Culture, Moral Reasoning and Teaching Business Ethics: A Snapshot of United Arab Emirates Female Business Students

Lydia Barza; Marc Cohen

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Culture, Moral Reasoning and Teaching Business Ethics: A Snapshot of United Arab Emirates Female Business Students

Lydia Barza and Marc Cohen

Zayed University, United Arab Emirates

Volume 11: 2014, pp. 69-88: ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to examine moral reasoning in a cross cultural Islamic context. The moral reasoning of female business students in the United Arab Emirates is described based on Kohlberg’s theory of Cognitive Moral Development (CMD). Business students were asked to participate in a brief individual interview which involved reading three moral dilemmas and answering open-ended questions. Results were analyzed based on each dilemma as well as across all three. Most students made their decisions at the first two levels of Kohlberg’s stages, prioritizing how their decision would secure rewards for themselves and compliance with rules to maintain the social order. However, a fairly large percentage also scored at the highest stage of reasoning. Results are explored based on the sociocultural context and implications for ethics education are outlined, including an emphasis on examining conflicting cultural values and the use of context-specific dilemmas for teaching ethics..