Executive attitudes, organizational size and ethical issues: Perspectives on a service industry
Paul R. Murphy, Jonathan E. Smith, James M. Daley
Journal of Business Ethics · 1992 · Volume 11 · Issue 1
Abstract
Responding to Randall and Gibson's (1990) call for more rigorous methodologies in empirically-based ethics research, this paper develops propositions — based on both previous ethics research as well as the larger organizational behavior literature — examining the impact of attitudes, leadership, presence/absence of ethical codes and organizational size on corporate ethical behavior. The results, which come from a mail survey of 149 companies in a major U.S. service industry, indicate that attitudes and organizational size are the best predictors of ethical behavior. Leadership and ethical codes contribute little to predicting ethical behavior. The paper concludes with an assessment of the relevant propositions, as well as a delineation of future research needs.
Keywords
Economic Growth, Ethic Research, Good Predictor, Ethical Issue, Ethical Behavior
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