Antecedent Factors of Ethical Ideologies in Moral Judgment: Evidence from the Mixed Method Study

Authors: N. Mustamil, M. Quaddus

Abstract:

This research investigates the factors that influence moral judgments when dealing with ethical dilemmas in the organizational context. It also investigates the antecedents of individual ethical ideology (idealism and relativism). A mixed method study, which combines qualitative (field study) and quantitative (survey) approaches, was used in this study. An initial model was developed first, which was then fine-tuned based on field studies. Data were collected from managers in Malaysian large organizations. The results of this study reveal that in-group collectivism culture, power distance culture, parental values, and religiosity were significant as antecedents of ethical ideology. However, direct effects of these variables on moral judgment were not significant. Furthermore, the results of this study confirm the significant effects of ethical ideology on moral judgment. This study provides valuable insight into evaluating the validity of existing theory as proposed in the literature and offers significant practical implications.

Keywords: Antecedents Factors, Ethical Ideology, Mixed Method, Moral Judgment

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1060409

References:

[1] J. Rest, Moral Development: Advances in Research and Theory. New York: Praeger, 1986.
[2] T.M. Jones, "Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model," Academy of Management Review, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 366-395, Apr.1991.
[3] M. Abdolmohammadi and J. Sultan, "Ethical Reasoning and the Use of Insider Information in Stock Trading," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 165-173. May. 2002.
[4] J.J. Ryan, "Moral Reasoning As a Determinant of Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Study in the Public Accounting Profession," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 233-244, Oct. 2001.
[5] S. Green and J. Weber, "Influencing Ethical Development: Exposing Students to the AICPA Code of Conduct," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 16, no. 8, pp. 777-791, Jun 1997.
[6] T. Barnett, K. Bass, & G. Brown, "Ethical Ideology and Ethical Judgment Regarding Ethical Issues in Business," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 469-481, Jun1994.
[7] D. Forsyth, "A Taxonomy of Ethical Ideologies," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 39, no. 1, pp.175-184, 1980.
[8] D. Forsyth, "Judging the Morality of Business Practices - The Influence of Personal Moral Philosophies," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 11, no. 5/6, pp. 461-470, May 1992.
[9] A. Singhapakdi, K. Karande, C.P. Rao, and S.J. Vitell, "How Important are Ethics and Social Responsibility? - A Multinational Study of Marketing Professionals," European Journal of Marketing, vol. 35, p.133, no. 1/2, 2001
[10] E. Sivadas, S. B. Kleiser, J. Kellaris, and R. Dahlstrom, 2003, "Moral Philosophy, Ethical Evaluations, and Sales Manager Hiring Intentions," Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, vol. 23, no. 1, pp.7- 21, winter 2003.
[11] A. Singhapakdi, M.Y.A. Rawwas, J. K. Marta, and M.I. Ahmed, "A Cross-Cultural Study of Consumer Perceptions About Marketing Ethics," The Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 16, no. 3, p.257, 1999.
[12] D. Bartlett, "Management and Business Ethics: A Critique and Integration of Ethical Decision-Making Models," British Journal of Management, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 223-235, Sep.2003
[13] J.L. Jones, and K.L. Middleton, "Ethical Decision-Making by Consumers: The Roles of Product Harm and Consumer Vulnerability," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 70, no. 3, pp. 247-264, Feb 2007.
[14] A.B. Oumlil, and J.L. Balloun, "Ethical Decision-Making Differences Between American and Moroccan Managers," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 84, no.4, pp. 457-478, Feb 2009.
[15] S.D. Hunt and S.J. Vitell, "A General Theory of Marketing Ethics," Journal of Macromarketing, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 5-16, Spring 1986.
[16] S.J. Vitell, S.L. Nwachukwu, and J.H. Barnes, "The Effects of Culture on Ethical Decision-Making: An Application of Hofstede's Typology," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 12, no. 10, pp. 753-760, Oct. 1993.
[17] S. Steenhaut and P.V. Kenhove, "An Empirical Investigation of the Relationships Among a Consumer's Personal Values, Ethical Ideology and Ethical Beliefs," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 64, no. 2, pp. 137- 155, Mar. 2006.
[18] G. Hofstede, Culture-s Consequences; International Differences in Work Related Values, SAGE, Beverly Hills, 1980
[19] G. Hofstede, Culture and Organization: Software in Mind, McGraw, Hill Book Company UK, Limited, Berkshire, England, 1991
[20] R.J. House, P.J. Hanges, M. Javidan, P.W. Dorfman and Gupta, Culture, Leadership, and Organizations, Sage Publications, Inc., 2004
[21] O. Ferrell and L. Gresham, "A Contingency Framework for Understanding Ethical Decision Making in Marketing," Journal of Marketing, vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 87-97, Summer 1985.
[22] G. England, The Manager and His Values, International Perspective, Ballinger Publishing Co., Cambridge, 1975.
[23] P.M.J. Christie, I.G. Kwon, P.A. Stoeberl and B. Raymond, "A Cross- Cultural Comparison of Ethical Attitudes of Business Managers: India, Korea and United States," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 263-287, Sep. 2003.
[24] D.A. Ralston, R. A. Giacalone, and R.H. Terpstra, "Ethical Perceptions of Organizational Politics: A Comparative Evaluation of American and Hong Kong Managers," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 989-999, Dec. 1994.
[25] K.P Parboteeah, J.W. Bronson, and J.B. Cullen, "Does National Culture affect Willingness to Justify Ethically Suspect Behaviors?,-" International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 123-137, Aug. 2005.
[26] J.M. Mores, Principles of Mixed Methods and Multimethod Research Design. In A. Tashakkori and C. Teddlie, Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social & Behavioral Research, pp.189-208, Sage Publication, 2003.
[27] M.J. O'Fallon, and K.D. Butterfield, "A Review of The Empirical Ethical Decision-Making Literature 1996-2003," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 59, no. 4, pp. 375-413, Jul. 2005.
[28] J.C. Greene, V.J. Caracelli, and W.F. Graham, "Toward a Conceptual Framework for Mixed-Method Evaluation Designs," Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, vol. 11, no.3, pp. 255-274, 1989.
[29] J. Hohental, "Integrating And Quantitative Methods In Research On International Entrepreneurship," Journal International Entrepreneur, vol. 4, pp. 175-190, Dec. 2006.
[30] J.M. Mores, "Approaches to Qualitative-Quantitative Methodological Triangulation," Nursing Research, vol. 40, no. 2, p. 120, 1991.
[31] D. Wilkinson, The Researcher's Toolkit. The Complete Guide to Practitioner Research, RoutledgeFalmer: London, 2000.
[32] M.L. Hoffman, "Parent Discipline and the Child-s Consideration for Others, Child Development, vol. 34, No.3, pp. 573-588, Sep.1963.
[33] M.L. Hoffman, "Altruistic Behavior and the Parent-Child Relationship," Journal of personality and Social Psychology, vo. 31, no. 5, pp. 937- 943, 1975.
[34] N. Haan, J. Langer and L. Kohlberg, "Family Pattern of Moral Reasoning", Child development, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 1204-1206, Dec. 1976.
[35] G. Jahoda, Psychology and Anthropology, London: Allen & Unwin, 1982.
[36] L.J. Walker, K.H. Hennig, and T. Krettenaurer, 2000, "Parent and Peer Context for Children-s Moral Reasoning Development," Child Development, vol.71, no. 4, pp. 1033-1048, July/Aug. 2000.
[37] M.W. Pratt, B. Hunsberger, A.M. Spencer, and S. Alisat, "A Longitudinal Analysis of personal Values Socialization: Correlates of a Moral Self-Ideal in Late Adolescence," Social Development, vo. 12, no. 4, pp. 563-585, 2003.
[38] R.E. Wilkes, J.J. Burnett, and R.D. Howell, "On the Meaning and Measurement of Religiosity in Consumer Research," Academy of Marketing Science Journal, vol.14, no. 1, pp. 47-56, Spring 1986.
[39] R.T. DeGeorge, "Theological Ethics and Business Ethics/Replies and Reflections on Theology and Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 5, no. 6, pp. 421-426, Dec 1986.
[40] K.C. Lam, and G. Shi, "Factors Affecting Ethical Attitudes in Mainland China and Hong Kong," Journal of Business Ethics, vol.77, no. 4, pp. 463 -479, Feb. 2008.
[41] N.Y.M. Siu, J. R. Dickinson and B. Y. Y. Lee, "Ethical Evaluations of Business Activities and Personal Religiousness," Teaching Business Ethics, vol.4, no. 3, pp. 239-256, Aug 2000.
[42] K.F. Wiebe and J.R. Fleck, "Personality Correlates of Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Nonreligious orientation", Journal of Psychology, vol.105, no.2, pp.181-187, Jul. 1980.
[43] T. Barnett, B. Ken, and B. Gene, "Religiosity, Ethical Ideology, and Intentions to Report a Peer-s Wrongdoing," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 15, no.11, pp. 1161-1174, Nov 1996.
[44] A. Singhapakdi, S.J. Vitell, and G.R. Franke, "Antecedents, consequences, and mediating effects of perceived moral intensity and personal moral philosophies," Academy of Marketing Science Journal, vol.27, no.1, pp.19-35, Winter 1999.
[45] D. Barclay, C. Higgins, and R. Thompson, "The Partial Least Squares Approach to Causal Modelling," Technology Studies, vol. 2, no.2, 1995.
[46] J. Hulland, "Use of Partial Least Squares (PLS) In Strategic Management Research: A Review of Four Recent Studies," Strategic Management Journal, vol. 20, no. 2, 1999
[47] C. Fornell, and D Larcker, "Evaluating Structural Equation Models With Unobservable Variable and Measurement Error," Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 28, no.1, 1981.
[48] J.C. Nunnally, Psychometric Theory, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1978.
[49] Chin, W.W. "Partial Least Squares Is To LISREL As Principal Components Analysis is to Common Factor Analysis," Technology Studies, vol. 2, pp. 315-319, 1995.
[50] L.C. Lu, G.M. Rose, and J.G. Blodgett, "The Effects Of Cultural Dimensions On Ethical Decision Making In Marketing: An Exploratory Study," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 91-106, Jan. 1999.
[51] L. Kohldberg, "Stages and Sequence: The Cognitive-Development Mental Approach to Socialization," Handbook of Socialization theory and Research, Chicago: Rand McNally, 1969.
[52] S.A. Yusof, M.A. R.A. Amin, M.A. Haneef and H.M. Noon, "Formation Of Desired Values: The Role Of Parents", International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 468-479, 2002.