Contemporary Cleopatras: The business ethics of female Egyptian managers

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore gender differences in ethical attitudes along two dimensions: perceived ethical strategies for career advancement, or upward-influence ethics; and perceived ethical roles of business in society and the natural environment, or business social and environmental responsibility. Design/methodology/approach: Employing a variance decomposition procedure, the paper identifies substantive differences in the ethical perceptions of Egyptian male and female managers. Findings: Female managers find more covert upward-influence strategies - strategies that are less aboveboard and transparent - acceptable and eschew overt upward-influence tactics - strategies that are aboveboard and transparent. Female managers also envision a larger role for business in society, particularly in terms of social responsibilities than do male managers. Research limitations/implications: The study is exploratory, employing a small sample in a single country. Originality/value: The findings contribute to ongoing debates about the role that a person's gender plays in influencing his/her ethical perspective, examining the issue in a developing country context. This paper's contribution is also methodological, demonstrating how variance decomposition can be used to examine these issues. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.