The influence of personal and organizational values on marketing professionals' ethical behavior

The authors examine empirically the influence of personal and organizational values on marketing professionals' ethical behavior. The results indicate that personal and organizational values underlie differences in marketing professionals' ethical behavior, albeit small terms of the proportion of explained variance. The results also suggest the relationship between organizational values and ethical behavior to be significant. However, the same is not the case for the relationship between personal values and ethical behavior.Ishmael P. Akaah is Professor of Marketing at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, Professor Akaah's articles have appeared in many journals includingJournal of Marketing Research, International Marketing Review, Journal of Business Logistics, among others.Daulatram B. Lund is Associate professor of Marketing at University of Nevada, Reno. Professor Lund's articles have appeared inJournal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, among others.     

Communication,accountability and professional discourse: The interaction of language values and ethical values

This paper examines the ideas of Communication and Accountability in relation to professional discourse and the teaching of Professionals. Language does not merely express values, but embodies values, without which it could not function as a medium of communication — Grice's Cooperative Principle. In practice communication and accountability have become separated, as have ethics and communication in the schools, and this is reflected in assumptions about science and scientific language which characterise professional discourses.The modern professions exist on a continuum between two extremes of collegiate and corporate values, with a trend toward the latter. The place on this continuum determines what stance an organisation takes in its attempts to communicate with its publics. An analysis of the assumptions which underlie the discourses of academic economics and public relations shows how the dissociation of values and communication works in practice.The implications of this are that a greater awareness of the values of language through interpretive skills and an understanding of rhetoric and informal logic would go some way to reunite communication and accountability in practice.H. W. Love, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., has a background in English, Classics and Philosophy, and has taught English and theatre studies in universities in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand. His publications have been in the area of literary and theatrical epistemology. Currently he is a lecturer in Ethics and Communications in the Division of Commerce, University of Otago, New Zealand.     

Personal and professional values underlying the ethical judgments of marketers

This study explores the relative influences of two levels of value orientations, personal values and professional values, underlying the ethical judgments of marketing practitioners. The data were obtained from a mail survey of the American Marketing Association's professional members. The results generally indicate that a marketer's ethical judgments can be partially explained by his/her personal and professional values.Anusorn Singhapakdi is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Old Dominion University. His papers focusing on various topics in marketing ethics and corporate/consumer social responsibility have been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, as well as other journals and proceedings.Scott J. Vitell is Associate Professor and holder of the Michael S. Starnes Lectureship in Marketing and Business Ethics at the University of Mississippi. His work has appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, andResearch in Marketing as well as various other journals and proceedings.     

The ethical implications of corporate records management practices and some suggested ethical values for decisions

While the ethical implications of corporate actions have received increasing attention, one important area overlooked by both researchers and corporate codes of ethics is the significant ethical implications of corporate records management practices. This article discusses the operational and strategic purposes of modern corporate records management programs—including scorched earth programs which seek to reduce exposure to potential liability by eliminating documentary evidence from corporate files that could be used to establish culpability in future governmental investigations or in litigation by persons injured by corporate actions. As a first step toward developing relevant ethical guidelines and decision criteria for socially-responsible records management practices, the ethical values of freedom of choice and avoidance of harm are applied to various corporate decisions as to (1) which information should be retained as records and for how long, (2) subsequent disclosure or non-disclosure of that information and to whom, and (3) decisions as to when information in corporate records may properly be destroyed. John C. Ruhnka, Associate Professor of Legal Environment and Management at the University of Colorado at Denver, has written extensively on corporate obligations to disclose material adverse events and preliminary merger negotiations in the Harvard Business Review and Securities Regulation Law Journal. He has also written on design considerations for records management programs and legal and regulatory retention requirements that apply to business records in a series of articles in the Corporate Confidentiality and Disclosure Letter. Dr. Steven Weller is on the faculty of The National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada, and has written extensively on problems of court process and organizational behavior. He has previously written on The Effectiveness of Corporate Codes of Ethics in the Journal of Business Ethics.     

The effects of professional education on values and the resolution of ethical dilemmas: Business school vs. law school students

Prior research on the impact of ethics education within the business curriculum has yielded mixed results. Although the impact is often found to be positive, it appears to be both small and short-lived. Interpretation of these results, however, is subject to important methodological limitations. The present research employed a longitudinal methodology to evaluate the impact of an M.B.A. program versus a law program on the values and ethical decision making behavior of a cohort of students at two major universities in the northeast. The results suggest that the M.B.A. curriculum remains a value-neutral experience for most students. In contrast, the law school program had a significant impact on both values and ethical decision making.Donald L. McCabe is Associate Professor of Management at the Graduate School of Management, Rutgers — The State University of New Jersey. His research focuses on ethical decision making, interpretive processes under conditions of uncertainty, and issues of student values and ethics.Janet M. Dukerich is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on individual and group decision making and interpretation processes in organizations.Jane E. Dutton is Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management at the University of Michigan. Her research interests center on organizational adaptation processes, and in particular, organizational responses to value-laden issues.     

The impact of personal values on judgments of ethical behaviour in the workplace

This study examines how our personal values influence our judgment of the morality of some workplace behaviours. Sixty-nine undergraduates were asked to rank order separately Rokeach's instrumental and terminal values in terms of their importance as guiding principles in their life. Subjects then read four scenarios, each of which described ethically questionable behaviour of the sort that might be encountered in business. They were then asked to rate whether or not the behaviour of the person described in the scenario was ethical, and whether or not they had any intentions to rectify the situation. People with different value hierarchies perceived the targeted behaviours differently. For example, subjects who valued honesty perceived the behaviour as more immoral than subjects who did not value honesty. While the ranking of the instrumental valuehonesty was the best predictor of people's judgments about the morality of the behaviour, their ranking of the instrumental valueambition was the best predictor of their behavioural intentions.Joan Finegan is an assistant professor at the Centre for Administrative and Information Studies, University of Western Ontario. The general theme of her research is the application of social-psychological concepts to organizational behaviour.     

The ethical underpinnings of nonmaterialistic values and voluntary simplicity behavior in the United States

Many scholars agree overconsumption is a serious ethical problem because of its adverse effects on the environment. This multimethod article uses two studies to explore the ethical underpinnings of two related consumer expressions of anticonsumption: nonmaterialism, which refers to not placing importance on material goods, and voluntary simplicity, which refers to reducing consumption behavior. Study 1 employs Structural Equation Models of secondary U.S. data and finds that nonmaterialism and voluntary simplicity have unique ethical underpinnings: Nonmaterialism is positively associated with an ethical ideology focused on universal rules and principles while voluntary simplicity is associated with an ethical ideology focused on the consequences of one's actions. Because engagement in voluntary simplicity can reduce overconsumption, Study 2 identifies which specific other-oriented environmental concerns increase voluntary simplicity and for whom. An online experiment indicates that concerns about contributing to landfill waste and depleting natural resources induce voluntary simplicity for those who base their decisions on consequentialist ethical ideologies and concerns about contributing to climate change increases voluntary simplicity across consumers. These findings contribute to the discussion on anticonsumption by delineating key anticonsumption constructs, identifying messages to effectively reduce consumption behavior, and identifying consumers who are most likely to respond to such appeals.     

Consumer ethics: The possible effects of terrorism and civil unrest on the ethical values of consumers

Research investigating the consumer's ethical beliefs, ideologies and orientation has been limited. Additionally, despite the repeated call in the literature for cross cultural research, virtually no studies have examined the ethical beliefs and ideologies of consumers from cultures other than those in North America. This study partially fills this gap in the literature by investigating the ethical beliefs, preferred ethical ideology, and degree of Machiavellianism of consumers from Egypt and Lebanon. The results indicate that consumers in Lebanon, which has been torn by civil unrest and terrorism, tend to be more Machiavellian, less idealistic, and more relativistic than their Egyptian counterparts. Additionally, the Lebanese consumers tend to be more accepting of questionable consumer practices.Mohammed Y. A. Rawwas is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Northern Iowa. His research has appeared in theJournal of Business Ethics, Journal of Hospital Marketing, Health Marketing Quarterly, Medical Marketing & Media, and national proceedings of the American Marketing Association.Scott J. Vitell is Associate Professor of Marketing and holder of the Michael S. Starnes Lecturship in Marketing and Business Ethics at the University of Mississippi. His work has previously appeared in theJournal of Macromarketing, theJournal of Business Ethics, Research in Marketing, theBusiness and Professional Ethics Journal and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science as well as various other journals and proceedings.Jamal Al-Khatib is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. His research has appeared in theJournal of Consumer Marketing, International Marketing Review andResearch in the International Business Disciplines as well as various national and regional proceedings.     

Adolescents' utilitarian and hedonic Web consumption behavior: Hierarchical influence of personal values and innovativeness

This study addresses the Web‐consumption behavior of adolescents from a cognitive, hierarchical decision‐making perspective. Using a structural equation analysis technique on data collected from high school students, two a priori domains of Web consumption (utilitarian and hedonic) were confirmed. The utilitarian and hedonic domains of Web consumption were influenced directly by innovativeness and indirectly by the personal values of the adolescents. A theoretical discussion based on the results and the implications of these results are presented for the benefit of youth practitioners, educators, parents, and social marketers. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The effects of ethical pressure and power distance orientation on unethical pro‐organizational behavior: the case of earnings management

A multiphase study tested a proposed mediated moderation model for the joint effects of ethical pressure and power distance orientation on accountants’ ethical judgments of earnings management. Results based on a sample of 354 accountants from China indicated that the relationship between ethical pressure and ethical judgments of earnings management is contingent on the accountants’ power distance orientation. That is, the relationship between ethical pressure and ethical judgments of earnings management was stronger for accountants with a high power distance orientation. The results also demonstrated that ethical beliefs in support of the company serve as a mediator for the interaction effect of ethical pressure and power distance orientation on the outcome. These results are discussed in terms of viewing earnings management as a form of unethical pro‐organizational behavior which can be effectively investigated within the framework of the person‐situation interactionist model.     

The ethical behavior of retail managers

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.John Fraedrich is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Southern Illinois University of Carbondale. His areas of interest include ethical decision making and international marketing. He has published inJournal of Business Ethics, Journal of Macro-marketing, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing Management, International Journal of Value Based Management, andJournal of International Consumer Marketing. Dr. Fraedrich has also recently completed a book(Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases, 1991, Houghton Mifflin) on the topic of ethics.     

The case against Microsoft: An ethical perspective

This paper discusses the complex Microsoft anti-trust trial and the company 's questionable behavior during the browser wars with Netscape.It reviews the essentials of the legal case against Microsoft along with the company 's efforts to refute the charges against it, including the presumption of monopoly power. After laying the groundwork by providing conceptual background on the notion of fair competition, the paper turns to an ethical analysis of Microsoft 's conduct. We conclude that Microsoft 's behavior was excessively opportunistic during the browser wars.The company did not compete constructively or positively, but instead sought to undermine the competitive process.It also developed biased software code that tilted the playing ?eld in its direction.These actions caused harm to the company 's stakeholders by obstructing consumer choice and impeding innovation.     

The ethics of insurance professionals: Comparison of personal versus professional ethics

This paper considers the level of ethics for insurance professionals for professional situations (measured with three insurance scenarios) compared to personal (consumer) situations (measured by Muncy and Vitell's 1992 Consumer Ethics Scale). The results of the study illustrate that there are significant differences in the ethical behavior of insurance professionals in professional versus personal situations. The authors found that insurance professionals are more likely to actively engage in unethical behavior in order to benefit professionally than in a personal setting. In general, however, the average respondent was unlikely or extremely unlikely to engage in unethical conduct. The managerial implications and need for future research in this area are discussed.K. L. Eastman is an Assistant Professor of Risk Management and Insurance at Florida State University. He received his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.J. K. Eastman is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Valdosta State University. She earned her doctorate from Florida State University.A. D. Eastman is a doctoral candidate in Risk Management and Insurance at Florida State University.     

The challenge of ethical behavior in organizations

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.Ronald R. Sims is Associate Professor in the School of Business Administration at the College of William and Mary. His research interests include ethical behavior, experiential learning, employee and management training and development, and organizational transitions. His articles have appeared in a variety of scholarly and practitioner-oriented journals.     

Consumer participation in virtual communities: The role of personal values and personality

The important role that consumers play in virtual communities as active participants in the value co-creation process has been increasingly acknowledged in recent marketing thought and practice. This study applies and extends the well-established value–attitude–behaviour (VAB) model to investigate how personal values and personality jointly influence consumers' attitude and behaviour towards their participation in virtual communities. The results show that while the resultant conservation value dimension has an indirect influence on consumer participation behaviour in virtual communities through attitude, the extraversion trait has a direct effect. The findings clarify our understanding of how personal values and personality differently predict consumer participation in virtual communities, and confirm the role of personal values and the VAB model in explaining this phenomenon. This study suggests significant implications for virtual community marketing.     

New insights into socially responsible consumers: The role of personal values

Given increasing interest in both socially responsible consumption behavior (SRCB) and socially responsible corporate practices in marketing, this study addressed the effects of several personal traits on SRCB (i.e., personal values, collectivism, age, and gender). Findings from an online survey revealed that consumers who valued self‐transcendence (e.g., benevolence and universalism) were more likely to engage in socially responsible consumption (e.g., recycling, avoiding, or reducing usage of products that do long‐term damage to the environment) than those who valued social status and prestige, social power, authority, and wealth. Furthermore, the findings show that older adults and women tended to engage in more SRCB than younger adults and men. Findings also indicate that age and gender were antecedents to the values of self‐transcendence and self‐enhancement.     

An examination of the relationship between ethical behavior,espoused ethical values and financial performance in the U.S. defense industry: 1988–1992

This paper tests the ethics-is-good-for-profits as well as the ethics-and-profits-are-joint-outcomes-of-good-management hypotheses in the context of the U.S. defense industry in the 1988–1992 period. Both ethical behaviors (defined and measured as the number and dollar cost of convictions for violations of civil and criminal law as well as reimbursement obligations arising under environmental statutes) and espoused ethical values (in the form of membership in the Defense Industry Initiative and average level of PAC contributions) are compared with measures of profitability for the defense-oriented business segments of sixty-two major U.S. defense contractors. From 1988 to 1992, the U.S. Defense Department gave these contractors an average of 65% of all prime contract awards over $25,000 to business firms for work in the U.S.We found statistically significant, positive correlations between (1) our two measures of espoused ethical values and (2) both measures of espoused ethical values and violative ethical acts. In other words, those contractors with worse ethics records were more likely to be members of the Defense Industry Initiative and give larger PAC contributions. However, we were unable to reject the null hypothesis of no correlation between either ethical behavior or espoused ethical values and profits. The public policy implications of these findings are discussed.Alan P. Mayer-Sommer is Associate Professor at Georgetown University's School of Business. His research has focused on the area of business-government relations.Alan Roshwalb serves as a statistician for a marketing research firm and has conducted research in statistical methods and issues in business.     

Service value and switching barriers: a personal values perspective

This research aims to investigate how customers, the key actors in a service relationship, perceive service value and switching barriers. The study is framed along the means-end-chain theory of personal values and theory of customer resources in the service-dominant logic. Hypotheses about the impact of personal values on customer value, switching barriers and customer loyalty were tested using structural equation modeling of survey data obtained from the health care and retail banking sectors in Vietnam. The results show that in both sectors, personal values have a significant impact on perceived process and outcome value as well as on perceived economic and relational switching barriers. Economic barriers were found to affect loyalty in the banking sector, in the same way that relational barriers affect loyalty in the health-care sector only. Loyalty in both sectors is influenced by process but not by outcome value. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Toward an understanding of ethical climate: Its relationship to ethical behavior and supervisory influence

In recent years, theoretical and empirical developments in the area of organizational climate has provided the impetus for research concerning ethical climate. According to this latter research, ethical climate is a multi-dimensional construct which is manifested in organizations. Studies, however, have not focused on the relationship between ethical climate and ethical behavior. Furthermore, an enhanced understanding of the multi-dimensionality of ethical climate will likely advance what we know about organizational climate and culture in general. We propose further examination of ethical climate by: (1) showing the conceptual relationship between ethical climate and ethical (or unethical) behavior in organizations; and (2) examining supervision as one of the principle influences on ethical climate and concomitant subordinate behavior. Finally, we explore the implications for future research on ethical climate.James C. Wimbush is Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Department of Management at Indiana University, Bloomington. His current research is about ethical issues in human resources management.Jon M. Shepard is Head of the Department of Management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His most recent publications include Egoistic and Ethical Orientations of University Students Toward Work-Related Decisions (Journal of Business Ethics). His current research interests include ethical climate and the accountability of institutions.     

The effects of computerized performance monitoring: An ethical perspective

Considerable controversy has surrounded the use of computerized performance monitoring (CPM) by employers. Critics of this technology contend that CPM usage raises serious ethical concerns. Beliefs that the use of computerized performance monitors results in unfair performance evaluation, stress and health problems underlie much of the current concern over this technology. A field study was undertaken to provide empirical evidence that could be used to guide the design and use of computerized performance monitors to minimize these problems. One hundred forty three members of the Communication Workers of America participated in a cross sectional field study. The study examined the relationship between various monitoring system characteristics and employees' health problems, stress and satisfaction with the performance evaluation process. The ethical implications of the results are discussed.Stephen R. Hawk is Associate Professor of Information Systems at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside's School of Business. His research interests include decision support systems, computerized performance monitoring and information system implementation. His articles have appeared inDecision Sciences, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, andInternational Journal of Man-Machine Studies.