Jones's (1991) issue-contingent model of ethical decision making posits that six dimensions of moral intensity influence decision markers' recognition of an issue as a moral problem and subsequent behavior. He notes that "organizational settings present special challenges to moral agents" (1991, p. 390) and that organizational factors affect "moral decision making and behavior at two points: establishing moral intent and engaging in moral behavior" (1991, p. 391). This model, however, minimizes both the impact of organizational setting and organizational factors on (...) these experiences of ethical issues. In this theory, context is modeled as affecting the moral intent and behavior of the actor rather than directly affecting the issue's moral intensity. Here we look specifically at the effect of context on the moral intensity of ethical issues through a phenomenological study. Our results indicate that in certain environments, context may be critical in affecting the moral intensity of ethical issues. Thus, researchers should consider it more fully when assessing these issues' moral intensity. (shrink)

This paper compares and contrasts two distinct techniques for measuring moral judgment: The Moral Judgment Interview and the Defining Issues Test. The theoretical foundations, accompanying advantages and limitations, as well as appropriate usage of these methodologies are discussed. Adaptation and use of the instruments for business ethics research is given special attention.

Theories of ethical decision making assume it is a process that is special, or different in some regard, from typical individual decision making. Empirical results of the most widely known theories in the field of business ethics contain numerous inconsistencies and contradictions. In an attempt to assess why we continue to lack understanding of how individuals make ethical decisions at work, an inductive study of ethical decision making was conducted. The results of this preliminary study suggest that ethical decision making (...) might not be meaningfully “special” or different from other decision making processes. The implications of this research are potentially significant in that they challenge the fundamental assumption of existing ethical decision making research. This research could serve as an impetus for further examination of whether ethical decision making is meaningfully different from other decision making processes. Such studies could create new directions for the field of business ethics. (shrink)

This workshop reflected on the current state of the Business and Society field and explored viable future directions for research in its related disciplines. The premise was that the field has reached a crossroads in its development, in accordance with the conference theme. To move forward, academic stakeholders should reassess the field’s identity and purpose to continue contributing meaningful work. The field could reframe itself as “Business in Society” to reflect the fact that organizations operate within a social and ecological (...) context. The role of business in society can be thought of differently by examining the memes or core cultural artifacts that shape individuals’ beliefs and relevant narratives about what is expected of business. Through the reframing of the field’s institutional logics, recognizing and revisiting the normative roots of the field, as well, the questions that scholars ask can be revised to adapt to the modern world. (shrink)

Privacy issues surrounding the use of social media sites have been apparent over the past ten years. Use of such sites, particularly Facebook, has been increasing and recently business organizations have begun using Facebook as a means of connecting with potential customers or clients. This paper presents an empirical study of perceived privacy violations to examine factors that influence the expectations of privacy on Facebook. Results of the study suggest that the more important Facebook is to users, the more likely (...) they are to perceive privacy violations and the more likely those violations are to be considered serious. Furthermore, how information is used is more important than the way this information is accessed. (shrink)

This workshop asked: How does business in society move beyond the ambition to develop excellent scholarship that helps make the world a better place to impact? The narrowness of current assessment criteria for ‘impact’ is becoming increasingly evident and criticized. Simultaneously, social media, blog outlets, easy-to-make and post videos and audios, and other means of communicating beyond scholarly audiences have become more prominent. We raised some of the following questions: How can and should, if at all, we as a field (...) move beyond narrow metrics and ‘ambitions’ to have actual impact on the world? How should we think about what impact means in practice? How do we maintain credibility as scholars yet do research that achieves impact that shifts practice, and possibly the world of business in society for the better? What role should social media, blogging, public intellectualism, video and audio production, and teaching play in assessing scholarly impact? (shrink)