Exploring Ethical Orientation of Future Business Leaders in Malaysia

Interest in ethical attitudes of business students who are likely to be future business leaders is on the increase. This is probably due to the major corporate scandals that started coming to light in the late 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century. In order to better understand ethical orientation among future business leaders in Malaysia, an exploratory study was conducted to assess consumer ethical ideologies and beliefs about potentially questionable consumer behaviours. This current study looks at whether consumer’s ethical ideology (Machiavellian, Relativism and Idealism) would have an impact on the students ’ perceptions of a variety of consumer actions and practices. The result shows that male students were generally less ethical compared to female students and public university students to be more ethical compared to private university students. Further analysis also reveals that these future business leaders were generally more idealistic in their outlook and were less tolerant to unethical or questionable consumer behaviour