ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICAL DECISION MAKING IN THE U.S. METAL-FINISHING INDUSTRY.

We investigated the individual and contextual influences shaping the environmental ethical decision intentions of a sample of managers in the U.S. metal-finishing industry in this study.Ajzen's (1991) theory of planned behavior and Jones's (1991) moral intensity construct grounded our theoretical framework.Findings revealed that the magnitude of consequences, a dimension of moral intensity, moderated the relationships between each of five antecedents-attitudes, subjective norms, and three perceived behavioral control factors (self-efficacy, financial cost, and ethical climate)and managers' environmental ethical decision intentions.We then developed implications for theory and practice in environmental ethical decision making.When addressing the management of organizations in the natural environment, it is misleading to say that environmental problems and risks are becoming an issue of relevance for business organizations.Indeed, researchers have documented that such a well-known historical figure as Benjamin Franklin sought in 1739 to stop local businesses from polluting a small creek that ran through Philadelphia (Neuzil & Kovarik, 1996).Today it is recognized by some that "there are few significant man-made environmental problems (or woman-