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J Bus Ethics (2016) 139:755776 DOI 10.1007/s10551-015-2886-8
http://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1007/s10551-015-2886-8&domain=pdf
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Web End = Ethical Decision-Making Theory: An Integrated Approach
Mark S. Schwartz1
Received: 15 December 2014 / Accepted: 23 September 2015 / Published online: 26 October 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015
Abstract Ethical decision-making (EDM) descriptive theoretical models often conict with each other and typically lack comprehensiveness. To address this deciency, a revised EDM model is proposed that consolidates and attempts to bridge together the varying and sometimes directly conicting propositions and perspectives that have been advanced. To do so, the paper is organized as follows. First, a review of the various theoretical models of EDM is provided. These models can generally be divided into(a) rationalist-based (i.e., reason); and (b) non-rationalist-based (i.e., intuition and emotion). Second, the proposed model, called Integrated Ethical Decision Making, is introduced in order to ll the gaps and bridge the current divide in EDM theory. The individual and situational factors as well as the process of the proposed model are then described. Third, the academic and managerial implications of the proposed model are discussed. Finally, the limitations of the proposed model are presented.
Keywords Emotion Ethical decision making
Intuition Moral rationalization Moral reasoning
Introduction
While much has been discovered regarding the ethical decision-making (EDM) process within business organizations, a great deal remains unknown. The importance of
EDM is no longer in doubt, given the extent of illegal and unethical activity that continues to take place every year and the resultant costs to societal stakeholders including shareholders, employees, consumers, and the natural environment (U.S. Sentencing Commission 2014; Association of Certied Fraud Examiners 2014). Unethical activity by individuals continues despite the best efforts of business organizations to implement comprehensive ethics programs, including codes of ethics, ethics training, and whistleblowing hotlines (Ethics Resource Center 2014; Webley 2011) and despite the extent to which business schools around the world teach the subject of business ethics (Rossouw and Stckelberger 2012). The signicant negative yet potentially preventable costs to society resulting from the unethical actions of individual rm agents suggest that ethical decision making might be considered one of the most important processes to better understand, not only for the academic management eld, but also for the corporate community and society at...