Toward Understanding Ethical Decision Making: A Redefined Measure of Intent to Act Ethically

Jennie Johnson and Tom Coyle
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Jennie Johnson: The University of Texas at Brownsville, USA
Tom Coyle: The University of Texas at Brownsville, USA

International Journal of Strategic Decision Sciences (IJSDS), 2010, vol. 1, issue 4, 25-43

Abstract: This paper proposes a step-wise methodology for the development of a scale measuring intent-to-act ethically, which is a step forward in the ethical decision-making process. To test the robustness of the methodology, data from two different populations gathered from 75 students and 181 professionals were examined to ensure reliability in ethical workplace scenarios. This research is relevant to recent issues like the current economic crisis lead by the sub-prime banking failures. The failures of Enron and Tyco are extreme examples of failure of societal members to act ethically. The construction of scale-measuring items was based on a theory of intent, and issues identified from the human resource management literature related to reasons employees do not report perceived unethical behavior in the workplace. Tested for social desirability bias, the results show that the proposed scale offers an improved reliability for assessing behavioral intent related to ethical decision-making. With these findings, this paper provides a tool for research that relies on a measure of ethical intent as a proxy for ethical behavior.

Date: 2010
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