Research Process

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3.2 Questionnaire

The research methodology employed in this study is based on the questionnaire of ethical dilemmas invented by Fritzsche & Becker (1984) which was also adopted and revised by Whitcomb et al (1998) and other researchers. The questionnaire includes five vignettes which ask respondents to respond to different ethical dilemmas including: bribery, employee mobility among companies, pollution, and public safety problems. Respondents read the vignettes and were asked to express the likelihood of taking the action suggested by the questionnaire. The likelihood of action-taking was reported on a ten-point Likert scale. (0=

definitely would not, 10=definitely would).

Second, respondents were asked to select from five to six different reasoning options (including an open-ended answer) to explain their choices. The different reasoning choices can generally be categorized into (1) other-centered and (2) self-centered motivations. The definition of other-centered is altruistic, caring for the public and general good as to be responsible to the majority for stakeholders. Self-centered reasoning can be explained as considering individuals’ or corporations’ own benefits as to be responsible for the shareholders. In this section, if participants find more than one applicable reason, they are asked to rate different options in order of importance (from 1, 2, 3...). Different from other ethical questionnaires which focus on daily-life decisions, the survey instrument emulates business scenarios and aims to elicit practical actions taken by different groups of respondents. Additional questions about respondents’ backgrounds such as sex, age, religion, the perceived difficulty of realizing religious belief, experience of volunteering public service, etc. were also included in the questionnaire

3.3 Research Process

This research recruited three groups of respondents to conduct a comparison research at the cultural and individual levels. At the cultural level of comparison, American and Taiwanese business school students who have taken business ethics course at college are compared in order to highlight the value and the function of business ethics education with regard to cultural difference. This is different from the research conducted by Whitcomb et al (1998)

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which compared American and Chinese students who haven’t had the similar training. On the other hand, at the individual level the research compared the group of Taiwanese students who have participated in ethics course before with another group who haven’t. By doing this we can gain knowledge of the influence that business ethics education exerts on respondents from the same cultural context.

3.3.1 Recruitment of Participants

This research recruited three groups of respondents. Students from the U.S. and Taiwan were asked to complete the same questionnaire. The questionnaire was provided in Chinese to students in Taiwan and in English to students in the U.S.

For the Taiwanese samples two groups of senior college students of the business school at National Chengchi University (NCCU) were recruited.

First, a control group of 47senior business students who have completed a business ethics course at NCCU was recruited. From a semester-long elective business ethics course, they have acquired knowledge about the importance and practice of business ethics through lectures, class discussion, and case studies. The course content aims to equip the students with independent thinking and problem-solving skills with regard to different roles and interest conflicts in real business settings. Specific ethical subjects of marketing, product safety, environmental concern, work ethics (employees’ rights, privacy, and whistle-blowing) are included.

For the first experimental group, 33 American senior business students from Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) in Michigan were sampled. Respondents in this group have

completed an elective business ethics course. The particular reason for selecting this school in

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Michigan is because of the author’s available connection to local faculty. Second, the course content of business ethics is highly similar to the one at NCCU concerning the issues of the free market, the nature of property, product liability, advertising, management versus employee rights, whistle-blowing, health and safety issues, affirmative action, comparable worth and the environment.

Finally, the second experimental group of a group of 33 senior business students from NCCU in Taiwan who haven’t taken a business ethics courses was recruited. These respondents were recruited from an elective consumer behavior course. Their qualification for participating in this comparison research was checked by the response to a self-report question asking their prior experience of ethics education at school.

3.3.2 Distribution and Retrieval of the Questionnaires

Before distributing the questionnaires in USA and Taiwan, the original questionnaire was translated into Chinese and proof-read by another native Chinese speaker. Two pilot tests were taken by two small groups of native speakers to ensure the wording and format were comprehensible. The ultimate questionnaires were collected at three phases: first, for the American samples, the author contacted in-person with a professor of international business at SVSU in August 2010. After discussion of the questionnaire content and the approach of ministering the questionnaire, the professor agreed to have his teaching assistant distribute the ethical questionnaires in one of his classes. Afterward, the completed questionnaires were sent by the assistant to Taiwan via airmail.

For the rest two groups of Taiwanese business students the author distributed and collected the questionnaires personally after gaining agreement from the course instructors. The finalization of these sets of questionnaires collections were completed in April, 2011.

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