Ethical decision making by managers: a policy capturing approach

Realistic scenarios were evaluated to determine whether participants would make ethical/ unethical decisions in the face of various dilemmas. 3 factors were systematically varied throughout 32 different scenarios: accountability, deception, and profitability. A personality variable, locus of control was also explored for its relationship to ethical decision making. Subjects were 25 managers from a national car rental company as well as 21 undergraduate students. In a policy-capturing analysis of the ethical reasoning process., we found neither managers nor students used consistent policies in their decision making. Regression analyses revealed that locus of control orientation did not influence number of ethical decisions made. Implications for the study of ethical decision making are discussed.