A Test of U.S. versus Germanic European Ethical Decision-Making and Perceptions of Moral Intensity: Could Ethics Differ within Western Culture?

In business, many companies operate multiple divisions in varied parts of the world resulting in managers' needs to integrate differences in employees' culture into successful models of control. Two such cultures, represented by the U.S. and Germanic Europe (G.E.) (i.e., Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and German speaking Switzerland (House et at, 2004)), are interwoven in countless ways and enjoy a long history of cross-national partnerships and strategic alliances among their organizations (Martin et al, 2009). Even though many societies see the U.S. and G.E. belonging to Western culture, U.S. moral values differ from those of G.E. in many important ways (Pew Research Center, 2011) and thus shape the management of organizations differently in U.S. versus G.E. companies. This is important to both cultures as international trade and expansion of industries between the U.S. and G.E. continues at a brisk pace. With increasing globalization, understanding unethical conduct through a cross-national lens becomes increasingly important (Cullen et al., 2004). In the business world when members of different cultures are faced with cultural or ethical dilemmas, individuals will frequently use their own cultural value systems to make ethical decisions (Resick et al., 2011). While studies in business ethics have identified both similarities and differences in moral attitudes and behavior across cultures, Husted el al. (1996) suggest considering the impact of moral intensity when investigating moral reasoning as one situation may be perceived differently in ethical terms by different cultures. Similarly, Jones (1991) suggests the ethical intensity of a moral dilemma (i.e., moral intensity) plays a direct part in ethical decision-making. Thus, the more morally intense a dilemma is determined to be, the more enhanced ethical decision-making should become. As perceived moral intensity may be different between individuals from the U.S. versus individuals from G.E., U.S. nationals may perceive the salience of an ethical dilemma differently than Germanic Europeans which may impact their ethical judgment and behavior in different ways. For example, U.S. firms operate from a more individualistic perception, such that workers and employees watch out first for themselves (Resick et al., 2011) and act in a manner that benefits the firm, but protects the self (House et al., 2004; Hofstede, 2001). As a consequence, U.S. managers will make decisions focusing on self, even if it harms personal or familial relationships (Resick et al, 2011). By contrast, G.E. firms, less individualistic in nature, are predicted to recognize some kind of moral obligation within the context of business to care for employees during employment and into retirement (e.g., socialized health care, retirement, etc.). As such, loyalty from employees is likely and could potentially hamper an individual's ability to make an independent decision regarding values or ethics (House et al., 2004). Individuals working in U.S. firms are also more likely to "blow the whistle" than Germanic Europeans when they discover unethical or immoral behavior (Hassink et al., 2007). This is especially true in the U.S. since the passage of 2002 legislation known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires publicly listed companies to provide protection for whistle-blowers and mandates audit committees establish whistle-blowing procedures (Lee and Fargher, 2013). By contrast, Hassink et al. (2007) found no whistleblowing provisions in codes of behavior of multiple firms in G.E. Instead words like "should" or "can" were used to suggest possible courses of action for workers discovering ethical infractions. They indicated, however, that the Netherlands instituted national Corporate Governance Codes (i.e., Tabaksblat Code) consisting of general ethical principles along with additional best practices provisions. Also, the Swiss Federal Banking System issued a draft circular with a whistleblowing clause but it was subsequently rejected by the Swiss Bankers Association (Hassink al. …