A transcendental phenomenological study of banking executives' ethical perceptions

How business executives perceive ethical issues and facilitate ethics programs may have contributed to recent corporate bankruptcies costing shareholders approximately {dollar}166 billion (Bankruptcy.Data.Com 2002; Cruver, 2002; Jeter, 2003). How banking executives perceive ethical issues may have resulted in similarly perplexing dilemmas (Barefoot, 2002; Duska, 2004; Fergeson, 2004). A deeper understanding of banking executives' ethical perceptions was necessary. A qualitative transcendental phenomenological study of banking executives' ethical perceptions may prove beneficial in assisting them to resolve ethical dilemmas and understand the mechanisms by which ethics may be integrated into their organizations (McDonald, 2000). This phenomenological research (Husserl, 2000), which incorporated a heterogeneous sample of 14 senior executives and 16 non-executives from 10 banking organizations, a modified van Kaam analysis (Moustakas, 1994), and a robust NVIVO 2.0 software examination, uncovered 18 invariant executive themes and four executive essences. Each of the 14 banking executives ingrained with either of the operative essences of internalized ethics, deontological ethics, utilitarian ethics, or communicating and active listening, achieved the reward of establishing transcendent mutual trust and respect, which benefited their organizations, employees, and customers.