Ethical Sensitivity in Management Decisions: Developing and Testing a Perceptual Measure Among Management and Professional Student Groups

An emerging literature in behavioral ethicsconceptualizes ethical perception or sensitivity as acritical part of the decision making process. Thisstudy appears to be the first to empirically test thisconcept in organization and management decisionmaking. A measure of ethical sensitivity is developedand tested in a decision making exercise. Subjectsfor the study are 156 students from programs inbusiness management, public administration, andengineering. The relationship of ethical sensitivityto decision outcome is assessed.