Business Ethics of Government Employees and Future Lawyers in Thailand: a Study of Age, Gender, Management Experience, and Education

Abstract

Ethical maturity and moral behavior are of concern to all managers and government officials, and even more so in Asian economy where some aspects of the economy seem to “go underground” without any taxation or proper credit to the owners or copyright holders. This research surveyed managers and employees in the Thai public work environment to measure their Personal Business Ethics Scores (PBES) to see if age, education, working in government, management experience, and gender makes a difference in making more ethical decisions. The responses of 304 government employees are compared to the PBES means of 216 law students to measure individual commitment to integrity, honesty, and observance of the laws regulating current business activities. The results of this research suggest that gender and work experience in the public sector are significant factors in the moral development of the respondents. This study contributes to the theory of moral development and the body of knowledge regarding the relationship of certain key variables to moral cognizance and ethical behavior, particularly regarding managers, government employees, and gender.