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)

While the concept of work ethic has been discussed in the Arab context :35–49, 2009), the significant conceptual and methodological limitations of the existing work ethic and work value research elucidate the need for a more robust investigation of the multidimensional work ethic construct in the Arab context. Multidimensionality of the work ethic concept has gained considerable attention in recent years as researchers attempt to move away from the religiously labeled Islamic and Protestant work ethic conceptualizations. The current study examines (...) the Arab work ethic through the use of the multidimensional work ethic profile on a sample of future business leaders in the United Arab Emirates. A total of 484 business students completed an Arabic version of the MWEP short form. The results show that centrality of work and hard work are the highest scoring work ethics followed by self-reliance, wasted time, and leisure. There are significant differences in work ethic dimensions across gender and categories of family breadwinner. No significant differences in work ethic dimensions are observed across categories of nationality and work preference groups. The findings are discussed in relation to the unique insight they offer on the nature of work ethic in an Arab context. (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)