Poon, J (2004) The study of ethical perceptions of construction managers. In: Khosrowshahi, F (ed.) Proceedings of 20th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2004, Edinburgh, UK.
Abstract
Ethics is important for business, individual career and image of industry. However, construction companies do not show high ethical standards. Studying ethical perception of manages is a popular topic at generic level, in particular professions and on construction-related professionals, but there is lack of research on studying ethical perceptions of construction managers. The aim of this research is to study the ethical perceptions of construction managers and how do demographic factors influence it. The method for conducting this study is through questionnaire survey among the UK construction managers. Three hundred and seven questionnaires were distributed and ninety-three completed questionnaires are completed and returned. The construction managers who appear to pay most concern on ethics are male, at middle age, at middle position in their organisations, having more than 21 years experience and are educated up to at least at degree level. The results show that the construction managers found 'producing falsifying reports,' 'over-claiming expenses' and 'having low level of personal honesty' as the most unethical perceptions. The findings also show that the ethical perceptions of construction managers are different from other construction-related professionals such as surveyors and engineers.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction managers; ethical perceptions |
| Index terms: | low level, survey, construction company, ethics, engineer, questionnaire, construction manager, profession, demographic factor, career |
| Subjects: | demography, measurement and scaling, professional development, ethical practice, institututions, data collection methods, profession, organization |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Information Management, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here