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Management Students’ Attitudes Toward Business Ethics: A Comparison Between France and Romania

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Abstract

This study focuses on the differences in the perception of business ethics across two groups of management students from France and Romania (n = 220). Data was collected via the ATBEQ to measure preferences for three business philosophies: Machiavellianism, Social Darwinism, and Moral Objectivism. The results show that Romanian students present more favorable attitudes toward Machiavellianism than French students; whereas, French students valued Social Darwinism and Moral Objectivism more highly. For Machiavellianism and Moral Objectivism the results are consistent with the literature and our hypotheses. However, contrary to our expectations, we find that Social Darwinism is more important in France than Romania. The results indicate that religious practice does not influence preferences for the three business philosophies. In terms of gender differences, women have less favorable attitudes toward Machiavellianism and more favorable attitudes toward Moral Objectivism than men.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CERGAM, IAE d’Aix-en-Provence, Aix Marseille University, Marseille, France

    Daniel Bageac & Emmanuelle Reynaud

  2. Institute for Management Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Olivier Furrer

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  1. Daniel Bageac
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  2. Olivier Furrer
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  3. Emmanuelle Reynaud
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Correspondence to Daniel Bageac.

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Bageac, D., Furrer, O. & Reynaud, E. Management Students’ Attitudes Toward Business Ethics: A Comparison Between France and Romania. J Bus Ethics 98, 391–406 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0555-5

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