Ethics in the hospitality industry: An applied model

Aims to profile the ethical decision-making foundations and referents which influence ethical decision making for small hotel operations in the USA. Reviews the precepts of egoism, benevolence and principle used as criteria in decision making and the main referent sources of individual, local and cosmopolitan used when applying these precepts. Research consisted of 1,500 operators in nine different regions and a response rate of 40 percent. The questionnaire consisted of the Ethical Climate Questionnaire plus demographic variables such as: gender, experience, education level, property type and position classification. Findings included: managers/owners mostly operate from an egoism perspective and an individual referent. Develops a model to explain these ethical precepts and referents. © 1998, MCB UP Limite