Assessing the Correlation of Culture with Business Ethics of Company Managers in the United States and Mexico

Observable harm has been inflicted upon business by unethical decisions and misconduct. Much of this phenomenon can be traced to impoverished ethical attitudes. Among the various reasons for this problem is that of a manager's culture, which has a distinct influence on attitudes and behaviors. The purpose of this dissertation was to determine, through empirical data, whether differences rooted in culture significantly contribute to differences in ethical attitudes. Management scholar Geert Hofstede's classification of cultural elements for understanding and explaining aspects of national culture was correlated with the ethical attitudes of business managers in the two divergent national cultures of the United States and Mexico. This correlational quantitative study examined the correlation between the variables of national culture and ethical attitudes toward misconduct. Subjects were business managers in the United States and Mexico. A previously validated survey was administered online to a purposive sample of 198 respondents of managers in both countries. Survey data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis, with the predictor variable being Hofstede's five dimensions of culture and the criterion value ethical attitude levels. Results indicated a significant positive relationship between national culture and ethical attitudes as measured by the PRESOR ("perceptions of [the] relative importance of ethics and social responsibility") instrument. The findings support the positive correlation of national culture with ethical attitudes of managers in the two countries; national culture does influence ethical attitudes. Each dimension of culture was similarly tested for correlation with ethical attitudes, resulting in findings of significant correlation of the dimensions of uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and long-term orientation with ethical attitudes, while power distance and individualism were found not to be significantly correlated. A significant difference in ethical attitudes between managers from the United States and Mexico was also found. Mexican managers were found to score higher than U.S. managers in mean scores of PRESOR. Four of the five individual dimensions of culture were also found to show a significant difference between managers of the two countries: uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, and long-term orientation, confirming research that has been done regarding other national cultures.