Unethical behaviour is a general tendency in the current work situation where
there appears to be a decrease in ethical behaviour on a national as well as
international level within organisations. Unethical behaviour including bribery,
nepotism, fraud and corruption are also found in South African organisations.
Unethical behaviour can have financial consequences and market related
risks for organisations, and can lead to negative media exposure. Apart from
the negative consequences which unethical behaviour holds for organisations,
unethical behaviour also leads to low morale under employees and a high
employee turnover.
The negative consequences which unethical behaviour holds for
organisations, as well as the South African economy, necessitates a focus on
factors which may have an influence on ethical behaviour, and specifically
work ethics. Current research supports a person-situation-interaction
approach to ethical decision-making where both individual and situational
factors influence the decisions that the individual makes. Regarding individual
factors, researchers indicate that the individualâs ethical decision-making
philosophy influences the manner in which ethical problems are managed and
behavioral decisions are made. It is apparent from the literature that different
authors identified different philosophical approaches regarding ethical
decision-making. There is however no model in existence which integrates
these approaches. Furthermore, it also became apparent from the literature
that there is a need within the South African context for the development of a
reliable and valid work ethics questionnaire which determines individualsâ
ethical decision-making approaches as well as their level of ethical behaviour.
The purpose of this study was therefore twofold:
Firstly a holistic philosophical model of ethical decision-making was
developed. The model integrated the following six philosophical approaches
regarding ethical decision-making, namely the rule-bound approach; the
consequensialistic approach; the rule-bound consequensialistic approach; the
virtue approach; the social justice approach and relativism. Secondly a work ethics questionnaire (Work Convictions Questionnaire)
(WCQ), which was administered upon a sample of five hundred and twenty
four respondents, was developed. Item analysis and selection of items for the
final questionnaire was performed by use of exploratory and confirmatory
factor analysis. The following conclusions regarding objective 1 and objective
2 of the WCQ were reached from the statistical analysis.
Objective 1 (Scale A): The determination of the individualâs level of ethical
behaviour
Scale A possesses a satisfactory content reliability. Furthermore, it is
apparent that with regards to the validity (construct validity), the construct,
level of ethical behaviour is well defined.
Objective 2 (Scale B): Identification of the philosophical approaches that are
followed during ethical decision-making
Regarding the six philosophical approaches regarding ethical decisionmaking
identified from the literature, one dimensionality was primarily
suggested for the approaches. It is apparent from the statistical
analyses that the six approaches each exhibit a satisfactory content
reliability.
Furthermore, it is apparent that with regards to the validity (construct
validity), the concept philosophical approaches regarding ethical
decision-making (six-factor structure) is well defined and that the six
factor structure exhibits a good fit and a stable measuring model.
Hereafter all two hundred and fifteen items were subjected to exploratory
factor analysis without suggestion of any previously identified factor
structure. Thereafter confirmatory factor analysis was applied to the
factor structure. Three factors emerged, namely the rule bound,
consequensialistic and discretionary approaches. The three approaches each exhibited a satisfactory content reliability. Furthermore, it is
apparent that with regards to the validity (construct validity), the concept
philosophical approaches regarding ethical decision-making (three-factor
structure) is well defined and that the three-factor structure exhibits a
good fit and stable measurement model.
Therefore the six-factor structure or the alternative three-factor structure can
be utilised. The important value of the study stems from the fact that it
addresses the need for a reliable and valid work ethics questionnaire for the
South African context. This measuring instrument not only provides an
indication of the individualâs level of ethical behaviour, but also the approach
followed during ethical decision-making.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-06072011-150003 |
| Date | 07 June 2011 |
| Creators | Boshoff, Estelle |
| Contributors | Prof CL Bester |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-06072011-150003/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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