In standard Kohlbergian research, respondents tackle hypothetical ethical dilemma cases and state what should be done and why (a form of espoused theory). Kohlberg's six-stage model of espoused theory (KSSMET) is used to assess the responses. An individual's ethical reasoning is located either at a single stage or at transition points. This paper demonstrates a complementary research paradigm where ten Hong Kong Chinese managers were asked how they had tackled their own ethical dilemmas at work and why (indicating theory-in-use). Their ethical reasoning theory-in-use was found to be volatile (spanning many stages). An aggregate map of respondents' theory-in-use values (MTV) was developed as an approximate “cultural” map, representing socially-constructed values which may change over time. While MTV was found strongly to resemble KSSMET, there were some differences in actual values expressed which appeared to reflect cultural differences between Chinese and U.S. managers.
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