Ethical Decision Making by Indian Managers: Identification of Constructs, Their Measurement and Validation

The paper reports the development of a scale for assessing the ethical framework used by individual Indian managers. Construct definitions were developed and items were generated and evaluated for content validity. After an initial content validation process, the scale was tested through a structured questionnaire with a sample of 319 managers. A varimax rotated factor analysis of the data yielded two neat factors – a religious and a pragmatic framework. The two factors showed factor stability and high reliability coefficients. The criterion validity of the measure was also established by relating individual ethical frameworks with ethical decision making in given situations. The implications of the results are discussed and conclusions are drawn about the new measure in the Indian context.