This study provides a comparison of the ethical perceptions of managers and non-managers, including professionals, teachers, sales persons and clerks, as well as technical and plant workers. Data of working individuals were collected in Hong Kong in the form of questionnaires which contain vignettes of questionable ethical issues. Factor analysis was used to identify the major ethical dimensions which were then used as the basis of comparison. Regression analyses were used to study the effect of various variables on ethical perceptions (...) in terms of the identified dimensions. Our study reviews that managers tend to possess deontological views that are more ethical than that found in other occupations. The gap between managers and professionals in perceiving unethical behavior is narrower compared to that between the former and individuals in other occupations. The acceptability of unethical behavior tends to decline with income. Besides, there are indications that people working in non-profit organizations tend to have higher ethical standards. Based on our results, recommendations are made to improve the ethical culture of organizations. (shrink)

Earlier investigations have indicated that work beliefs in organization are impacted by different national cultures. In addition, those investigations have sought to understand the meaning of work in such different cultures. This study explores the meaning of work in the Egyptian context through an assessment of work beliefs and work attitudes. The article starts with a presentation of what is meant by the meaning of work and why research into work beliefs is both needed and worthwhile. The article then presents (...) a review of the relevant literature that evaluated the meaning of work in different countries. The review also elucidates recent research efforts that have tried to shed some light on the meaning of work in Middle-Eastern contexts. Data were collected from 201 Egyptian white-collar workers. Work beliefs and some job attitudes were assessed. Results indicate the prevalence of the humanistic work-belief system. Job satisfaction was positively correlated with the humanistic work-belief system and negatively with the Marxist work-belief system. The implications of these and other findings for international managers are discussed and recommendations for future researchers are put forward. (shrink)

Ethical maturity is a great concern to all educators, firms, and investors across the globe. This research surveyed 448 citizens, managers and employees in Iran to measure their Personal Business Ethics Scores (PBES) to see if age, education, management experience, and government work experience make a difference in making more ethical decisions. This study contributes to the theory of moral development across the Iranian culture as it is the first known study using this method. The results suggest that education and (...) more years of government work experience make a difference in the moral maturity of respondents. This study confirms that the ethical maturity of respondents is enhanced either through the authoritarian regime or socialization with Islamic values. Kohlberg’s moral development theory regarding ethical maturity is partially supported since those with more years of experience in government and more formal education have higher business ethics scores. Implications are discussed. (shrink)

Efforts to promote ethical behaviour in business and academic contexts have raised awareness of the need for an ethical orientation in business students. This study examines the similarities and differences between the personal values of Iranian and Australian business students and their attitudes to cheating behaviour in universities and unethical practices in business settings. Exploratory factory analysis provided support for three distinct ethics factors—serious academic ethical misconduct, minor academic ethical misconduct, and business ethical misconduct. Results reveal statistically significant differences between (...) the two cultural groups for ethical (altruism/universalism) values, and for attitudes to serious academic misconduct. No differences were found between the two groups for attitudes to minor academic unethical practices or unethical business practices. Gender influenced responses where females were found to indicate higher levels of unacceptability of unethical practices in academic and business settings than males. This pilot study highlights the need for higher education institutions to develop and enforce policies and practices to publicise, encourage and reinforce higher awareness of the need for adhering to ethical behaviour in university studies as a necessary component of training business professionals. (shrink)

The objective of this study was to explore certain managerial work values in Turkey. A total of 1023 managers from six Turkey regions participated in the study and filled out the questionnaires. Findings were analyzed using regression and ANOVA analyses. A total of three managerial work value factors emerged, which was supported by the current value literature. It was found that there was a relationship between work values and organizational size. The lower the organizational size, the higher the proper values (...) are held. However, organizational tenure, the number of subordinates a manager is responsible, and the educational level of a manager had no significant effect on holding work values. The proper values outnumbered the improper values significantly. The three most held work values were integrity, doing work with care and discipline, and achievement. The three least held values were cliquishness, laziness, and hypocrisy. (shrink)