Abstract
This paper investigates the ethical challenges facing managers in Western Australia. It identifies the ethical issues that managers confront in international business. Managers in this research have identified a number of significant ethical issues when discussing the ethical incidents that occurred in their international dealings. The research shows a degree of congruence between managers' experiences and establishes the main ethical dilemmas encountered, how they felt and actions taken when confronted with an ethical dilemma.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, P.: 1990, ‘Corporate Cowboys are Taking Us for a Ride’, The Weekend Australian-The Review (July 14–15), 2–3.
Andersson, B. and S. Nilsson: 1964, ‘Studies in the Reliability and Validity of the Critical Incident Technique’, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(6), 398–403.
Armstrong, R. W., B. W. Stening, J. K. Ryans, L. Marks and M. Mayo: 1990, ‘International Marketing Ethics: Problems Encountered by Australian Firms’, European Journal of Marketing 24(10), 5–18.
Banister, P., E. Burman, I. Parker, M. Taylor and C. Tindall: 1994, Qualitative Methods In Psychology A Research Guide (Open University Press, Buckingham).
Bitner, M. J., B. H. Booms and M. S. Tetreault: 1990, ‘The Service Encounter: Diagnosing Favorable and Unfavorable Incidents’, Journal of Marketing 54, 71–84.
Brenner, S. and E. Molander: 1977, ‘Is the Ethics of Business Changing’, Harvard Business Review 55(1), 57–71.
Bowie, N. E. and R. F. Duska: 1990, Business Ethics, 2nd ed. (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey).
Callan, R. J.: 1998, ‘The Critical Incident Technique in Hospitality Research: An Illustration from the U.K. Lodge Sector’, Tourism Management 19(1), 93–98.
Cassell, C. and G. Symon: 1994, ‘Qualitative Research in Work Contexts’, in C. Cassell and G. Symon (eds.), Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research: A Practical Guide (Sage, London), pp. 1–13.
Charlesworth, M.: 1990, ‘The Business of Ethics and the Ethics of Business’, Inaugural Lecture (The Kingswood Centre for Applied Ethics, Melbourne).
Chatterjee, S.: 1995, ‘Business Ethics in a Global Context: Practices, Paradigms and Perspectives’, Proceedings of Academy of International Business (Southeast Asia Regional Conference Perth, Western Australia), pp. 257–260.
Ciulla, J. B.: 1995, ‘Moral Imagination and International Business Leadership’, Sorensen Ethics Lecture (Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia), pp. 1–23.
De George, R. T.: 1990, Business Ethics, 3rd ed., (MacMillan Publishing Company, New York).
De George, R. T.: 1993, Competing With Integrity in International Business (Oxford University Press, New York).
Dobson, J: 1990, ‘The Role of Ethics in Global Corporate Culture’, Journal of Business Ethics 9, 481–488.
Flanagan, J. C.: 1954, ‘The Critical Incident Technique’, Psychological Bulletin 51(4), 327–358.
Ford, R. C. and W. D. Richardson: 1994, ‘Ethical Decision Making: A Review of the Empirical Literature’, Journal of Business Ethics 13, 205–221.
Henderson, V. E.: 1982 ‘The Ethical Side of Enterprise’, Sloan Management Review 23(3), 37–46.
Heron, J.: 1996, Co-operative Inquiry: Research into the Human Condition (Sage, London).
Hobbs, N.: 1948 ‘The Development of a Code of Ethical Standards for Psychology’, American Psychologist 3, 80–84.
Hoinville, G. and R. Jowell: 1978, Survey Research Practice (Heinemann Education, London)
Hosmer, L. T.: 1987, The Ethics of Management (Irwin, Homewood, IL).
Jones, T. M.: 1991, ‘Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Mode’, Academy of Management Review 16(2), 366–395.
Kohls, J. and P. Buller: 1994, ‘Resolving Crosscultural Ethical Conflict: Exploring Alternative Strategies’, Journal of Business Ethics 13, 31–38.
Lewis, P. V.: 1985, ‘Defining Business Ethics: Like Nailing Jello to a Wall’, Journal of Business Ethics 4(5), 377–383.
McNeil, M. and A. Peachment: 1996, ‘Ethics and the Public Sector Manager: A Comparative Treatment of the Western Australian Public Sector’, The Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government 2(2), 5–15.
Plumwood, V.: 1993, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature (Routledge, London).
Posner, B. Z. and W. H. Schmidt: 1987, ‘Ethics in American Companies-A Managerial Perspective’, Journal of Business Ethics 6(4), 202–216.
QSR User Guide: 1995, Revision 3 (Distributed by Q.S.R. P/L La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia), pp. 1.1–1.3.
Richards, T. and L. Richards: 1990, ‘Emerging Your Theory: Can Computers Help?’, Paper to the International Conference on Computing and Qualitative Research (Breckenridge, Colorado), pp. 2–19.
Richards, T. and L. Richards: 1993, Using Computers in Qualitative Analysis QSR Advanced Workshop Papers (La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia), pp. 1–36.
Robbins, S. P.: 1994, Management, 4th ed. (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey).
Rogers, B.: 1994, ‘Global Business Ethics Serious About its Code of Ethics’, HR Magazine 39(9), 46–48.
Sekaran, U.: 1984, Research Methods For Managers: A Skill-building Approach (John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York, U. S.A.).
Solomon, R. C.: 1992, Ethics and Excellence: Cooperation and Integrity in Business (Oxford University Press, New York).
Soutar, G., M. McNeil and C. Molster: 1994, ‘The Impact of the Work Environment on Ethical Decision Making: Some Australian Evidence’, Journal of Business Ethics 13, 327–339.
Sternberg, E.: 1994, Just Business: Business Ethics in Action (Little, Brown and Company, London).
Strauss, A. and J. Corbin: 1990, Basics of Qualitative Research Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques (Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA).
Vitell, S. J. and T. A. Festervand: 1987, ‘Business Ethics: Conflicts, Practices and Beliefs of Industrial Executives’, Journal of Business Ethics 6, 111–122.
Vitell, S. J., Nwachukwu, S. L. and J. H. Barnes: 1993, ‘The Effects of Culture on Ethical Decision-Making: An Application of Hofstede's Typology’, Journal of Business Ethics 12, 753–760.
Western Australian Exporters Directory: 1994/ 1995, (Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Western Australia).
Wicks, A. C.: 1990, ‘Norman Bowie and Richard Rosty on Multinationals: Does Business Ethics Need Metaphysical Comports?’, Journal of Business Ethics 9, 191–200.
Williams, O. F. and P. E. Murphy: 1990, ‘The Ethics of Virtue: A Moral Theory for Marketing’, Journal of Macromarketing 10(1), 19–29.
Wines, W. A. and N. K. Napier: 1992, ‘Toward an Understanding of Cross-Cultural Ethics: A Tentative Model’, Journal of Business Ethics 11, 831–841.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McNeil, M., Pedigo, K. Western Australian Managers Tell Their Stories: Ethical Challenges in International Business Operations. Journal of Business Ethics 30, 305–317 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010762619866
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010762619866