Developing an Original Theoretical Framework for Ethical Decision-Making Under Institutional Pressure in Nigerian Business Organisations

Ethical decision-making in Nigerian business is subject to intense institutional pressures, including corruption norms, ethnic loyalty expectations, and regulatory capture, and an original theoretical framework that contextualises ethical decision-making under these pressures advances both theory and practice in Nigerian business ethics. This study develops an original Institutionalised Ethical Pressure Model (IEPM) for Nigerian business organisations, integrating business ethics theory, institutional theory, and moral psychology to explain how decision-makers navigate, resist, and accommodate institutional pressures that conflict with individual ethical values. The IEPM identifies three original pressure-response dynamic constructs: Normative Corruption Accommodation (the gradual ethical erosion through which individuals accept unethical norms as normal practice through social proof mechanisms), Protective Value Anchoring (the psychological mechanisms through which individuals maintain ethical standards against institutional pressure, typically through strong personal value identity or external accountability), and Strategic Ethical Compliance (the practice of visible compliance with formal ethical codes while accommodating informal corrupt norms through discretionary discretion). Theory development employs an interpretive phenomenological approach, with 80 in-depth interviews with Nigerian business managers across banking, oil and gas, manufacturing, and public sector organisations in Lagos, Abuja, and Kano. Grounded theoretical analysis generates the IEPM constructs and propositions. The model is quantitatively validated through a survey of 450 managers using structural equation modelling. All three constructs are confirmed as significant mediators of the institutional pressure-ethical behaviour relationship. The IEPM constitutes an original contribution to business ethics theory contextualised for Nigerian and comparable high-institutional-pressure environments.

Keywords: ethical decision-making, institutional pressure, corruption, Nigerian business ethics, grounded theory