Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management

Ethics management for the construction industry: A review of ethical decision-making

literature
Christabel Man-Fong Ho
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Christabel Man-Fong Ho, (2011),"Ethics management for the construction industry", Engineering,
Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 18 Iss 5 pp. 516 - 537
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ECAM
18,5
516
Received 23 February 2009
Revised 25 June 2009
3 February 2010
Accepted 6 May 2011
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Engineering, Construction and
Architectural Management
Vol. 18 No. 5, 2011
pp. 516-537
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0969-9988
DOI 10.1108/09699981111165194
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0969-9988.htm
Ethics management for the
construction industry
A review of ethical decision-making literature
Christabel Man-Fong Ho
Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
Hung Hom, Hong Kong
Abstract
Purpose – Managing ethics has come to be considered a management discipline, especially since the
birth of business ethics and social responsibility movements in the 1960s. However, there seems to be no
comprehensive review and synthesis of ethics management literature in construction. This research aims
to address the theory-practice gap by providing a critical review of the ethics decision-making literature.
Design/methodology/approach – The study examines critically the ethics decision-making
literature from the 1980s to 2008.
Findings – Three research focuses, relating to the construction industry in ethical decision making,
are identified: empirical studies on examining the associations between variables (individuals,
situational/organisational, moral intensity) and employees’ ethical behaviour in construction
organisational contexts; continuous application of behavioural science theories to develop an
appropriate ethical decision-making model for the industry; and research on group and/or
organisational level behaviour ethics.
Research limitations/implications – The study identifies, draws together, and integrates existing
theories and research, with a particular emphasis on ethical decision-making models, to present the
key contributions in the realm of ethics decision making.
Practical implications – The paper highlights the role of management (both as an academic
discipline and from a practitioner perspective) in bridging this gap.
Originality/value – The research adds value to the literature on ethics management, where limited
knowledge exists in the construction industry.
Keywords Business ethics, Ethics management, Ethical decision-making, Construction industry
Paper type Literature review
Introduction
Many theoretically descriptive models in the realm of ethics management have followed
since Rest (1984, 1986) first proposed his four-component model for understanding
ethical decision-making behaviour. These models have become more sophisticated,
contain common elements, and are often built on previous models to explain the rapidly
changing business environment and social development. However, to date, there has
been a paucity of comprehensive review on ethical decision-making in the construction
management literature. There has been no account of theoretical, practical, or empirical
development relating to ethical decision-making in industry. This research offers such an
account and studies the extant ethical decision-making literature from the 1980s to 2008
in an attempt to provide an overview of what is considered to be the current state of
knowledge in ethical decision making, and to analyse the significance for the
construction industry. Finally, suggestions for future research are offered.
 Managing ethics Ethics
Business organisations do not operate in a social vacuum. Rather, business management
organisations and society interact (Carroll, 1996). Steiner (1977) argues that business
activity reflects the interaction of business with a broader society. Therefore,
managing ethics has come to be considered a management discipline, especially since
the birth of business ethics and social responsibility movements in the 1960s.
517
Definitions of ethical behaviour
In essence, there is no universal and definitive theory for ethical behaviour. Scholars,
including Ferrell and Gresham (1985), Trevino (1986), Hunt and Vitell (1986), Dubinsky
and Loken (1989) and Bowen, Akintola, Robert and Edwards (2007) did not provide
substantive definitions of ethical and unethical behaviour. Discussions regarding the
difficulty of establishing substantive definitions for ethical behaviour can be found in
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the papers of Cavanagh et al. (1981), Beauchamp and Bowie (1979), and Jones (1980).
In philosophy, ethical behaviour is ascribing oneself to “good” or “right” behaviour.
Bommer et al. (1987) found that there is a long-standing tradition in ethics which holds
that “ethical behaviour” is behaviour which is shown to be objectively and morally
correct via appeal to a theory of morally correct action, and that it is “ethical” precisely
because it is the behaviour which is required by the theory. However, many ethicists
maintain that the question of which ethical theory is correct is itself answered by
appeal to certain ethical behaviours, that is, that some behaviours in certain situations
are so clearly morally correct that they provide a moral intuition with which any theory
must correspond if it is to be considered correct (Bowie, 1982). Thus, Bommer et al.
(1987) define “ethical behaviours” to be those behaviours the correctness of which
constitutes the moral intuition in business and the professions.
Ethicists like Navran (1992) and Jones (1991) consider ethical behaviour to be
consistent with one’s personal values and the commonly held values of the
organisation and society. Jones (1991, p. 367) defined ethical behaviour as “that is both
legal and morally acceptable to the larger community”. This definition follows from
Kelman and Hamilton’s (1989) definition of crimes of obedience and is consistent with
the definitions used, either explicitly or implicitly, by some other authors in the field of
ethics. As far as the construction sector is concerned, Ray et al. (1999) offer a similar
definition of ethical behaviour by imitating the definitions as mentioned above.
However, the definition, like others, is so inclusive that it embraced almost everything
contributing to behaviour studies. They provide little assistance in understanding the
essence of ethical behaviour in construction. Therefore, in-depth insights into the
concept are necessary.

Ethical challenges in the construction industry

The construction industry, its supply chain and associated professional services in the
UK contribute 10 per cent of annual gross domestic product (GDP) through some
350,000 firms, employing nearly three million people (CIRIA, 2002). The construction
industry in South Africa, which accounts for some 5.1 per cent of GDP, employs one
million people (Bowen, Akintola, Robert and Edwards, 2007). In Hong Kong, the
construction industry is one of the major employers with 9.2 per cent of the total
workforce engaged and accounts for 5.6 per cent of GDP (Construction Industry
Review Committee (CIRC), 2001). Though the construction industry is the key driver of
 ECAM economic growth in many countries, the industry faces a long list of ethical challenges
18,5 related to behaviour including: bid shopping, payment games, lying, unreliable
contractors, claims games (e.g. inflated claims, false claims), threats, conflict of interest,
collusion, fraud, and professional negligence (Vee and Skitmore, 2003; Fan et al., 2001a,
b; FMI and CMAA, 2004; Bowen, Akintola, Robert and Edwards, 2007).
In Australia, research on construction industry ethics conducted by Ray et al. (1999),
518 Zarkada-Fraser and Skitmore (2000), May et al. (2001), and Vee and Skitmore (2003)
shows that most unethical behaviour in the construction industry takes the forms of
unfair conduct, negligence, conflict of interest, collusive tendering, fraud, and bribery.
Vee and Skitmore’s (2003) study revealed that all the respondents to their survey had
witnessed or experienced some degree of unethical behaviour. In the UK, Glass and
Simmonds (2007) reported that contractors are perceived as uninvited and unwelcome
neighbours in residential communities because people consider the construction
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industry as being inconsiderate in terms of health, quality of life and the environment.
In the USA, through a recent joint questionnaire survey conducted by FMI (FMI and
CMAA, 2004) and the Construction Management Association of America, construction
practitioners were randomly solicited to give their thoughts on the ethical state of the
industry. The survey included a cross section of nearly 300 construction industry
practitioners, including owners, architects, engineers, construction managers, general
contractors, and subcontractors. Of the respondents, 84 per cent said that they
observed unethical behaviour in the past year, while 34 per cent reported that they
witnessed “many, many” instances of unethical behaviour in the past year (FMI and
CMAA, 2004). In South Africa, Bowen, Akintola, Robert and Edwards (2007) reported
that there are significant areas of concern regarding ethical standards practised within
the South African construction industry. The range of ethical problems there includes
collusion, bribery, negligence, fraud, dishonesty, and unfair practices. In Hong Kong,
according to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) (ICAC, 2007,
p. 9), corruption complaints relating to building management remained at the top,
which amounted to 41 per cent of all private complaints. Fan et al. (2001a, b), and Suen
et al. (2007) also expressed their concerns at the rising number of corruption cases and
ethical scandals in the Hong Kong construction industry.
The list of ethical lapses in the construction industry could go on and on. Ethical
misconduct has led to the waste of society’s resources and has caused significant harm
to many individuals (Fan et al., 2001a). At the extreme end of the spectrum, corporate
ethical failures have led to injuries or deaths of employees, consumers, or members of
the general public (Transparency International, 2005). According to the report
(Transparency International, 2005), the scale of corruption is greater in the
construction industry than in any other part of the economy. The major point of it
all is that the public-at-large is demanding that construction practitioners and
organisations act according to high ethical and moral standards.
The ethical challenge must be met by organisations if they are concerned about
survival and competitiveness. What is needed in today’s turbulent construction market
is that organisations should ensure their employees know how to deal with ethical
issues in their everyday work lives and are thus able to make ethical decisions. Bowen,
Akintola, Robert and Edwards (2007) believe decision-making is a basic business
management function. Individual construction practitioners’ decision making in an
organisational context carries a certain extent of ethical implications and consequences
 to society. Kuncer (1993, p. 38) summarised ethics management in two aspects: to “alert Ethics
employees to ethical dimensions of their decisions and actions; and provide them with management
some broad guidelines for attacking ethical dilemmas”. Thus, an understanding of
employees’ ethical decision making is important.

Ethical decision making

Ethics refers to “the rules or principles that define right and wrong conduct” (Davis 519
and Frederick, 1984, p. 76). Many of these rules are applied when an individual is
required to make a decision. The moral base or rules that are applied to determine right
and wrong are often developed from one’s cognitive moral development (Blasi, 1980;
Fraedrich et al., 1994; Kohlberg, 1969, 1971), value base (Musser and Orke, 1992;
Rokeach, 1968, 1973), or moral philosophies (Beauchamp and Bowie, 1979; De George,
1986). Therefore, ethical decision-making is the process by which individuals use their
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moral base to determine whether a certain issue is right or wrong.

Overview of descriptive models of ethics decision-making

In essence, the field of business ethics is commonly divided into two realms – normative
and descriptive ethics theories in general. Normative ethics theory deals with what the
decision makers should believe to be right and wrong, and such concepts as evil and sin,
as contrasted to descriptive ethics theory which deals with what the decision makers
actually believe to be right and wrong, and holds up as ideals or condemns or punishes in
law or politics (Ray et al., 1999; Bartlett, 2003; O’Fallon and Butterfield, 2005).
A subset of business ethics research has specifically focused on the development of
ethical decision-making. Ethical decision-making models are a subject of long-standing
interest to ethics theorists (Whittier et al., 2006). A wide range of ethical
decision-making models can be found in the business ethics literature; two in
particular dominate the literature. The normative approach models of ethical decision-
making arise from normative ethics, while the descriptive approach models are
developed from descriptive ethics (O’Fallon and Butterfield, 2005). Fan et al. (2001a)
conducted a review on the literature of normative ethical decision-making, thus, the
prime interest of this research focuses on the descriptive ethical decision- making
models.
In the past two decades, a wide range of theoretically descriptive models (Rest, 1984,
1986; Trevino, 1986; Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Bommer et al., 1987; Stead et al., 1990;
Jones, 1991; Brass et al., 1998; Wittmer, 2005) have been developed to identify which
variables influence employees’ ethical behaviour in an organisational context.

Four-component ethical decision-making model

Rest’s (1984, 1986) four-component ethical decision-making model draws heavily on
theories of cognitive moral development (CMD) from the works of Kohlberg (1969,
1971) and research findings from Schwartz (1977). Rest’s (1986) model includes:
.
moral awareness – being able to interpret the situation as being moral;
.
moral judgement – deciding which course of action is morally right;
.
moral intent – prioritising moral values over other values; and
.
moral behaviour – executing and implementing the moral intention (Groves et al.,
2008).
 ECAM Contingency model
18,5 Ferrell and Gresham (1985) develop a contingency model for the marketing context.
They claim that their model clarifies and synthesises the multiple variables that help in
ethical/unethical decision-making. They categorise the factors that affect employees’
ethical decision into two major sets of contingency factors as shown in Figure 1:
(1) individual variables (e.g. knowledge, values, attitudes, and intentions); and
520 (2) organisational contingency variables (significant others and opportunity).

They announce their model is multidimensional, process-oriented, and contingent in nature

which illustrates the multifaceted variables that affect the ethics decisions of employees.

Person-situation interactionist model

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Trevino’s (1986) model begins with the existence of an ethical dilemma and proceeds to
a cognitions stage, at which Kohlberg’s (1971) cognitive moral development model
becomes operative and provides the construct definition, measurement tools, and basis
of the theory. As shown in Figure 2, employees’ ethical decision in the cognition stage
is moderated by the individual (e.g. ego strength, field dependence . . .) and situational
variables (e.g. organisational culture, characteristics of the work . . .). The theoretical
ground of Trevino’s (1986) model is where both individual and situational variables
interact with the cognitive component to determine how an employee is likely to
behave in response to an ethical dilemma in an organisational context.

Behavioural model
Expanding on Trevino’s model, in their model, Bommer et al. (1987) list all the variables
that purportedly influence ethical decisions of employees in an organisational
environment. As shown in Figure 3, Bommer et al. (1987) group a wide range of
variables under five sets of environmental variables (e.g. work, professional, personal,
governmental/legal, and social) and eight sets of individual attributes.
The model links these variables via the mediating structure of the decision-making
process of employees.

Integrative model
As shown in Figure 4, Stead et al. (1990) propose five sets of variables:
(1) individual factors;
(2) ethical philosophy;
(3) ethical decision ideology;
(4) external forces; and
(5) organisational factors.

Stead et al. (1990) conceptually demonstrate the relationships among myriad individual
and organisational/situational variables that contribute to the decision of employees to
behave ethically or unethically. The initial linkage reflects the relationship between the
individual factors (personality and socialisation) and the development of ethical
philosophy and decision ideology. In essence, one’s personality and background
influence one’s ethical philosophy and ideology, which in turn influence one’s ethical
decision history (Suen et al., 2007).
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management

model
Schematic contingency
Ethics

Figure 1.
521
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18,5

522

Schematic
ECAM

Figure 2.

person-situation
interactionist model
 Ethics
management

523
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Figure 3.
Schematic behaviour
model of ethical/unethical
decision-making
 ECAM
18,5

524
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Figure 4.
Schematic integrative
model of ethical/unethical
behaviour
 Stead et al. (1990) distinguish their model from others by arguing that the variables Ethics
(individual variables, ethical philosophy, ethical decision ideologies, and external management
forces) can influence an individual’s ethical decision, but they have nothing to do with
the organisation, which means that organisations cannot change the ethical decisions
of employees regarding behaviour shaped by these four variables. Stead et al. (1990)
point out that the organisational variables are the only variables that corporate
management can control. 525
Issue-contingent model
Jones’s (1991) model not only relies significantly on the work of previous models (such
as Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Rest, 1986; Trevino, 1986), but also extends them. Jones’s
model (1991) focuses on neither individual variables nor organisational variables alone.
He argues that an ethical decision-making model must be “issue-contingent” such that
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it explicitly considers the characteristics of the moral issue itself. He refers to moral
intensity, which comprises six components:
(1) magnitude of consequences;
(2) social consensus;
(3) probability of effect;
(4) temporal immediacy;
(5) proximity; and
(6) concentration of effect.
Jones’s model (see Figure 5) draws on Rest’s (1986) model outlining four distinct
components. He (1991) claims that moral intensity influences every component of
decision-making of employees. The attribute “moral intensity” is the integral part of
Jones’s model.

Social network model

Brass et al. (1998) extend Trevino’s (1986) interationist model and argue that dyadic
interactions seldom occur in isolation, but almost always involve other parties. Thus,
Brass et al. (1998) propose their “social network model” explaining how relations among
the various individuals involved can affect unethical behaviour in organisations.
According to their model (as shown in Figure 6), the type and structure of relationships
among actors (employees within the organisation) moderate the influence of
organisational, individual, and issue-related factors on decision making. Their
argument is that the likelihood of unethical behaviour between people will be reduced
if their relationship is strong, multiplex, and symmetric in terms of power.

General ethical decision-making model

Wittmer (2005) incorporates and integrates the models (including the models of Rest,
1984, 1986; Trevino, 1986; Bommer et al., 1987; Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Jones, 1991)
and proposed his general behavioural model (see Figure 7).
The theoretical ground of Wittmer’s (2005) model is:

Ethical decision making ¼ f ðethical decision processes; individual attributes;

environmental factorsÞ:
 ECAM
18,5

526
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Figure 5.
Schematic
issue-contingent model of
ethics decision-making
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perspective
management

Schematic social network

Ethics

Figure 6.
527
 ECAM
18,5

528
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Figure 7.
Schematic general
behavioral model for
ethical decision-making
 In essence, Wittmer’s (2005) model contains nothing new; it simply summarises all the Ethics
considerations proposed by the previous scholars. Wittmer (2005) did not address the
questions raised by Brass et al. (1998).
management

A critical review of ethical decision-making models

From the 1980s to 2008, many descriptive ethical decision-making models can be found
in the literature as discussed in the previous section. In essence, several theories 529
combine to build a picture of how ethical decisions are made. Rest (1984, 1986) bases on
Kohlberg’s (1969, 1976) CMD theory to describe individual development of morals and
ethics; Trevino (1986, Trevino et al., 2006) and Brass et al. (1998) adopt the
“interationist” and the “social network” theory, respectively, addressing the interaction
between individual and situational factors or the relationships between the actors
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involved; Jones (1991) proposes the “moral intensity” theory, which argues there are
factors within the moral issues to be decided upon that affect the decision itself.

Models developed based on CMD theory

One common feature of these models (Rest, 1984, 1986; Corey et al., 1998; Forester-Miller
and Davis, 1996; Keith-Spiegel and Koocher, 1985) is the incorporation of Kohlberg’s
CMD theory into their theoretical models. CMD theory is a six-stage model describing an
individual’s general orientation towards solving moral problems. As represented by the
works of Kohlberg (1969, 1971) and Rest (1984, 1986), they suggest that it is the
individual who determines right and wrong. They also believe that individuals make
choices and ethical decisions in a community setting (Bartlett, 2003). In essence, Conrad
(1993) considers Kohlberg (1969) and Rest (1984) represent an “undersocialised” view of
ethical decision, which focuses upon individual ethical systems that virtually ignore the
social context within which ethical behaviour occurs. However, some researchers
(Trevino, 1986, Trevino et al., 2006; Brass et al., 1998) challenge this view by arguing that
simply considering the cognitive development impact on the ethical reasoning process
may be inadequate since ethical behaviour cannot be predicted by an understanding of
the cognition process only.
In response to the criticism towards Kohlberg and Rest’s “undersocialised” view in
relation to its application to real-life situation, Ferrell and Gresham (1985) and Stead
et al. (1990) integrate not only Kohlberg CMD theory, but also employ a social learning
approach to the study of ethical decision making. The social learning approach is
developed out of differential association theory (Sutherland and Cressy, 1970) and role
set theory (Merton, 1957). Differential association theory explains how individuals
learn ethical or unethical behaviour through the process of interacting with persons
who are part of intimate personal groups or role sets. Role set theory is concerned with
the social status of persons in organisations and includes both authority and location
dimensions. Ferrell and Gresham (1985) and Stead et al. (1990) represent the
“oversocialised” view of ethics which focuses upon organisational cultures.

Models developed based on interactionist/relation exchange theory

Brass et al. (1998) and Trevino et al. (2006) point out that previous ethics
decision-making models (Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Bommer et al., 1987; Stead et al.,
1990) are too widely focused and attempted to integrate analysis at many different
levels. Such models fail to capture the important interfaces among individual and
 ECAM situational variables that occur in an organisational context. Trevino (1986, p. 602) in
18,5 her “Person-Situation Interactionist Model” suggests that “[. . .] individual and
situational variables [can] interact with the cognitive components to determine how an
individual is likely to behave in response to an ethical dilemma”.
Indeed, both the Bommer et al. and Trevino models are similar in viewing ethical
behaviour as a product of individual and environmental influences. However, Bommer
530 et al. (1987) expand Trevino’s model, both internally and externally. Externally, the
Bommer et al. (1987) model expands to include environmental influences outside the
organisation (e.g. work environment, government/legal environment, social . . .).
Internally, their model includes an individual decision process as mediating both
environmental factors and individual attributes (Wittmer, 2005). Bommer et al.’s (1987)
model is important because it makes explicit the importance of perception to the
decision process and outcomes.
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Brass et al.’s (1998) model does not abandon the roles of the variables (individual,
organisational, and issues-related) that have been identified by other scholars, but
rather suggests that in a practical organisational setting, employees learn the values of
corporate ethics through socialisation, while the ethics decisions of employees are
influenced by different types of social relationships and embedded in structures of
social relationships. Indeed, the Trevino (1986) and Brass et al. (1998) models focus on
interactions between determinants and relationships among actors rather than the
individual actor’s decision-making process (Tsui and Gul, 1996; Au and Wong, 2000).
Brass et al.’s model is important for several reasons. First, it clearly recognises the
complexity of ethical decision-making and such a complex decision process is not just
influenced by numerous variables as proposed by previous models. Second, Brass et al.
(1998) agree with Trevino (1986) that an employee’s ethical decision-making process
does not function as an isolated central processing unit within its own internal
characteristics, such as an individual employee’s cognitive style and moral awareness.
Third, Brass et al.’s (1998) theory offers a new perspective towards ethical
decision-making literature, and it clearly recognises the importance of social network
relationships in explaining ethical behaviour. Many researchers (e.g. Sutherland and
Cressy, 1970; Cottone et al., 1994; Cottone and Claus, 2000) support Brass et al.’s (1998)
network relation theory.

Models developed based on moral intensity theory

Jones (1991) challenges the previous models (Rest, 1984; Ferrell and Gresham, 1985;
Trevino, 1986; Stead et al., 1990) that contribute to the understanding of the ethics
decision-making of employees, but none does more than hint that the characteristics of
the moral issue itself can affect the decision-making process of employees. In addition,
he argues that previous models ignore the effect of the characteristics of the moral
issue on ethics decisions and behaviour of employees. Jones (1991) focuses on ethical
decision-making in a broad sense, sacrificing detailed attention to the judgment
component (Carlson et al., 2002).

Lessons for the construction industry

Variables affect the ethical decision making
In the last two decades, the field of descriptive ethics has been advanced by a number
of theoretical models (e.g. Rest, 1986; Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Bommer et al., 1987;
 Jones, 1991, Wittmer, 2005). These researchers have discussed and proposed a wide Ethics
array of constructs that influence an individual’s ethical behaviour. In general, these management
constructs can be grouped into three sets of variables, which include individuals,
situational/organisational, and moral intensity (Bartlett, 2003; Wittmer, 2005; Trevino
et al., 2006; Stevens, 2008). These variables have been postulated to influence
employees’ ethical behaviour. A substantial amount of empirical studies have been
conducted assessing the influences of these variables toward an individual’s ethical 531
decision in marketing, accounting, and medicine (see Ford and Richardson, 1994; Loe
et al., 2000; O’Fallon and Butterfield, 2005).
Except for a few empirical studies (Ray et al., 1999; Zarkada-Fraser and Skitmore,
2000; Vee and Skitmore, 2003), very limited research in this particular regard for the
construction industry was found. Ray et al. (1999) conducted a survey of construction
practitioners on tendering ethics in Australia. Their findings revealed that the variable
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(code of practices for tender) is not completely observed by all practitioners. Their
findings cast doubt on the extant theoretical ethical decision- making model, which
hypothesises a company’s ethical code (one of the organisational variables proposed by
the models discussed in the previous section) can influence employees’ ethical
decision/behaviour.
Zarkada-Fraser and Skitmore (2000) did a questionnaire survey to gauge the
Australian estimators’ moral intent decision, their likely collusive behaviour, and the
factors that affect their behaviour. Their findings showed that estimators’ decisions
seem to be guided very much by both internal and external situation variables
(e.g. company code, legal, and professional principles).
Although Zarkada-Fraser and Skitmore (2000) and Ray et al.’s (1999) studies are
both targeted on Australian construction practitioners, their research findings suggest
quite a different and mixed conclusion. Despite the lack of empirical evidences to
support the theoretical decision-making, according to Vee and Skitmore’s (2003) study,
in Australia they found that most respondents (90 per cent) subscribed to a
professional code of ethics and many (45 per cent) had an ethical code of conduct in
their employing organisation.
Given the fact that the construction industry and construction practitioners’ moral
record continue to be a source of concern, ethics management research has become
increasingly appealing in the construction industry. A demand for more effort and
studies on investigating employees’ ethical behaviour is urged. However, there have
been scarcely any empirical studies designed to investigate the validity of ethical
decision-making models in the construction industry. Consequently, as the overall
body of ethics related work continues to grow, the gap between theory and practice is
expanding. It is suggested that empirical research examining the associations between
the variables and employees’ ethical decision in an organisational context may be one
of the focuses in ethics management research for the construction industry.

Theory development
Having reviewed the extant ethical decision-making model, the current models can be
improved in several ways to suit the circumstances of the construction industry. First,
the current decision-making models take either an “undersocialised” view (e.g. ignore
social context) (i.e. Rest, 1986) or an “oversocialised” view (e.g. ignore individual
factors) (i.e. Stead et al., 1990) of ethics (Bartlett, 2003).
 ECAM Indeed, the “oversocialised” view has drawn support in the construction industry
18,5 and from some researchers such as Bowen, Akintola, Robert and Edwards (2007) and
Suen et al. (2007). Suen et al. (2007, p. 259) claim:
[. . .] the construction process is typically characterised by its temporary multiple
organisational setting where members from different culture backgrounds with different
skills and talents join together to achieve the same goals, has the constant pressure to abide
532 by what is considered acceptable ethical behaviour the world over.
Their argument is that if an organisation wants to promote ethical behaviour, it needs
to focus on those factors that can be controlled. They believe Stead et al.’s (1990) model
has explained individual employees’ ethical/unethical decision in the construction
industry.
On the other hand, Ray et al. (1999) disagree and argue that a new decision making
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framework for the tendering process should be developed. It is suggested that

decision-making models need to focus their attention somewhere between these two
extremes (Bartlett, 2003; Trevino et al., 2006).
Second, many opportunities exist for theory development in ethics management in
construction organisational contexts. Frequently, researchers have borrowed and
applied theory from Kohlberg’s (1969, 1971) and Rest’s (1984, 1986) works on ethical
decision making. Social cognition theory inspires work on moral intensity (Jones,
1991), and also Bandura’s (1986) social learning theory. This research believes and
supports the continued application of behavioural science theories to important
behavioural ethics inquiries. But thinking beyond these existing theories is necessary.
In particular these theories, borrowed from psychology (Trevino et al., 2006), may not
account for the organisational influences that are so important to behavioural ethics in
construction organisation contexts (Ray et al., 1999). Third, the findings of the
empirical studies to investigate the validity of extant ethical decision-making models
are mixed (see Ford and Richardson, 1994; Loe et al., 2000; O’Fallon and Butterfield,
2005), and the theories and constructs behind the models are still subject to review.

Additional studies on group and organisational-level behavioural ethics

The construction industry is a sector of the economy which, in many ways, is different
from all other fields of economic endeavour. Ofori (1990) ascribed the following major
features of the construction industry: its large size, the influence of government as a client,
the high cost of construction items, the nature of construction work, the variety of
construction technology, and the structure of the construction industry. The organisational
structure of the construction industry is unique. Participants on each construction project
are different from one project to another since the projects may be organised in a variety of
ways. Ofori (1990) refers to construction project teams as “temporary multi-organisations”.
According to Burns and Stalker (1966) the members of construction project teams are
differentiated in terms of education, skill, employers, profession, and time.
Despite the uniqueness of the construction industry, very limited extant research on
ethical decision-making focuses on ethical decision-making as a group-level or
organisation-level phenomenon. Although the social network measures individuals,
these measures are not the property of analytically isolated actors; rather, they result
from an account of the entire network of relationships within a particular boundary
(e.g. organisation). The theory of reasoned action (see Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975) suggests
that if referent others think the individual should engage in ethical behaviour and the
 individual is motivated to comply with the referent others, then the individual is more Ethics
likely to engage in ethical behaviour. By most definitions, ethics involves a consideration management
of “the other” (Dubinsky and Loken, 1989). Indeed much decision making in an
organisation occurs in groups, and actions are taken on behalf of groups. It is suggested
that future research should focus more attention on the group level of analysis such as
investigating whether and how the cognitive processes of moral awareness and moral
judgement can be conceptualised and studied at the group and organisational level. 533
Conclusion
Given recurring ethical scandals in the construction and real estate industry, ethics
management research is clearly important to the industry and the general public.
Researchers have an obligation to tackle important topics and then translate valid
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research findings into a form that can be applied to make a difference in organisations
and industry. In general, this review gives some insight into ethics management
research and offers an account of theoretical grounds for studying employees’ ethical
behaviour in the construction industry context.
It is suggested that future research should examine the associations between
individuals, organisational, moral intensity variables, and employees’ ethical
behaviour. Very limited empirical research in this area is found in the industry.
More empirical evidences are needed to test the theoretical descriptive models. In
addition, future research may also focus on theory development. Thinking beyond
existing theories/models is necessary especially with reference to the uniqueness of the
construction industry. The extant theoretically descriptive models (Rest, 1984; Jones,
1991; Brass et al., 1998) describe the constructs and forces that actually influence
ethical decision-making in organisations, and there is a demand for a prescriptive
model that can be used to help managers improve their engagement of the
decision-making process.
In recent years there has been a steady production of ethics related research in the
organisational literature. A subset of this research has specifically focused on the
development of ethical decision-making models. Subsequently, several authors and
models have gained some level of prominence. These models help explain the
relationship between variables and the ethics decisions of employees. Collectively, the
principles developed by these models are of great value in clarifying the complexities
of ethics decision-making processes in an organisational context. This research
reviews the ethics management literature and studies the ethical decision-making
research from the 1980s to 2008 in an attempt to identify, draw together, and integrate
existing theories with practice. Nonetheless, there have been scarcely any empirical
studies designed to investigate the validity of ethical decision-making models in the
construction industry. Consequently, as the overall body of ethics related work
continues to grow, the gap between theory and practice is expanding. Thus, it is
suggested that more empirical studies in the construction industry should be
conducted to give more valuable insight to ethics management research.

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Corresponding author
Christabel Man-Fong Ho can be contacted at: Bscrysta@inet.polyu.edu.hk

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