Perceived Seriousness of Business Ethics Issues

Abstract

Although legislation provides a publicly stated framework of business ethics, its operational framework is still ambiguous. Because reliance for ethical behavior falls largely on businesses themselves, it seems criti cal to know what issues are seen as serious and in need of resolution. England (1967) addresses the roles of intended versus operative values in the business community and suggests that both influence ethical be havior through perceptual screening. That is, individuals' values and subjective perceptions are important forces on behavior in the context of ethics. Robertson and Schlegelmilch (1993) surveyed members of 711 U.S. companies on the extent to which they perceived twenty-six ethical issues to be a problem. The most problematic concerns were reported to be drug and alcohol abuse, and employee theft. Mayo (1991) surveyed 192 small businesses to assess perceptions of the most difficult ethical problems associated with international mar keting. The problems were ranked by how often they were identified by respondents. The top three concerns were: bribery, government interference and customs clearance. Other research has addressed ethics perceptions of specialized occupational groups, such as accoun tants (David, Kantor & Greenberg, 1994) and farmers (Rappaport & Himschoot, 1994).