Business Ethics in Brazil and the U.S.: Egoism and Utilitarianism

Abstract

In this study the relationship between culture and ethical orientation is investigated. Hofstede's (1980) individualism/collectivism dimension is adopted to develop hypotheses with respect to two ethical orientations, egoism and utilitarianism. Data on ethical orientations using well accepted measures were collected in Brazil and the U.S. The results support that there is a difference in the assessment of ethical content of an action or a decision between respondents from Brazil and respondents from the U.S. In particular, applying a utilitarianism perspective to judge the ethical content of an action or a decision, respondents from Brazil are less likely to see an action or decision as unethical than the respondents from the U.S.

JEL Classification: M14, J17, O57