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Ethical Cycles and Trends: Evidence and Implications

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Abstract

Recent high-profile corporate scandals are reminiscent of the corporate raider scandals of the 1980s, suggesting that ethical scandals may occur in waves. This article provides a framework for analysis of this question by suggesting that ethical attitudes may be cyclical about long-term secular trends. We provide some empirical evidence from previously published work for the existence of cycles as well as a potential mechanism for their propagation, namely widespread publicity about a particularly salient event, e.g., Enron. Further, we posit that long-run secular trends would be affected through more deliberate, cognitive means, e.g., instruction in business ethics. We also discuss an important research implication, namely that traditional cross-sectional “book-end” studies surveying ethical attitudes at two different points in time may be unable to disentangle short-run cyclical movements from long-term secular trends.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business Administration, University of San Diego, 5998 Alcala Park, San Diego, CA, 92110-2492, USA

    Stephen J. Conroy & Tisha L. N. Emerson

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  1. Stephen J. Conroy
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  2. Tisha L. N. Emerson
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Correspondence to Stephen J. Conroy.

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Conroy, S.J., Emerson, T.L. Ethical Cycles and Trends: Evidence and Implications. J Bus Ethics 81, 905–911 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9556-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9556-4

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