Management Students’ Attitudes Toward Business Ethics: A Comparison Between France and Romania

Abstract

ABSTRACT. This study focuses on the differences in the perception of business ethics across two groups of management students from France and Romania (n = 220). Data was collected via the ATBEQ to measure preferences for three business philosophies: Machiavellianism, Social Darwinism, and Moral Objectivism. The results show that Romanian students present more favorable attitudes toward Machiavellianism than French students; whereas, French students valued Social Darwinism and Moral Objectivism more highly. For Machiavellianism and Moral Objectivism the results are consistent with the literature and our hypotheses. However, contrary to our expectations, we find that Social Darwinism is more important in France than Romania. The results indicate that religious practice does not influence preferences for the three business philosophies. In terms of gender differences, women have less favorable attitudes toward Machiavellianism and more favorable attitudes toward Moral Objectivism than men.

Student perceptions of codes of ethics: a three-country comparison

“…While businesses around the world have drafted codes in an attempt to reduce unethical behaviours, the effectiveness of such codes will be determined, to a great degree, by whether employees buy into the codes. By understanding the perceptions of future business leaders across the globe (see Bageac et al, 2011), codes that reflect and take into account cultural factors can be developed.…”

Corporate Social Responsibility and Consumer Ethics From the Perspective of Young Consumers in Croatia

“…Those students were selected as a prospects future managers, based on findings of previous studies (such as Preble, Reichel 1988;Shields et al 2013;Bageac et al 2011;Claar et al 2012).…”

“…They (Preble, Reichel 1988) found out that respondents from both countries place considerable importance on morals in business and that there are only few significant differences. Shields et al (2013) used the same Questionnaire (ATBEQ) with suggested five philosophical categories (see Bageac et al 2011) to examine differences between USA and Japanese students. Those categories are: Machiavellian, Social Darwinism, Ethical Relativism, Legalism and Moral Objectivism.…”

“…Applied approach can raise considerations for interpreting the study data. The research may not be representative for the whole young population as only Business Administration and Economics students are in the focus of the survey, but similar approach was used in other research studies in other countries (for illustration see Preble, Reichel 1998;Bageac et al 2011;Claar et al 2012). In addition, this study is a one-time snapshot; therefore, longitudinal study could provide more valuable insight into changes of attitudes towards CSR and consumer ethics over time.…”

The Influence of Personality Characteristics on Individual Competencies of Work Group Members: A Cross-cultural Study

“…They constitute future highly trained and skilled professionals (Hoon and Lim, 2001) and moreover, some of them are the next generation of business leaders and decision-makers (Bageac et al, 2011). Students and graduates have already developed strong work values based on their personal values, experiences and perceptions of what is fundamentally right or wrong (Judge and Bretz Jr., 1992).…”