Comparing business ethics in Russia and the US

Abstract

In this comparative survey of seventy-three Russians and ninety-two US managers, we explore differences and similarities in ethical decision-making among respondents from these two countries within a business context. Using Reidenbach and Robin's (1988) multi-criteria ethics instrument, we examined whether business people in Russia and the US differed in their judgement of the ethical content of business decisions. Russia and the US provide an interesting comparison because of the extreme differences in their cultural characteristics as well as in their economies and related business development. Our results indicate that, while Americans, in general, tended to assess certain actions as less ethical when applying utilitarian or justice criteria, the ethical judgements of the two groups differed by situation and by criteria employed.

Keywords:

• Russia
• justice
• business
• ethics
• national culture
• US
• utilitarianism

Notes

Rafik I. Beekun, Professor of Management and Strategy, University of Nevada, Reno, Managerial Sciences Department 28, Reno, NV 89557-0206, USA (tel: [phone] ext. 303; fax: [phone]; email:[email protected]). Yvonne Stedham, Professor of Management, University of Nevada, Reno, Managerial Sciences Department 28, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557-0206, USA (tel: [phone] ext. 315; fax: [phone]; email:[email protected]). Jeanne H. Yamamura, Associate Professor of Accounting, University of Nevada, Reno, Department of Accounting and CIS 26, Reno, NV 89557-0205, USA (tel: [phone]; fax: [phone]; email:[email protected]). Jamal A. Barghouti, Senior Staff Engineer, Dubai Petroleum Company, PO Box 2222, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (tel: [phone]; fax: [phone]; email:[email protected]).