A model is developed which identifies and describes various factors which affect ethical and unethical behavior in organizations, including a decision-maker's social, government and legal, work, professional and personal environments. The effect of individual decision maker attributes on the decision process is also discussed. The model links these influences with ethical and unethical behavior via the mediating structure of the individual's decision-making process.

Exploratory research was undertaken in four locations in the Asia Pacific Rim to investigate the cognitive frameworks used by managers when considering ethical business dilemmas. In addition to culture, gender and organisational dimensions were also studied. Aggregate analysis revealed no significant differences in the cognitive frameworks used by business managers in Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Canada. Of the eight frameworks used in the study four cognitive frameworks appeared to feature predominantly. Utilising the results of regression analysis the most (...) salient cognitive frameworks utilised by managers were identified as; Self Interest, Neutralisation, Justice and Categorial Imperative, with Neutralisation and Self Interest being the most significant among all managers. Religious Conviction and the Light of Day framework (which relates to fear of being exposed) did not feature prominently in the analysis. A few significant differences in the ethical frameworks used by males and females were identified. For males in all four locations Self Interest, Neutralisation and Justice appeared to be dominant frameworks, while considerable variability was seen in the frameworks used by females. Marginally significant differences were observed in the cognitive frameworks used by managers with differing functional responsibilities. Across all locations respondents with general management responsibilities relied predominately on Self Interest, while those with marketing responsibilities utilised Neutralisation. Respondents with an accounting orientation also relied predominately on Neutralisation and Categorial Imperative frameworks. (shrink)

An understanding of organizational ethics requires synthesizing several fields, three of which are critically important: moral philosophy, moral development, and organizational culture. Moral philosophy provides a broad intellectual framework for organizational ethics. Within this framework different systems of ethics related to particular practices, such as medical ethics, can be grounded. Such an approach rejects the notions that organizational ethics can be looked at in relative terms or that a case method involving the examination of direct outcomes alone can be adequate. (...) The field of moral development raises questions about the source of abilities of decision-makers to make ethical decisions. It suggests that where there is concern for the moral life of an organization, there should also be concern for the moral development of its members, and particularly of its leaders. Study of organizational culture shows the complex way that moral life is fused with the many elements of culture within the organization. Managing the ethical aspect of action in an organization requires managing its culture, which means attention to the message given by many different cultural elements, each of which should consistently give the desired message about ethical expectation. The emerging field of organizational ethics needs considerable expansion utilizing an interdisciplinary approach. (shrink)