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Antecedents of Unethical Behaviour Intention: Empirical Study in Public Universities in Malaysian Context

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Abstract

Public university business schools (PUBS) appear to struggle in upholding their educational self. Corporate scandals linked to business graduates raise questions about the role of PUBS in the development of civilized societies. This study develops an ethical decision making model in the PUBS context based on moral theories and then empirically tests the model. The model hypothesizes that individuals’ moral philosophies in terms of egoism and utilitarianism as well as subjective norm in terms of peer influence affect their unethical behavioural intention. Moreover, this study compares ethical levels between business students with those from other disciplines. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire from established public universities in Malaysia. The data was analysed using the Smart Partial Least Squares, a second generation structural equation modelling software, as well as the SPSS version 23. The results reveal that moral philosophies and subjective norm exert positive and significant effects on unethical behaviour intention. The study, however, found no significant effect with regard to unethical behaviours between business and non-business students. The authors argue that a university’s status may explain a student’s intentions towards ethics. Implications of the results and future research are proposed.

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  1. Azman Hashim International Business School (UTM Azman Hashim IBS), Level 10, Razak Tower, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, 54100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Rossilah Jamil, Jihad Mohammad & Maalinee Ramu

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  1. Rossilah Jamil
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Correspondence to Rossilah Jamil.

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Jamil, R., Mohammad, J. & Ramu, M. Antecedents of Unethical Behaviour Intention: Empirical Study in Public Universities in Malaysian Context. J Acad Ethics 17, 95–110 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-018-9312-7

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