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The impact of the work environment on ethical decision making: Some Australian evidence

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Abstract

Business ethics has emerged in recent years as a field of significant scholarly endeavour. Particularly well documented is the existence of ethical conflict at work and the reported inseparability of business decisions and moral consequences. However, to date, the majority of studies have been conducted in the American business context.

This paper examines the concept of ethical conflict as experienced by employees in the Australian context. According to a sample of Western Australian managers, ethical conflicts at work do occur — with relative frequency. Of considerable concern is the high incidence of cases where the demands of superiors are deemed to be the cause of this conflict. This finding is particularly disturbing as superiors are also the primary influence on employee ethical decision making. It would see that the ethics role models are also the instigators of unethical behaviour.

This research has confirmed in the Western Australian context that the values of top management do have significant impact on the ethical choices made by employees. The management of organisational culture, therefore, is a key to raising ethical standards in business. The institutionalisation of ethics by such formal means as codes of ethics is a necessary, but insufficient, condition of ensuring ethical behaviour in organisations. Management of the informal climate is pivotal to the achievement of ethical organisational behaviour.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, Curtin University of Technology, 6001, Perth, Australia

    Geoffrey Soutar, Margaret M. McNeil & Caron Molster

Authors
  1. Geoffrey Soutar
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  2. Margaret M. McNeil
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  3. Caron Molster
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Additional information

Geoffrey Soutar is Professor of Management at Curtin University of Technology. He has particular interests in marketing and, in recent times, in the marketing of services. He has published widely across a number of management areas and has acted as consultant for both private and public sector organisations as well as for a number of unions.

Margaret McNeil is a Lecturer in the School of Management at Curtin University of Technology. Her research interests include corporate innovation and financial services marketing. Consultancy has been in the areas of financial services, professional services and non-profit organisations.

Caron Molster is a Research Assistant in the School of Management at Curtin University of Technology. She has a research interest in the area of ethics, having completed her thesis on this topic.

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Soutar, G., McNeil, M.M. & Molster, C. The impact of the work environment on ethical decision making: Some Australian evidence. J Bus Ethics 13, 327–339 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00871761

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