Clash of Generations at Workplace: What does Business Ethics Mean to Different Generations in Turkey?

Gülem Atab; Şebnem Penbek; Deniz Zaptçioğlu; Ela Burcu Ucel

Authors

Gülem Atab Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration, Sakarya Street, No:156, 35330 Balcova-İzmir, Turkey.
Şebnem Penbek Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration, Sakarya Street, No:156, 35330 Balcova-İzmir, Turkey.
Deniz Zaptçioğlu Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration, Sakarya Street, No:156, 35330 Balcova-İzmir, Turkey.
Ela Burcu Ucel Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration, Sakarya Street, No:156, 35330 Balcova-İzmir, Turkey.

Abstract

Changing times and fast moving conditions force organizations and managers to find new ways to adopt and manage every day challenges of the business world. One of those everyday challenges is managing a diverse work force composed of employees from different ages. Due to the increasingly diversified nature of the work force, intergenerational differences on work place characteristics and attitudes are major possible sources of work place problems. As the literature on generational differences at work place is generally dominated by Western studies, by conducting this study, it is aimed to highlight the way generations perceive business ethics from Turkish organizational perspective. The research was designed with an exploratory nature and employed qualitative research methods. 18 semi-structured interviews with three generations: Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y were conducted. The findings of the current study indicated that there are both some similarities and also differences in terms of business ethics perceptions of three generations.

DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n9p532