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Will the ethics of business change? A survey of future executives

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Abstract

This article reports the results of a study of attitudes of future business executives towards issues of social responsibility and business ethics. The 455 respondents, who were MBA students during 1985 at one dozen schools from various regions in the United States, were asked to respond to a series of open-ended and closed-ended questions. From the responses to the questions the authors were able to conclude that future executives display considerable sensitivity, though to varying degrees, towards ethical issues in business. Women, in particular, tend to evince strong feelings regarding such issues.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business Administration, DJ-10 University of Washington, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA

    Thomas M. Jones & Frederick H. Gautschi III

Authors
  1. Thomas M. Jones
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  2. Frederick H. Gautschi III
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Additional information

Thomas M. Jones is Associate Professor of Organization and Environment at the School of Business Administration, University of Washington. He is the author of several articles which have been published in journals such as Academy of Management Review and California Management Review.

Frederick H. Gautschi, III, is Associate Professor of Engineering Management at Old Dominion University. His articles have been published in Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy and Industrial and Labor Relations Review.

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Jones, T.M., Gautschi, F.H. Will the ethics of business change? A survey of future executives. J Bus Ethics 7, 231–248 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381827

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381827

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