Managers' Moral Reasoning: Assessing Their Responses to Three Moral Dilemmas

Weber, James

doi:10.1177/001872679004300705

Cited by 295 publications

(165 citation statements)

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“…A potential explanation for the seemingly contradictory results of extant research is the supposition that gender differences may or may not arise, depending upon context-specific factors (Derry, 1987(Derry, , 1989Dobbins and Platz, 1986;Trevino, 1992;Weber, 1990). In particular, established professional norms and roles may lead both men and women to think in certain ways, in particular contexts (Goodpaster, 1991;Quinn and Jones, 1995).…”

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confidence: 99%

The Influence of Nationality and Gender on Ethical Sensitivity: An Application of the Issue-Contingent Model

et al. 2005

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ABSTRACT. When a member of an organization has to make a decision or act in a way that may benefit some stakeholders at the expense of others, ethical dilemmas may arise. This paper examines ethical sensitivity regarding the duties to clients and owners (principals), employees (agents), and responsibilities to society (third parties). Within this framework, ethical perceptions of male and female managers are compared between the U.S. and Turkey -two countries that differ on power distance as well as the individualism/collectivism dimensions. Our results show that ethical sensitivity varies depending upon whether the interests of principals, agents, or third parties are affected by a given ethical dilemma. We also find that, contingent upon the principal-agent-society relationships, the nationality and gender of the decision-maker influences ethical sensitivity.

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confidence: 99%

The Influence of Nationality and Gender on Ethical Sensitivity: An Application of the Issue-Contingent Model

et al. 2005

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“…Trevino, Weaver, and Reynolds (2006: 956) reviewed evidence that moral reasoning occurs at a lower level for older and longer tenured managers (Elm & Nichols, 1993) and when individuals respond to work-related dilemmas compared to nonwork dilemmas (Weber, 1990;Weber & Wasieleski, 2001), and questioned whether those with higher moral reasoning select themselves out of work organizations or whether the work environment itself undermines moral judgment. The studies here suggest that both processes are likely.…”

Section: Contributions To Theories Of Ethical Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The studies here suggest that both processes are likely. As the process of attaining power increases group identification, individuals may adopt the morality embedded in the group, which is likely to hover around the third stage of Kohlberg's (1981) model due to the prevalence of individuals at that stage (Weber, 1990). Individuals who manage to retain their higher levels of moral reasoning may find themselves alienated and without any social support for their views or concerns, eventually selecting out of the organization (Schneider, 1987;Schneider, Smith, Taylor, & Fleenor, 1998).…”

Section: Contributions To Theories Of Ethical Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Power and Dissent: Implications for Ethics in Organizations

Kennedy¹

2012

Proceedings

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This dissertation examines how power, defined as higher rank in a hierarchy, affects dissent, the expression of disagreement with a value, goal, or practice embraced by a group majority. I examine this relation in the context of ethics in organizations in order to understand whether those higher in organizational hierarchies are more likely to intervene when unethical practices are ongoing in organizations.I propose that although possessing power confers the psychological and social freedom to dissent, the process of attaining power makes individuals unlikely to see the need to dissent. Specifically, I suggest that advancing to a position results in greater identification with the group. By creating this identification, power may lead individuals to adopt the morality embedded in the group. As a result, advancing in the hierarchy may cause individuals to see existing practices as more ethical, and high power individuals may dissent less than those who have not advanced in the hierarchy. I refer to this as the theory of power attainment. On the basis of this theory, I propose a negative relation between power and dissent.I explored this topic in a series of five studies. The first study explored lay perceptions of power and ethics. It examined whether organizational members considered high power individuals more responsible for ethics in organizations, and members' lay theories of how attaining power affects individuals' ethics. In this study, I found that 73 percent of survey respondents believed advancing in a hierarchy makes individuals more responsible for the organization's ethics, but only 42 percent believed that power inclines individuals to do so. Moreover, 42 percent reported that advancing in the hierarchy makes individuals less ethical. Thus, although most individuals perceived high power people to be responsible for organizational ethics, most respondents did not think high power individuals generally fulfill this responsibility.The second study examined the relations between power, group identification, and dissent. It used the priming methodology currently dominant in the research on power to examine two central hypotheses: Power increases group identification and decreases dissent. In this study, I found attaining power enhanced group identification. However, attaining power had no effect on dissent using this approach. 2The third study examined the effect of power on dissent in a laboratory study. It examined these central hypotheses as the prior study: Those who advance to a position of power in a group identify more with the group and dissent less than individuals who do not advance to power. In this study, individuals ostensibly interacted with a group and were randomly selected or not selected to advance in the group hierarchy. They later had the opportunity to dissent when the group decided whether to lie to obtain additional compensation for participating in the study. In this study, a negative relation between power and dissent emerged. Relative to a control condition, high power individua...

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“…Weber, 1990;Weber & Green, 1991), this study will not measure managers' levels of cognitive moral development.…”

Section: Survey Instrumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fritzsche & Becker, 1983Fritzche, 1988Zinckham et al, 1989 " context-specificity Weber, 1990 Baumhart, 1961 Brenner & Mollander, 1977 " tenure/position + Kelley et al, 1990+ Longenecker et al 1989+ Hams, 1990 - Mitchell et al, 1992 " size N Longnecker et al, 1989…”

Section: J and P Publishing Companymentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of individualism and collectivism as predictors of attributions for unethical work behavior : an empirical examination across two culturally diverse groups

Azevedo¹

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Azevedo, Ana, "The role of individualism and collectivism as predictors of attributions for unethical work behavior : an empirical examination across two culturally diverse groups" (1997 The sample for this study is a group of business graduate students from two universities in the Southeast. A 20-minute survey was distributed to master's degree students at their classroom and later on returned to the researcher. Individualism and collectivism were operationalized as by a set of attitude items, while unethical work behavior was introduced in the form of hypothetical descriptions or scenarios. Data analysis employed multiple group confirmatory factor analysis for both independent and dependent variables, and subsequently v multiple group LISREL models, in order to test predictions. Results confirmed the expected link between cultural variables and attribution responses, although the role of independent variables shifted, due to the moderating effect of ethnicity, and to the nuances of each particular situation.

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Managers' Moral Reasoning: Assessing Their Responses to Three Moral Dilemmas

Cited by 295 publications

References 11 publications

The Influence of Nationality and Gender on Ethical Sensitivity: An Application of the Issue-Contingent Model

The Influence of Nationality and Gender on Ethical Sensitivity: An Application of the Issue-Contingent Model

Power and Dissent: Implications for Ethics in Organizations

The role of individualism and collectivism as predictors of attributions for unethical work behavior : an empirical examination across two culturally diverse groups

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