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Human Resource Development International Vol. 13, No. 3, July 2010, 299–315
Dimensions of ethical business cultures: comparing data from 13 countries of Europe, Asia, and the Americas
Alexandre Ardichvilia*, Douglas Jondleb and Brenda Kowskec a Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; bCenter for Ethical Business Cultures at the Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, Minnesota; cKenexa Research Institute, Kenexa, Minneapolis, Minnesota
(Received 5 October 2009; final version received 28 December 2009) This paper reports the results of a survey-based study of perceptions of ethical business practices in 13 countries of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Responses from more than 23,000 managers and employees were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and post-hoc comparisons, aimed at identifying homogenous sets of countries. Anglo countries (US, UK, Australia, and Canada) clustered together, and were joined by India in most cases. Japan and Italy formed a homogenous subset significantly different from all other countries. Countries of continental Europe, China, Mexico, and Brazil formed various mid-range groupings. The paper discusses some salient differences between groups of countries and presents implications for human resource management (HRD) practice and research. Keywords: ethical business culture; business ethics; HRD; cross-cultural HRD research
Study background and goals Research suggests that ethical behaviour in business organizations is a function of both individual characteristics and contextual factors. Among these factors, organizational culture is one of the key influences (Meyers 2004; Trevino and Nelson 2004). Trevino et al. (1999) demonstrated that in the United States ethical business organizations have, as a rule, clearly communicated ethics guidelines or codes of ethics. Such organizations have incentive systems that are
Dimensions of ethical business cultures: comparing data from 13 countries of Europe, Asia, and the Americas
Alexandre Ardichvilia*, Douglas Jondleb and Brenda Kowskec a Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; bCenter for Ethical Business Cultures at the Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, Minnesota; cKenexa Research Institute, Kenexa, Minneapolis, Minnesota
(Received 5 October 2009; final version received 28 December 2009) This paper reports the results of a survey-based study of perceptions of ethical business practices in 13 countries of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Responses from more than 23,000 managers and employees were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and post-hoc comparisons, aimed at identifying homogenous sets of countries. Anglo countries (US, UK, Australia, and Canada) clustered together, and were joined by India in most cases. Japan and Italy formed a homogenous subset significantly different from all other countries. Countries of continental Europe, China, Mexico, and Brazil formed various mid-range groupings. The paper discusses some salient differences between groups of countries and presents implications for human resource management (HRD) practice and research. Keywords: ethical business culture; business ethics; HRD; cross-cultural HRD research
Study background and goals Research suggests that ethical behaviour in business organizations is a function of both individual characteristics and contextual factors. Among these factors, organizational culture is one of the key influences (Meyers 2004; Trevino and Nelson 2004). Trevino et al. (1999) demonstrated that in the United States ethical business organizations have, as a rule, clearly communicated ethics guidelines or codes of ethics. Such organizations have incentive systems that are