How Important Are Ethics and Social Responsibility?
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How important are ethics and social responsibility?
A multinational study of marketing professionals
Anusorn Singhapakdi and Kiran Karande
College of Business and Public Administration, Old Dominion University, Virginia, USA
How important are ethics?
133
Received September 1998 Revised March 1999 June 1999 September 1999
College of Administrative Sciences, Kuwait University, Safat, Kuwait, and School of Business Administration, University of Mississippi, USA
Keywords International marketing, Ethics, Social responsibility, National cultures, Consumer behaviour Abstract States that in the present era of global marketing, as more companies enter international markets, ethical problems are likely to increase. As companies and their managers deal with their counterparts in different countries, there is a need to understand the latter 's ethical decision-making processes. Divergence in ethical behavior and attitudes of marketing professionals across cultures can be explained by, among other variables, differences in perceptions regarding the importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness. This study investigates the variation in those perceptions among marketing professionals from Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, and the USA. The variation is explained by country differences (cultural differences, differences in the economic environment, and differences in legal/political environment), organizational ethical climate, and selected demographic characteristics of the marketer (gender and age).
C.P. Rao
Scott J. Vitell
Introduction The study of ethics has become increasingly important with global business expansion, because of an increase in ethical and social responsibility ± concerns that businesses face
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com/ft
How important are ethics and social responsibility?
A multinational study of marketing professionals
Anusorn Singhapakdi and Kiran Karande
College of Business and Public Administration, Old Dominion University, Virginia, USA
How important are ethics?
133
Received September 1998 Revised March 1999 June 1999 September 1999
College of Administrative Sciences, Kuwait University, Safat, Kuwait, and School of Business Administration, University of Mississippi, USA
Keywords International marketing, Ethics, Social responsibility, National cultures, Consumer behaviour Abstract States that in the present era of global marketing, as more companies enter international markets, ethical problems are likely to increase. As companies and their managers deal with their counterparts in different countries, there is a need to understand the latter 's ethical decision-making processes. Divergence in ethical behavior and attitudes of marketing professionals across cultures can be explained by, among other variables, differences in perceptions regarding the importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness. This study investigates the variation in those perceptions among marketing professionals from Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, and the USA. The variation is explained by country differences (cultural differences, differences in the economic environment, and differences in legal/political environment), organizational ethical climate, and selected demographic characteristics of the marketer (gender and age).
C.P. Rao
Scott J. Vitell
Introduction The study of ethics has become increasingly important with global business expansion, because of an increase in ethical and social responsibility ± concerns that businesses face
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