Preventing Moral Crisis and Promoting Sustainable Development in Enterprises: A Study of Managers’ Moral Decision-Making

Dianru Zhang, Chi Zhang and Li Wang ()
Additional contact information
Dianru Zhang: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Chi Zhang: Center for Psychological Quality Education, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Li Wang: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 15, 1-18

Abstract: A moral crisis poses significant challenges to the success and sustainable development of a corporation. In this context, managers’ moral decision-making becomes paramount. Managers’ moral choices and actions directly impact the corporation‘s ability to effectively address these crises, ultimately shaping its outcomes and prospects. This study employs the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a theoretical framework to explore the determinants that influence the moral decision-making process of managers. Specifically, the study introduces two new variables, namely, moral climate and moral self-efficacy, to enrich the existing theory. By employing structural equation modeling (SEM), the study examines the interrelationships among moral attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, moral intentions, moral decision-making, and the two new variables. The research findings provide compelling evidence that both moral climate and moral self-efficacy have a substantial impact on the moral decision-making process of managers. Notably, moral self-efficacy emerges as a mediating variable in the relationship between moral climate and moral intention. The findings of this study hold significant value for the development of moral decision-making models and the theory of planned behavior, with practical implications that can assist organizations in achieving sustainable growth and success.

Keywords: moral decision-making; theory of planned behavior; moral climate; moral self-efficacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/15/11679/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/15/11679/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:15:p:11679-:d:1205252

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().