Business Ethics and Societal Culture

In July 2020, more than 1,000 companies that advertise on social media platforms withdrew their business, citing failures of the platforms (especially Facebook) to address the proliferation of harmful content. The #StopHateForProfit movement invites reflection on an understudied topic: the ethics of boycotting by corporations. Under what conditions is corporate boycotting permissible, required, supererogatory, or forbidden? Although value-driven consumerism has generated significant recent discussion in applied ethics, that discussion has focused almost exclusively on the consumption choices of individuals. As this (...) article underscores, value-driven consumerism by business corporations complicates these issues and invites further examination. We propose principles for the ethics of boycotting by corporations, indicate how these principles relate to different CSR paradigms, and show how these insights can help assess recent instances of corporate boycotting. (shrink)

Game theory involves deliberating about what to do in light of what other people are likely to do. One of the central frameworks of game theory is the prisoner’s dilemma, in which participants who make rational choices end up in suboptimal outcomes. Using the prisoner’s dilemma to model competition between firms sets the stage for a new and promising approach to business ethics: the market failures approach.

I aim in this paper to provide defense of one way to look at what should be regulated in the market place. In particular, I discuss what should be tolerated and argue against corporate welfare. I begin by endorsing John Stuart Mill’s harm principle as a normative principle of toleration. I call strict commitment to the harm principle when considering the regulatory structure of markets market libertarianism and oppose that to promotionism, the view that endorses government interference to promote business (...) interests. I next discuss the widespread use of promotionist policies, arguing against them and for market libertarianism. I also consider problems for my view, recognizing that one of my responses may leave some thinking the paper is a reductio of the market libertarian view because of the sort of slow-growth state it endorses. Others will recognize it as a view promoted by some of the U.S. founding fathers and find it attractive in its own right. (shrink)

Numerous high-profile ethics scandals, rising inequality, and the detrimental effects of climate change dramatically underscore the need for business schools to instill a commitment to social purpose in their students. At the same time, the rising financial burden of education, increasing competition in the education space, and overreliance on graduates’ financial success as the accepted metric of quality have reinforced an instrumentalist climate. These conflicting aims between social and financial purpose have created an existential crisis for business education. To resolve (...) this impasse, we draw on the concept of moral self-awareness to offer a system-theoretical strategy for crowding-in a culture of ethics within business schools. We argue that to do so, business schools will need to (1) reframe the purpose of business, (2) reframe the meaning of professional success, and (3) reframe the ethos of business education itself. (shrink)

The socioecological discourse has recently gained strong attention. Suddenly, most firms now try to engage quickly with precarious issues because consumers demand an attitude toward our grand challenges, not merely products anymore. Starting from neo‐institutionalist critiques, which dominate the corporate green and socialwashing discourse, this essay argues from a largely neglected perspective by drawing attention to the impacts on the longstanding pioneers of socioecologically valuable business practices. Almost no research to date has illuminated the phenomenon whereby pioneering firms lose their (...) unique selling propositions because others are ‘riding the wave’ and reaping where they have not sown. By applying a resource-based argumentation, the idea of a tragedy of intangible commons is unfolded to explain what made this phenomenon possible and why it could even occur. (shrink)

With the transition of the pandemic-gripped labor market en masse to remote capabilities to avert from a national or international economic meltdown, a concern arises that many job seekers simply cannot fit into the new roles being developed and implemented. Beyond the loss of on-site work, the market is unable to reverse the loss of many roles that are, and have been, taken over by artificial (computer) intelligence systems. The “business-as-usual” mentality that many have come to associate with pre-pandemic life (...) supposedly took these losses into account, much to various societies’ detriment during this international crisis. And unlike at the turn of the millennium, the market has come to realize that it cannot function without advanced computer intelligence (CI) systems. Arguments can be made that humanity’s currently most sophisticated CI systems come nowhere near replicating the nuances that would prompt one to classify the system as being “human-like,” and that they will remain this way for the foreseeable future. However, what is conveniently ignored in this assessment is how not even three generations have passed since computer systems became an integral aspect of daily life. While the loss of work for humans as a result of this advancement of technology may not immediately reach concerning levels, it still begs the question of how society should react to a lack of non-specialized work and the value of “humanness” in the labor market. This work intends to explore these concepts and provide anticipatory guidance on how humanity should adapt. (shrink)

In this paper, I defend what may seem a surprising view: that John Stuart Mill’s famous harm principle would, if taken to be what justifies government action, disallow the existence of corporations. My claim is not that harmful activities of currently existing corporations warrants their losing corporate status according to the harm principle. The claim, rather, is that taken strictly, the harm principle and the legal possibility of incorporation are mutually exclusive. This view may be surprising—and I do not at (...) all mean to attribute it to Mill—but if I am right, it should be obvious. It should also encourage us to think more about the nature of the markets within which business occurs. (shrink)

Societal pressures on high tech organizations to define and disseminate their ethical stances are increasing as the influences of the technologies involved expand. Many Internet-based businesses have emerged in the past decades; growing numbers of them have developed some kind of moral declaration in the form of mottos or ethical statements. For example, the corporate motto “don’t be evil” (often linked with Google/ Alphabet) has generated considerable controversy about social and cultural impacts of search engines. After addressing the origins of (...) these mottos and statements, this chapter projects the future of such ethical manifestations in the context of critically-important privacy, security, and economic concerns. The chapter analyzes potential influences of the ethical expressions on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The chapter analyzes issues of whether “large-grained” corporate mottos can indeed serve to supply social and ethical guidance for organizations as opposed to more complex, detailed codes of ethics or comparable attempts at moral clarification. (shrink)

I argue that capitalism presents a threat to “democratic contestation”: the egalitarian, socially distributed capacity to affect how, why, and whether power is used. Markets are not susceptible to mechanisms of accountability, nor are they bearers of intentions in the way that political power-holders are. This makes them resistant to the kind of rational, intentional oversight that constitutes one of democracy’s social virtues. I identify four social costs associated with this problem: the vulnerability of citizens to arbitrary interference, the insensitivity (...) of markets to relevant interests, failures of trust in the market system, and the inhibition of social deliberation about matters of public concern. I make general two suggestions about how we might ameliorate these problems: First, as a way of introducing some measure of intentionality to large-scale patterns of business activity, the reconceptualization of such activity as participation in larger group actions; second, the development of deliberative bodies that bring together business actors, policy experts, and diverse citizens in an effort to better characterize and transmit the public values that business should serve. (shrink)

In this article, I argued that in contexts in which tipping is customary, there is a moral duty to tip or to explicitly tell the server that you will not be tipping. The evidence for this rests on anecdotes about people's mental states, and customers and server's intuitions about duties that would arise were a customer unable to tip his server. The promise is a speech act that is implicit in ordering food. The speech act must be matched by the (...) server's uptake, which is implicit in her taking the order. The promise argument rests on an actual promise and not a merely hypothetical promise. If there is such a duty, then in the absence of an explicit content, its content is likely set by convention. The convention is that customers tip 15–20%. Thus, customers have a duty to tip servers 15–20%. Other purported moral considerations do not ground this duty. These include custom, desirable incentives, role‐relative obligation, and gratitude. (shrink)

When it comes to Chinese transformational leadership behavior, the focus seems to be Confucian work value; nonetheless, it represents only one of the Chinese traditions. In order to have a better understanding the relationship between Chinese traditional values and transformational leadership behavior, Taoist work value should also be taken into consideration. Thus, this study firstly develops Confucian and Taoist work value scale (study 1) and then applies this scale to examine its relationship with transformational leadership (study 2). The results show (...) that while Confucian work value is the most consistent predictor of core transformational leader behavior and high-performance expectations, Taoist work value is the most consistent predictor of intellectual stimulation. (shrink)

Globally, corporate social responsibility (CSR) needs to find its sustainable development via the recognition of tangible benefits that CSR will bring to organizations and their stakeholders. The less tangible but likely most important benefit lies in the continual improved leadership and management quality emerging from organizations investing in CSR. Companies’ failure to act in a CSR way and the lack of wise leadership and quality management is a dominant root factor in the past scandals and financial crisis. Looking at current (...) interactions between Chinese companies and their various influencing environmental, society and government (ESG) factors, many of the motivational drivers for Western companies to invest in CSR are today still being challenged here based on China’s market specifics. More rapid development of the regulatory framework with adequate enforcement resources, as well as incorporation of CSR “value” education at universities can accelerate this needed development. In the short term, foreign companies as “guests” of China should also be a catalyst as role models. Apart from a foreign investor’s actions, it is equally important to acknowledge and address local China challenges remaining to provide the right climate for a foreign company’s CSR programs to be successfully executed here. The world is at a cross roads of a new value-based leadership paradigm. With global interdependence accelerating and hence, management and leadership complexity expanding, there is a need for a new leadership model, bringing “common wisdom” more pronounced to the forefront, arising from a renewed focus and strengthening of an aligned set of values between family, society, and corporate life. China’s unique demographic challenges and economic progress provide a fertile environment to lead the world in this development. (shrink)

The ongoing global economic and financial crisis has exposed the risks of considering market and business organizations only as instruments for creating economic wealth while paying little heed to their role in ethics and values. Catholic Social Teaching (CST) could provide a useful contribution in rethinking the role of values in business organizations and markets because CST puts forward an anthropological view that involves thinking of the marketplace as a community of persons with the aim of participating in the Common (...) Good (CG) of society. In the light of the CST tradition, and in particular Caritas in Veritate , this article investigates the thinking of some of the historical scholars of the Italian Economia Aziendale ( EA ), by focusing on the concept of azienda , in order to reinterpret in a more humanistic way the role of business organizations in society. By linking CST and EA , the dichotomy between for-profit and not-for-profit organizations and the stereotype of the so-called business amorality that has, for a long time, driven business managers can be transcended. The conclusions imply a forward-looking application of the ethical concepts embedded in the Italian science of EA. (shrink)

The paper deals with business ethics as a part of professional ethics. Primarily, it focuses on the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a means of applying theory to practice. The paper deals with a general survey of literature available in Slovak language and discovers to what extent it covers the topic of corporate social responsibility. It compares business ethics literature written in Slovak and English. The paper also concentrates on the effective use of CSR in practice, mostly in (...) bigger companies. The concept of CSR offers another way of implementing ethics to business apart from the codes of ethics that are widely used among Slovak companies. (shrink)

Businesses and the social sciences are increasingly facing calls to further scholarship dedicated to understand sustainability. Furthermore, multinationals are also facing similar calls given their high profile and their role in environmental degradation. However, a literature review shows that there is very limited understanding of sustainability at a cross-national level. Given the above gaps, we contribute to the literature by examining how selected GLOBE [House et al., Culture, leadership and organizations: The GOBE study of 62 societies. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, (...) 2004 ] cultural dimensions are related to individuals’ propensity to support sustainability initiatives in 33 countries. We use data from the World Values Survey [World Values Study Group, World Values Surveys and European Value Surveys, 1999–2001. Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, Ann Arbor, 2004 ] and test our hypotheses using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). Results support all but one hypothesis. Specifically, uncertainty avoidance is not related to propensity to support sustainability initiatives. In contrast, performance orientation and assertiveness have the desired negative relationship with our dependent variable while collectivism, future orientation, and human orientation have the desired positive relationship. We discuss the conceptual and practical implications of this study. (shrink)

Whether the nation of Israel has become a “light unto the nations” in terms of ethical behavior among its business community remains in doubt. To examine the current state of business ethics in Israel, the study examines the following: (1) the extent of business ethics education in Israel; (2) the existence of formal corporate ethics program elements based on an annual survey of over 50 large Israeli corporations conducted over 5 years (2006–2010); and (3) perceptions of the state of business (...) ethics based on interviews conducted with 22 senior Israeli corporate executives. In general, and particularly as a young country, Israel might be considered to have made great improvements in the state of business ethics over the years. In terms of business ethics education, the vast majority of universities and colleges offer at least an elective course in business ethics. In terms of formal business ethics program elements, many large companies now have a code of ethics, and over time continue to add additional elements. Most respondents believed they worked in ethical firms. Despite these developments, however, there appears to be significant room for improvement, particularly in terms of issues like: nepotism/favoritism; discrimination; confidentiality; treatment of customers; advertising; competitive intelligence; whistle-blowing; worker health and safety; and the protection of the environment. When compared with the U.S. or Europe, most believed that Israeli firms and their agents were not as ethical in business. A number of reasons were suggested that might be affecting the state of business ethics in Israel. A series of recommendations were also provided on how firms can better encourage an ethical corporate culture. The paper concludes with its limitations. (shrink)

Since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008, the exchange rate between China and USA has drawn a lot of attention. Because of the balance of payments surplus, China has accumulated a large amount of foreign exchange reserves, and there is much pressure on the Renminbi (RMB) to appreciate. The appreciation of RMB has raised a series of intertwining economic and ethical concerns in China. This paper is an inter-disciplinary study to illustrate the inter-relationship between economics and ethics. (...) We analyze the major economic factors affecting the trend of exchange rate of RMB and the effects of its appreciation. We then discuss the ethical implications of the appreciation and conclude with some policy suggestions to address the economic and the ethical concerns. (shrink)

Although the history of adopting the Western Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concept in China spans less than 20 years, the core principles of CSR are not new and can be legitimately interpreted within traditional Chinese culture. We find that the Western CSR concepts do not adapt well to the Chinese market, because they have rarely defined the primary reason for CSR well, and the etic approach to CSR concepts does not take the Chinese reality and culture into consideration. This article (...) resolves these problems and contributes a new definition of CSR, called here – the Harmony Approach to CSR. Simply, the Chinese harmony approach to CSR means 'respecting nature and loving people'. It is the first time CSR has been defined in relation to Confucian interpersonal harmony and Taoist harmony between man and nature. Conceptually, this definition will broaden our understanding and will fit the characteristics of the Chinese market better. The idea of incorporating cultural contexts into CSR concepts could also contribute to future CSR studies. In business practice, it will help corporations to adopt CSR on their own initiative. The proposed virtues of traditional Chinese wisdom, in particular, will guide corporations to a new way of improving their CSR performance. (shrink)

This article contributes to the literature on national varieties of socially responsible investment (SRI) by demonstrating how Scandinavian SRI developed from the 60s and onwards. Combining findings on Scandinavian SRI with insights from previous research and institutional theory, the article accounts for the role of changes in societal values and norms, the mechanisms by which SRI practices spread, and how investors adopt and transform practices to suit their surrounding institutional contexts. Especially, the article draws attention to how different categories of (...) investors act as institutional entrepreneurs during specific historical periods, and how these roles come to shift as institutional rule systems of varying societal levels change. Thus, the insights gained are useful in the future research agenda concerned with advancing knowledge on idiosyncrasies and commonalities of national SRI manifestations, and to understand the reasons underlying such characteristics. (shrink)

The paper explores the emergence and development of socially responsible investment (SRI) in Japan. SRI is a recent field in Japan. It is not clear which model it will follow: the European, American or its own model. Through the analysis of the historical roots of SRI, the key actors and motivations that have contributed to its diffusion, the paper provides explorative grounds to sketch the translation mechanisms of SRI in Japan and offers insight into its future path. Based on primary (...) and secondary sources of information, the paper shows that although SRI in Japan holds some similarities with the U.S. and especially with the European model, it remains unique. It highlights the importance of translation and re-interpretation in adopting a practice in a new context. SRI in Japan is still in a dynamic construction process. Although we expect it to develop further, it is difficult to depict its future shape and form. (shrink)

This study uses best–worst scaling experiments to examine differences across six countries in the attitudes of consumers towards social and ethical issues that included both product related issues (such as recycled packaging) and general social factors (such as human rights). The experiments were conducted using over 600 respondents from Germany, Spain, Turkey, USA, India, and Korea. The results show that there is indeed some variation in the attitudes towards social and ethical issues across these six countries. However, what is more (...) telling are the similarities seen and the extent to which individual variation dominates observable demographics and country-based variables. (shrink)

This article discusses the possibility of an economic foundation for a work and savings ethic. In particular, James M. Buchanan has, in his late works, endorsed traditional 'Puritan' demands for working and saving more, while arguing that this is beneficial for all members of a society. I will question Buchanan's analysis of the 'Puritan' ethic both in normative and methodological respects before aiming at a constructive interpretation.

Using measures developed by Singhapakdi et al. (1996, Journal of Business ethics 15, 1131–1140) the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility (PRESOR) is measured among MBA students in the United States, Malaysia and Ukraine revealing a stockholder view and two stakeholder views. Relativism and Idealism are also measured. The scores of MBA students are compared among each other and with those of the U.S. managers who were part of the original study. Managers'' scores tend to be significantly higher on (...) the Stockholder and Stakeholder II views, and much lower on Relativism than the MBA students. The Malaysian MBA students scored higher than did the American MBA students on Relativism, Idealism and the Stockholder view. The Ukrainian MBA students'' scores on the three PRESOR factors are generally similar to those of the American MBAs, while they had the highest scores of any group on the Relativism scale. Overall, the patterns of responses, as much as the significant differences on specific scales, support the notion that culture, however defined, affects both values and ethics. Several directions for future research are identified.''. (shrink)

Are culture driven ethical conflicts apparent in the discourse of the protagonists? A multi-year, multi-cultural study of managers by Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner resulted in two conclusions relevant to business ethics. The first is that intercultural business conflicts can often be traced to a finite set of cultural differences. The second is that enough similarities exist between cultures to provide the grounds for conflict resolution. The research reported here gives credence to their study when applied to an ethical conflict viewed from (...) French and American perspectives. (shrink)

This study aims to discover marketing professionals'' perceptions on ethical problems and current level of ethics in Greece, as well as, on the policy instruments used by companies to help employees make decisions in a more ethical fashion, using a qualitative research design. Specifically, it reports the results of a series of in-depth interviews conducted with Greek marketing professional employed by multinationals in Greece. A number of topics examining ethical problems, ethical standards, corporate policy instruments and corporate cultureserved as a (...) basis for discussion. While the occasionally contrasting opinions revealed in part the perplexity of marketing ethics, respondents also arrived at points of convergence. All recognized government as playing the most prominent role in issues of public concern, legislation and overall ethical standards. Moreover, all marketers identified multinational and other foreign firms as a positive influence to the level of ethics, due to the introduction of policy instruments and control mechanisms. Finally, they also accepted the need for better informed customers and a strong organizational culture. Several recommendations are offered for consideration by marketing professionals interested in promoting ethical business conduct. (shrink)

Following a government campaign run by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 1994, many Hong Kong companies and trade associations adopted written codes of conduct. The research study reported here examines how and why companies responded, and assesses the impact of code adoption on the moral climate of code adopters. The research involved (a) initial questionnaire surveys to which 184 organisations replied, (b) longitudinal questionnaire-based assessments of moral ethos and conduct in a focal sample of 17 code adopting companies, (...) (c) interviews with 33 managers in the focal companies examining the adoption and impact of the codes, and (d) content analysis of 41 company codes of conduct, including those of most focal companies, plus the ICAC model code.While a mixture of prudential and altruistic reasons were given for code adoption, content analysis suggested that the prime motive was corporate self-defence. The prevailing themes were bribery, conflict of interest, insider information, gambling, moonlighting, accuracy of records and misuse of corporate assets. Wider social responsibility tended to be neglected. Companies appeared to have imposed their codes top-down, emphasising disciplinary procedures rather than ethics training, and appointing neither ethics counsellors nor ombuds-people. The longitudinal study over a seven month period suggested that while moral ethos may have declined, overall standards of perceived conduct had not changed. (shrink)

This report characterizes the state of affairs in the field of business ethics in Central and Eastern Europe. It reveals the major problems and challenges brought about by the profound reforms to these societies and economies. It also offers some results of surveys looking at public opinion on morals and ethics, as well as on current business practices. In order to give a complex picture, it presents brief lessons from the history of particular countries. The author, devoting the most attention (...) to the Czech Republic, tries to describe not only the development of business ethics in the theoretical arena but also the first steps taken by the business world itself. (shrink)

This study was designed to survey the extent to which private companies in Sweden take structural measures within the field of business ethics: Codes of Ethics; Ethics Committees; Ethics Officers and Ethics Training. This was done in two steps. Through a nation-wide telephone survey, a population of "active" companies were identified. These companies received a questionnaire with detailed questions regarding the design, usage and effects of these measures. The percentage of active companies were found to be a high 46%. National (...) and industry characteristics are proposed as explanatory factors. (shrink)

Our Associate Editor, who is head of the Center for Ethics in Economics and Business, CERGE‐EI, in Prague, writes of a macabre case of brand copying as one illustration of the difficulties of achieving fair competition in the CR.

Two of the Scandinavian countries, Sweden and Finland have recently joined the European Communities. Together with a third Scandinavian country, Denmark, which joined the Communities two decades ago it seems likely that Scandinavian views and attitudes will make a great impact on the future work of the European Communities — including the on-going harmonisation in the field of corporate social responsibility.This article provides an examination of the Scandinavian view on the five best known models for achieving corporate social responsibility and (...) it shows the likely impact of the admittance of the Scandinavian countries on the future work in the European Communities with regard to corporate social responsibility. (shrink)

Despite the social, economic and ethical problems facing government in the Czech Republic, there are positive signs of a growing concern for ethical business, including the development of codes of conduct and a striking example of new corporate social responsibility. Dr Bohatá is a member of the Economics Institute of the Academy of Sciences, Politickych Veznu 7, 111 21 Prague 1, and an Associate Editor of this Review.