Ethical Sensitivity to Stakeholder Interests: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Abstract

This study applied Hofstede’s typology to examine the effect of culture on ethical sensitivity toward various stake-holders. It was found that uncertainty avoidance had a positive effect and that power distance and individualism/masculinity had negative effects on ethical sensitivity. The results also indicated that ethical sensitivity to stakeholder interests is dependent on which stakeholder is affected. Although Americans and Taiwanese sales agents were equally sensitive to customer interests, the Taiwanese were more sensitive to the interests of their company and a competitor but were less sensitive to the interests of a colleague. This study should prove valuable to international marketers because the cultural typology allows managers to identify differences in work-related values of employees across different nationalities and thus provides a theoretical base for designing more effective sales management practices.

Do Auditing and Reporting Standards Affect Firms’ Ethical Behaviours? The Moderating Role of National Culture

“…On the other hand, in high PDI cultures, inequality in distribution of resources can be characterized by a relatively low regard for ethics (Scholtens and Dam 2007). Accordingly, in such societies, grey areas in the legal system are more likely to be interpreted in favour of powerful parties such as majority shareholders (Blodgett et al 2001). Therefore, we expect that the positive relationship between SARS and EBF will be negatively influenced by PDI.…”

“…As the literature on the relationship between performance orientation and ethical behaviour is limited, we utilized studies examining the association between masculinity and ethical behaviour. Blodgett et al (2001) argue that people in masculine societies feel great pressure to succeed in their careers, and are less concerned about others. In line with this argument, Vitell et al (1993) show that many business practices considered valid in masculine cultures can be perceived as unethical in feminine cultures.…”

“…In the business ethics literature, PDI and IGC are the most frequently cited in explanations of variation in ethical behaviour among societies (e.g., Blodgett et al 2001;Chan and Cheung 2012;Scholtens and Dam 2007;Smith and Hume 2005;Steers et al 2013;Vitell et al 1993;Zhang et al 2013). Previous research showed that these two dimensions have a strong negative impact on ethical behaviour.…”

Ethical perceptions of accounting students in a Portuguese university: the influence of individual factors and personal traits

“…In our daily lives, we are faced with numerous conflicts of judgement and ethical decisionmaking that, according to Cohen et al (2001, p. 321), is defined as 'decision-making in situations where ethical conflicts are present', and these dilemmas occur when interests between parties disagree (Blodgett et al, 2001). Therefore, decision-making may depend on, among other things, situational and individual factors.…”

“…With the aim of understanding the differences in the perceptions of ethical behaviour of accounting students, a list of nine scenarios were presented (Appendix 1). All of the scenarios had been used previously Blodgett, Chaun Lu, Rose, & Vitelli, 2001;Cohen, Pant, & Sharp, 2001;Donoho, Herche, & Swenson, 2003;Eweje & Brunton, 2010), particularly in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand.…”