Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Business-related ethical values of future business leaders in four Asia-Pacific countries

  • Published:
Asian Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The study reported in this article examines the relationships between nationality, gender, and religiosity and business ethics attitudes in four countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Using a survey approach, university business students in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore were asked about their attitudes regarding business-related ethicality using a six-item scale of ethicality that was reported in the literature. Business students are appropriate for this study as they are “future business leaders.” For nationality significant differences (p < 0.05) emerged for only two of the six items. There was no significant difference in total ethicality, and the values were positive in all countries. In general, females were reported being more ethical than males, particularly in New Zealand and Singapore. For religiosity, overall, there was a significant difference in ethicality where those respondents reporting being “very religious” also reporting being more ethical. For individual countries, significance did emerge for Australia and New Zealand.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adler, N. J. (1991). International dimensions of organizational behavior (2nd ed.). Boston: PWS-Kent.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adler, N. J. (2002). International dimensions of organizational behavior (4th ed.). Cincinnati: South-Western.

    Google Scholar 

  • Albaum, G., & Peterson, R. A. (2006). Ethical attitudes of future business leaders: Do they vary by gender and religiosity? Business and Society, 45, 300–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beatty, S. E., Jeon, J. G., Albaum, G., & Murphy, B. (1994). A cross-national study of leisure activities. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 25(3), 409–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkvist, L., & Rossiter, J. R. (2007). The predictive validity of multiple-item versus single-item measures of the same construct. Journal of Marketing Research, 44(May), 175–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardi, R. (2006). Associations between Hofstede’s cultural constructs and social desirability bias. Journal of Business Ethics, 65, 43–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borkowski, S. C., & Ugras, Y. J. (1998). Business students and ethics: a meta analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 17, 1117–1127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, P. A. (2007). Operationalizing psychic distance: a revised approach. Journal of International Marketing, 15(1), 44–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buller, P. F., Kohls, J. J., & Anderson, K. S. (1991). The challenge of global ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 10, 767–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carmines, E. G., & Zeller, R. A. (1979). Reliability and validity assessment. Beverly Hills: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Churchill, G. A. (1979). A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 16(February), 64–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conroy, S. J., & Emerson, T. L. N. (2004). Business ethics and religion: Religiosity as a predictor of ethical awareness among students. Journal of Business Ethics, 50, 383–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cortina, J. M. (1993). What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 98–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drolet, A. L., & Morrison, D. G. (2001). Do we really need multiple-item measures in service research? Journal of Service Research, 3, 196–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duhachek, A., & Iacobucci, D. (2004). Alpha’s standard error (ASE): an accurate and precise confidence interval estimate. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 792–808.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Everitt, B. S. (2002). The Cambridge dictionary of statistics (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, A. (2005). Discovering statistics using SPSS. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, R., & Bonn, J. (1998). The impact of ‘psychic distance’ on the internationalization of the Australian firm. Journal of Global Marketing, 12(2), 27–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franke, G. R., Crown, D. F., & Spake, D. F. (1997). Gender differences in ethical perceptions of business practices: a social role theory perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(6), 920–934.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gift, M. J., Gift, P., & Zheng, Q. Q. (2013). Cross-cultural perceptions of business ethics: Evidence from the United States and China. Journal of Business Ethics, 114, 633–642.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Husted, B. W., & Allen, D. B. (2008). Toward a model of cross-cultural business ethics: the impact of individualism and collectivism on the ethical decision-making process. Journal of Business Ethics, 83, 293–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iyer, G. R. (2001). International exchanges as the basis for conceptualizing ethics in international business. Journal of Business Ethics, 31, 3–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, E. J., & Lawton, L. (1996). The effects of social and moral integration on ethical standards: a comparison of American and Ukrainian business students. Journal of Business Ethics, 15, 901–911.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kini, R. B., Ramakrishna, H. V., & Vijayaraman, B. S. (2004). Shaping of moral intensity regarding software piracy: a comparison between Thailand and US. Journal of Business Ethics, 49, 91–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohlberg, L. (1984). Essays on moral development: the psychology of moral development. New York: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kum-Lung, C., & Teck-Chai, L. (2010). Attitude towards business ethics: Examining the influence of religiosity, gender, and education levels. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 17(1), 225–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leonidoy, L. C., Kvasove, O., Leonidou, C. N., & Chari, S. (2013). Business unethicality as an impediment to consumer trust: the moderating role of demographic and cultural characteristics. Journal of Business Ethics, 112, 397–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohr, L. B. (1990). Understanding significance testing. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peter, J. P. (1979). Reliability: a review of psychometric basics and recent marketing practices. Journal of Marketing Research, 16(February), 6–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, R. A. (1994). A meta-analysis of Cronbach’s coefficient alpha. Journal of Consumer Research, 21, 381–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, R. A., Albaum, G., Merunka, D., Muneura, J. L., & Smith, S. M. (2010). Effects of nationality, gender, and religiosity on business-related ethicality. Journal of Business Ethics, 96, 573–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phau, I., & Kea, G. (2007). Attitudes of university students toward business ethics: a cross-national investigation of Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Journal of Business Ethics, 72, 61–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossiter, J. R. (2002). The C-O-A-R-S-E procedure for scale development in marketing. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 19(December), 305–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roxas, M. L., & Stoneback, J. Y. (2004). The importance of gender across cultures in ethical decision-making. Journal of Business Ethics, 50, 149–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, H., Krieger, J., & Bayraker, A. (2011). The impact of intrinsic religiosity on consumers’ ethical beliefs: does it depend on the type of religion? A comparison of Christian and Moslem consumers in Germany and Turkey. Journal of Business Ethics, 102, 319–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, G., & Payne, S. (2013). Religion and ethics. Haupage: Nova.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, S. M., & Albaum, G. (2013). Basic marketing research: Building your Survey. Provo: Qualtrics Labs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Srnka, K. J. (2004). Culture’s role in marketers’ ethical decision making: An integrated theoretical framework. Academy of Marketing Science Review. (www.amsreview.org/articles/srnka01-2004.pdf).

  • Stevenson, T. H., & Bodkin, C. D. (1998). A cross-national comparison of university students’ perceptions regarding the ethics and acceptability of sales practices. Journal of Business Ethics, 17, 45–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Streng, F. (1985). Understanding religious life (3rd ed.). Encino: Dickenson Publishing Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swaiden, Z., Rawwas, M. Y. A., & Vitell, S. J. (2008). Culture and moral ideologies of African Americans. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 16(2), 127–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker, A. G., Smither, J. W., & Debode, J. (2012). The effects of religiosity on ethical judgments. Journal of Business Ethics, 106, 437–452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, C. K. (1961). Religion in Chinese society: a study of contemporary social functions of religion and some of their historical factors. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeganeh, H., & Sauers, D. (2013). A cross-national investigation into the effects of religiosity on the pervasiveness of corruption. Journal of East–west Business, 19(3), 155–180.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Dr. Robert A. Peterson, University of Texas at Austin, USA for his very helpful comments on the present manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anderson School of Management, MSC05 3090, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-0001, USA

    Gerald Albaum

Authors
  1. Gerald Albaum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gerald Albaum.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Albaum, G. Business-related ethical values of future business leaders in four Asia-Pacific countries. Asian J Bus Ethics 3, 127–140 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13520-014-0036-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13520-014-0036-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation