Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate components of the ethical decision making process with an emphasis on issue recognition, moral reasoning level and decisional intentions of individual decision makers. A comparison of employees at the middle management, supervisory and non-managerial level was made utilizing Rest's Defining Issues Test, Dornoff and Tankersley's Survey Instrument and demographic data. ;Findings suggest that a strong relationship exists between the recognition of an ethical component within a scenario and decisional intention of the individual. Support was not indicated for the premise that there is a relationship between moral reasoning and decisional intentions nor for the supposition that individual moral reasoning level will vary with organizational level. The possible influence of gender and organizational level on the ethical decision making process was also not supported. ;This study indicates that testing of theoretical components of ethical decision models is necessary particularly with issue recognition and decisional intentions. Implications as to the training of individuals is also indicated