Abstract
This study develops and investigates an ethical decision-making model to evaluate the major factors-moral sensitivity, moral consensus, desire for power, and desire for money-that influence conflicts of interest in decision-making among ocean-freight-forwarding salespeople. To empirically test this conceptual model, we used a scenario-based questionnaire to collect 139 valid samples and then conducted further analyses using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients and hierarchical regressions. The results of the preliminary analysis revealed two types of conflicts of interest in decision-making, namely avoidance of negative effects and positive promotion, which were significantly related to moral sensitivity and moral consensus. Advanced regressions partially supported the six hypotheses proposed herein; thus, salespeople's ethical decision-making was influenced by their moral sensitivities, moral consensus, and desire for power. These findings provide new insight into the relevant factors that influence freight-forwarding salespeople's ethical judgments when making decisions concerning the transportation of dangerous goods. We also discuss the implications for daily operations of conflicts of interest in decision-making and provide managerial insights for freight-forwarding companies.
Recommended Citation
CHEN, HSI-KUN; Chen, SHIOU-YU; and YE, KUNG-DON
(2022)
"Conflicts of Interest in Decision-making for the Transportation of Dangerous Goods by Sea: Perspectives of Freight-forwarding Sales People,"
Journal of Marine Science and Technology: Vol. 30:
Iss.
3, Article 2.
DOI: 10.51400/2709-6998.2576
Available at:
https://jmstt.ntou.edu.tw/journal/vol30/iss3/2
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