Title

Considering The Business In Business Ethics: An Exploratory Study Of The Influence Of Organizational Size And Structure On Individual Ethical Predispositions

Keywords

Centralization; Ethics; Formalism; Formalization; Mechanistic; Organic; Size; Structure; Utilitarianism

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between organizational size, structure and the strength of organization members' ethical predispositions. It is hypothesized that individuals in smaller, more flexible, organic organizations will display stronger ethical predispositions. Survey results from 209 individuals across eleven organizations indicate that contrary to expectations, larger, more rigid, mechanistic structures were associated with higher levels of ethical formalism and utilitarianism. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Publication Date

4-1-2001

Publication Title

Journal of Business Ethics

Volume

30

Issue

4

Number of Pages

375-390

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010793308837

Socpus ID

0035315060 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/0035315060

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