This study uses the ATBEQ, as published by J.F. Preble and A. Reichel
(1988) to measure attitudes towards ethical business attitudes held by
final year South African Bachelor of Commerce students at Rhodes Univ
ersity. Three samples of students were assessed over three consecutive
years of 1989, 1990 and 1991, and results are compared with samples (
1988) of American and Israeli students and a sample (1991) of Western
Australian students. A significant difference in attitudes was found t
o exist between the Israeli and South African samples. A factor analys
is of the questionnaire identified eleven factors of which seven are t
heoretically labelled. A revised version of the ATBEQ is suggested whi
ch excludes the poorly performing questions.