Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T09:08:13.206Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Adapting Kohlberg to Enhance the Assessment of Managers’ Moral Reasoning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

James Weber
James Weber*
Affiliation:
Marquette University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents an adaptation of Lawrence Kohlberg's Moral Judgment Interview and Standard Issue Scoring method. The adaptation emphasizes four points: (1) a mixture of less familiar and more familiar moral dilemmas, (2) followup questions which probe managers’ moral reasoning by focusing upon key organizational values, (3) the flexibility of utilizing either an oral or written interview method, and (4) a simpler, yet reliable, system for scoring the managers’ responses and identifying their stage of moral reasoning. An empirical investigation found that each adaptation could enhance the assessment of managers’ moral reasoning.

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , July 1991 , pp. 293 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

CavanaghS. J., G. F. S. J., G. F. & Fritzsche, D. J. 1985. Using Vignettes in Business Ethics Research. In Preston, LE (Ed.) Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy: 279–293. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Colby, A. & Kohlberg, L. 1987. The Measurement of Moral Judgment, Volume I: Theoretical Foundations and Research Validations. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Colby, A., Kohlberg, L., Gibbs, J. & Lieberman, M. 1983. A Longitudinal Study of Moral Judgment. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 48 (1,2), Series #200: 1–107.Google Scholar
Duska, R. & Whalen, M. 1975. Moral Development. New York: Paulist Press.Google Scholar
Frederick, W.C. 1987. Introduction: The Empirical Dimension of Business Ethics and Values. In Frederick, W. C. (Ed.) Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy: vii–xi. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Freeman, S. J. M. and Giebink, J. W. 1979. Moral Judgment as a Function of Age, Sex, and Stimulus, The Journal of Psychology, 102: 43–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilligan, C. 1982. In a Different Voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hosmer, L. T. 1987. The Ethics of Management Homewood, IL: Irwin.Google Scholar
Kohlberg, L. 1971. Stages of Moral Development as a Basis for Moral Education. In Beck, C. M., Crittenden, B. S. & Sullivan, E. V. (Eds.) Moral Education: Interdisciplinary Approaches. New York: Newman Press.Google Scholar
Kohlberg, L. 1981. Essays in Moral Development, Volume I: The Philosophy of Moral Development. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Kohlberg, L. 1984. Essays in Moral Development, Volume II: The Psychology of Moral Development. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Kohlberg, L., Levine, C. & Hewer, A. 1983. Moral Stages: A Current Formulation and a Response to Critics. New York: Karger.Google Scholar
Lovinger, J. & Wessler, R. 1978. Measuring Ego Development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Rest, J.R. 1979. Development in Judging Moral Issues. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Rest, J.R. 1982. Morality. In Flavell, J. H. & Markman, E. M. (Eds.) Handbook of Child Psychology, Volume III: Cognitive Development. 556–629. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Snarey, J.R. 1985. Cross-cultural Universality of Social-moral Development: A Critical Review of Kohlbergian Research. Psychological Bulletin, 97 (2): 202–232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Straughan, R. 1985. Why Act on Kohlberg's Moral Judgments? In Modgil, S. & Modgil, C. (Eds.) Lawrence Kohlberg: Consensus and Controversy: 149–161. Philadelphia: Falmer Press.Google Scholar
Sullivan, E. V. 1974. Moral Development Research: A Case Study of Scientific Cultural Bias. Human Development, 17: 81–106.Google Scholar
Toffler, B.L. 1986. Tough Choices: Managers Talk Ethics. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Waters, J. A., Bird, F. & Chant, P.D. 1986. Everyday Moral Issues Experienced by Managers. Journal of Business Ethics, 5: 373–384.Google Scholar
Weber, J. 1990. Managers’ Moral Reasoning: Assessing Their Responses to Three Moral Dilemmas. Human Relations, 43: 687–702.Google Scholar