Why Is It (Un-)ethical? Comparing Potential European Partners: A Western Christian and An Eastern Islamic Country – On Arguments Used in Explaining Ethical Judgments

Located at the crossroads of the Eastern and Western world, Turkey today is characterized by a demographically versatile and modernizing society as well as a rapidly developing economy. Currently, the country is negotiating its accession to the European Union. This article yields some factual grounding into the ongoing value-related debate concerning Turkey’s potential EU-membership. It describes a mixed-methodology study on moral reasoning in Austria and Turkey. In this study, the arguments given by individuals when evaluating ethically problematic situations in business were compared. Although there were major consistencies, a number of differences were found. These differences, however, were not in the substance (categories) of arguments used but in their relative frequency. Overall, our findings suggest that young, well-educated urban individuals from Western Christian and Eastern Islamic countries are highly consistent in their moral reasoning. Katharina J. Srnka is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Vienna, Austria, and has been teaching at different European universities and institutions. Dr. Srnka received her Ph.D. from University of Vienna for her work on cultural influences on ethical decision making in marketing. Her research interests concern qualitative and mixed research methods, consumer behavior, and cross-cultural marketing ethics. A. Ercan Gegez is Associate Professor of Marketing at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Gegez holds a Ph.D. from Marmara University in the field of International Marketing. He is one of the founding members of The Turkish Marketing Association and he has served as a member of the supervisory board. His research interests include international marketing, marketing research and marketing ethics. S. Burak Arzova is Associate Professor of Accounting at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Arzova holds a Ph.D. from Marmara University in the field of Accounting for his work on Activity Based Cost Management. His research interests comprise accounting ethics, cost management and international financial standards.     

A Model of Ethical Decision Making: The Integration of Process and Content

We develop a model of ethical decision making that integrates the decision-making process and the content variables considered by individuals facing ethical dilemmas. The process described in the model is drawn from Janis and Mann’s [1977, Decision Making: A Psychological Analysis of Conflict Choice and Commitment (The Free Press, New York)] work describing the decision process in an environment of conflict, choice and commitment. The model is enhanced by the inclusion of content variables derived from the ethics literature. The resulting integrated model aids in understanding the complexity of the decision process used by individuals facing ethical dilemmas and suggests variable interactions that could be field-tested. A better understanding of the process will help managers develop policies that enhance the likelihood of ethical behavior in their organizations. Roselie McDevitt Sc.D. is Assistant Professor of Accounting at␣the Charles F. Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Dr. McDevitt teaches financial and managerial accounting. Her Primary areas of research are accounting education and accounting ethics. Catherine Giapponi is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Charles F. Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Dr. Giapponi teaches courses in management, organizational behavior, and strategy. Her primary areas of research are corporate governance and business ethics. Cheryl Tromley, Ph.D., is a Professor of Management at␣Fairfield University where she has taught management, organizational behavior, organizational communication, organizational␣culture, organization development, and diversity for 19 years. She has co-authored two editions of the text ``Developing Managerial Skills in Organizational Behavior'␣as well authored or co-authored a significant number of professional articles and presentations related to management and management education.     

Ethics and Religion: An Empirical Test of a Multidimensional Model

Although it seems that ethics and religion should be related, past research suggests mixed conclusions on the relationship. We argue that such mixed results are mostly due to methodological and conceptual limitations. We develop hypotheses linking Cornwall et al.’s (1986, Review of Religious Research, 27(3): 266–244) religious components to individuals’ willingness to justify ethically suspect behaviors. Using data on 63,087 individuals from 44 countries, we find support for three hypotheses: the cognitive, one affective, and the behavioral component of religion are negatively related to ethics. Surprisingly, one aspect of the cognitive component (i.e., belief in religion) shows no relationship. Implications for research and practice are discussed. K. Praveen Parboteeah (Ph.D. Washington State University) is an Associate Professor of International Management in the Department of Management, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. Parboteeah’s research interests include international management, ethics, religion and technology and innovation management. He has published articles in numerous academic journals including Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Decision Sciences, Small Group Research, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of World Business, Management International Review, International Journal of Human Resource Management, R&D Management and Journal of Engineering and Technology Management Martin Hoegl (Ph.D. University of Karlsruhe, Germany) is Professor at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, where he holds the Chair of Leadership and Human Resource Management. Before joining WHU, he served on the faculties of Washington State University and Bocconi University (Milan, Italy). His research interests include leadership and collaboration in organizations, management of R&D personnel, knowledge creation in innovation processes, and the management of geographically dispersed collaboration. He has published in leading international journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, the Journal of Management, Decision Sciences, and others. John B. Cullen is Professor of Management at Washington State University. He has also served on the faculties of the University of Nebraska, the University of Rhode Island, Waseda and Keio Universities in Japan (as a Fulbright lecturer), and the Catholic University of Lille in France. Professor Cullen is the past president of the Western Academy of Management. Professor Cullen is the author or co-author of four books and over 60 journal articles. His publications have appeared in journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management, Organizational Studies, Management International Review, Journal of Vocational Behavior, American Journal of Sociology, Organizational Dynamics, and the Journal of World Business. He currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies and has served on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal and Advances in International Comparative Management Journal.     

Trade Liberalization, Corruption, and Software Piracy

As multinational firms explore new and promising national markets two of the most crucial elements in the strategic decision regarding market-entry are the level of corruption and existing trade barriers. One form of corruption that is crucially important to firms is the theft of intellectual property. In particular, software piracy has become a hotly debated topic due to the deep costs and vast levels of piracy around the world. The purpose of this paper is to assess how laissez-faire trade policies and corruption affect national software piracy rates. Using invisible hand theory, as well as literature from the fields of international strategy and ethics, formal research hypotheses are posited and tested. Results suggest that corruption mediates the relationship between economic freedom and software piracy. Implications for multinational managers and researchers are also addressed. Christopher J. Robertson (B.S. University of Rhode Island; M.B.A. and Ph.D., Florida State University) is an Associate Professor in the International Business and Strategy Group at Northeastern University. He has taught in Virginia, Florida, Spain, Peru and Ecuador and is a two time Fulbright Scholar. Professor Robertson’s Primary research stream is cross-cultural management with a focus on ethics and strategy. His work has been published in journals such as the Journal of World Business, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Business Ethics, Management International Review, Organizational Dynamics and Business Horizons. K Matthew Gilley (B.A and M.B.A University of North Texas; Ph.D., University of Texas at Arlington) is the Bill Greehey Endowed Chair in Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in the Greehey School of Business at St. Mary’s University. His primary research explores issues of executive compensation, governance, international ethics, and outsourcing. His work has appeared in the Strategic Management Journal, the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Management, the Journal International Business Studies, and other outlets. William F. Crittenden, Senior Associate Dean, Dean of Faculty and Professor, General Management Group. A consultant and advisor to various private, public, and nonprofit organizations, Professor Crittenden has worked with such U.S based organizations as Boston Beer Company, BAE Systems, EG&G, Intronics, Lotus Software, Wal-Mart Stores, Boston Management Consortium, Head Start, Jefferson Hospital, Nazareth, the new England Association of Quality Clubs, and The Professional Council, and with Funducion CANE in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior of Monterrey, Mexico. He is a member of numerous professional organizations including the Strategic Management Society, the Academy of Management, and the Academy of Marketing Sciences. He is a former Chair of the Public & Nonprofit Division of the Academy of Management. Professor Crittenden holds a BA from the University of Michigan, an MBA from Aubum University, and a PhD from the University of Arkansas.     

Information Technology Professionals’ Perceived Organizational Values and Managerial Ethics: An Empirical Study

This paper summarizes the results of an analysis of empirical data on ethical attitudes of professionals and managers in relation to organizational core values in the Information Technology (IT) industry. This study investigates the association between key organizational values as independent variables and the ethical attitudes of IT managers as dependent variables. The study also delves into differences among IT non-managerial professionals, mid-level managers, and upper-level managers in their ethical attitudes and perceptions. Research results indicated that IT professionals from mechanistic organizations were much more likely to report – compared to those from organic organizations – that managers in their corporate environment engage in behaviors considered unethical and that successful managers were more unethical relative to unsuccessful managers. There were significant differences between the upper-level managers and the mid-level managers and between the mid-level managers and the IT non-managerial professionals on certain key ethical issues. This paper discusses the conceptual framework, hypotheses, research methodology, data analysis, implications of the findings, and suggested areas of further research. K. Gregory Jin, D.B.A, is Professor of the MIS Department, Ancell School of Business, Western, Connecticut State University. He has published numerous conference papers, chapters, and articles in such areas as MIS professional ideology and ethics, communication and control, behavioral issues in information systems development, role of IT and human factors in business process reengineering, service learning in database design, systems theory, MIS participant action research strategy, and political factors in IT management. He has more than twenty years of MIS administrative and professional experiences. He holds a D.B.A. in Information Technology Management from George Washington University. He is a member of the Association of Information Technology Professionals and a former member of DSI. Ronald G. Drozdenko, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of the Marketing Department, Ancell School of Business, Western Connecticut State University. He is also the founding Director of the Center for Business Research at the Ancell School. Dr. Drozdenko has co-directed more than 100 proprietary research projects since 1978 for the marketing and research and development departments of several corporations, including major multinationals. These projects were in the areas of strategic planning, marketing research, product development, direct marketing, and marketing database analysis. Dr. Drozdenko co-authored Optimal Database Marketing: Strategy, Development and Data Mining and also has published professional and academic articles and book chapters. He holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Missouri and is a member of the American Marketing Association, the Society for Consumer Psychology, and the Academy of Marketing Sciences. Richard A. Bassett, D.P.S, is an Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at Western Connecticut State University. He was founder and CEO of Bassett Computer Systems, Inc. for 17 years where he was involved with the design and implementation of information systems for hundreds for small and midsized businesses. He has authored several papers and articles in such areas as web-design as a web-master, web-based course design, the security threats and concerns faced by telecommuters, minimal steps required to secure a Local Area Network and the technology decision challenges which growing companies face. He is actively involved with technology endeavors of numerous nonprofit organizations including: The Children’s Center, Bridges of Milford, North Haven Rotary, Communicare, and the Amber Alert System. He holds a D.P.S. in Computing from Pace University.     

Peers Versus National Culture: An Analysis of Antecedents to Ethical Decision-making

Given the recent ethics scandals in the United States, there has been a renewed focus on understanding the antecedents to ethical decision-making in the research literature. Since ethical norms and standards of behavior are not universally consistent, an individual’s choice of referent may exert a large influence on his/her ethical decision-making. This study used a social identity theory lens to empirically examine the relative influence of the macro- and micro-level variables of national culture and peers on an individual’s intention to behave ethically. Our sample consisted of respondents from Germany, Italy, and Japan. The results indicated that both national culture and peers were found to act as significant referents in ethical decision-making dilemmas. Although peers exerted a much stronger influence on an individual’s ethical decision-making, the impact of peers varied depending on the national culture levels of individualism and power distance. James W. Westerman is an Associate Professor of Management at Appalachian State University. He received his Ph.D in Management from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an MBA from Florida State University. His research interests include person-organization fit, compensation, and employee ethics, and has been published in the Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Journal of Business Ethics, Academy of Management Learning and Education, Group and Organization Management and the Journal of Business and Psychology, among others. Rafik I. Beekun (Ph.D., the University of Texas at Austin) is Professor of Management and Strategy in the Managerial Sciences Department at the University of Nevada. Reno, and Co-director, Center for Corporate Governance and Business Ethics. His current research focuses on business ethics, national cultures and the link between management and spirituality. He has published in such journals as the Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Relations, Journal of Management, Journal of Business Ethics and Decision Sciences. Yvonne Stedham is a Professor of Management in College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno. She received a Ph.D. in Business and an MBA from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas and undergraduate degrees in Economics and Business from the University of Bonn, Germany. She joined the University of Nevada, Reno in 1988 and served as Chair of the Managerial Sciences Department from 1999-2002. Dr. Stedham's research covers a broad spectrum of management issues with a special focus on international, business ethics and gender aspects, and has been published in the Journal of Management. Women in Management Review, the Journal of Management Studies, the Journal of Business Ethics,the Journal of European Industrial Training, and the Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resource, and others. Jeanne H. Yamamura, CPA, MIM, PHD, is Associate Professor at the University of Nevada Reno. Her research is focused in the area of the international management of accounting professionals and in ethical decision making. She has published in journals such as the International Journal of Accounting, the International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation and the International Journal of Human Resource Management.     

University Students’ Perceptions Regarding Ethical Marketing Practices: Affecting Change Through Instructional Techniques

Many believe that colleges of business have a role to play in improving the level of marketing ethics practiced in the business world, while others believe that by the time students reach the level of university education, their ethical beliefs are so ingrained as to be virtually unalterable. The purpose of this study is to add to the literature regarding university students’ ethical value judgments. It utilizes scenario studies to assess base line ethical values of junior level undergraduate business administration students, then techniques are employed to influence students’ perceptions of the ethics of various marketing practices, and students’ values are reassessed. A total of 667 junior and senior level students majoring in business administration (52% female; 48% male; 72% 22-years old or younger) participated in the pre-tests and 525 students (47% female; 53% male; 70% 22-years-old or younger) participated in the post-tests. The results of the before/after studies indicate that some experimental techniques are more effective than others in affecting change, but it is difficult to affect long-run change in those predisposed to unethical behavior. Charles D. Bodkin, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Marketing, The Belk College of Business, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Bodkin has been published in Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Business Ethics, and Marketing Education Review. His areas of research interests include consumer behavior, retailing, e-business, and ethics. Thomas H. Stevenson, Ph.D. Charles E. Cullen Professor of Marketing, The Belk College of Business, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Stevenson has been published in Industrial Marketing Management, Business Horizons, California Management Review, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Business Research, Journal of International Marketing, and the Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising. His research interests include salesperson management, ethics, business-to-business marketing, and advertising.     

Achieving Ethics and Fairness in Hiring: Going Beyond the Law

Since the passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and more recent Federal legislation, managers, regulators, and attorneys have been busy in sorting out the legal meaning of fairness in employment. While ethical managers must follow the law in their hiring practices, they cannot be satisfied with legal compliance. In this article, we first briefly summarize what the law requires in terms of fair hiring practices. We subsequently rely on multiple perspectives to explore the ethical meaning of fairness in hiring. Ethical fairness underlies the law and regulations in this area, but goes beyond them as well. We conclude by demonstrating that ethical hiring practices enable managers to make better hiring decisions.G. Stoney Alder is Assistant Professor of Management in the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research interests include organizational justice, electronic monitoring, and ethics. Dr. Alder’s work has appeared in a number of journals including Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Human Resource Management Review, Journal of Business Ethics, and the Journal of High Technology Management Research, among others.Joseph Gilbert is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He teaches in the areas of business strategy and business ethics. His research is primarily in the area of business ethics. Prior to receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, he had extensive management experience in the financial services industry.     

On the relationship of hope and gratitude to corporate social responsibility

A longitudinal study of 308 white-collar U.S. employees revealed that feelings of hope and gratitude increase concern for corporate social responsibility (CSR). In particular, employees with stronger hope and gratitude were found to have a greater sense of responsibility toward employee and societal issues; interestingly, employee hope and gratitude did not affect sense of responsibility toward economic and safety/quality issues. These findings offer an extension of research by Giacalone, Paul, and Jurkiewicz (2005, Journal of Business Ethics, 58, 295-305). Lynne M. Andersson, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Human Resource Management at the Fox School of Business and Management, Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her teaching and scholarship focus on the dark side of business organizations; in particular, she’s been examining some social maladies that are arguably associated with late capitalism (cynicism and incivility) as well as the role of social activism in countering capitalist barriers to sustainability. Robert A. Giacalone, Ph.D. is Professor of Human Resource Management at the Fox School of Business and Management, Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His research interests focus on the impact of workplace spirituality and changing values on business ethics. He is currently Co-editor of the Ethics in Practice book series. Carole L. Jurkiewicz, Ph.D. is the John W. Dupuy Endowed Professor and Women’s Hospital Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Management at Louisiana State University. She has published numerous research articles, books, and news articles on the topics of organizational ethics, leadership, and behavior.     

An Empirical Validation of Perceived Importance and Behavior Intention in IT Ethics

Robin et al. (1996) suggested a new construct when studying ethical behavioral intention which they entitled PIE (perceived importance). They empirically tested the PIE construct and found it to significantly impact both ethical judgment and behavioral intention. The present study extends and validates Robin et al.s work on PIE using a different context, different scenarios and a different sample. The findings indicate strong support for the validity of Robin et al.s PIE instrument and show PIE to significantly influence ethical judgment (attitude) and behavioral intention. This study also indicates the sex of the individual affects the individuals perception of importance and is a significant influence of ethical judgment and behavioral intention. Future ethical models and studies should include PIE as a possible influence on behavioral intention.Timothy Paul Cronan is Professor of Information Systems and M.D. Matthews Lecturer in Business at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Dr. Cronan received his D.B.A. from Louisiana Tech University and is an active member of the Decision Sciences Institute and The Association for Computing Machinery. He has served as Regional Vice President and on the Board of Directors of the Decision Sciences Institute and as President of the Southwest Region of the Institute. In addition, he has served as Associate Editor MIS Quarterly. His research interests include ethics in computing, local area networks, downsizing, expert systems, performance analysis and effectiveness, and end-user computing. His publications have appeared in Decision Sciences, MIS Quarterly, OMEGA The International Journal of Management Science, The Journal of Management Information Systems, Communications of the ACM, Journal of End User Computing, Database, Journal of Research on Computing in Education, Journal of Financial Research, as well as in other journals, and Proceedings of various Conferences. Lori N. K. Leonard is an Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at the University of Tulsa. Dr. Leonard received her Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas and is an active member of the Decision Sciences Institute. Her research interests include electronic commerce, electronic data interchange, ethics in computing, simulation, and data warehousing. Her publications have appeared in Journal of Computer Information Systems, Information & Management, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, Journal of End User Computing, as well as in other journals, and Proceedings of various Conferences. Jennifer Kreie is Associate Professor in Business Computer Systems at New Mexico State University. Dr. Kreie received the Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas. Her research interests include ethics in computing, end-user computing, systems development, and computer-aided instruction. She is an active member of the Decision Sciences Institute, the Association of Computing Machinery and the Association of Information Technology Professionals. Her publications have appeared in Communications of the ACM, Decision Support Systems, Journal of End User Computing, Journal of Accountancy, and the National Accountant as well as Proceedings of several Conferences.     

Moral Issues and Gender Differences in Ethical Judgment using Reidenbach and Robin’s (1990) Multidimensional Ethics Scale: Implications in Teaching of Business Ethics

In this study, we examined moral issues and gender differences in ethical judgment using Reidenbach and Robin’s [Journal of Business Ethics 9 (1990) 639) multidimensional ethics scale (MES). A total of 340 undergraduate students were asked to provide ethical judgment by rating three moral issues in the MES labeled: ‚sales’, ‚auto’, and ‚retail’ using three ethics theories: moral equity, relativism, and contractualism. We found that female students’ ratings of ethical judgment were consistently higher than that of male students across two out of three moral issues examined (i.e., sales and retails) and ethics theories; providing support for Eagly’s [1987, Sex Differences in Social Behavior: A Social-role Interpretation. (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc, Hillsdale, NJ, England)] social role theory. After controlling for moral issues, women’s higher ratings of ethical judgment over men’s became statistically non-significant. Theoretical and practical implications based on the study’s findings are provided. Nhung T. Nguyen, assistant professor of human resource management at Towson University, received her Ph.D. in management from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2001. Her research focuses on the use of situational judgement and personality tests in personnel selection, ethics in management education, and the application of meta-analysis and structural equations modeling in organizational research. Her research has appeared in the Journal of Applied Psychology, the International Journal of Selection and Assessment, Applied H.R.M. Research, and Journal of Applied Social Psychology among others. M. Tom Basuray, Professor of Management at Towson University, received his Ph.D. in Business Administration in 1974 from University of Oklahoma. His research interests are in areas of organizational effectiveness, leadership and development. His articles have appeared in Journal of Organizational Change Management, Education & Psychological Measurement, International Journal of Management, Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, and Journal of Experiential Learning and Simulation. He has consulted with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Public Broadcasting Corporation, and various state and municipal government agencies both in Maryland and North Dakota. William P.Smith, Associate Professor of Management in the College of Business and Economics at Towson University, received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from Arizona State University in 1982. His research interests include business ethics, privacy in the workplace and the role of social activism in corporate governance. Donald Kopka, an Assistant Professor at Towson University, received his Ph.D., in International Business from George Washington University in 1995. He teaches Business Strategy, Management Principles, and Entrepreneurship and Small Business, and was Director of the Cornerstone-Professional Experience Program in the College of Business and Economics from 1999–2003. In 2004 he was a Fulbright Scholar in Vietnam where he taught entrepreneurship and business strategy, worked on curriculum development, and conducted ongoing research on supporting industries. Information on his Fulbright experience can be found at his website . His research interests include entrepreneurship, business development, and teaching pedagogy. He formerly ran a property management business, was a program manager at the U.S. Small Business Administration, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines. Donald N. McCulloh, Lecturer in Management at Towson University, received his M.S. degree in Financial Management from The George Washington Unversity in 1968. He teaches Management Principles and has also taught Leadership. He served as Vice President for Administration and Finance at Towson University until his retirement in 1997, since then he has been a full-time member of the Management faculty. He has also served in the United States Air Force, and worked in several manufacturing industries and the automotive industry. He was Executive Director of a non-profit community development corporation.     

An Examination of Leader Portrayals in the U.S. Business Press Following the Landmark Scandals of the Early 21st Century

Following the landmark corporate scandals of the early 21st century, there appeared to be a tremendous increase in the U.S. business media’s emphasis on issues of ethics in corporate leadership. The purpose of this research was to examine whether that apparent increase was reflected in an actual change in that media’s portrayals of successful leaders. We content analyzed the text of a total of 180 articles in Business Week, Fortune, and Forbes magazine, 90 from the five years preceding the landmark scandals and 90 from the five years following the scandals. We found no evidence that the landmark scandals had any impact on the media’s incorporation of ethics in their portrayals of leaders. We attribute this substantially to the persistence of a worldview in the U.S. business press that emphasizes leader traits and actions that have a direct impact on corporate profits. Additionally, we found some interesting consistencies and differences in media portrayals across the two time periods, likely related to the rise and fall of dot-com businesses. We discuss the implications of these findings for researchers and corporate leaders. David R. Hannah is an Assistant Professor of Management and Organization Studies at Simon Fraser University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to media portrayals of leaders, his research interests include trade secret protection in organizations, qualitative research methods, and employee socialization. His work has been published in numerous journals and books, including Organization Science, Journal of Management Studies, Sloan Management Review, and Creativity and Innovation Management Christopher D. Zatzick is an Assistant Professor of Management and Organization Studies at Simon Fraser University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Irvine. His research interests include high-performance work systems, downsizing, diversity, and leadership. His work has appeared␣in leading management journals including Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, and Industrial Relations.     

The Role of Ethical Ideology in Workplace Deviance

Ethical ideology is predicted to play a role in the occurrence of workplace deviance. Forsyths (1980) Ethics Position Questionnaire measures two dimensions of ethical ideology: idealism and relativism. It is hypothesized that idealism will be negatively correlated with employee deviance while relativism will be positively related. Further, it is predicted that idealism and relativism will interact in such a way that there will only be a relationship between idealism and deviance when relativism is higher. Results supported the hypothesized correlations and idealism and relativism interacted to predict organizational deviance. Idealism was a significant predictor of interpersonal deviance, but no interaction was found.Christine (Chris) A. Henle, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Management at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research interests include counterproductive employee behaviors, employment law, and organizational justice. Her current research focuses on cyberloafing at work, religious discrimination in employment, and the role of supervisor and coworker norms in predicting counterproductive work behaviors. She has provided consulting services in the areas of job analysis, recruiting, selection, and performance management.Robert A. Giacalone, Ph.D. (State Univeristy of New York-Albany) is Professor of Human Resource Management at the Fox School of Business and Management, Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Giacalone is coeditor of five books, co-author of two books and has authored over 90 articles on ethics, employee sabotage, impression management and exit interviewing, appearing in journals such as Human Relations, Business and Society Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of the Organizational Behavior, and the Journal of Social Psychology. His current research focuses on the impact of materialism/postmaterialism and workplace spirituality on business ethics.Carole L. Jurkiewicz, Ph.D. is the John W. Dupuy Endowed Professor and the Womens Hospital Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Ethics at Louisiana State University. Her publications include a wide array of scholarly articles, books, and the general press. She maintains an active consulting practice in the areas of organizational psychology, ethics, and leadership.     

A New Approach to Resolving the Right-to-work Ethical Dilemma

Union security has long been an industrial relations controversy. While compulsory unionism supporters say it benefits the working class, right-to-work advocates denounce it as an unethical infringement of individual rights and freedom. Unfortunately, neither side has adequately addressed the shortcomings of their viewpoint, nor the broader worker concerns about effective representation beyond just “unionism”. In this paper, we examine the ethical and practical problems of compulsory (union security) and voluntary (right-to-work) unionism and propose a new resolution, compulsory proportional representation, that has the advantages of: (a) ensuring workers’ freedom to associate or not associate, (b) promoting freedom to contract, (c) allowing free competition in representation in line with anti-trust principles, (d) improving industrial peace and efficiency, (e) enhancing fairness and social justice, and (f) addressing the employer–employee power imbalance. It is superior to either voluntary unionism, which often lead to management unilateralism, or compulsory unionism, where workers are compelled to join unions against their will. Helen Lam is an Associate Professor, Human Resource Management, in Athabasca University, working at the Centre for Innovative Management which focuses on graduate management programs in business administration. She received her Ph.D. from the Faculty of Business at the University of Alberta. Her research interests include the areas of downsizing, restructuring, quality initiatives, business ethics, employment relations, human rights and legal issues at the workplace. Her work has been published in a variety of academic journals. Mark Harcourt is a professor in the Department of Strategy and Human Resource Management, Waikato Management School, Waikato University. Mark has a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Alberta, a Masters of Industrial Relations from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University. His teaching focus is on employment relations and human resources management. Mark has also published articles in many national and international journals on a variety of topics, including health and safety, and discrimination.     

Utility of Ethical Frameworks in Determining Behavioral Intention: A Comparison of the U.S. and Russia

Using Reidenbach and Robin‘s ( Journal of Business Ethics 7, 871–879, 1988) multi-criteria ethics instrument, we carried out the first empirical test of Robertson and Crittenden‘s (Strategic Management Journal 24, 385–392, 2003) cross-cultural map of moral philosophies to examine what ethical criteria guide business people in Russia and the U.S. in their intention to behave. Competing divergence and convergence hypotheses were advanced. Our results support a convergence hypothesis, and reveal a common emphasis on relativism. Americans are also influenced by the justice criterion while Russians tend to emphasize utilitarianism. Rafik I. Beekun (Ph.D., the University of Texas at Austin) is Professor of Management and Strategy in the Managerial Sciences Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. His current research focuses on business ethics, national cultures, and the link between management and spirituality. He has published in such journals as the Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Relations, Journal of Management, Journal of Business Ethics and Decision Sciences. Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed to him: MGRS 28, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557–0206. James Westerman is an Associate Professor of Management at Appalachian State University. He received his Ph.D. in management from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research interests include person-organization fit, employee ethics, compensation, and selection. Jamal Barghouti (B.Sc., MBA, Ph.D Management) is currently Advisor on Petroleum Affairs, H.H. Ruler’s Court, Dubai. He is also a lecturer at local universities including Dubai University College in human resources management, international business, organizational behavior and business communication. He has about 35 years of experience in the oil industry in the U.S.A., U.K., Russia, and the Middle East.     

The Positive Ethical Organization: Enacting a Living Code of Ethics and Ethical Organizational Identity

A vision of a living code of ethics is proposed to counter the emphasis on negative phenomena in the study of organizational ethics. The living code results from the harmonious interaction of authentic leadership, five key organizational processes (attraction–selection–attrition, socialization, reward systems, decision-making and organizational learning), and an ethical organizational culture (characterized by heightened levels of ethical awareness and a positive climate regarding ethics). The living code is the cognitive, affective, and behavioral manifestation of an ethical organizational identity. We draw on business ethics literature, positive organizational scholarship, and management literature to outline the elements of positive ethical organizations as those exemplary organizations consistently practicing the highest levels of organizational ethics. In a positive ethical organization, the right thing to do is the only thing to do. Amy Klemm Verbos is a Ph.D. candidate at the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she received a Chancellor’s Fellowship, Graduate Fellowship, Dissertation Fellowship, and C. Edward Weber Research Award. She co-authored ‚Positive Relationships in Action: Relational Mentoring and Mentoring Schemas in the Workplace’ in the forthcoming edited book, Positive Relationships at Work. Her work on positive organizing also has been presented at the Academy of Management Conference. Joseph A. Gerard is a Ph.D. student at the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater teaching organizational behavior, strategy, and accounting. He is a founding member of Ascent Organization Development LLC, which provides management consulting services to for-profit organizations in the areas of effectiveness and performance enhancement. Paul R. Forshey is a Ph.D. student in Organizations and Strategic Management at the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research interests include startup firms and firms in transition. Charles S. Harding is a Ph.D. student in Organizations and Strategic Management at the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Awarded a Chancellor’s Fellowship, his research interests include strategic decision-making and the role of value creation in strategy. Janice S. Miller is an Associate Professor at the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she has received the Business Advisory Council Award for Teaching Excellence. Her published work has appeared in Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Business Ethics among others. She received her Ph.D. in Human Resources Management from Arizona State University.     

Personal Values’ Influence on the Ethical Dimension of Decision Making

Personal values have long been associated with individual decision behavior. The role played by personal values in decision making within an organization is less clear. Past research has found that managers tend to respond to ethical dilemmas situationally. This study examines the relationship between personal values and the ethical dimension of decision making using Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis. The study examines personal values as they relate to five types of ethical dilemmas. We found a significant positive contribution of altruistic values to ethical decision making and a significant negative contribution of self-enhancement values to ethical decision making. Dr. David J. Fritzsche is a retired Professor of Management and Organization at The Pennsylvania State University, Great Valley. Among the numerous journals in which he published are Journal of Business Ethics, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Macromarketing, and Simulation & Games. He is the co-author of the Business Policy Game: A Strategic Management Simulation. He authoured the book Business Ethics: A Global and Managerial Perspective (McGraw-Hill, 1997). Dr. Effy Oz is a Professor of Management Science and Information Systems at The Pennsylvania State University, Great Valley, where he teaches courses on IT management, ethical issues in IT, and business-stakeholder relations. He has authored several textbooks including five editions of Management Information Systems (Course Technology Inc., 1998–2006), Foundations of E-Commerce (Prentice-Hall, 2002) and, Ethics for the Information Age (McGraw-Hill, 1994), and a practitioner’s book (The Manager’s Bible, Ivy League Publishing, 1998). He has also published research articles in academic and professional journals, among which are MIS Quarterly, Communications of the ACM, Information & Management, Decisions Sciences, OMEGA, Journal of Business Ethics, and Journal of Computer Information Systems. Dr. Oz is a member of the editorial boards of Encyclopaedia of Information Systems, Information & Management, and Journal of Global Information Technology Management. He is a frequent speaker at IT conferences, has conducted research on a number of IT topics, and has been quoted in numerous media including Computerworld, MSNBC, and the Los Angeles Times. He was awarded the 1997 Notable Contribution to the Information Systems Literature Award by the Information Systems Section of the American Accounting Association, the 1999-2000 Distinguished Faculty Research Award at Penn State Great Valley, and Best Paper Award at the Annual Global Information Technology Conference of 2004.     

Ethics Programs, Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and Job Satisfaction

Companies offer ethics codes and training to increase employees’ ethical conduct. These programs can also enhance individual work attitudes because ethical organizations are typically valued. Socially responsible companies are likely viewed as ethical organizations and should therefore prompt similar employee job responses. Using survey information collected from 313 business professionals, this exploratory study proposed that perceived corporate social responsibility would mediate the positive relationships between ethics codes/training and job satisfaction. Results indicated that corporate social responsibility fully or partially mediated the positive associations between four ethics program variables and individual job satisfaction, suggesting that companies might better manage employees’ ethical perceptions and work attitudes with multiple policies, an approach endorsed in the ethics literature. Sean Valentine (D.B.A., Louisiana Tech University) is an Associate Professor of Management in the college of Business at the University of Wyoming. His teaching and research interests include business ethics, organizational behavior, and human resource management. He has published in journals such as Behavioral Research in Accounting, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, and Journal of Business Ethics. Gary Fleischman (Ph.D., Texas Tech University) is an Associate Professor and is the McGee Hearne and Paiz Faculty Scholar in Accounting at the University of Wyoming. His teaching expertise is in accounting and entrepreneurship and his research interests are in business ethics and behavioral business research. He has published in journals such as Behavioral Research in Accounting, The International Journal of Accounting and Journal of Business Ethics.