Abstract
This article addresses five research questions: What specific behaviors are described in the literature as ethical or unethical? What percentage of business people are believed to be guilty of unethical behavior? What specific unethical behaviors have been observed by bank employees? How serious are the behaviors? Are experiences and attitudes affected by demographics? Conclusions suggest: There are seventeen categories of behavior, and that they are heavily skewed toward internal behaviors. Younger employees have a higher level of ethical consciousness than older employees. The longer one works for a company, the more one may look to job security as a priority; this can lead to rationalizing or overlooking apparently unethical behaviors. More emphasis is needed on internal behaviors with particular attention on the impact that external behaviors have on internal behaviors.
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William J. Mitchell is a Ph.D. student in public administration.
Phillip V. Lewis is the Duniven Professor of Management at Abilene Christian University. Dr. Lewis' most recent book isOrganizational Communication: The Essence of Effective Management (Wiley, 1987). He is the author of ‘Defining Business Ethics: Like Nailing Jello to A Wall’ (Journal of Business Ethics, October 1985) and ‘Ethical Principles for Decision Makers: A Longitudinal Survey’ (Journal of Business Ethics, August 1989).
N. L. Reinsch, Jr. is Chairman, Department of Management Sciences, Abilene Christian University. Dr. Reinsch is co-author ofCommunication in Interviews (Prentice-Hall, 1982) and ‘Voice Mail vs. Conventional Channels’ (Academy of Management Journal, December 1990).
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Mitchell, W.J., Lewis, P.V. & Reinsch, N.L. Bank ethics: An exploratory study of ethical behaviors and perceptions in small, local banks. J Bus Ethics 11, 197–205 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00871967
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00871967