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Code of ethics and moral awareness ; A study about the relationship between code of ethics and moral awareness and the moderating impact of locus of control

Doan, Hanh Thi Duc; Stallemo, Ihna
Master thesis
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URI
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2444130
Date
2016
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  • Master of Science [1116]
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of code of ethics

on moral sensitivity of individuals and evaluate whether individual differences such

as locus of control have any effect on this relationship. Although code of ethics has

been argued to have significant effect on moral awareness and acts as a moral

reminder (Pflugrath, Martinov-Bennie & Chen, 2007; Ariely, 2012), there is an

ongoing debate regarding its effectiveness in promoting ethical behaviours in

organisations as the research evidence is found to be mixed (Loe, Ferrell &

Mansfield, 2000; O’Fallon & Butterfield, 2005; Craft, 2013). Additionally, to our

knowledge, there is no empirical research on the moderating effect of locus of

control in ethical decision making literature.

The study was conducted by sending a survey questionnaire consisted of

measures of moral awareness and locus of control to 500 individuals who are

students at BI Norwegian Business School and University of Oslo as well as people

from our social and professional network.

Results of this study show that code of ethics is not significantly related to

moral awareness. On the other hand, locus of control was found to have significant

moderating effect on the level of moral awareness one has when a reminder of code

of ethics was presented. Individuals with external locus of control tend to be less

ethically sensitive than those who have internal locus of control. This finding has

confirmed what previous studies have found regarding the relationship between

locus of control and moral awareness (Ho, 2010), and has raised a question

concerning the effectiveness of code of ethics itself in navigating ethical behaviours.

The academic and practical contribution of this study is to reflect on the

effectiveness of code of ethics in organisations. Such reflection is relevant for the

mainstream research on code of ethics and is necessary for organisation´s rethinking

of their use of code of ethics as a fulfilment of external expectations.

Keywords: moral awareness, code of ethics, locus of control, ethical decision making
Description
Masteroppgave(MSc) in Master of Science in Leadership and Organizational Psychology - Handelshøyskolen BI, 2016
Publisher
BI Norwegian Business School

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