[20]  T. Jones.  Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model , 1991 .

[21]  S. Hunt,et al.  A General Theory of Marketing Ethics , 1986 .

[22]  Lawrence B. Chonko,et al.  Ethics and marketing management: An empirical examination , 1985 .

[23]  Alan J. Dubinsky,et al.  A path-analytic study of a model of salesperson performance , 1986 .

[24]  George R. Franke,et al.  Antecedents, consequences, and mediating effects of perceived moral intensity and personal moral philosophies , 1999 .

[25]  Daniel J. Brass,et al.  Relationships and Unethical Behavior: A Social Network Perspective , 1998 .

[26]  Anusorn Singhapakdi,et al.  Marketing Ethics: Factors Influencing Perceptions of Ethical Problems and Alternatives , 1990 .

[27]  Susan J. Harrington,et al.  A Test of a Person -- Issue Contingent Model of Ethical Decision Making in Organizations , 1997 .

[28]  H. Becker,et al.  The Use of Vignettes in Survey Research , 1978 .