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Toward a Theory of Morality CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by NSU Works Nova Southeastern University NSUWorks H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and HCBE Theses and Dissertations Entrepreneurship 2009 TOWARD A THEORY OF MORALITY: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF COGNITIVE MORAL DEVELOPMENT IN MARKET CHANNEL DYADS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY USING THE DEFINING ISSUES TEST James Nicholas Reischl Nova Southeastern University, [email protected] This document is a product of extensive research conducted at the Nova Southeastern University H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship. For more information on research and degree programs at the NSU H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, please click here. Follow this and additional works at: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/hsbe_etd Part of the Business Commons Share Feedback About This Item NSUWorks Citation James Nicholas Reischl. 2009. TOWARD A THEORY OF MORALITY: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF COGNITIVE MORAL DEVELOPMENT IN MARKET CHANNEL DYADS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY USING THE DEFINING ISSUES TEST. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship. (97) http://nsuworks.nova.edu/hsbe_etd/97. This Dissertation is brought to you by the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in HCBE Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TOWARD A THEORY OF MORALITY: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF COGNITIVE MORAL DEVELOPMENT IN MARKET CHANNEL DYADS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY USING THE DEFINING ISSUES TEST By James N. Reischl A DISSERTATION Submitted to the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship Nova Southeastern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 2009 ABSTRACT TOWARD A THEORY OF MORALITY: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF COGNITIVE MORAL DEVELOPMENT IN MARKET CHANNEL DYADS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY USING THE DEFINING ISSUES TEST by James N. Reischl This dissertation tackles the ageless human debate of the body versus the soul. Based on Kohlbergian theory, the multidisciplinary literature review advances the proposition that moral development proceeds in waves of referential egoism leading to nonreferential altruism that is couched in power—the apple of the eye. Many inter organizational studies using the Defining Issues Test have compared moral maturity levels coming from various academic backgrounds. Previous studies have purported that education is the chief moderating variable for moral maturity, with little regard for paradigmatic bases of power. Yet, in this study noncoercive power is carefully controlled because of the highly technical procurement process used in construction contracting. Coercive power and position in the food chain become the main moderators, because success is not measured by charm or wisdom or even social relations, but only by the low bid in accordance with the contractual specifications. The results from 93 respondents of the Iowa Architects Institute of America (n = 93) indicated that despite the higher education and aesthetic interests, the sample of architects ranked low on moral maturity level when compared to the average of the DIT data bank as a whole. Postconventional scores were 36.4 versus 39.1, respectively. Few intra organizational studies have been conducted examining moral maturity levels among groups in the same work setting. This research also compared the moral maturity of intra industry groups in marketing dyads consisting of architects, contractors, and suppliers using the Defining Issues Test and ANOVA. Again it was expected that architects with higher education and aesthetic interests would rank highest. So in addition to the architects, the members of the Iowa Associated General Contractors and Iowa Associated Builders and Contractors were solicited. This added 32 contractors (n = 32) and 27 suppliers (n = 27), to the total sample (n = 153). Findings showed significant differences among the groups (F (2, 150) = 3.64, p = .05). Yet post hoc comparisons revealed that there was no significant difference in moral maturity levels between architects and contractors engrossed in the same power paradigm (p = 1.00). However, a significant difference existed between architects and suppliers (p =.024). This implication is consistent with the teleological pattern that is prevalent in research studies of salespeople. In summary, performance-based organizations and theorists of stakeholder theory may expect no less than orthodox and opportunistic choices in the real world of business as long as performance remains the ultimate criterion of success. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my father, Joseph John Reischl. He passed away in 2005, which was the year after my DBA quest began. Admittedly, so much of what I think and do is truly a reflection of “the leader of the gang.” I am grateful for the privilege of knowing great educators and human beings at Nova Southeastern University. Frank Cavico, Bahaudin Mujtaba, and Pedro F. Pellet, you’re the best! In fact, all of the instructors at Nova Southeastern have helped focus our efforts on the goal at hand—the dissertation. Figure 9 displays a momentary frequency distribution for the choices of all living people in the whole world. As such, our time is like the grass of the fields; we flourish like a flower, but the wind blows and we are gone. This place remembers us no more (Psalm 103: 15-16). Table of Contents Page List of Tables .......................................................................................................................x List of Figures .................................................................................................................... xi Chapter I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................1 Background and Business Examples: Anyone for a Fig Leaf? ............................... 1 A Theory Base to Support the Dissertation Research Study .................................. 6 The Problem Statement ......................................................................................... 10 The Importance and Justification of the Study ..................................................... 12 Scope and Delimitations of the Study ................................................................... 13 Assumptions .......................................................................................................... 14 Definitions............................................................................................................. 14 Organization of the Study ..................................................................................... 15 II. Review of Literature .....................................................................................................17 The Linguistic Background Encompassing Morality ........................................... 19 The Body versus Mind Debate ................................................................. 19 Bases of Power Used in Life ..................................................................... 22 The Research Variables Encompassing Morality ................................................. 24 Measured Endogenous Variables of Morality .......................................... 24 Moral Judgment ............................................................................ 24 Moral Motivation .......................................................................... 27 Summary ....................................................................................... 29 Unmeasured Endogenous Variables of Morality ...................................... 29 Values Research ............................................................................ 30 Personality Research ..................................................................... 30 Summary ....................................................................................... 33 Other Unmeasured Exogenous Variables of Morality and Ethics ............ 33 Culture........................................................................................... 34 Morality and Corruption in Culture .............................................. 35 Situational Leadership in Organizations and Culture ................... 37 Transformational Leadership in Organizational Culture .............. 42 Codes of Conduct in Organizational Culture ................................ 46 Summary ....................................................................................... 47 A Brief History of Philosophy .............................................................................. 47 The First Axial Period—The Mind and Body Debate .............................. 48 Plato’s Doctrine of Form’s ............................................................ 48 Aristotle’s Doctrine of Mean and Virtue Ethics ........................... 49 vi Chapter Page Protagoras and the Sophists’ Relativism ....................................... 50 The Skeptics’ Ethical Relativism .................................................. 51 Epicurus’ Hedonism...................................................................... 51 Gnosticism .................................................................................... 51 Summary ......................................................................................
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