A Cognitive Elaboration Model of Sustainability Decision Making: Investigating Financial Managers’ Orientation Toward Environmental Issues

Edina Eberhardt-Toth () and David Wasieleski ()

Journal of Business Ethics, 2013, vol. 117, issue 4, 735-751

Abstract: This empirical paper examines individual-level cognitive factors associated with developing an orientation to sustainable development issues among a population of business practitioners from France. Across two studies, we survey 180 financial managers and 83 finance students, as well as 144 managers from other business disciplines and 117 non-finance business students. We consider ability and motivation variables integrated and adapted into a cognitive elaboration model for sustainable decision making. Specifically, we examine the degree of influence of two factors on the ethical sensitivity to sustainability: the moral maturity of the individual, and the perceived moral intensity of a sustainability issue. Our investigation offers insights into how financial managers perceive the importance of sustainability for corporate strategy. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Keywords: Chief financial officers; Cognitive moral development; Corporate environmental responsibility; Defining issues test 2; Ethical decision making; Person–situation interactionist perspective (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:117:y:2013:i:4:p:735-751

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1715-1

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