74 MBA students and 82 graduates read a vignette describing a manager pressured to falsify information either to obtain or retain a sales contract. Unethical behavior was judged more unfavorably when intended to obtain a gain than to avoid a Joss. Also, unethical behavior was judged more unfavorably when a given total effect was concentrated among a few victims than when distributed more widely. Respondents attributed a manager's lying more to situational forces and less to personality than they did refusing to lie. It is suggested that training in ethics and decision making go hand-in-hand.
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