Business Ethics

Contemporary society operates beyond safe boundaries of the Earth system. Returning to a safe operating space for humanity within Earth system boundaries is a question of justice. The relevance of the economy—and thus of business—for bringing society back to a safe and just operating space highlights the importance of business ethics research for understanding the role of business in Earth system justice. In this commentary, we explore the relevance of business ethics research for understanding the crucial role of business in (...) the dynamics of the Earth system. We do so by integrating the perspectives of business ethics and system-oriented sustainability science on the basis of the theory of metabolic rift, which explains how the dynamics of capitalism result in the destruction of the natural environment. On this basis, we argue that a mutually reinforcing relationship between perpetual economic growth and profit seeking behaviour of business, which we call the loop of unsustainability, continually deepens the metabolic rift and keeps business from effectively contributing to Earth system justice. This perspective allows us to formulate firm-level and system-level preconditions for attaining Earth system justice, and to sketch a research agenda that links business ethics scholarship with questions of Earth system justice. (shrink)

Workplace unethical behavior poses a significant challenge for organizations, thus highlighting the importance of examining the intervention strategies used to manage such behaviors. In recent years, mindfulness has gained traction as a promising way of curbing workplace unethical behavior, receiving interest from business ethics scholars. Regrettably, prior research on mindfulness and workplace unethical behavior has predominantly focused on the potential benefits of mindfulness with regard to the reasoning process underlying ethical decision-making, overlooking the intuitive process. Drawing on the dual-system theory (...) of ethical decision-making, this study develops a dual-process model to examine the role of mindfulness in reducing unethical behavior. Based on two-wave data collected from 357 employees, our findings demonstrate that mindfulness mitigates both moral disengagement and emotional exhaustion, resulting in a reduction in workplace unethical behavior. Moreover, moral identity serves as a boundary condition for the effects of mindfulness on ethical decision-making. In particular, mindfulness significantly decreases moral disengagement and consequently curtails workplace unethical behavior predominantly among individuals with low moral identity. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings as well as potential avenues for future research are discussed. (shrink)

To meet the shifting needs and preferences of the contemporary sales workforce, sales organizations are deploying idiosyncratic deals (I-deals), or mutually beneficial individualized workplace arrangements between salespeople and the organization. However, research is lacking on how, and under what conditions, I-deals facilitate work engagement and performance among salespeople. In this study, based on analysis of data gathered from 221 business-to-business salespeople, we demonstrate that I-deals are positively related to two foci of salesperson work engagement (i.e., social engagement and change engagement) (...) and salesperson performance. Furthermore, we find that ethical self-leadership, which is driven by ethical leadership, functions as an internal self-governance mechanism that strengthens the impact of I-deals on salesperson work engagement. Based on these results, we delineate novel theoretical and practical implications on the role of I-deals in facilitating effective sales talent management. (shrink)

Building on appraisal theory of emotions and theories on moral emotions, we contend that ethical leadership triggers other-praising moral emotions directed at the supervisor and leads to feedback-seeking behavior. We further predict that the affective processes of ethical leadership have implications for workplace behaviors, namely organizational citizenship behavior directed at the supervisor and employee voice. We develop a new measure of supervisor-directed, other-praising moral emotions and test the validity of the measure. Then, we test and find support for the proposed (...) hypotheses using a sample of 231 full-time employees in China with a time-lagged survey design and structural equation modeling. Theoretical and practical implications for ethical leadership and moral emotions are discussed. (shrink)

Workplace ethics perceptions drive ethical behaviors, but our understanding of how context shapes the nature of this relationship is limited. Consequently, this article uses contingency theory to explore how perceptions of ethical priorities in the workplace—ethical work climate (EWC)—are differentially associated with ethical behavior based on the broader context. Specifically, we meta-analytically test theoretically relevant cultural values (i.e., collectivism, power distance) and work context factors (i.e., consequence of errors, job autonomy) as moderators of the connection between EWC perceptions and ethical (...) behavior. Our findings reveal that while higher power-distance societal contexts strengthen the connection between EWC perceptions and ethical behavior, work contexts with higher autonomy weaken the connection. We found mixed support for collectivism as a contextual moderator, with results supporting theoretical expectations with one cultural conceptualization but not another. Contrary to expectations, the consequences of errors in work contexts did not moderate the association between EWC perceptions and ethical behavior. Taken together, this meta-analytic investigation highlights the meaningful role of the broader organizational context as a potential boundary condition for the influence of EWC perceptions on ethical behavior. (shrink)

Drawing on the pragmatic turn in contemporary social theory, we explore how corporate elites accused of corruption in the context of weak institutions engage in their justification works. Empirically, we focus on three high-profile corruption scandals that shook Ghana between 2010 and 2020 and inspired widespread public condemnation. Publicly accessible archival documents, such as court reporting, newspaper stories, press conferences, and the digital footprints of corporate elites implicated in the scandals provide data for our inquiry. Focussing on the juxtaposition of (...) ‘sayings’ and ‘doings’, the findings show justification as performative, and rooted in contextual pragmatism that acknowledges the plurality of logics situated between self-interest and folk-logic. Within this framework, the domestic and civic orders of worth emerge as most prominent, with the justification processes manifesting through victimising, scapegoating, and crusading. Building on these insights, we develop a framework that highlights how the use of justifications serves as a critique of the inadequacies within climates of weak institutional frameworks consequently fostering an atmosphere conducive to framing unethical conducts as morally acceptable. (shrink)

In this article, we seek to explore the different normative claims made around commons organizing and how the advent of the digital commons introduces new ethical questions. We do so by unpacking and categorizing the specific ethical dimensions that differentiate the commons from other forms of organizing and by discussing them in the light of debates around the governance of participative organizations, the cornerstone of commons organizing (Ostrom in Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University (...) Press, Cambridge, 1990). Rather than contesting commons organizing or endorsing it blindly, our goal is to critically reflect on its deontological and instrumental assumptions, and analyze the arguments upholding that it possesses ethical qualities that render it fairer, more equitable and sustainable than other centralized or hierarchical models—as well as any forms of privatization. We conclude by assessing the definitional dislocation of the digital commons where, unlike traditional commons, extractability can be endless and generate unintended consequences such as commodification or alienation. Taking stock of recent debates around the digital commons, we open the debate for future possible research avenues on normative claims, particularly under rapidly changing technological conditions. (shrink)

We examine the impact of corporate culture on environmental performance using a sample of 7199 firm-year observations over the period of 2002–2018. We find that stronger corporate culture improves environmental performance, measured by the amount of toxic chemical release (TCR). Our result is both statistically and economically significant. We also show that cultural norms of innovation, quality and teamwork as well as a technology-oriented corporate culture have a greater impact on enhancing environmental performance. Further analyses show that managerial competence and (...) strong institutional ownership moderate the relationship between corporate culture and environmental performance. We introduce the decomposition of expected and unexpected components of TCR and document that firms with a strong corporate culture implement strategies to reduce the unexpected component of TCR in addition to the expected component of TCR. Finally, we document that strong corporate culture and environmental performance improve firms’ financial performance. Our results are robust to several sensitivity tests and procedures to mitigate endogeneity and self-selection problems. From a practical point of view, our findings suggest that a firm’s culture can determine its environmental sustainability and ethical practices. (shrink)

This study investigates how abnormally hot temperatures affect firms’ environmental behaviors in China. We find that firms exposed to abnormally hot temperatures participate in more environmental engagement. We also find that this improvement effect is driven mainly by environmental concerns, including public concerns, CEOs, and governments. Our results remain intact after an array of robustness tests. Further analysis shows that the effect of abnormally hot temperatures on corporate environmental engagement is more pronounced in SOEs, heavily polluting firms, and firms located (...) closer to local environmental protection agencies. Based on the political pressure channel, our results indicate that the improvement effect is more prominent in politically connected firms, cities where local officials can wield more influence, local governments have larger financial slack, and local governments disclose their environmental targets. Moreover, the positive impact of environmental engagement on firm value is stronger when firms are exposed to abnormally hot temperatures. Overall, this study sheds light on the potential stimulation of firms’ environmental actions by global warming, which is yet to be fully understood. (shrink)

This paper examines whether corporate environmental responsibility is influenced by regional differences in climate change denial. While there is an overwhelming consensus among scientists that climate change is happening, recent surveys still indicate widespread climate change denial across societies. Given that corporate activity causing climate change is fundamentally rooted in individual beliefs and societal institutions, we examine whether local perceptions about climate change matter for firms’ engagement in environmental responsibility. We use climate change perception surveys conducted in the U.S. to (...) compute a novel measure of climate change denial for each U.S. county. We find that firms located in counties with higher levels of climate change denial have weaker environmental performance ratings, are more likely to commit environmental violations, and impose greater environmental costs on society. Regional differences in religiosity, social capital, political leaning, or county-level demographic characteristics cannot explain these results. Furthermore, we document that strong corporate governance mechanisms and corporate culture moderate the negative relationship between climate change denial and corporate environmental responsibility. Overall, our findings offer new insights into how local beliefs and perceptions about climate change may influence firm-level sustainability practices. (shrink)

Extant literature has documented mixed findings concerning the relationship between abusive supervision and employee performance. While most studies show a negative relationship, others reveal that abusive supervision can be motivating and performance-enhancing, and still others find no effect. To advance our understanding of this relationship, the present study examines employees’ objective and quantifiable key performance indicators (KPIs) as an outcome, while investigating employment contract type as a critical boundary condition. This study also explores an alternative outcome of abusive supervision by (...) examining whether its effects extend to employees’ behavior towards customers, specifically in the form of customer-directed sabotage. A two-wave multi-source field study was conducted with 1,331 customer service representatives from 139 call-center teams. Findings suggest an alarming phenomenon: for probationary employees, an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between abusive supervision and employees’ KPIs, such that low to moderate levels of abusive supervision increase, but moderate to high levels of abusive supervision decrease, their job performance. For permanent employees, KPIs are less affected by abusive supervision. However, abusive supervision is positively related to employees’ customer-directed sabotage behavior, and this effect is stronger for permanent (vs. probationary) employees. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings for leadership and business ethics are discussed. (shrink)

Does product market competition (PMC) promote or reduce firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) behavior? While some studies suggest that CSR is a differentiation strategy that leads to a positive relationship between PMC and CSR, others consider CSR a discretionary cost that firms in competitive markets should avoid. Drawing on instrumental stakeholder theory and research on organizational attention, we aim to clarify the extent to which CSR provides a competitive advantage for firms by exploring how different types of stakeholder attention—both between (...) different stakeholder groups and within a specific stakeholder group—affect the PMC–CSR relationship. We test our framework using data on Chinese private (i.e., non-state-owned) companies on major Chinese stock exchanges from 2008 to 2017. Overall, our analyses highlight that stakeholder attention affects how firms assess the tension between the benefits and costs of CSR and that the contingent effect of different stakeholder attention varies within and between stakeholder groups. (shrink)

We systematically review social entrepreneurship literature to analyse how the notion of well-being is perceived. We found that well-being in social entrepreneurship is accounted for in two forms: self-oriented and other-oriented. Our review indicates that both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being have received significant research attention, although the latter has gained more prominence. We found that negative well-being resulting from social entrepreneurial interventions is a matter of concern. Apart from critically synthesizing the literature, this paper offers a number of avenues for (...) future research connecting well-being and social entrepreneurship. (shrink)

This article presents a systematic review of literature on workplace racial microaggressions. Increasingly, workplaces around the world have made concerted efforts to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in their workforces. However, racial discrimination is a social issue that continues to be endemic to the workplace—including, yet not limited to, the prevalence of racial microaggressions. These microaggressions can, at times, be covert, and undertaken sometimes without the explicit awareness or intention of the perpetrator. Yet, the consequences of these can be very (...) real for the person impacted (the target), which include diminished wellbeing, job satisfaction, and career progression. To capture the overall trends and themes that empirical research has examined related to workplace racial microaggressions, a systematic review of 48 scholarly peer-reviewed articles on the topic was conducted. The review highlights how racial microaggressions have been conceptualized and measured in previous work, and critically examines empirical findings to date. The systematic review reveals that more work needs to be done to advance our understanding of this field of inquiry. To address this, a future research agenda based on identified gaps in the literature is articulated which highlights opportunities for advancement of the literature. Addressing these gaps will provide actionable insights for organizations in addressing the insidious social issue of racial microaggressions in the workplace, and support scholars in the development of future work. (shrink)

The digital public forum has challenged many of our normative intuitions and assumptions. Many scholars have argued against the idea of free speech as a suitable guide for digital platforms’ content policies. This paper has two goals. Firstly, it suggests that there is a version of the free speech principle which is suitable for platforms that have adopted a commitment to free speech to guide their content curation strategies. I call it the Principle of Epistemic Resilience. Secondly, it aims to (...) analyze some of the practical implications of the principle. It argues that upholding this principle in the digital public forum requires a comprehensive strategy, including (1) the automated removal and demotion of contents that threaten to cause serious harm; (2) changes to engagement optimization algorithms; and (3) changes to affordances inside the platform. These changes are necessary to create a fertile environment for deliberation, which is crucial to epistemic resilience. If such a comprehensive strategy is absent, platforms may actively undermine the societal value of speech. (shrink)

This study empirically examines how gender-diverse leadership teams influence the outcomes of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by signing performance commitment contracts (PCs) to unveil the efforts of women corporate leaders in the M&A process. Using a sample of Chinese firms from 2009 to 2021, we find that gender-diverse leadership increases the likelihood of signing PCs in M&As. The strength of this effect depends not only by the number of women in leadership and the power they hold but also by the (...) organizational environment that enables women to exercise leadership more effectively, such as meeting frequency and gender equality culture. Furthermore, we find that ethical leadership and risk-averse attitudes are two channels through which women leaders affect PC design at both the firm and PC terms levels. Although M&A parties can benefit from PCs signed by gender-diverse leadership, we observe that the stock market fails to anticipate the incremental value that women leaders may bring to the M&As during the announcements, which implies that the visibility of the value brought by women leaders remains limited in the current Chinese capital market. (shrink)

There is an important research tradition concerning the financial implications of social and environmental ethics. This study investigates the short- and long-term financial performance of ventures with explicit environmental commitments seeking to raise funds in equity crowdfunding (ECF) markets. Our results indicate that environmental orientation positively influences short-term funding performance, though only when accompanied by the costly signal of robust corporate governance mechanisms. In the long run, environmental orientation also positively impacts performance, albeit with only weak statistical significance when observed (...) alone. Governance again serves as a positive moderator, but its effect is less significant relative to the short term. However, environmental orientation does feature a strongly significant positive impact on long-run performance when combined with a successfully conducted initial ECF campaign. (shrink)

This anthology aims to explore the current Norwegian context of implementation of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR),as well as the challenges and fragilities associated with it. It is grounded in the experience of a networking and learning centre called AFINO (acronym for‘ Ansvarlig Forskning og Innovasjon i NOrge’, or Responsible Research and Innovation in Norway),to which most of the authors of this book are affiliated. Whether the authors are trying to illustrate a fragility or challenge, (...) to understand its origins, or to illustrate how they have been tackled or how things developed in unexpected ways that raise new fragilities and questions, we believe that all chapters contribute to bringing to light the richness of the domains of research, innovation, policy, and business. (shrink)

Attempts to steer research, innovation and business in desirable directions have failed to meet expectations. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and responsible research and innovation (RRI) seem to be losing ground, while the challenges they sought to address remain. Despite their shortcomings, these concepts remind us of the need to take responsibility for what we as researchers and entrepreneurs bring into the world, and to keep questioning the given framework. -/- Drawing from the experience of the AFINO project, a unique attempt (...) to bring together RRI and CSR and to promote networks, learning and skills building in Norway, this book contextualises and explores the practical challenges of actualising responsible practices even in the propitious Norwegian context. Readers interested in RRI, CSR, transdisciplinarity, and in the governance of research and innovation will find extensive information and insights about the challenges of steering research and business practices towards desirable ends and how to address them. -/- This book is unique in bringing together the perspectives of Responsible Research and Innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility. Draws from the unique experience of the AFINO research centre and network. (shrink)

This study explores the evolution of business ethics education in Estonia, examining its integration into higher education curricula and its alignment with contemporary societal needs. Drawing from qualitative research, including interviews and focus group discussions with business educators, trainers, and corporate representatives, the paper highlights the importance of key ethical issues such as corporate governance, corruption, human rights, and sustainability. The findings reveal that Estonian business ethics education has evolved significantly, adapting to global trends and local challenges. Participants emphasized the (...) importance of fostering ethical awareness among future business leaders to address pressing ethical dilemmas in today’s rapidly changing business environment. Despite progress, concerns about greenwashing and the ongoing challenges in promoting genuine ethical practices were acknowledged. The paper concludes by outlining the need for further integration of ethics across all business education and training programs, aiming to shape responsible business practices in Estonia and beyond. (shrink)

Unprecedented runaway climate change and ecological degradation is argued to be caused by the dominant capitalist mode of production’s reliance on endless economic growth and capital accumulation. Businesses and organisations are expected to act in an ecologically and socially ethical way to help avert the crisis. Yet, there has arguably been little progress in this direction. The conventional ethical frameworks are generally subsumed under capitalism’s reliance on growth that effectively delegate business ethics to a peripheral and, often, contradictory pursuit, insufficient (...) to influence ecologically and socially sustainable business conduct. We therefore explore an alternative approach by operationalising business ethics through organisational values from a post-growth perspective. By analysing the case of a social cooperative, we highlight how post-growth organisational values emerge through the organisation’s history, the members’ experience, and active contrasting to the dominant capitalist value systems. We contribute to business ethics scholarship by highlighting the potential of post-growth organisational ethics and values in creating contrasts to the dominant capitalist values. Our research further contributes to sustainability scholarship, particularly post-growth perspectives, by highlighting that organising through post-growth values in contrast to the dominant economic system is not only possible, but essential to achieve sustainability. Ultimately, our research illustrates the need for political engagement in upholding organisational ethics, in the face of the ecological crisis. (shrink)

The Ireland Report is based on in-depth interviews, in person or online, with representatives from 10 university business schools and 6 business and professional training organisations. Terminology and key recurring concepts, focus areas of business ethics, themes in teaching, training and research in business ethics, and what are considered to be major business ethical concerns in the next five years—all point to the growing importance of the topics of sustainability, climate change, diversity, responsible management and leadership, business and society and (...) the digital revolution in university business schools and professional training organisations, reflected in their in teaching, training and research activities. In university business schools, the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) feature strongly, as does an awareness of conforming to standards for the sake of accreditations. While it is not without its challenges and cynical resistance, in general, it is accepted that ethical issues cannot be ignored and have to become an inherent part of universities business schools myriad activities and professional business training organisations to remain relevant. (shrink)

This article explores the evolution of business ethics in Ukraine over 32 years of independence, highlighting the intersection of socio-economic transformation, legal frameworks, and business culture. The study identifies key influences, including anti-corruption laws and competitive fairness initiatives, while showcasing the impact of public organizations like the Ukrainian Network of Integrity and Compliance (UNIC). The role of education, particularly the inclusion of business ethics in Ukrainian higher education since the late 1990s, is analyzed through academic curricula and literature. Insights from (...) the Global Survey of Business Ethics (GSBE) reveal gaps between academic theory and business practice, as well as emerging ethical priorities shaped by Ukraine’s post-war recovery. The article emphasizes the significance of compliance, integrity, and corporate social responsibility as essential components of modern business ethics. Recommendations include strengthening academic-business collaborations and integrating practical case studies to bridge theoretical and applied/business ethics. (shrink)

This study explores how the prior unethical behavior of institutional investors impacts the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of the companies in which they invest. To identify such behavior, we focus on violations of laws and regulations by Registered Investment Advisers as reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our findings reveal that these investors discourage firms’ engagement in CSR activities within their investee firms, which we attribute to institutions’ disregard for social norms. Our inferences remain unchanged with alternative identification (...) strategies and more stringent definitions of unethical behavior, suggesting that endogeneity bias and construct validity issues do not explain our baseline results. Additionally, we find that statements by these investors in support of CSR initiatives appear hypocritical, as they fail to mitigate the negative consequences of their ownership on CSR activities. Overall, our study suggests that institutional investors’ prior unethical behavior influences their governance activities, generating negative social externalities. (shrink)

Using a novel Chinese gambler conviction database to proxy the local gambling preference, we examine the impact of gambling preference on the disclosure of key audit matters (KAMs). Our findings suggest that the number of KAMs is significantly greater for firms in cities with a strong gambling preference than for firms in cities with a weak gambling preference. Our results are consistent with the view that firms located in areas with a sin culture may improve the quality of their financial (...) reports to overcome their stigmatized image. Additional analysis suggests that large audit firms, shorter audit terms, and closer audit-client distance strengthen the positive relationship between the gambling preference and the disclosure of KAMs. Namely, audit firms with a good reputation, strong independence, and information advantages play a more significant role in “destigmatization”. Finally, we show that auditors charge more audit fee and exert more audit effort towards clients located in areas with a strong gambling preference. This finding suggests that attempts by firms that are affected by a sin culture to achieve “destigmatization” by improving the quality of their financial reports are also costly. (shrink)

We examine the influence of human resource (HR) slack, specifically that accrued through employee overtime, on firm innovation in China. Leveraging textual analysis to gauge overtime levels, our findings reveal that although overtime increases innovation output, it does not enhance its quality. These results remain consistent even in firms with research and development personnel slack or those offering higher salaries. Additionally, no significant differences are observed between state-owned and non-state-owned firms in terms of overtime’s impact on innovation. Furthermore, the effect (...) of employee overtime on innovation output is less pronounced in the manufacturing and labor-intensive industries. Our study suggests that governmental leniency towards corporate infringement of employee rights does not sufficiently boost firm competitiveness. This research contributes to the understanding of the economic implications of widespread employee overtime in emerging economies, offering valuable business ethics and policy insights for managers and regulators addressing the fundamental working hour practices. (shrink)

We derive and estimate a production function for microfinance institutions to provide empirical evidence of the ethical dilemma of balancing social and financial logics in hybrid organizations. A worldwide panel dataset of microfinance institutions is utilized and a production function augmented by average loan size is estimated using the control function approach. We show how this framework can be used to quantify the tradeoff between social outreach and financial sustainability in relation to the expansion of microfinance institutions’ credit operations. The (...) study reveals that expanding the extensive margin (increasing the number of loan clients) requires on average more than twice as many inputs as expanding the intensive margin (increasing the average loan size) to achieve the same growth in assets. Beyond the case of microfinance our production function illustrates that as hybrid organizations expand, they will inevitably face an ethical dilemma as the laws of economic efficiency exert pressure on their social missions. (shrink)

Using a unique dataset of deceased certified public accountants (CPAs) in China, we document that auditors who have experienced the death of a peer CPA from the same office are less likely to issue modified audit opinions, indicating impaired audit quality. Accordingly, we argue that heightened death awareness and corporate social responsibility (CSR) awareness, triggered by the death of a work peer, lead to death anxiety, intrinsic-value pursuit, and reduced commitment to the employer, thereby hindering both work ability and work (...) commitment during the audit process. Moreover, the power of peer death is amplified by both self-relevance and self-exposure to deaths perceived by living auditors. Since most of the deceased CPAs in our sample are not signing CPAs who lead audit projects, our results illustrate the significant negative impact of peer death on work performance at the rank-and-file employee level. As employee deaths are frequently linked to the prevalent burnout culture and show a growing trend in recent years, our findings timely reveal the economic costs of the toxic workplace environment. This practically implies the critical importance of promoting a safe and healthy working environment ex ante and providing appropriate bereavement support for employees affected by a colleague’s death ex post. (shrink)

The goal of our work is to explore and highlight factors that contribute to positive experiences of Black employees. To accomplish this, we integrate behavioral ethics research into the Black scholarship literature. Specifically, we focus on the role of ethical leadership. We leverage signaling theory to explain the Black cultural implications associated with ethical leadership and how ethical leaders create racially just workplaces. Across three studies (i.e., one cross-sectional field study and two experimental vignettes), we demonstrate that ethical leadership operates (...) as a welcoming signal for Black employees, which positively impacts Black employees’ evaluations of psychological diversity climate. By cultivating Black employees’ evaluations of psychological diversity climate, Black employees are more likely to be engaged and are less likely to be ostracized in the workplace, which are key indicators of a racially just workplace. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. We conclude with limitations and future research ideas. (shrink)

A citizens’ movement in Berlin advocates for the expropriation of housing corporations and has won a significant majority in a popular referendum in September 2021. Building on this proposal, this paper develops a general account of expropriation as a measure for corporate reform and thereby contributes to the ongoing debate on the democratic accountability of business corporations. It argues that expropriation is a valuable tool for intervention in a dire situation in some economic sector to enable a re-structuring of the (...) governance of the assets in question. Compared with other tools available, expropriation is a more forward-looking, genuinely political measure that does not depend on the legal assignment of guilt but rather proceeds in a pragmatic and problem-oriented manner. It also allows us to reconsider in how far the market mechanism should be employed in the administration of assets. Objections from private property rights against expropriation fail as corporations generally are privileged, quasi-public institutions that can justifiably be subject to democratic interventions. Expropriation is thus an important addition to the arsenal of corporate reform proposals, especially for those concerned with a broad democratization of the corporation. (shrink)

In the Anthropocene era, the coexistence with other species and wildlife has become an ethical imperative but continues to face challenges due to anthropic pressures and anthropocentrism. Drawing from my experience as an NGO volunteer assisting sheep farmers in France to coexist with wolves, I employ ethnographic methods to explore the ethics of multispecies coexistence. More specifically, I examine how wolves are socially constructed as entitled, or not, to coexist in spaces of encounter. Considering space as a matrix that shapes (...) ethical relations, the analysis draws on posthumanist theory and other-than-human geography. The findings highlight how the ethics of coexistence are conditioned by the undoing of the predation/production and wolf/farmer dichotomies, which involves a social production of space in three distinct ways. Firstly, there is a production of the spaces of coexistence to encompass broader relationships with the wolf that extend beyond farmers and redefine the moral impact of the wolf. Secondly, the spatiality of sheep, wolves, dogs, and farmers is produced to blur the constitution of sheep as wolf victims and wolves as ruthless killers. Thirdly, the negotiation of space between species is produced as an ethical practice. This article contributes to the growing field of organizational posthuman ethics and biodiversity conservation by demonstrating how space, species, and ethics are interconnected. It further delineates the contours of coexistence as an ethical practice. (shrink)

Ethical sourcing is a crucial issue for the fashion industry, which is under intense pressure to build ethical and responsible supply chains. Despite its importance, we know little about how individual employees working in the fashion supply chain view ethical sourcing and the ethical considerations they encounter during their work. We adopted the moral agency theory to address these lacunas and conducted a longitudinal qualitative research study. We collected data from a highly heterogenous sample of employees based in the United (...) Kingdom through open-ended essays in three waves (N1 = 50, N2 = 43, N3 = 30) over 9 months that were analyzed using the grounded theory method. The analysis revealed the following themes: a contemporary outlook on boundaries, external considerations, and three levels of action for ethical considerations: Supplier, organization, and employee (i.e., individual). We offer a revitalized view of ethical sourcing as a concept from a practice perspective and discuss critical ethical issues that affect employees’ moral agency to enact ethical sourcing decisions. Our findings offer insights into avenues to advance theoretical knowledge through a comprehensive framework derived from our results. We also propose significant practical implications to promote the widespread integration of ethical sourcing. (shrink)

This article seeks to challenge existing understandings of good work. It does so through a critical exploration of recognitive and craft conceptions of work, which are among the richest and most philosophically nuanced of extant accounts. The recognitive view emphasises work’s recognitive value through the social esteem derived from making a valuable social contribution. But by making recognition foundational, it is unable to appreciate the irreducible ethical significance of the objective quality of one’s work activity. The ‘craft ideal’, by contrast, (...) promises to provide a powerful basis for understanding the importance of rich, rewarding, and morally educative activities, but is undermined by a laudable but misdirected egalitarian impulse which prevents it from being able to properly distinguish good from bad work. One underlying aim of our discussion is to provoke deeper reflection from business ethicists regarding what we might want from an account of good work. (shrink)

What do consumers do with their used clothing, books, and children’s toys? In this research, we introduce metaphoric “fresh start” messaging as an effective tactic to encourage consumers to engage in environmentally sustainable actions of donating used products for remanufacture or reuse. Drawing on conceptual metaphor theory and construal theory, we contrast metaphoric “fresh start” messaging with dominant “reduce waste” and “recycle” non-metaphoric environmental messages. Across six experimental studies, metaphoric “fresh start” messaging is more effective in increasing environmentally sustainable actions, (...) including used product donations and donation intentions. The effectiveness of metaphoric “fresh start” messaging is grounded in its activation of abstract thinking as “rebirth associations,” thoughts around new beginnings, renewal, and new life. We examine the effectiveness of metaphoric “fresh start” (vs. non-metaphoric environmental) messaging with the use of “fresh start” temporal landmarks (New Year’s Day and Earth Day) and find that metaphoric “fresh start” messaging, with or without these temporal landmarks, is more effective in triggering abstract thinking as “rebirth associations.” Our work substantiates the power of metaphoric “fresh start” messaging in encouraging consumers’ environmentally sustainable actions and has significant implications for the use of conceptual metaphors in marketing messages. (shrink)

This Special Issue examines ethics in fashion to further critical understanding of the various drivers and barriers, nuances and layers of complexity in fashion production, marketing, and consumption, and aims toward a more future-oriented perspective through the lens of ethics. Research on ethical issues in fashion is growing but is fragmented across diverse domains, from supply chain and operations management, to psychology and sociology, to marketing and consumption. Furthermore, there has been only a peripheral focus on ethics and limited application (...) of ethical theories or frameworks to fashion’s ethical dilemmas. This Special Issue brings together diverse domains and unpacks salient ethical issues using the lens of ethical theories and frameworks to advance theory development on balancing social justice with environmental responsibility, decision-making in ethical situations, and newer forms of greenwashing and consumerism. The selected papers use varied methodologies and offer novel insights across different global contexts. (shrink)

Despite a strong investor and social demand for firms to disclose information on political connections, mandatory disclosure requirements face considerable opposition. Given the challenges in enforcing mandatory disclosures, we investigate whether private information acquisition can be a viable alternative to disclosure. Using a setting of corruption investigations, we find that investors, on average, are not aware that the firms they have invested in have connections with the officials under investigation, suggesting a lack of visibility of the connections. However, a small (...) number of institutional investors exploit their private access to information and sell their shares in response to the investigations. We also show that the high costs of information acquisition and a lack of incentives for analysts to disseminate sensitive information they have obtained contribute to this lack of visibility and result in a significant delay in retail investors’ reaction to material information. Our study contributes to the debate on mandating disclosure of political connections by showing that the lack of mandatory disclosure results in an uneven playing field that undermines transparency and fairness. (shrink)

Global shortages of healthcare workers, particularly nurses, have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, putting significant pressure on healthcare systems worldwide. According to the International Council of Nurses (ICN), 13 million additional nurses are urgently needed to meet global demand. Nurses, who are the backbone of patient care, have faced unprecedented ethical dilemmas, particularly in intensive care units (ICUs), where resource allocation, such as ventilator management and triage decisions, often conflict with basic ethical principles. This study seeks to contribute to (...) the literature by examining the effect of the ethical dilemmas experienced by ICU nurses during COVID-19 pandemic on emotional exhaustion and turnover intention and testing whether emotional exhaustion has a mediating role on the relationship between ethical dilemma and turnover intention. The research model was tested with partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS–SEM) in the package program SmartPLS. The bias-corrected bootstrapping (resampling) method was applied to the sample of 189 nurses who work in the intensive care units in the hospitals in the East Black Sea Region of Türkiye. The research results indicated that ethical dilemma is positively associated with emotional exhaustion (β = 0.305, 95% CI [0.167–0.407]), and turnover intention (β = 0.156, 95% CI [0.146—0.423]). In addition, emotional exhaustion has a complementary partial mediation effect (B = 0.149, 95% CI [0.083–0.215]) between ethical dilemma and turnover intention among ICU nurses. (shrink)

This is a conversation with Ghislain Deslandes, author of a dozen books addressing various issues in the field of the philosophy of management. Our dialogue traces his intellectual journey, starting with the interpretation of antiphilosophy and further exploring how it is applied in organizations and management practice. The conversation concludes with a discussion of his latest book about postcritical management studies.

This is a book review of Postcritical Management Studies, by Ghislain Deslandes, published in 2023 by Springer.

Bounded rationality presents a challenge to the notion that virtue is a capacity for knowledge, suggesting that judgments concerning the salience of specific facts are, in some cases, an indication of one’s incapacity to appreciate the full range of normatively salient facts. This problem can be mitigated by linking an account of the virtues with a theory of organizations. From this perspective, virtue is inherently shaped by the norms structuring one’s role(s) and is linked to the complementary set of roles, (...) that is, the organization, in which one is participating through the virtues of loyalty and obedience. Within this perspective, human cognitive limitations are made to be strengths, allowing one to focus on a narrow set of reasons for action linked with one’s role to better achieve salient aims as a member of the organization than one could as an isolated individual. (shrink)

Evidence-based Management (EBMgt) and Evidence-Based Management + (EBMgt +) are two approaches to management according to which managerial decisions should be based on the best available evidence, as this increases the likelihood of their effectiveness. In these approaches, four types of evidence are considered: evidence from the scientific literature, from practitioners, from the organisation and from stakeholders. In EBMgt +, evidence is characterised as a three-place relation between information, a claim and a method. In many circumstances, probability sampling methods (PSMs) (...) are the best methods to gather the abovementioned types of evidence. We present a case study concerning harassment in the workplace to illustrate a circumstance in which fact-finding methods, rather than PSMs, are the best methods to gather evidence. We argue that information thus gathered should count as evidence in the spirit of EBMgt +. However, while part of the evidence needed in the case study comes from the stakeholders, it does not fit the characterisations of ‘evidence from stakeholders’ considered in EBMgt and EBMgt +. Therefore, we disentangle sources and types of evidence which, in turn, enables us to characterise a new type of evidence – testimonial evidence – that should be included in the theory of evidence-based management. Differentiating between sources and types has the potential to bring theory and practice closer together, whereas including testimonial evidence has the potential to make the theory of evidence-based management applicable in a wider range of circumstances, such as trade secret theft and conflicts of interest. (shrink)

This paper employs Axel Honneth’s recognition theory to interpret ‘quiet quitting’ – the practice of limiting work efforts to contracted requirements – as a strategic response by workers facing misrecognition in their work environment. Honneth argues that misrecognition in any one of three social spheres (the family, political society, and the workplace) constitutes disrespect and causes psychological harm. While Honneth contends that experiences of disrespect tend to motivate collective “struggles for recognition,” we suggest that quiet quitters present an alternative response (...) to disrespect, individually seeking recognition in other social spheres rather than engaging in collective action. Further, we draw on Honneth to suggest that the contemporary “entrepreneurial” work ethic – the widespread expectation that workers invest emotionally in their work role – can in practice undermine workplace recognition, contributing to quiet quitters’ compensatory emphasis on recognitive relations outside of work. This recognition-theoretical approach extends current discussions around quiet quitting and yields valuable insights for management theory and practice regarding the critical role of genuine employee recognition in promoting individual well-being and meaningful work experiences. (shrink)

This paper critiques the concept of resonant leadership which focuses on utilising emotional intelligence in managing an organisation. It is argued that the prevailing understandings of resonant leadership over-emphasise individual attributes and neglect the social processes of communication. This article proposes a re-conceptualisation of resonant leadership by drawing on pertinent principles from the Chinese classic Huainanzi (The Master of Huainan). Instead of linking resonance to emotional intelligence, ancient Chinese thinkers interpret the former as pre-existing mutual responsiveness (xiangying) that contributes to (...) synchrony, cooperation and harmony. A resonant leader promotes mutual responsiveness by modelling it and sustaining the conditions for people to (re)act and flourish according to the Way (dao). This study provides an original formulation of resonant leadership that shifts the attention from the creation and development of resonance by an emotionally attuned leader or manager, to the recognition and preservation of resonance by leaders, managers and other employees through interactive processes in an organisation. The proposed conception also illustrates a hybrid orientation of relationship-focused leadership styles that integrate key elements from the entity and relational perspectives at the workplace. (shrink)

In the context of increasingly frequent climate-related disasters, this article examines whether and how private sector actors can participate in disaster response and work closely with established authorities. We adopt the concept of territoriality from human geography to explain why actors in authoritative positions may exclude others from participation even when they present a clear value proposition. Grounded in an in-depth case study of a local private sector organization in Vanuatu, we identify three relational dynamics between a private sector organization (...) and sovereign authorities in disaster response. We observe that mutually defined collaboration fosters pragmatic legitimacy for private actors. Private actors’ unilateral role expansion in search of moral legitimacy, however, threatens sovereign authorities. This threat leads to a collaboration deadlock as sovereign actors reinforce a traditional division of labor between sectors and delegitimize the private actor’s participation. Our study contributes to the literature on cross-sector social interactions (CSSI) by explaining how authority constrains cross-sector collaboration and how private actors can gain and lose legitimacy for such collaborations. We further explore the tensions that arise when private actors use crises as windows of opportunity for showcasing the societal value of their participation. We conclude by offering practical recommendations for enhancing private sector participation in disaster response. (shrink)

Leaders are often faced with the dilemma as to how to respond to employee misconduct. However, scholarly accounts of leader actions in such situations have primarily focused on punishment as a mechanism for dealing with employee misconduct. Leader leniency, an alternative response that is often adopted in practice, has been largely overlooked. Consequently, in order to provide a more complete account of leader responses to employee misconduct and to clarify whether leader leniency is effective, we investigate the potential double-edged influences (...) of leader leniency on employee task performance. Specifically, we propose that leader leniency inhibits employee task performance through the mediating role of psychological entitlement, while it also has beneficial effects on employee task performance through the mediating role of servant leadership perception. Moreover, trait moral disengagement serves as a vital boundary condition, which amplifies the negative influence of leader leniency through psychological entitlement and simultaneously mitigates its positive effect through servant leadership perception. Results from an experience sampling study and a scenario-based experiment supported our hypotheses. Our work highlights the mixed blessing of leader leniency and clarifies when and how leader leniency rehabilitates wrongdoers or instead propels them to further down the path of misconduct. (shrink)

Deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) are legal means, alternative to trial, for the resolution of criminal business cases. Although DPAs are increasingly used in the US and are spreading to other jurisdictions, the ethics of DPAs has hardly been subjected to critical scrutiny. We use a multidisciplinary approach straddling the line between philosophy and law to examine the ethics of DPAs used to resolve cases of multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) foreign corruption. Deontologically, we argue that the normativity of DPAs raises critical concerns (...) related to the notion of justice as punishment, with serious cases of international corruption resolved with minimal retribution for offending MNEs. Taking a utilitarian ethical perspective, we also evaluate the effect of DPAs on MNEs’ tendency to self-regulate or re-offend. Our conclusion, supported by critical analysis of the juridical literature and case evidence on MNEs’ recidivism, is that DPAs do not foster ethical behavior. (shrink)