Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T02:52:05.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Lying: The Impact of Decision Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

William T. Ross Jr  and
Diana C. Robertson
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

This study tests the usefulness of a person-situation interactionist framework in examining the willingness of a salesperson to lie to get an order. Using a survey of 389 salespersons, our results demonstrate that organizational relationships influence willingness to lie. Specifically, salespersons are less willing to lie to their own company than to their customer, than to a channel partner, and finally, than to a competitor firm. Furthermore, respondents from firms with a clear and positive ethical climate are less willing to lie. Finally, our study finds that interactions between personality factors, such as high Machiavellianism and high self-monitoring, and situational factors have an impact on willingness to lie. Our results suggest that firms can take steps to influence employee ethical behavior.

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , April 2000 , pp. 409 - 440
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Addelman, S. 1962. Orthogonal Main-Effect Plans for Asymmetrical Factorial Experiments. Technometrics 4: 21–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, N. H. 1974. Information, Integration Theory: A Brief Survey. In Contemporary Developments in Mathematical Psychology, Vol. 2, Ed. Krantz, H. et al. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Bellizi, J. A. and Hite, R. F. 1989. Supervising Unethical Sales Force Behavior. Journal of Marketing 53: 36–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhattacharya, C. B. and Hayagreeva, R. 1996. In or Out?: Repeat Buying Decisions in Membership Contexts. Goizeuta Business School (Emory University) working paper.Google Scholar
Bhattacharya, C.B.; Hayagreeva, R.; and Glynn, M. A. 1995. Understanding the Bond of Identification: An Investigation of its Correlates Among Art Museum Members. Journal of Marketing 59: 46–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blumberg, P. I. 1985. Corporate Responsibility and the Employees Duty of Loyalty and Obedience: A Preliminary Inquiry. In Contemporary Issues in Business Ethics, ed. Desjardins, J. R. and McCall, J. J.Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Publishing Co. Pp. 291–295.Google Scholar
Bok, S. 1978. Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Center for Business Ethics. 1992. Instilling Ethical Values in Large Corporations. Journal of Business Ethics 11: 863–867.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chonko, L. B. and Burnett, J. J. 1983. Measuring the Importance of Ethical Situations as a Source of Role Conflict: A Survey of Salespeople, Sales Managers, and Sales Support Personnel. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 3: 41–47.Google Scholar
Christie, R., and Geis, F. L. 1970. Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Creyer, E. H., and Ross, W. T. Jr. 1996. The Impact of Corporate Behavior on Perceived Product Value. Marketing Letters 7: 173–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donaldson, T., and Dunfee, T. W. 1994. Toward a Unified Conception of Business Ethics: Integrative Social Contracts Theory. Academy of Management Review 19: 252–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubinsky, A. J., and Ingram, T. N. 1984. Correlates of Salespeople’s Ethical Conduct: An Exploratory Investigation. Journal of Business Ethics 3: 343–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubinsky, A.J.; Berkowitz, E.N.; and Rudelius, W. 1980. Ethical Problems of Field Sales Personnel. MSU Business Topics 2: 11–16.Google Scholar
Dubinsky, A.; Marvin, I.J.; Jolson, A.; Michaels, R.E.; Kotabe, M.; and Lim, C. U. 1992. Ethical Perceptions of Field Sales Personnel: An Empirical Assessment. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 22: 9–21.Google Scholar
Duska, R. F. 1992. Why Be a Loyal Agent? A Systemic Ethical Analysis. In Ethics and Agency Theory, ed. Bowie, N. E. and Freeman, R. E.New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dutton, J. E. and Dukerich, J. M. 1991. Keeping an Eye on the Mirror: The Role of Image and Identity in Organizational Adaptation. Academy of Management Journal 34: 517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dutton, J.E.; Dukerich, J.M.; and Harquail, C. V. 1994. Organizational Images and Member Identification. Administrative Science Quarterly 39: 239–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falkenberg, L. and Herremans, I. 1995. Ethical Behaviors in Organizations: Directed by the Formal or the Informal Systems? Journal of Business Ethics 14: 133–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ford, R. C. and Richardson, W. D. 1994. Ethical Decision Making: A Review of the Empirical Literature. Journal of Business Ethics 13: 205–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
French, P. A. 1984. Collective and Corporate Responsibility. New York: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garrett, T. M. and Klonoski, R. J. 1986. Business Ethics. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.Google Scholar
Goodpaster, K. E. 1984. Ethics in Management. Boston: Harvard Business School.Google Scholar
Green, P. E., and Wind, Y. 1975. New Way to Measure Consumers’ Judgments. Harvard Business Review 53: 107–117.Google Scholar
Grover, S. L. 1993. Lying, Deceit, and Subterfuge: A Model of Dishonesty in the Workplace. Organization Science 4: 478–495.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, D. T. and Schneider, B. 1972. Correlations of Organizational Identification as a Function of Career Pattern and Organizational Type. Administrative Science Quarterly 17: 340–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hans, V. P. and Lofquist, W. S. 1992. Jurors’ Judgments of Business Liability in Tort Cases: Implications for the Litigation Explosion Debate. Law and Society Review 26: 85–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hegarty, W. H. and Sims, H. P. 1978. Some Determinants of Unethical Decision Behavior: An Experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology 63: 451–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higginson, R. 1995. Focus: Moral Responsibility to Competitors. Business Ethics: A European Review 4: 212–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huber, J., and James, W. 1976. The Monetary Worth of Physical Attributes: A Dollarmetric Approach. Krannert Graduate School of Management (Purdue) Working Paper #579.Google Scholar
Hunt, S. D. and Chonko, L. B. 1984. Marketing and Machiavellianism. Journal of Marketing 48: 30–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, T. M. 1991. Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model. Academy of Management Review 16: 366–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kilduff, M. and Day, D. V. 1994. Do Chameleons Get Ahead? The Effects of Self-Monitoring on Managerial Careers. Academy of Management Journal 37: 1047–1060.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kurland, N. B. 1991. The Ethical Implications of the Straight-Commission Compensation System—An Agency Perspective. Journal of Business Ethics 10: 757–766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kurland, N. B. 1996. Trust, Accountability, and Sales Agents’ Dueling Loyalties. Business Ethics Quarterly 6: 289–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laczniak, G. R. and Inderrieden, E. J. 1987. The Influence of Stated Organizational Concern upon Ethical Decision Making. Journal of Business Ethics 6: 297–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mathews, M. C. 1988. Strategic Intervention in Organizations: Resolving Ethical Dilemmas. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
May, L. 1987. The Morality of Groups. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
McCabe, D.L.; Treviño, L.K.; and Butterfield, K. D. 1996. The Influence of Collegiate and Corporate Codes of Conduct on Ethics-Related Behavior in the Workplace. Business Ethics Quarterly 6: 461–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, S. A. and McDonald, R. A. 1995. The Role of Moral Intensity in Moral Judgments: An Empirical Investigation. Journal of Business Ethics 14: 715–726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, P. E. 1989. Creating Ethical Corporate Structures. Sloan Management Review 30: 81–87.Google Scholar
Murphy, P. F. 1995. Corporate Ethics Statements: Current Status and Future Prospects. Journal of Business Ethics 14: 727–740.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nunnally, J. C. 1967. Psychometric Theory, 1st ed. New York: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Nunnally, J. C. 1978. Psychometric Theory, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Randall, D. M., and Gibson, A. M. 1990. Methodology in Business in Business Ethics Research. A Review and Critical Assessment. Journal of Business Ethics 9: 457–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reibstein, D.; Bateson, J. E.G.; and Boulding, W. 1988. Conjoint Analysis Reliability: Empirical Findings. Marketing Science 7: 271–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, D. C. 1993. Empiricism in Business Ethics: Suggested Research Directions. Journal of Business Ethics 4: 617–644.Google Scholar
Robertson, D. C. and Anderson, E. 1993. Control System and Task Environment Effects on Ethical Judgment: An Exploratory Study of Industrial Salespeople. Organization Science 4: 617–644.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, D. C. and Ross, W. T. Jr. 1995. Decision-Making Processes on Ethical Issues: the Impact of a Social Contract Perspective. Business Ethics Quarterly 5: 213–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singhapakdi, A. and Vitell, S. J. 1990. Marketing Ethics: Factors Influencing Perceptions of Ethical Problems and Alternatives. Journal of Macromarketing 10: 4–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snyder, M. 1974. Self-Monitoring of Expressive Behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 30: 526–537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snyder, M. and Copeland, J. 1989. Self-monitoring Processes in Organizational Settings. In Impression Management in the Organization, ed. Giacalone, R. A. and Rosenfeld, P., pp. 7–19. Hillsdale N.J.: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Spekman, R. E. and Salmond, D. 1992. A Working Consensus to Collaborate: A Field Study of Manufacturer-Supplier Dyads. Working Paper No. 92-134. Cambridge, Mass.: Marketing Science Institute.Google Scholar
Treviño, L. K. 1986. Ethical Decision Making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interactionist Model. Academy of Management Review 11: 601–617.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treviño, L. K. 1990. A Cultural Perspective on Changing and Developing Organizational Ethics. Research in Organizational Change and Development 4: 195–230.Google Scholar
Treviño, L. K. and Youngblood, S. 1990. Bad Apples in Bad Barrels: A Causal Analysis of Ethical Decision-Making Behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology 75: 378–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Triandis, H. C. 1989. The Self and Social Behavior in Differing Cultural Contexts. Psychological Review 96: 506–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vitell, S. J. and Singhapakdi, A. 1991. Factors Influencing the Perceived Importance of Stakeholder Groups in Situations Involving Ethical Issues. Business and Professional Ethics Journal 10, no. 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weaver, G. R. 1993. Corporate Codes of Ethics: Purpose, Process and Content Issues. Business and Society 32: 44–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weitz, B. A. 1981. Effectiveness in Sales Interactions: A Contingency Framework. Journal of Marketing 45: 85–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wittink, D. R. and Cattin, p. 1989. Commercial Use of Conjoint Analysis: An Update. Journal of Marketing 53: 91–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zey-Ferrell, M. K. and Ferrell, O. C. 1982. Role-Set Configuration and Opportunity as Predictors of Unethical Behavior in Organizations. Human Relations 35: 587–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar