不同道德评价取向对企业道德决策的预测作用

The Relationship Between Ethical Evaluation and Ethical Decision-Making in the Business

本研究基于Hunt和Vitell(1986)所提出的市场营销领域的道德通用理论模型,随机选取129名MBA学生为被试,采用Reidenbach和Robin(1988,1990)的多维道德量表和情景研究法,旨在考察个体在应对企业决策中的道德问题时,不同道德评价取向对道德决策(整体性道德判断和道德意图阶段)的预测作用。结果表明:1)与对道德判断的单项目测量相比,多维道德量表对道德意图具有更高的预测效度;2)道德公平、功利主义和契约主义对整体道德判断具有显著预测作用;3)道德公平和相对主义对自我和他人道德意图具有显著预测作用。

As a general model of ethical decision making and behavior in marketing, the Hunt-Vitell theory illustrates how ethical deci- sions are predicated not only upon estimations of potential benefits or outcomes, but also by deontological evaluations which invoke norms and values. The former studies used to apply one item ＂ ethical/unethical＂ to measure ethical judgment. But the single item measure was questionable due to reliability issues. Reidenbach ＆ Robin （1988, 1990） began to develop the multidimensional ethics scale to explore how the individuals make ethical evaluation from different ethical philosophies. Thus, the multidimensional nature of the scale can provide information as to why a particular business activity is unethically judged. This study aimed at investigating the role of ethical evaluation on ethical decision-making （ ethical judgment and ethical intention） using the multidimensional ethics scale in China. The present paper reported the results of a vignette- and questionnaire-based research project. The study selected 129 MBA students as participants. Every participant was presented with two scenarios. Each scenario was followed by items assessing ethical evaluation （Moral Equity, Egoism, Relativism, Utilitarianism and Contractualism） from Reidenbach and Robin~ （1988, 1990） MES and ethical decision-making （ethical judgment and ethical intention）. Exploratory factor analysis and muhivariate linear regression were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that 1 ） the participant applied five ethical philosophies to make moral evaluation： Moral Equity, Relativism, Contractualism, Utilitarian, and Egoism, and the multidimensional measures explained a greater amount of variance in ethical intention than the one-item measure ; 2） Moral Equity, Contractualism, and Utilitarian had significant predications for ethical judgment ; 3 ） Mor- al Equity and Relativism significantly predicted ethical intent. All the results showed that Moral Equity was the most important predica- tor for ethical judgment and ethical intent; ＂Good faith＂ reflecting Contractualism in China had not been interiorized to influence the in- dividuals＇ethical intent. The role of social consensus should be emphasized to develop the ethical level of ethical decision-making in China. Those findings not only enhance our understanding of how the different ethical evaluations influence ethical decision-making in Chi- na, but also have important contributions to developing the ethical level of managers＇ethical decision-making.