Moral Behaviour And Ethical Misconduct In Nigerian Small Businesses

Abstract

The small business sector plays a vital role in the economic development, upliftment and job creation of any third world country, and even more so in Africa. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) have underperformed over the past years and therefore have not contributed their expected roles in the growth and development of the Nigerian economy. This can and may lead to unethical behaviour and questionable practices which speak of moral decay – something that Africa, in general, and Nigeria, specifically, has been accused of. The performance and ethical behaviour of Nigerian SMEs have been of great concern to numerous individuals, parties and organisations (Onugu, 2005:8). Since managers’ decisions impact organisational goals and behaviours, this research aims to determine whether a sense of moral behaviour will have an influence on the concern for ethical misconduct in the Nigerian business environment by examining the relationship between “Moral Behaviour” and the “Concern for Ethical Dilemmas/Misconduct”. The research followed a quantitative approach. Results indicated that there is a fine line between what is perceived as being morally wrong or unethical and that, in many instances, the focus is rather on future existence of the business and not really on the ethical issues involved. The study confirms that there is a medium to strong relationship correlation between sense of ethical concerns and immoral behaviour in the Nigerian small business environment. The hypothesis (H₀: Entrepreneurs who have an acute sense of moral behaviour are concerned about ethical misconduct/dilemmas in the business environment) is therefore accepted.