Moral intensity and ethical decision-making: a combined importance-performance map analysis for professional accountants
International Journal of Ethics and Systems
ISSN: 2514-9369
Article publication date: 13 August 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of moral intensity on the ethical decision-making process of professional accountants based on a combined importance-performance map analysis (cIPMA).
Design/methodology/approach
Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) on data from 309 accountants, the study examined the relationships between four moral intensity dimensions: magnitude of consequences, social consensus, probability of effect and concentration of effect, and the ethical decision-making process. The study also methodologically complemented by a combined importance-performance map analysis and necessary condition analysis.
Findings
The findings reveal that moral recognition and moral judgment are necessary conditions for predicting accountants’ moral intent. However, in terms of importance and performance, moral recognition plays a less significant role compared to moral judgment. Furthermore, the influence of moral intensity dimensions is pronounced on moral recognition, while their influence on moral judgment and moral intent is more context dependent. This is also exhibited in the combined importance-performance map analysis results.
Research limitations/implications
The study highlights the importance of considering specific ethical dilemmas and the differential influence of moral intensity when developing strategies to strengthen ethical decision-making in the accounting profession. Future research is encouraged to explore how cultural backgrounds and diverse settings influence accountants’ ethical decision-making with tailored measurement tools for a more comprehensive understanding.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is among the first to complement the results of PLS-SEM with importance-performance map analysis and necessary condition analysis to examine the relationship between moral intensity and ethical decision-making of accountants.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the pilot and main study participants and SmartPLS teams.
Funding: The authors did not receive any funds from any organizations.
Disclosure statement: This research has no potential conflicts of interest to declare.
Data availability: The study’s data is permanently available at https://doi.org/10.17632/mms8p8py38.1.
Authors’ contributions statement: Ishwara P – conception of study issues, methodology, interpretation, supervised, reviewed and revised the article before submission. Naod Mekonnen – conception of study issues, study design, data acquisition, drafted the article, analysis and interpretation, editing and references management.
Citation
P., I. and Mekonnen, N. (2024), "Moral intensity and ethical decision-making: a combined importance-performance map analysis for professional accountants", International Journal of Ethics and Systems, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOES-05-2024-0120
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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