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An Exploration of Ethical Decision-making Processes in the United States and Egypt

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Abstract

In this comparative survey of 191 Egyptian and 92 U.S. executives, we explore the relationship between national culture and ethical decision-making within the context of business. Using Reidenbach and Robin’s (1988) multi-criteria ethics instrument, we examine how differences on two of Hofstede’s national culture dimensions, individualism/collectivism, and power distance, are related to the manner in which business practitioners make ethical decisions. Egypt and the U.S. provide an interesting comparison because of the extreme differences in their economies and related business development. Our results indicate that respondents from the U.S, individualistic and low in power distance, were likely to view the decision making outcome in ethics scenarios as more unethical than the more collectivistic and high power distance Egyptians, when applying ethical criteria based on justice, utilitarianism, relativism, and (contrary to our predictions) egoism. However, we also found that both Egyptians and Americans rely on justice, utilitarianism, and relativism in predicting their intentions to behave ethically, and that Americans substitute egoism for justice, when the behavioral intentions of peers are examined.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments received from Amal Said and Ryan McIntyre.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Managerial Sciences Department 28, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, 89557-0206, U.S.A.

    Rafik I. Beekun

  2. College of Commerce, Cairo University, Cairo, Giza, 12211, Egypt

    Ramda Hamdy

  3. Department of Management, Appalachian State University, ASU Box 32089, Boone, NC, 28608, U.S.A.

    James W. Westerman

  4. Department of Accounting, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, 43606, U.S.A.

    Hassan R. HassabElnaby

Authors
  1. Rafik I. Beekun
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  2. Ramda Hamdy
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  3. James W. Westerman
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  4. Hassan R. HassabElnaby
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Correspondence to Rafik I. Beekun.

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Beekun, R.I., Hamdy, R., Westerman, J.W. et al. An Exploration of Ethical Decision-making Processes in the United States and Egypt. J Bus Ethics 82, 587–605 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9578-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9578-y

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