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Journal of Education for Business
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Personal Value Profiles and Ethical Business
Decisions
Sarath Nonis & Cathy O. Swift
To cite this article: Sarath Nonis & Cathy O. Swift (2001) Personal Value Profiles and
Ethical Business Decisions, Journal of Education for Business, 76:5, 251-256, DOI:
10.1080/08832320109599644
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Published online: 31 Mar 2010.
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Personal Value Profiles and
Ethical Business Decisions
SARATH NONE
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CATHY 0. SWIFT
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, Georgia
Arkansas State University
State University, Arkansas
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ABSTRACT. Most previous research
V
alues are “among the very few
social psychological concepts that
have been successfully employed across
all social disciplines” (Rokeach & BallRokeach, 1989, p. 775). Even though
values are a powerful influence on
human attitudes (Adler, 1991; Carman,
1977) and human behavior (Locke,
1976; Meglino & Ravlin, 1998), empirical focus on the importance of the value
construct has been limited. One reason
for this limited amount of research could
be the lack of consensus on the nature of
values themselves. According to Meglino and Ravlin (1998, p. 351), “There
continues to be a conspicuous lack of
agreement on what values are and how
they influence individuals.” For example, values have been considered to be
needs, personality types, motivations,
goals, attitudes, and interests (Rokeach,
1973; Williams, 1979).
Values are believed to be a powerful
force behind on the behavioral responses of individuals (Rokeach, 1973),
employee problems in the workplace
(Nord, Brief, Atieh, & Doherty, 1988),
and the significant increase in unethical
business practices (Barnett & Karson,
1987; Mitchell & Scott, 1990). However, most research conducted in the past
has focused on the effects of single values, thereby neglecting the complex
nature of value structures (Homer &
Kahle, 1988). For example, situational
studies regarding values have taken
one value at a time when investigating
the influence of values on ethical business decisionmaking. In the current
study, we examined the relationship
between personal value profiles (a
combination of value decisions) and
ethical decisionmaking. Our results
showed that value profiles do play a
role in the likelihood of a person’s
making an unethical business decision. Our study findings, implications,
and suggestions for future research are
also presented.
factors may cause different value
dimensions to have more or less of an
influence in different contexts. Unfortunately, very little research has been
designed to identify empirically these
mixes of value profiles and their relationships to key behavioral responses.
The purpose of this study was to fill this
void by examining the combination of
values (value profiles) used by individuals in their human behaviors. In addition, we evaluated the impact that an
individual’s value profile has on his or
her ability to make ethical business
decisions.
The term value has been defined as an
enduring prescriptive or proscriptive
belief that a specific end state of existence or a specific mode of conduct is
preferred to an opposite end state or
mode of conduct for living one’s life
(Kahle, 1983; Rokeach, 1968, 1973).
According to social adaptation theory
(Kahle, 1983; Piner & Kahle, 1984), values are the most abstract of the large
number of social cognitions that function to facilitate an individual’s adaptation to his or her environment. Therefore, values indicate modes of behaviors.
Values reflect the most basic characteristics of adaptation that guide individuals in deciding which situations
they should enter and what they should
do in them (Kahle, 1980). According to
Williams (1979), explicit and fully conceptualized values become the criteria
for judgment, preferences, and choices.
In addition, “actual selections of behavior result from concrete motivations in
specific situations which are partly
determined by prior beliefs and values
of the actor” (Williams, 1979, p. 20).
Values have been subdivided into
instrumental values (modes of behavior)
and terminal ones (values pursued for
their own sake; Rokeach, 1973). Whereas terminal values are self-sufficient end
states of existence that a person strives
to achieve (i.e., wisdom, a comfortable
life, knowledge), instrumental values
are modes of behaviors used day to day
(i.e., being helpful). However, a review
of the current literature indicates a
greater focus on values as modes of
behavior (instrumental values) rather
than as end states (terminal values;
Meglino & Ravlin, 1998).
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Rokeach’s (1973) terminal values
have been theorized further and empirically classified (Herche, 1994; Kahle,
1983; Veroff, Douvan, & Kulka, 1981).
Those researchers identified nine personal value dimensions: security, selfrespect, being well-respected, self-fulfillment,
sense
of
belonging,
excitement, fun and enjoyment, warm
relationships, and a sense of accomplishment. Research has shown that
these values influence behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and preferences in a
broad spectrum of situations (Corfman,
Lehmann, & Narayanan, 1991). For
example, differences in values have
been shown to relate to significant differences in a variety of behavioral outcomes: cigarette smoking (Grube, Weir,
Getzlaf, & Rokeach, 1984), cheating
during exams (Hensehl, 197l), political
attitudes and behaviors (Almond &
Verba, 1963), purchases (Vitell &
Muncy, 1992), choice of leisure activities (Beatty, Kahle, Homer, & Misra,
1985), job satisfaction (Ronen, 1978),
and ethical decisionmaking (Mitchell &
Scott, 1990) to mention a few.
Framework for Analysis
Values
Business Ethics
The rising interest in business ethics
among practitioners and scholars has
resulted in a growing number of empirical studies on ethical business practices
(Davis, Johnson, & Ohmer, 1998;
Duizend & McCann, 1998). However,
only a handful of these studies have
focused on the influence of work values
(Cressey & Moore, 1983; Mitchell &
Scott, 1990) and personal values (Barnett
& Karson, 1987) in business practices.
Those researchers found that differences
in individuals’ behavior as evidenced in
its ethics or legality could be predicted
according to their deeply-held work and
personal values. However, it is also plausible that individuals use value profiles (a
combination of value dimensions) when
making ethical decisions, rather than
using a single value dimension at a time.
Evaluation of prior research found that
most studies operationalize values, taking one at a time when investigating their
influence on ethical business decisionmaking. In this study, we attempted to fill
that gap by investigating the following
research question:
Is there a relationship between the
personal value profiles of individuals
and their likelihood of making unethical
business decisions?
accredited university in the mid-south.
The questionnaires were administered in
junior and senior level business classes,
and students were assured of confidentiality and anonymity. Forty-four percent
of the sample was male, and 56% was
female. Students, on average, were 24
years of age, had completed 94 credit
hours, and had a grade point average of
2.95. The sample consisted of students
majoring in a variety of business disciplines: marketing (34%), management
(1 8%), accounting and finance ( I 6%),
business administration (1 1 %), and
other business (2 1%). Sixty-five percent
of the respondents were employed part
time, 19% were employed full time, and
the rest were not employed.
The use of students as surrogates,
although appealing, has received wide
criticism because of evidence that students are not adequate substitutes for
the target population (Lamb & Stem,
1979; Rubenstein, 1982). However,
empirical comparisons of responses of
students and the general population
(Enis, Cox, & Stafford, 1972; Khera &
Benson, 1970; Sheth, 1970) have been
inconsistent. A recent empirical study
by Bergmann and Grahn (1 997) found
that students can be surrogates for general population representatives with
similar characteristics. The fact that
over 84% of our sample was employed
(part time or full time) demonstrates
that the sample was, in fact, appropriate.
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Even though several theoretical classifications of values exist (Allport, Vernon, & Lindzey, 1960; Brogden, 1952;
Kahle, 1983; Spranger, 1928), the most
widely known and applied method of
value measurement is attributed to
Rokeach (1973). Rokeach’s approach
focuses on personal values that influence
one’s behavior in day-to-day life.
Rokeach’s method of measuring values,
however, has been criticized because of
various concerns such as (a) information
loss because of rank ordering (ipsative
technique), (b) impossibility of ties, (c)
difficulty of the lengthy ranking tasks,
and (d) questionable relevance of the
values to daily life. A simplified list of
values similar to Rokeach’s has been
developed and tested (Herche, 1994;
Kahle, 1983; Veroff, Douvan, & Kulka,
1981). Several landmark studies have
used the simplified scale, which consistently has demonstrated more than adequate psychometric properties (Beatty et
al., 1985). The list of values consists of
252
nine value dimensions: security, selfrespect, being well-respected, self-fulfillment, sense of belonging, excitement,
fun and enjoyment, warm relationships,
and a sense of accomplishment.
As mentioned earlier, most relevant
studies have examined the influence of
these value dimensions by investigating
one value at a time. However, individuals will use different combinations of
values simultaneously in different circumstances. Therefore, our focus in the
current study was on an individual’s
value profile (a combination of value
dimensions) as opposed to each single
value dimension investigated separately.
Journal of Education for Business
Measurement
The questionnaire consisted of a
series of Likert-type statements for
multi-item measurement of values
(MILOV). The value construct was measured by 44 items developed by Herche
(1994) and capturing nine value dimensions. The reported alpha coefficients of
internal consistency for the value dimensions varied between .57 and .8 1.
For this study, we used a scenario
technique in the measurement of ethical
decisions. Four marketing ethics scenarios developed by Dornoff and
Tankersley (1975) were used to present
marketing problems such as warranty
and car repairs, product and pricing,
personal selling, and advertising claims
(Appendix). We measured ethical decisions by asking each respondent to rate,
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Method
Sample and Data Collection
Data were collected from a convenience sample of 134 undergraduate
business students attending an AACSB-
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on a 5-point scale ranging from 1
(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly
agree), his or her agreement with the
action depicted in each of the scenarios.
In the study reported by Dornoff and
Tankersley (1979, an overwhelming
majority of consumers (7 1%) disagreed
with the actions depicted in the scenarios. The degree of consumer nonacceptance of those actions could be taken as
representative of the degree to which
those actions are unethical. According
to this reasoning, a respondent’s disagreement with the scenario actions
(i.e., low ethical scores) means that his
or her ethical business decisionmaking
is more in line with consumers’ perceptions and thus is perhaps more ethical,
whereas agreeing with the actions (i.e.,
high ethical scores) implies decisionmaking that is more out of line with that
of consumers, and thus possibly more
unethical. Scenarios are used commonly as part of research instruments in
marketing ethics studies (Chonko &
Hunt, 1985; Laczniak, Lusch, & Strang,
198 1; Singhapakdi & Vitell, 1990).
Statistical Procedure
of values held, but also distinct patterns
in relative values. The value profiles
were labeled 1, 2, and 3 for discussion,
to facilitate discussion.
Value profile 1, characterizing 15%
(n = 20) of the sample, although small,
was distinctive. This group portrayed
high value dimensions for security, selffulfillment, excitement, fun and enjoyment, and sense of accomplishment,
and average scores for the value dimensions self-respect, being well-respected,
sense of belonging, and warm relationships with others. Therefore, this group
and $4 and were acceptable within the
guidelines provided by Nunnally (1978).
The cluster analysis of the nine-element
value vector uncovered a three-group taxonomy of value profiles. In Table 1, we
provide an overview of the value profiles,
showing their similarities and dissimilarities, the means, and the standard deviations for each of the value measures. The
mean value profiles are plotted in Figure
1 also, to facilitate comparisons.
Examination of Figure 1 reveals that
among the three value profiles, not only
are there differences in the magnitudes
TABLE 1. Means and Standard Deviations of Value Dimensions, by Value
Profile of Respondents
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The objectives of the analyses were
to (a) identify the value profiles used by
students in their day-to-day lives and (b)
evaluate the impact of the use of value
profiles on students’ propensity to make
ethical business decisions. In the first
stage, we used cluster analysis to develop an empirical taxonomy of the students’ value styles. The objective in this
stage was to identify value taxonomies
of students so that a similar pattern of
the nine value dimensions would be
exhibited within a group, whereas distinct ones would be seen among the different groups.
In the second stage of the analysis,
we used one-way analysis of variance to
examine the impact of different value
profiles on students’ propensity to make
ethical business decisions. The value
profiles were the predictor variable, and
the business decisions comprised the
four criterion variables.
Analysis and Results
The reliability coefficients for all nine
dimensions of values were between .66
Value profile
Value dimension
Security
Self-respect
Being well-respected
Self-fulfillment
Sense of belonging
Excitement
Fun and enjoyment
Warm relationships with others
Sense of accomplishment
Percentage of sample
1
2
Internally
driven
Externally
3
No ndriv en
M
SD
driven
M
SD
M
SD
4.46
4.27
3.72
3.96
4.51
4.37
4.61
4.51
4.60
.48
.58
.67
.63
.48
.40
.33
.34
.42
4.46
4.46
4.40
3.02
4.66
2.88
3.55
4.47
4.43
.54
.44
.47
.76
.37
.69
.64
.46
4.07
3.98
3.11
3.20
4.22
3.24
3.51
3.96
4.14
.44
21
15
.57
.49
.69
.61
.53
.58
.61
.45
.44
64
FIGURE 1. Mean of Each Value Dimension, by Value Profile
5
I
1 5 .
1 -
0 5 .
01
;
‘
:
’
;
’
;
’
:
’
;
.
Security Self-respect Being
SelfSense of Excitewell- fulfillment belonging ment
respected
;
Fun
.
;
.
;
RelationSense of
ships accomplishment
Value dimension
+ Internally driven
+ Nondriven
+Externally
driven
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of respondents was labeled “internally
driven” because its members scored
high on the internal value dimensions
and average on the external value
dimensions.
Value profile 2, characterizing 21%
(n = 28) of the sample, portrayed high
value dimensions for self-respect, being
well-respected, sense of belonging, and
warm relationships with others. Value
profile 2 members had average scores
on security, fun and enjoyment, and
sense of accomplishment; therefore, this
group was labeled “externally driven.”
Value profile 3 represented the largest
group of students ( n = 86, or 64% of the
sample). Perhaps the most notable feature of this group was the relatively low
score for each of the nine value dimensions. This group of respondents was
therefore labeled “nondriven.”
The profile of values differs not only
in the level of each value dimension but
also in pattern or style. Though the
internally driven and externally driven
profiles are similar to those identified
by Kahle (1983), the largest clusterthe nondriven group-denotes a new
value profile. Because of the importance
of this finding, we anlyzed it further.
Finally, even though the three summarizing labels for the influence mixes
oversimplify the complexity of value
profiles (see Figure l), they facilitate
subsequent discussion of the groups and
concisely depict some of the major
characteristics of the value mixes.
cal decision in three of the four cases.
This is evidenced by the mean values for
the three groups for ethical scenarios 1,
2, and 4. Though mean differences
among groups for ethical scenarios 1 and
4 were not statistically significant at the
.05 level because of high group variance
within groups, they would have been significant at the .10 level (see Table 2).
One reason for the high within-group
variance could be that, although the
respondents included students from a
wide variety of business disciplines, the
ethical scenarios were directed at the
marketing context only. The relatively
small sample in two of the three groups
also raises the issue of the lower statistical power that could result in failing to
reject a false null hypothesis (Sawyer &
Ball, 1981). Though the study findings
are modest, the results have implications
and provide direction for future research.
Discussion and Implications
Research has shown the drawbacks
of investigating values at the univariate
level by taking one value at a time.
When the impact that each value
dimension has on the other is disregarded, the complexity of an individual’s
value system remains unclear. In the
current study, we made an attempt to
clarify this issue within the area of ethical decisionmaking.
Cluster analysis resulted in three
groups of the nine values constituting
the MILOV scale. The three student
groups-internally
driven, externally
driven, and nondriven-were distin-
guished according to the corresponding
degree of the importance of self and of
others in their value fulfillment. Some of
these dimensions were relevant to ethical decisionmaking. Internally driven
individuals tend to need, as much as possible, control over all aspects of their
lives, including behaviors that relate to
ethical decisionmaking. These individuals are less likely to be persuaded by others to make unethical business decisions.
Externally driven students seem less
likely to make unethical business decisions because of their concern with
what others think of them.
Students in the “nondriven” category
do not seem to need to be in control. At
the same time, they are not concerned
with what others think of them. They
scored the lowest mean value in seven
out of the nine value dimensions.
Because this group constituted a majority of the sample, ethical training should
be directed at such individuals.
The low mean score for most value
dimensions in the nondriven group raises
the serious question of why a significant
portion of college students have yet to
develop personal values. Situations that
give rise to conflict in one’s value construct inevitably present themselves to students frequently. However, the influence
of personal values on decisionmaking in
these situations will be minimal for the
nondriven group. Many theorists and
researchers believe that an individual’s
values are hierarchically organized
according to their relative importance to
that individual (Locke, 1991; Ravlin &
Meglion, 1989; Rokeach, 1973). Accord-
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Value Profiles and Propensity to Make
Ethical Business Decisions
We used one-way analysis of variance
to achieve the second objective of this
study, to test whether there was a difference between the students’ value profiles
and their propensity to make ethical business decisions. Results are summarized
in Table 2. The only ethical decision that
was statistically significant (at the .05
level) among the value profiles was
found for ethical scenario no. 2 (p = .02).
Mean analysis of the four ethical scenarios shows that the externally driven
and internally driven students were consistently more likely to make ethical
business decisions than the nondriven
students were (see Table 2). In fact, the
nondriven group made the most unethi-
254
TABLE 2. Means and Standard Deviations for Propensity to Make Ethical
Business Decisions: Analysis of Variance Results
1
Internally
driven
Ethical scenario
Ethical scenario 1
Ethical scenario 2
Ethical scenario 3
Ethical scenario 4
Value profile
2
Externally
driven
3
Nondriven
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
1.30
2.05
1.75
2.25
.92
.89
1.25
1.25
1.18
1.71
1.25
2.07
.48
.76
.70
1.15
1.60
2.24
1.62
2.60
.99
.87
.96
1.05
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t
P
2.73
.07**
.02*
.I4
.07**
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Journal of Education for Business
* p < .05.
**p < .lo.
4.00
2.02
2.76
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ing to Locke (1991, p. 291), “since a person can only take, in effect, one action at
a time, a person who did not have any
hierarchy of values would be paralyzed by
conflict and would be unable to act at all
or to sustain an action once taken.” Therefore, future studies conducted in other college and work environments should focus
on whether this result is a common phenomenon among contemporary college
students as well as individuals in general.
The current study’s findings demonstrate that value profiles play a role in
the likelihood of a person’s making an
unethical business decision. However,
the scope of the role is still unknown.
According to social adaptation theory
(Kahle, 1983; Piner & Kahle, 1984), values are types of social cognitions that
function to enable an individual to adapt
to his or her environment. It is possible
that both internally driven and externally driven individuals may have had more
opportunity to use certain value profiles
than the nondriven individuals have.
Therefore, future studies should investigate the influence of a third variable
(e.g., age, work experience, parental
influence) on the relationship between
value profiles and (un)ethical decisionmaking. These findings will have implications for individuals’ development of
values. However, more research is needed to evaluate the various alternative
explanations of the present findings.
We hope that this exploratory study
will stimulate further research on value
profiles and key attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. Future studies conducted in different settings (e.g., different
work environments) and using larger
samples should make an attempt to validate these initial study findings. Certainly, the gaps in our knowledge of values are too important to be ignored.
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REFERENCES
Adler, N. J. (1991). International dimensions of
organizational behavior (2nded.). Boston, MA:
PWS Kent Publishing.
Allport, G.W., Vernon, P. E., & Lindzey, G.
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Almond, G.A., & Verba, S. (1963). The civic culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Ball-Rokeach, S. J., Rokeach, M., & Grube, J. W.
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Barnett, J. H., & Karson, M. J. (1987). Personal
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May/June 2001
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APPENDIX. Scenarios for Measuring Ethical Decisions
Given below are four scenarios with the action performed
by the firm. Please read them carefully. For each scenario,
tell us how much you AGREE or DISAGREE with the
action that was performed.
Scenario 1
A person bought a new car from a franchised automobile
dealership in the local area. Eight months after the car was
purchased, he began having problems with the transmission.
He took the car back to the dealer, and some minor adjustments were made. During the next few months he continually had a similar problem with the transmission slipping.
Each time the dealer made only minor adjustments on the
car. Again, during the 13th month after the car had been
bought, the man returned to the dealer because the transmission still was not functioning properly. At this time, the
transmission was completely overhauled.
Action: Since the warranty was for only 1 year (12 months
from the date of purchase), the dealer charged the full price
for parts and labor.
Scenario 2
A young man, recently hired as a salesman for a local retail
store, has been working very hard to impress his boss favorably with his selling ability. At times, the young man, anxious
for an order, has been a little overeager. To get the order, he
exaggerates the value of the item or withholds relevant infor-
256
mation concerning the product he is trying to sell. No fraud or
deceit is intended by his actions, he is simply overeager.
Action: His boss, the owner of the retail store, is aware of
this salesman’s actions, but he has done nothing to stop
such practices.
Scenario 3
A retail grocery chain operates several stores throughout the
local area including one in the city’s ghetto area. Independent studies have shown that prices do tend to be higher and
there is less of a selection of products in this particular store
than in the other locations.
Action: On the day welfare checks are received in this area
of the city, the retailer increases prices on all of his merchandise.
Scenario 4
Sets of a well-known brand of “good” china dinnerware are
advertised on sale at a considerable discount by a local
retailer. Several patterns of a typical 45-piece service for
eight are listed. The customer may also buy any “odd’
pieces that are available in stock (for instance, a butter dish,
a gravy bowl, etc.). The ad does not indicate, however, that
these patterns have been discontinued by the manufacturer.
Action: The retailer offers this information only if the customer directly asks if the merchandise is discontinued.
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Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Personal Value Profiles and Ethical Business
Decisions
Sarath Nonis & Cathy O. Swift
To cite this article: Sarath Nonis & Cathy O. Swift (2001) Personal Value Profiles and
Ethical Business Decisions, Journal of Education for Business, 76:5, 251-256, DOI:
10.1080/08832320109599644
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832320109599644
Published online: 31 Mar 2010.
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Personal Value Profiles and
Ethical Business Decisions
SARATH NONE
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CATHY 0. SWIFT
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, Georgia
Arkansas State University
State University, Arkansas
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ABSTRACT. Most previous research
V
alues are “among the very few
social psychological concepts that
have been successfully employed across
all social disciplines” (Rokeach & BallRokeach, 1989, p. 775). Even though
values are a powerful influence on
human attitudes (Adler, 1991; Carman,
1977) and human behavior (Locke,
1976; Meglino & Ravlin, 1998), empirical focus on the importance of the value
construct has been limited. One reason
for this limited amount of research could
be the lack of consensus on the nature of
values themselves. According to Meglino and Ravlin (1998, p. 351), “There
continues to be a conspicuous lack of
agreement on what values are and how
they influence individuals.” For example, values have been considered to be
needs, personality types, motivations,
goals, attitudes, and interests (Rokeach,
1973; Williams, 1979).
Values are believed to be a powerful
force behind on the behavioral responses of individuals (Rokeach, 1973),
employee problems in the workplace
(Nord, Brief, Atieh, & Doherty, 1988),
and the significant increase in unethical
business practices (Barnett & Karson,
1987; Mitchell & Scott, 1990). However, most research conducted in the past
has focused on the effects of single values, thereby neglecting the complex
nature of value structures (Homer &
Kahle, 1988). For example, situational
studies regarding values have taken
one value at a time when investigating
the influence of values on ethical business decisionmaking. In the current
study, we examined the relationship
between personal value profiles (a
combination of value decisions) and
ethical decisionmaking. Our results
showed that value profiles do play a
role in the likelihood of a person’s
making an unethical business decision. Our study findings, implications,
and suggestions for future research are
also presented.
factors may cause different value
dimensions to have more or less of an
influence in different contexts. Unfortunately, very little research has been
designed to identify empirically these
mixes of value profiles and their relationships to key behavioral responses.
The purpose of this study was to fill this
void by examining the combination of
values (value profiles) used by individuals in their human behaviors. In addition, we evaluated the impact that an
individual’s value profile has on his or
her ability to make ethical business
decisions.
The term value has been defined as an
enduring prescriptive or proscriptive
belief that a specific end state of existence or a specific mode of conduct is
preferred to an opposite end state or
mode of conduct for living one’s life
(Kahle, 1983; Rokeach, 1968, 1973).
According to social adaptation theory
(Kahle, 1983; Piner & Kahle, 1984), values are the most abstract of the large
number of social cognitions that function to facilitate an individual’s adaptation to his or her environment. Therefore, values indicate modes of behaviors.
Values reflect the most basic characteristics of adaptation that guide individuals in deciding which situations
they should enter and what they should
do in them (Kahle, 1980). According to
Williams (1979), explicit and fully conceptualized values become the criteria
for judgment, preferences, and choices.
In addition, “actual selections of behavior result from concrete motivations in
specific situations which are partly
determined by prior beliefs and values
of the actor” (Williams, 1979, p. 20).
Values have been subdivided into
instrumental values (modes of behavior)
and terminal ones (values pursued for
their own sake; Rokeach, 1973). Whereas terminal values are self-sufficient end
states of existence that a person strives
to achieve (i.e., wisdom, a comfortable
life, knowledge), instrumental values
are modes of behaviors used day to day
(i.e., being helpful). However, a review
of the current literature indicates a
greater focus on values as modes of
behavior (instrumental values) rather
than as end states (terminal values;
Meglino & Ravlin, 1998).
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Rokeach’s (1973) terminal values
have been theorized further and empirically classified (Herche, 1994; Kahle,
1983; Veroff, Douvan, & Kulka, 1981).
Those researchers identified nine personal value dimensions: security, selfrespect, being well-respected, self-fulfillment,
sense
of
belonging,
excitement, fun and enjoyment, warm
relationships, and a sense of accomplishment. Research has shown that
these values influence behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and preferences in a
broad spectrum of situations (Corfman,
Lehmann, & Narayanan, 1991). For
example, differences in values have
been shown to relate to significant differences in a variety of behavioral outcomes: cigarette smoking (Grube, Weir,
Getzlaf, & Rokeach, 1984), cheating
during exams (Hensehl, 197l), political
attitudes and behaviors (Almond &
Verba, 1963), purchases (Vitell &
Muncy, 1992), choice of leisure activities (Beatty, Kahle, Homer, & Misra,
1985), job satisfaction (Ronen, 1978),
and ethical decisionmaking (Mitchell &
Scott, 1990) to mention a few.
Framework for Analysis
Values
Business Ethics
The rising interest in business ethics
among practitioners and scholars has
resulted in a growing number of empirical studies on ethical business practices
(Davis, Johnson, & Ohmer, 1998;
Duizend & McCann, 1998). However,
only a handful of these studies have
focused on the influence of work values
(Cressey & Moore, 1983; Mitchell &
Scott, 1990) and personal values (Barnett
& Karson, 1987) in business practices.
Those researchers found that differences
in individuals’ behavior as evidenced in
its ethics or legality could be predicted
according to their deeply-held work and
personal values. However, it is also plausible that individuals use value profiles (a
combination of value dimensions) when
making ethical decisions, rather than
using a single value dimension at a time.
Evaluation of prior research found that
most studies operationalize values, taking one at a time when investigating their
influence on ethical business decisionmaking. In this study, we attempted to fill
that gap by investigating the following
research question:
Is there a relationship between the
personal value profiles of individuals
and their likelihood of making unethical
business decisions?
accredited university in the mid-south.
The questionnaires were administered in
junior and senior level business classes,
and students were assured of confidentiality and anonymity. Forty-four percent
of the sample was male, and 56% was
female. Students, on average, were 24
years of age, had completed 94 credit
hours, and had a grade point average of
2.95. The sample consisted of students
majoring in a variety of business disciplines: marketing (34%), management
(1 8%), accounting and finance ( I 6%),
business administration (1 1 %), and
other business (2 1%). Sixty-five percent
of the respondents were employed part
time, 19% were employed full time, and
the rest were not employed.
The use of students as surrogates,
although appealing, has received wide
criticism because of evidence that students are not adequate substitutes for
the target population (Lamb & Stem,
1979; Rubenstein, 1982). However,
empirical comparisons of responses of
students and the general population
(Enis, Cox, & Stafford, 1972; Khera &
Benson, 1970; Sheth, 1970) have been
inconsistent. A recent empirical study
by Bergmann and Grahn (1 997) found
that students can be surrogates for general population representatives with
similar characteristics. The fact that
over 84% of our sample was employed
(part time or full time) demonstrates
that the sample was, in fact, appropriate.
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Even though several theoretical classifications of values exist (Allport, Vernon, & Lindzey, 1960; Brogden, 1952;
Kahle, 1983; Spranger, 1928), the most
widely known and applied method of
value measurement is attributed to
Rokeach (1973). Rokeach’s approach
focuses on personal values that influence
one’s behavior in day-to-day life.
Rokeach’s method of measuring values,
however, has been criticized because of
various concerns such as (a) information
loss because of rank ordering (ipsative
technique), (b) impossibility of ties, (c)
difficulty of the lengthy ranking tasks,
and (d) questionable relevance of the
values to daily life. A simplified list of
values similar to Rokeach’s has been
developed and tested (Herche, 1994;
Kahle, 1983; Veroff, Douvan, & Kulka,
1981). Several landmark studies have
used the simplified scale, which consistently has demonstrated more than adequate psychometric properties (Beatty et
al., 1985). The list of values consists of
252
nine value dimensions: security, selfrespect, being well-respected, self-fulfillment, sense of belonging, excitement,
fun and enjoyment, warm relationships,
and a sense of accomplishment.
As mentioned earlier, most relevant
studies have examined the influence of
these value dimensions by investigating
one value at a time. However, individuals will use different combinations of
values simultaneously in different circumstances. Therefore, our focus in the
current study was on an individual’s
value profile (a combination of value
dimensions) as opposed to each single
value dimension investigated separately.
Journal of Education for Business
Measurement
The questionnaire consisted of a
series of Likert-type statements for
multi-item measurement of values
(MILOV). The value construct was measured by 44 items developed by Herche
(1994) and capturing nine value dimensions. The reported alpha coefficients of
internal consistency for the value dimensions varied between .57 and .8 1.
For this study, we used a scenario
technique in the measurement of ethical
decisions. Four marketing ethics scenarios developed by Dornoff and
Tankersley (1975) were used to present
marketing problems such as warranty
and car repairs, product and pricing,
personal selling, and advertising claims
(Appendix). We measured ethical decisions by asking each respondent to rate,
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Method
Sample and Data Collection
Data were collected from a convenience sample of 134 undergraduate
business students attending an AACSB-
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on a 5-point scale ranging from 1
(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly
agree), his or her agreement with the
action depicted in each of the scenarios.
In the study reported by Dornoff and
Tankersley (1979, an overwhelming
majority of consumers (7 1%) disagreed
with the actions depicted in the scenarios. The degree of consumer nonacceptance of those actions could be taken as
representative of the degree to which
those actions are unethical. According
to this reasoning, a respondent’s disagreement with the scenario actions
(i.e., low ethical scores) means that his
or her ethical business decisionmaking
is more in line with consumers’ perceptions and thus is perhaps more ethical,
whereas agreeing with the actions (i.e.,
high ethical scores) implies decisionmaking that is more out of line with that
of consumers, and thus possibly more
unethical. Scenarios are used commonly as part of research instruments in
marketing ethics studies (Chonko &
Hunt, 1985; Laczniak, Lusch, & Strang,
198 1; Singhapakdi & Vitell, 1990).
Statistical Procedure
of values held, but also distinct patterns
in relative values. The value profiles
were labeled 1, 2, and 3 for discussion,
to facilitate discussion.
Value profile 1, characterizing 15%
(n = 20) of the sample, although small,
was distinctive. This group portrayed
high value dimensions for security, selffulfillment, excitement, fun and enjoyment, and sense of accomplishment,
and average scores for the value dimensions self-respect, being well-respected,
sense of belonging, and warm relationships with others. Therefore, this group
and $4 and were acceptable within the
guidelines provided by Nunnally (1978).
The cluster analysis of the nine-element
value vector uncovered a three-group taxonomy of value profiles. In Table 1, we
provide an overview of the value profiles,
showing their similarities and dissimilarities, the means, and the standard deviations for each of the value measures. The
mean value profiles are plotted in Figure
1 also, to facilitate comparisons.
Examination of Figure 1 reveals that
among the three value profiles, not only
are there differences in the magnitudes
TABLE 1. Means and Standard Deviations of Value Dimensions, by Value
Profile of Respondents
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The objectives of the analyses were
to (a) identify the value profiles used by
students in their day-to-day lives and (b)
evaluate the impact of the use of value
profiles on students’ propensity to make
ethical business decisions. In the first
stage, we used cluster analysis to develop an empirical taxonomy of the students’ value styles. The objective in this
stage was to identify value taxonomies
of students so that a similar pattern of
the nine value dimensions would be
exhibited within a group, whereas distinct ones would be seen among the different groups.
In the second stage of the analysis,
we used one-way analysis of variance to
examine the impact of different value
profiles on students’ propensity to make
ethical business decisions. The value
profiles were the predictor variable, and
the business decisions comprised the
four criterion variables.
Analysis and Results
The reliability coefficients for all nine
dimensions of values were between .66
Value profile
Value dimension
Security
Self-respect
Being well-respected
Self-fulfillment
Sense of belonging
Excitement
Fun and enjoyment
Warm relationships with others
Sense of accomplishment
Percentage of sample
1
2
Internally
driven
Externally
3
No ndriv en
M
SD
driven
M
SD
M
SD
4.46
4.27
3.72
3.96
4.51
4.37
4.61
4.51
4.60
.48
.58
.67
.63
.48
.40
.33
.34
.42
4.46
4.46
4.40
3.02
4.66
2.88
3.55
4.47
4.43
.54
.44
.47
.76
.37
.69
.64
.46
4.07
3.98
3.11
3.20
4.22
3.24
3.51
3.96
4.14
.44
21
15
.57
.49
.69
.61
.53
.58
.61
.45
.44
64
FIGURE 1. Mean of Each Value Dimension, by Value Profile
5
I
1 5 .
1 -
0 5 .
01
;
‘
:
’
;
’
;
’
:
’
;
.
Security Self-respect Being
SelfSense of Excitewell- fulfillment belonging ment
respected
;
Fun
.
;
.
;
RelationSense of
ships accomplishment
Value dimension
+ Internally driven
+ Nondriven
+Externally
driven
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of respondents was labeled “internally
driven” because its members scored
high on the internal value dimensions
and average on the external value
dimensions.
Value profile 2, characterizing 21%
(n = 28) of the sample, portrayed high
value dimensions for self-respect, being
well-respected, sense of belonging, and
warm relationships with others. Value
profile 2 members had average scores
on security, fun and enjoyment, and
sense of accomplishment; therefore, this
group was labeled “externally driven.”
Value profile 3 represented the largest
group of students ( n = 86, or 64% of the
sample). Perhaps the most notable feature of this group was the relatively low
score for each of the nine value dimensions. This group of respondents was
therefore labeled “nondriven.”
The profile of values differs not only
in the level of each value dimension but
also in pattern or style. Though the
internally driven and externally driven
profiles are similar to those identified
by Kahle (1983), the largest clusterthe nondriven group-denotes a new
value profile. Because of the importance
of this finding, we anlyzed it further.
Finally, even though the three summarizing labels for the influence mixes
oversimplify the complexity of value
profiles (see Figure l), they facilitate
subsequent discussion of the groups and
concisely depict some of the major
characteristics of the value mixes.
cal decision in three of the four cases.
This is evidenced by the mean values for
the three groups for ethical scenarios 1,
2, and 4. Though mean differences
among groups for ethical scenarios 1 and
4 were not statistically significant at the
.05 level because of high group variance
within groups, they would have been significant at the .10 level (see Table 2).
One reason for the high within-group
variance could be that, although the
respondents included students from a
wide variety of business disciplines, the
ethical scenarios were directed at the
marketing context only. The relatively
small sample in two of the three groups
also raises the issue of the lower statistical power that could result in failing to
reject a false null hypothesis (Sawyer &
Ball, 1981). Though the study findings
are modest, the results have implications
and provide direction for future research.
Discussion and Implications
Research has shown the drawbacks
of investigating values at the univariate
level by taking one value at a time.
When the impact that each value
dimension has on the other is disregarded, the complexity of an individual’s
value system remains unclear. In the
current study, we made an attempt to
clarify this issue within the area of ethical decisionmaking.
Cluster analysis resulted in three
groups of the nine values constituting
the MILOV scale. The three student
groups-internally
driven, externally
driven, and nondriven-were distin-
guished according to the corresponding
degree of the importance of self and of
others in their value fulfillment. Some of
these dimensions were relevant to ethical decisionmaking. Internally driven
individuals tend to need, as much as possible, control over all aspects of their
lives, including behaviors that relate to
ethical decisionmaking. These individuals are less likely to be persuaded by others to make unethical business decisions.
Externally driven students seem less
likely to make unethical business decisions because of their concern with
what others think of them.
Students in the “nondriven” category
do not seem to need to be in control. At
the same time, they are not concerned
with what others think of them. They
scored the lowest mean value in seven
out of the nine value dimensions.
Because this group constituted a majority of the sample, ethical training should
be directed at such individuals.
The low mean score for most value
dimensions in the nondriven group raises
the serious question of why a significant
portion of college students have yet to
develop personal values. Situations that
give rise to conflict in one’s value construct inevitably present themselves to students frequently. However, the influence
of personal values on decisionmaking in
these situations will be minimal for the
nondriven group. Many theorists and
researchers believe that an individual’s
values are hierarchically organized
according to their relative importance to
that individual (Locke, 1991; Ravlin &
Meglion, 1989; Rokeach, 1973). Accord-
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Value Profiles and Propensity to Make
Ethical Business Decisions
We used one-way analysis of variance
to achieve the second objective of this
study, to test whether there was a difference between the students’ value profiles
and their propensity to make ethical business decisions. Results are summarized
in Table 2. The only ethical decision that
was statistically significant (at the .05
level) among the value profiles was
found for ethical scenario no. 2 (p = .02).
Mean analysis of the four ethical scenarios shows that the externally driven
and internally driven students were consistently more likely to make ethical
business decisions than the nondriven
students were (see Table 2). In fact, the
nondriven group made the most unethi-
254
TABLE 2. Means and Standard Deviations for Propensity to Make Ethical
Business Decisions: Analysis of Variance Results
1
Internally
driven
Ethical scenario
Ethical scenario 1
Ethical scenario 2
Ethical scenario 3
Ethical scenario 4
Value profile
2
Externally
driven
3
Nondriven
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
1.30
2.05
1.75
2.25
.92
.89
1.25
1.25
1.18
1.71
1.25
2.07
.48
.76
.70
1.15
1.60
2.24
1.62
2.60
.99
.87
.96
1.05
zyx
t
P
2.73
.07**
.02*
.I4
.07**
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Journal of Education for Business
* p < .05.
**p < .lo.
4.00
2.02
2.76
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ing to Locke (1991, p. 291), “since a person can only take, in effect, one action at
a time, a person who did not have any
hierarchy of values would be paralyzed by
conflict and would be unable to act at all
or to sustain an action once taken.” Therefore, future studies conducted in other college and work environments should focus
on whether this result is a common phenomenon among contemporary college
students as well as individuals in general.
The current study’s findings demonstrate that value profiles play a role in
the likelihood of a person’s making an
unethical business decision. However,
the scope of the role is still unknown.
According to social adaptation theory
(Kahle, 1983; Piner & Kahle, 1984), values are types of social cognitions that
function to enable an individual to adapt
to his or her environment. It is possible
that both internally driven and externally driven individuals may have had more
opportunity to use certain value profiles
than the nondriven individuals have.
Therefore, future studies should investigate the influence of a third variable
(e.g., age, work experience, parental
influence) on the relationship between
value profiles and (un)ethical decisionmaking. These findings will have implications for individuals’ development of
values. However, more research is needed to evaluate the various alternative
explanations of the present findings.
We hope that this exploratory study
will stimulate further research on value
profiles and key attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. Future studies conducted in different settings (e.g., different
work environments) and using larger
samples should make an attempt to validate these initial study findings. Certainly, the gaps in our knowledge of values are too important to be ignored.
investigation. Journal of Business Ethics, 6,
371-382.
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APPENDIX. Scenarios for Measuring Ethical Decisions
Given below are four scenarios with the action performed
by the firm. Please read them carefully. For each scenario,
tell us how much you AGREE or DISAGREE with the
action that was performed.
Scenario 1
A person bought a new car from a franchised automobile
dealership in the local area. Eight months after the car was
purchased, he began having problems with the transmission.
He took the car back to the dealer, and some minor adjustments were made. During the next few months he continually had a similar problem with the transmission slipping.
Each time the dealer made only minor adjustments on the
car. Again, during the 13th month after the car had been
bought, the man returned to the dealer because the transmission still was not functioning properly. At this time, the
transmission was completely overhauled.
Action: Since the warranty was for only 1 year (12 months
from the date of purchase), the dealer charged the full price
for parts and labor.
Scenario 2
A young man, recently hired as a salesman for a local retail
store, has been working very hard to impress his boss favorably with his selling ability. At times, the young man, anxious
for an order, has been a little overeager. To get the order, he
exaggerates the value of the item or withholds relevant infor-
256
mation concerning the product he is trying to sell. No fraud or
deceit is intended by his actions, he is simply overeager.
Action: His boss, the owner of the retail store, is aware of
this salesman’s actions, but he has done nothing to stop
such practices.
Scenario 3
A retail grocery chain operates several stores throughout the
local area including one in the city’s ghetto area. Independent studies have shown that prices do tend to be higher and
there is less of a selection of products in this particular store
than in the other locations.
Action: On the day welfare checks are received in this area
of the city, the retailer increases prices on all of his merchandise.
Scenario 4
Sets of a well-known brand of “good” china dinnerware are
advertised on sale at a considerable discount by a local
retailer. Several patterns of a typical 45-piece service for
eight are listed. The customer may also buy any “odd’
pieces that are available in stock (for instance, a butter dish,
a gravy bowl, etc.). The ad does not indicate, however, that
these patterns have been discontinued by the manufacturer.
Action: The retailer offers this information only if the customer directly asks if the merchandise is discontinued.
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Journal of Education for Business