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Deliberative Business Ethics

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Abstract

Social norms are an important input for ethical decisions in any business context. However, the cross-cultural discovery of extant social norms presents a special challenge to international management because norms may be inscrutable to outsiders. This article considers the contribution of Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT) to the analysis of social norms in business ethics. It questions the origins and dynamics of norms from a sociological perspective, and identifies a tension between prescriptive efforts to make norms obligatory and positivist accounts that describe norms as evolving and unstable. In the presence of dynamic and incomplete norms, managers can either deliberate with stakeholders to make norms flexible or codify norms to make them rigid. This essay argues that deliberation is the only reliable method for anticipating emergent norms.

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Acknowledgements

Diana Robertson and Robert Phillips provided extensive comments on an early version of this article. Their insight was extremely helpful, as were the comments of three anonymous reviewers. Any errors and all opinions are the sole responsibility of the author. I would also like to express my gratitude for the role that Tom Dunfee played in the first 4 years of my graduate studies. He was a supportive and inspirational mentor, a teacher, and a friend.

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  1. The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania, 3730 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6340, U.S.A.

    Ryan Burg

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Burg, R. Deliberative Business Ethics. J Bus Ethics 88 (Suppl 4), 665–683 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0332-5

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