Ethical decision-making in Australian SMEs: a field study

ABSTRACT

Small business managers increasingly face decisions with ethical implications. It is therefore important to consider ethical decision-making processes in SMEs. Previous studies have shown that SME managers face additional hurdles and that they have fewer tools available to help them. This study of owners and managers of Australian SMEs, confirms that their decision-making process accords with James Rest's Four-Component Model (FCM). The study found that all four components of Rest's model were observable in the majority of the incidents raised by managers. This has important implications for developing a useful tool in the training and development programmes of SME managers.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethical decision-making
• SME managers
• Rest’s Four-Component Model
• business ethics
• management development
• ethical dilemmas
• Australia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.