Evaluating a Doctoral Study – Research Methodology
Abstract
This study is based on the final presentation of Sheila Hadley Strider’s doctoral dissertation on
Ethical Business Decision Making Considering Stakeholder interest at Walden University,
College of Management and Technology. The study identifies individual values, experiences and
believes as espoused from personal upbringing, peer influence and environment that naturally
shape or influence ethical behavior in most people.
The background of the research explores individual attributes in decision making
processes and the ethical implications that affect stakeholders. The author extensively covers the
ethical nature of decision making processes in most business organizations and the challenges
that ethical managers face in an unethical society.
The author conducted a qualitative research by collecting data using semi structured
interviews through the phone and which were later transcribed after being verified. Ethical
behavior is an individual attribute that can only be revealed through skilled interviews and
qualitative design features. The research design also allows an in-depth revelation of a leader’s
ability or will to make ethical decisions (Yin, 2014). The author has also revealed the nature and
how the processes of the research data collection methods were conducted and the procedures for
withdrawal and data safeguards.
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The research design was consistent with the qualitative nature of research that required
utmost skills to depict the values and beliefs that are the leaders believed in and their propensity
to make the right decisions and which are also ethical.
The author should have included some personal physical interview with a few respondents to
make an overall judgment on the intensity and impact of ethical issues to individual persons in
relation to the increasingly unethical behavior in public corporations especially with the constant
financial crisis that occurs largely due to financial improprieties by the concerned managers.
The data would have been best collected through personal interviews but it would have
been impractical in certain circumstances and it would have been more costly. However, the
phone interviews provided the required information. The semi structured interview questions
used to collect the data was appropriate but I would have preferred a questionnaire with a
weighted answer that would allow the intensity of the answer to be revealed.
The problem statement clearly outlines the need for ethical evaluation in decision making
processes in an evolving world where ethical standards are gradually being eroded due to short
term gains for a few unscrupulous business leaders. These unethical behaviors have led to the
collapse of giant corporations, economic crisis and environmental disasters globally (Yandle,
2010). The problem statement has both hook and anchor that draws attention to the need of the
study. The research also reveals all the variables required and the specific problem under study.
The purpose of the study has been defined very well in the research sturdy as it seeks to
provide more insights into what influences ethical behavior in our contemporary society. The
purpose of the study is complete with the location of the study being the eastern half of the US.
To conclude, the doctoral research has included most of the requirements under the rubric
and it has outlined and undertaken a comprehensive research on ethical business decision making
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and its impact to stakeholders. The research is very significant especially to policy researchers on
human capital development, government officials and also to general businessmen.
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Reference
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
Yandle, B. (2010). Lost trust, the real cause of the financial meltdown. The Independent
Review, 14(3), 341-361. Retrieved from http://www.independent.org/
