Ecotourism and Ethics: Moral Development and Organizational Cultures

Abstract

As the ecotourism industry grows and matures, the need to address ethical conduct from an organizational perspective becomes increasingly more important for this sector to survive and prosper into the 21st century. The literature suggests that those organizations with ethical cultures tend to provide work environments that encourage employee personal growth and development and provide more efficient, effective, and productive business outcomes for the stake-holders than those organizations whose ethical practices are questionable. The purpose of this article is to present a model and hierarchy of ethical organizational cultural ty pologies as they apply to ecotourism. Those who work in the field may find this framework helpful in identifying the nature of an ecotourism organization's ethical culture. The framework may also provide a developmental structure for enhancing or transforming an ecotourism organization.