Skip to main content
Log in

Managers, values, and executive decisions: An exploration of the role of gender, career stage, organizational level, function, and the importance of ethics, relationships and results in managerial decision-making

Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A study of 513 executives researched decisions involving ethics, relationships and results. Analyzing personal values, organization role and level, career stage, gender and sex role with decisions in ten scenarios produced conclusions about both the role of gender, subjective values, and the other study variables and about situational relativity, gender stereotypes, career stages, and future research opportunities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Baird, J. E., Jr.: 1976, ‘Sex differences in task and social-emotional behavior’, Basic and Applied Social Psychology 3, 109–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakan, D.: 1966, The duality of human existence (Rand McNally, Chicago).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardwick, J. M.: 1971, Psychology of women (Harper and Row, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, J. H. and Karson, M. J.: 1987, ‘Personal values and business decisions: An exploratory investigation’, Journal of Business Ethics 6, 371–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barry, H., Bacon, M. K., and Child, I. L.: 1957, ‘A cross-cultural survey of some sex differences in socialization’, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 55, 327–332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumhart, R. C.: 1961, ‘How ethical are businessmen?’, Harvard Business Review 39, 6–19, 156–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bem, S. L. and Bem, D. J.: 1971, ‘Case study of an unconscious ideology: Training the woman to know her place’ in D. J. Bem (Ed.), Beliefs, attitudes, and human affairs (Brooks/Cole, Belmont, California).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bem, S. L.: 1977, ‘Bem sex-role inventory (BSRI)’ in J. E. Jones and J. W. Pfeiffer (Eds.), The 1977 annual handbook for group facilitators (University Associates, San Diego).

    Google Scholar 

  • Brenner, S. and Molander, E.: 1977, ‘Is the ethics of business changing?’, Harvard Business Review 55, 57–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, R.: 1971, ‘Sex differences in ego functioning: Exploratory studies of agency and communion’, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 37, 261–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, A. B.: 1975, ‘Management ethics — a post-Watergate view’, Business Horizons 18, 2, 75–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, A. B.: 1978, ‘Linking business ethics to behavior in organizations’, Advanced Management Journal 43, 3, 4–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chodorow, N.: 1974, ‘Family structure and feminine personality’ in M. Z. Rosaldo and L. Lamphere (Eds.), Woman, Culture, and Society (Stanford University Press, Stanford).

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, N. W., Gilbert, S. K., and Nycum, S. H.: 1988, Women leading: Making tough choices on the fast track (Stephen Greene Press/Viking, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • DeGeorge, R. T.: 1986, Business ethics (2nd ed.). (Macmillan Publishing Company, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, W.: 1985, BMDP statistical software (University of California Press, Berkeley).

    Google Scholar 

  • England, G. W.: 1978, ‘Managers and their value systems: A five-country comparative study’, Columbia Journal of World Business 13, 2, 35–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E. H.: 1968, Identity: youth and crisis (W. W. Norton, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Feinberg, S. E.: 1980, The analysis of cross-classified categorical data (MIT Press, Cambridge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fingleton, B.: 1984, Models of category counts (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilligan, C.: 1982, In a different voice (Harvard University Press, Cambridge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, L. A.: 1971, ‘The analysis of multidimensional contingency tables: Stepwise procedures and direct estimation methods for building models for multiple classifications’, Technometrics 13, 33–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guth, W. D. and Tagiuri, R.: 1965, ‘Personal values and corporate strategy’, Harvard Business Review 43, 5, 123–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hennig, M. and Jardim, A.: 1977, The managerial woman (Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson, R. C. and Watson, E. D.: 1987, ‘Gender-integrated management teams’, Business Quarterly 52, 68–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, R. A., Neelankavil, J. P., and Jadhav, A.: 1986, ‘Developing the executive resource’, Business Horizons 29, 33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanter, R. M.: 1977, Men and women of the corporation (Basic Books, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanter, R. M.: 1987, ‘Men and women of the corporation revisited’, Management Review (March 1987), 76, 14–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohlberg, L. and Kramer, R.: 1969, ‘Continuities and discontinuities in childhood and adult moral development’, Human Development 12, 93–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipta, R.: 1985, ‘Review of Bem sex-role inventory’, Psychological Review, 176–178.

  • Lubinski, D., Tellegen, A., and Butcher, J.: 1983, ‘Masculinity, femininity, and androgyny viewed and assessed as distinct concepts’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 44, 428–439.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maccoby, E. and Jacklin, C.: 1974, The psychology of sex differences (Stanford University Press, Stanford).

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. B.: 1976, Toward a new psychology of women (Beacon Press, Boston).

    Google Scholar 

  • Posner, B. Z. and Schmidt, W. H.: 1984, ‘Values and the American manager: An update’, California Management Review 26, 3, 202–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotter, G. S. and Portugal, S. M.: 1969, ‘Group and individual effects in problem-solving’, Journal of Applied Psychology 53, 338–341.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sargent, A.: 1981, The androgynous manager (AMACOM, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sumner, W. G.: 1907, Folkways (Ginn and Company, Boston).

    Google Scholar 

  • Toffler, B. L.: 1986, Tough choices (John Wiley and Sons, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, W., Polek, D., and Aiken, C.: 1985, ‘Sex differences in group task performance’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 48, 1, 63–71.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

John H. Barnett is Associate Professor at the University of New Hampshire, has an extensive background in international business and management consulting, and is co-founder of the Circle for Executive Experential Development. His publications include: ‘A Business Model of Enlightenment,” (1985) JBE, “Personal Values and Business Decisions,” (1987); Strategic Management Concepts and Cases 1988; Strategic Management Text and Concepts, 1989 and Cases in Strategic Management, 1989.

Marvin J. Karson is Professor of Business Statistics and James R. Carter Professor of Management at the University of New Hampshire. He was formerly Professor of Statistics at the University of Alabama. His work has been published in a number of professional journals.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Barnett, J.H., Karson, M.J. Managers, values, and executive decisions: An exploration of the role of gender, career stage, organizational level, function, and the importance of ethics, relationships and results in managerial decision-making. J Bus Ethics 8, 747–771 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00383775

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00383775

Keywords

Navigation