Trevino’s person-specific interactionist model Trevino’s (1986) model postulates that ethical decision-making decision -making within an organisation is based on the interaction of cognitions, individual moderators and situational moderators, as illustrated in Figure 10.1. Trevino’s model uses Kohlberg’s stages of moral development in the cognition stage in providing a basis from which to examine the individual and situational factors that make his approach unique. The three main aspects of her model are explained below.
Figure 10.1 Interactions model of ethical decision-making in organisations S o u r c e : Trevino, 1986
Cognitions Individuals react to a specific ethical situation through cognitions that are a function of the person’s stage of moral development, as defined by Kohlberg (see above), under the premise that each stage provides the basis from which to think about what is right or wrong in the context of the ethical dilemma (most adults in society operate at stages 3 or 4 according to research, as noted above). In general, Kohlberg thought that the reasons used to justify an ethical decision became more sophisticated with development. So, the longer someone serves in a capacity such as the work environment, thus gaining work experience, the more stimulus is created to further his or her level of moral development. Individual moderators Three individual moderators – moderators – ego strength, field dependence and
locus of control, are suggested to influence the likelihood of a person to act on the cognitions regarding what is ethical or unethical, as noted above. Individuals who are high on ego strength are said to resist impulses and follow their intuitions regarding what is right or wrong they are more likely to act on what they think is right or wrong – than those who are low on this measure. Individuals deemed to be field dependent are those who more typically refer to the guidance of others in determining what is right or wrong. The opposite of this, field independent, includes individuals who function with more autonomy than their counterparts. Individuals who are at the conventional level of moral development, or lower, are said to rely on field independence in moderating the relationship between moral cognition and moral action. The last factor, locus of control, is a measure of the control that one exerts in his or her life. Externals are those who rely on other forces for guidance and are less likely to take personal responsibility for their actions; whereas internals believe that outcomes are a result of their own efforts or powers.
Situational moderators Trevino identifies three categories of situational moderators. The first, immediate job context, makes reference to the fact that ethical behaviour is not just individualistic but subject to the pressures and interactions that take place at work. Reinforcement contingencies (rewards and punishments) and other external pressures, which include things such as personal costs (e.g. people under great time pressure), are said to have an impact on individual moral behaviour. The second category, organisational culture, also plays a role in determining ethical behaviour through the normative structure of the firm (the norms that guide behaviour), referent others (important and influential people in the firm), obedience to authority, responsibility for consequences, and the development of codes of ethics to guide behaviour. The third category, characteristics of the work, is illustrative of the notion that role taking and responsibility for the resolution of moral conflict are contributing factors to the continuation of moral development within the individual, and thus need to be encouraged. Although extensive, Trevino offers the following propositions in further articulating the relationships between her three categories and individuals in the workplace: (1) The majority of managers reason about work-related ethical dilemmas at the conventional level (stages 3 and 4). (2) Managers at the principled moral reasoning level (stages 5 and 6) will exhibit significantly more consistency between moral judgement and moral action than those at lower stages. (3) Managers’ moral judgements in actual work-related decision situations will be lower (in the cognitive moral development stage) than
their judgements in response to hypothetical dilemmas. (4) Moral judgement development scores will be significantly higher for managers with higher levels of education than managers with lower levels of education. (5) Participants (students or managers) in ethics training programmes based on cognitive moral development training strategies will exhibit significant pre-test to post-test increases in moral judgement development scores. (6) Managers with high ego strength will exhibit more consistency between moral judgement and moral action than those with low ego strength. (7) Field independent managers will exhibit more consistency between moral judgement and moral action than field dependent managers. (8) Managers whose locus of control is internal will exhibit more consistency between moral judgement and moral action than managers whose locus of control is external. (9) Conventional level (stages 3 and 4) managers will be most susceptible to situational influences on ethical/unethical behaviour. (10) Principled (stages 5 and 6) managers will be more likely to resist, attempt to change, or select themselves out of unethical situations. (11) In a culture that has a strong normative structure, there will be more agreement among organisational members about what is appropriate (ethical) or inappropriate (unethical) behaviour. (12) In a weak culture, organisation members are more likely to rely on subculture norms for guidance regarding ethical/unethical behaviour. (13) Managers’ ethical/unethical behaviour will be influenced significantly by the behaviour of referent others. (14) Managers’ ethical behaviour will be influenced significantly by the demands of authority figures. (15) Correspondence between moral judgement and action is significantly higher where the organisational culture encourages the individual manager to be aware of the consequences of his or her actions and to take responsibility for them. (16) Codes of ethics will affect ethical/unethical behaviour significantly only if they are consistent with the organisational culture and are enforced. (17) Managers’ ethical/unethical behaviour will be influenced significantly by reinforcement contingencies. (18) Managers’ ethical behaviour will be influenced negatively by external pressures of time, scarce resources, competition or personal costs. The model is an important one because it directly li nks the cognitive and behavioural approaches based on individual and situational factors in a comprehensive fashion. In this light, the emphasis is on the value of understanding how people search outside themselves for the required guidance in attempting to solve ethical dilemmas.
