違反企業道德的行為者、決策者及行為類型對道德判斷的影響

Abstract

企業不道德行為的事件不僅可能危害到消費大眾，更可能會傷害企業自己的生存與發展。本研究的目的即在探討一個企業中的個人在碰到隱含有道德意涵的決策時，道德議題的決策者（個人、企業）、不道德行為的類型（採取行為、採取不行為）、以及不道德決策的行為者（他人、自己）等三個變數是否會對該個體的道德判斷產生影響；並探討一個企業中的個人在做出一個道德或不道德決定背後所持有的理由（道德推理）為何。受試者為86位教育程度在高中以上的在職人員，企業倫理決策情境係以故事的方式呈現給受試者，每一則故事皆是在描述一個企業或企業中的個人在面臨道德兩難的決策時，最後做出了不道德的決定；故事的道德議題包含謊報績效、削價競爭…等。就受試者對不道德行為的接受度的評量而言，結果發現，當不道德行為是屬於企業經營團隊「採取行為」的類型時，受試者對該不道德行為的接受程度最高，而當不道德行為是屬於企業中的個人「採取行為」的類型時，則接受程度最低。研究也發現，在四個兩難的企業倫理問題中，受試者的道德判斷相當不一致，且79％以上的受試者所做的選擇是偏向不道德的選項。分析受試者的道德推理內容發現，當受試者從企業中的個人的角度出發時，道德決策才比較會考慮到道義觀點；當受試者是以企業決策團隊的角度出發時，企業的道德決策則近乎一半其實是僅以公司長期利益為考量的。另一方面，當企業或企業中的個人做出不道德決策時，則幾乎都是以公司或個人的短期利益為考量。

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of decision-maker of a moral issue (individual or enterprise), the type of unmoral behavior (Commission or Omission), and the actor of unmoral decision (other or self) on the moral judgment of an individual in an organizational setting. Four of eight cases describing a person (or a management team) committing an unethical decision (or avoiding making an ethical decision) were presented to 86 subjects, all were full-time employed. Participants were asked to rate the acceptability of behavior in each case and then chose between two possible course of actions if he/she were the decision maker in the story. Results showed that subjects tended to show higher approval of an unethical behavior of commission type when it was a decision made by a management team, in comparison to an unethical behavior of commission type made by an individual. Besides, in organizational setting, a large number of people (79%) would choose an unethical option for the prospect of creating greater benefits for the organization. However, when an individual makes an ethical choice, the reason behind it is usually for the sake of social justice or the long-term benefits of the organization. In contrast, when making an unethical choice, the reason is mostly grounded on the short-term or long-term benefits of an organization.