m, 1985; Jones, 1991). Unfortunately, the numerous empirical studies, which have also attempted to describe ethical factors, while containing some interesting insights, have seldom been based upon any underlying theoretical foundation or framework (Murphy and Laczniak, 1981). Researchers have suggested a number of factors affecting ethical decision making and behavior, which generally fall into four categories: personal factors, inter-organizational factors, issue-related factors and extra-organizational factors. The personal factors category includes cognitive development (Ferrell and Gresham, 1985) and personal experiences (Hunt and Vitell, 1986); as shaped through education (Brenner and Molander, 1977); family (Laczniak and Murphy, 1993); gender (Fritzsche, 1988); and culture (Armstrong and Sweeney, 1994); management position and role of the individual (Fritzsche, 1988); locus of control (Trevino and Youngblood, 1990); and Machiavellianism (Hunt and Chonko, 1984). Organizational factor
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