Content area
Full text
In recent years there has been a steady production of ethics related research in the organizational literature. A subset of this research has specifically focused on the development of ethical decision-making models. Subsequently, several authors and models have gained some level of prominence ([7] Jones, 1991; [24] Trevino, 1986). Nonetheless, there have been scarcely any empirical studies designed to investigate the validity of ethical decision-making models. Consequently, as the overall body of ethics related work continues to grow, the gap between theory and practice is expanding. Thus, our major contention is that models of ethical decision making must not only be theoretically sound, but also practically valuable ([23] Steers et al. , 2004). Assessing prescriptive utility requires a more systematic approach to model assessment than has been undertaken in the extant literature to date.
In short, we wish to use the existing literature to build a set of criteria that can be used to evaluate the adequacy of ethical decision-making models. Specifically, we are interested in the judgment aspect: the aspect that [17] Rest's (1986) four-step model (awareness-judgment-intention-behavior) refers to as "moral judgment," and [24] Trevino (1986, p. 602) refers to as "the individual's process of deciding what is right or wrong in a situation." Subsequently, we will apply these criteria to one ethical judgment model in particular in an effort to demonstrate the utility of the evaluative process.
The challenge of evaluating models of ethical decision making becomes apparent when one realizes the qualitatively different forms that models often assume. Three types of models in particular dominate the literature. A normative model of ethical decision making emphasizes the way in which decision makers should ideally perform the activities in the decision-making process ([9] Kleindorfer et al. , 1993). In contrast, descriptive models of ethical decision making consider empirical evidence regarding how decision makers actually perform the activities in the decision-making process. Finally, prescriptive models of ethical decision making consider empirical evidence in an attempt to help decision makers improve their decision-making performance given the complex context in which decisions are made. Though our interest is ultimately prescriptive (applied) in nature, we will draw on well-known examples of all three types of models in an attempt to assemble a viable list of evaluative criteria...