KÜÇÜK İŞLETME SAHİPLERİNİN DİNDARLIK DÜZEYLERİ, ETİK İDEOLOJİLERİ VE ALGILARI ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİLER

Araştırmanın Amacı: Bu araştırmanın amacı, küçük işletme sahiplerinin dindarlık düzeyleri, etik ideolojileri idealizm/rölativizm , etik algıları ve niyetleri arasındaki olası ilişkileri tespit etmektir. Konuya ilişkin literatür incelendiğinde genel olarak dindarlık düzeyi ile idealizm düzeyi arasında pozitif; rölativizm düzeyi arasında ise negatif ilişkiler saptandığı görülmektedir. Dindarlık düzeyi ile etik problem algılama ve etik niyetler arasında da pozitif yönlü doğrusal ilişkiler gözlenmektedir. Ayrıca, etik problem algılama düzeyi ile idealizm arasında pozitif; rölativizm arasında ise negatif yönlü doğrusal ilişkiler öngörülmektedir.Araştırmanın Yöntemi: Bu araştırma, Balıkesir ili Edremit Körfezi’nde bulunan beş ilçede, küçük işletme sahipleri arasından kolayda örnekleme yöntemi ile seçilen 303 kişi üzerinde senaryo tekniğine dayalı yüz yüze anket yöntemi kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmada idealizm ve rölativizm düzeylerini ölçmek amacıyla, Forsyth 1980 tarafından geliştirilen Etik Konum Anketi Ethics Position Questionnaire kullanılmıştır. Dindarlık değişkenini ölçmek amacıyla beş farklı ölçekten yararlanılmıştır. Algılanan etik problem ve etik niyetler düzeyini ölçmek amacıyla, cevaplayıcılara senaryo tekniğine dayalı birer soru yöneltilmiştir. Araştırmanın modelinde öngörülen ilişkileri test etmek amacıyla yapısal eşitlik modeli kullanılmıştır. Edremit Körfezi’nde bulunan beş ilçedeki küçük işletme sahiplerini içermektedir. Bu da, araştırmanın başka bir kısıtıdır. Araştırmanın Özgün Değeri: Bu çalışma, uygulandığı ülke ve bölge bakımından özgündür. Her ne kadar, araştırmada kullanılan değişkenlerden yola çıkarak bugüne kadar pek çok çalışma yapılmış olsa da, Türkiye’de aynı değişkenlerden yola çıkarak yapılmış bir çalışmaya yazarların bilgisi dahilinde rastlanmamıştır. Ayrıca literatürdeki çalışmalar genel olarak büyük işletmeleri hedef alırken bu çalışmada küçük işletmelerin tercih edilmesi; yine literatürde genellikle çalışanlar üzerinde gerçekleştirilmiş uygulamalara rastlanırken bu çalışmanın işletme sahiplerini hedef alması da araştırmaya orijinallik katmaktadır

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN RELIGIOSITY LEVELS, ETHICAL IDEOLOGIES AND PERCEPTIONS OF SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore possible relationships between religiosity levels, ethical ideologies idealism/relativism , ethical perceptions and intentions of small business owners. A review of related literature generally shows that religiosity level has been established to have positive relationships with idealism level, and negative relationships with relativism level. Positive linear relationships have been observed among religiosity level, ethical problem perception and ethical intentions. Moreover, level of ethical problem perception is predicted to have positive relationships with idealism, and negative linear relationships with relativism Methodology: This study is based on a face-to-face survey of scenario method conducted over 303 people chosen through convenient sampling method among small business owners from five districts in Edremit Gulf of Balıkesir. Ethics Position Questionnaire developed by Forsyth 1980 was used to assess idealism and relativism levels. Five different scales were applied in order to measure religiosity variable. To calculate levels of perceived ethical problem and ethical intentions, participants were asked one question ofscenario method for each. Structural Equation Model was used to test the predicted relationships in research model. Findings: After the validity and reliability test of the scales, the structural equation model was run and resulted in the confirmation of four hypotheses out of seven. These findings are consistent with some of previous research findings in the related literature. As in some researches, no meaningful relationship was detected between relativism and none of variables. Research Limitations: The most important limitation of this research is geographical. The data was collected through a nonrandom sampling convenient sampling in the city of Balıkesir. Therefore, it isn’t possible to generalize these findings. Furthermore, research population includes small business owners from five districts in Edremit Gulf of Balıkesir which is another limitation of this study. Originality: This study is original in terms of the country and the region where it was conducted. Although there have been many researches on the variables of this study, the authors haven’t so far come across any research of the same variables in Turkey. And this study is original in that other researches in literature mainly deal with bigger businesses rather than small ones and involve workers rather than owners as in this study

Keywords:

Marketing ethics, Religiosity, Personal Moral Philosophies Perceived Ethical Problem, Ethical Intentions,

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