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Journal of Business Ethics (2005) 61: 6978 Springer 2005
DOI 10.1007/s10551-004-6394-5Managerial Ethics: An Empirical Studyof Business Students in the AmericanUniversity of Beirut Philippe W. ZgheibABSTRACT. This is a study that investigated the extentof use of the three principles of ethics utility, morality,and justice in managerial ethical decision making, inaddition to the personal attitude towards them. It involved undergraduate and graduate business students(total N 163) from the Olayan School of Business in
the American University of Beirut,Lebanon. Two kinds of measurements were done: selfassessment, and testing with the Saschkin s ManagerialValue Profile (1997). It showed that morality was theoverriding ethical principle used, especially in the graduate group (professionals). Business students still believedin the justice system despite the weakness of the countryslaw. Utility was the least used, although males were foundto be more utilitarian than females. Finally there was norelation between personal attitudes toward the threeethical principles, and the intentional behavior whenfaced with ethical dilemmas. The findings were discussedand recommendations were given.KEY WORDS: American University of Beirut, attitude,behavior, business students, gender, justice, Lebanon,managerial ethics, morality, professionals, utilityThe purpose of a business firm is not simply tomake a profit, but is to be found in its veryexistence as a community of persons who invarious ways are endeavoring to satisfy their basicneeds and who form a particular group at theservice of the whole society.(Centesimus Annus; John Paul II, 1991)IntroductionInterest in business and managerial ethics has markedly increased over the past years. Issues like abuse ofpower, acceptance and payment of bribes, and disrespect of personnel privacy are only few examplesof unethical behaviors, and managers are bound todeal with moral conflicts in the workplace on a dailybasis (Small and Dickie, 1999). This is becoming soimportant, that there is an increasing number ofarticles published in this area; some are empirical anddescribe ethical behavior in the business setting, andothers are descriptive focusing on what businessesshould do in order to be ethical (Donaldson andDunfee, 1994). Furthermore, organizations haverecognized the importance of ethics in their businessdealings: good ethics is good business (Robertsonand Fadil, 1999).But what is managerial ethics?The term ethics refers to rules and principles thatdefine right and wrong conduct; and managers maketheir decisions based on ethical principles (Robbinsand Coulter, 2002). There are four basic ethicalprinciples or theories: utility (where ethical decisionsare made solely on...