Moral Competency

Abstract

In the light of recent corporate scams such as Satyam, the author undertook the present research work to address the following questions: Does moral incompetence reside in only a few corporate species? Are ordinary individuals, working in the corporate world, also potential candidates, equally capable of giving birth to tainted corporate performance? This study examined the degree of coherence between one’s estimation of moral self and its relative manifestation in human behaviour. The author utilized the Guna framework as a proxy to virtuous personality/moral architecture of self and subsequently explored its relationship with ethical/unethical behaviour using co-variance-based structural equation modelling. The research indicated that the relationship between one’s estimation of self and its manifestation in human behaviour did not match as expected. Data suggested that individuals, carrying a positive self-image about themselves are vulnerable to engaging in unethical behaviour.