Abstract
The study extends the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in a cross-cultural setting, incorporating ethical judgments and locus of control in a comparison of Taiwanese and US businesspersons. A self-administered survey of 698 businesspersons from the US and Taiwan examined several hypothesized differences. Results indicate that while Taiwanese respondents have a more favorable attitude toward a requested bribe than US counterparts, and are less likely to view it as an ethical issue, their higher locus externality causes ethical judgments and behavioral intentions to conform to normative influences of in groups and superiors. In the Taiwanese sample, locus externality effectively functions as a countervailing pressure against the unethical behavior in the scenario. No such effect is found in the US sample. A path model fitted to the data shows that locus internals exhibit more consistency among attitudes, judgments, and behavioral intentions than locus externals. Implications for managers and researchers are discussed, and suggestions and precautions for development of efficacy-enhancement programs are offered.
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Abbreviations
- LOC:
-
locus of control
- PBC:
-
perceived behavioral control
- TPB:
-
theory of planned behavior
- TRA:
-
theory of reasoned action
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Appendix A
Appendix A
This survey is aimed at understanding how people think about business problems. In this questionnaire, there are no “right” answers in the way there are right answers to math problems. In exchange for your help, your privacy is guaranteed: your responses in this questionnaire will be completely anonymous.
Scenario
Rollfast Bicycle Company has been barred from entering the market in a large Asian country by the concerted efforts of local bicycle manufacturers. Rollfast could expect to net very substantial profits from sales if it could penetrate the market. Last week a businessman from the country in question contacted you and stated that entry into this market could be had for an “under the table” payment of $5000. However, the payment must be received by the end of the day, tomorrow.
It seems quite likely that the increase in profits from making the payment and entering this market would pretty much guarantee your bonus for this year. However, your immediate supervisor has let it be known that he expects all employees to adhere to the “highest ethical standards;” anything short of this goal may adversely affect the employee’s bonuses and/or opportunity for advancement.
Your organization’s guidelines are somewhat unclear about the appropriateness of such payments, and in addition, you have no information concerning what is usually done in these situations. Since the payment is expected tomorrow, you have no time to gather additional information, although you know the payment is not actually illegal.
Attitude
The payment described in the scenario may have several outcomes. Please indicate the likelihood that the payment may lead to the each of the following outcomes:
If you were to make the requested payment, how likely is it the requested payment would: (Extremely Unlikely = 1; Extremely Likely = 7)
Normative Influence of peers:
How likely is it that ___ think(s)
you should make the payment? (Extremely Unlikely = 1; Extremely Likely = 7)
Normative Influence of superiors
How likely is it that ___ think(s)
you should make the payment? (Extremely Unlikely = 1; Extremely Likely = 7)
Ethical Judgment (All are seven-point semantic differential items; 1 = correct, moral, right, good; 7 = incorrect, immoral, wrong, bad)
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Correct or Incorrect
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Immoral or Moral (reverse scored)
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Right or Wrong
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Bad or Good (reverse scored)
Intention
If you were responsible, what are the chances that you would make the payment?
(Both are seven-point semantic differential items; 1 = likely, definitely would; 7 = unlikely, definitely would not)
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Likely/Unlikely
-
Definitely Would/Definitely Would Not
Locus of Control (1 = Strongly Disagree; 6 = Strongly Agree)
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Cherry, J. The Impact of Normative Influence and Locus of Control on Ethical Judgments and Intentions: a Cross-Cultural Comparison. J Bus Ethics 68, 113–132 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9043-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9043-3