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Ethics/Virtues and Consequences: An Exploratory Study of Regional Small Businesses in Developed and Emerging Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Samanthala Hettihewa

    (Federation Business School, Federation University, Australia)

  • Lori S. Kopp

    (Dhillon School of Business, University of Lethbridge, Canada)

  • Christopher S. Wright

    (The Institute of International Studies, Australia)

Abstract

This research examines the ethics of Australian, Canadian, and Sri Lankan regional small businesses (Regional-SBs) in terms of how they perceive their duties to society, customers, employees, and the environment. A questionnaire compares the stated ethics of Regional-SB entrepreneurs with their preferences and with firm and entrepreneur attributes. We then analzye the long-term effects of ethics by regressing firm ethics and key attributes against the perceived level of financial difficulty and firm age. The lack of clear divides in East-West or gender ethics may be an artefact of the education system. A key finding of this study is that, while Regional-SBs in Australia, Canada, and Sri Lanka have a strong, consistent understanding of civic duties and duties to customers, they appear to have a poor and uneven understanding of duty to employees and of environmental duty. Future research can extend this topic by evaluating what influences Regional-SB ethical choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Samanthala Hettihewa & Lori S. Kopp & Christopher S. Wright, 2019. "Ethics/Virtues and Consequences: An Exploratory Study of Regional Small Businesses in Developed and Emerging Countries," International Journal of Business and Economics, School of Management Development, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, vol. 18(1), pages 17-40, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ijb:journl:v:18:y:2019:i:1:p:17-40
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    ethics; virtues; small business; developed and emerging countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Y9 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Other

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