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Ethical issues in the development and application of business and management knowledge

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Abstract

This paper deals with four ethical issues in the development and application of business and management knowledge. The issues examined are: (1) failure to adopt or disclose knowledge with proven value that could benefit individuals, organizations, and society; (2) inappropriate implementation or incomplete disclosure of knowledge with proven potential; (3) use of knowledge for the exclusive benefit of a selected interest group even if harm is done to others; and (4) intentional falsification or misrepresentation of knowledge as something other than what it is known to be. Each of these issues are illustrated with actual case histories and are examined using frequently accepted ethical concepts.

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W. Jack Duncan is Professor of Management and Associate Dean at the Graduate School of Management, University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Management; President of the Southern Management Association, 1984–1985; Past-President Southwest Division of the Academy of Management, 1982; and former member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Management. He has written many articles which have been published in various journals.

An earlier draft of this paper was presented in the Visiting Lecturer Series at the Faculty of Management, Concordia University, Monteral, Quebec, Canada, May 1982.

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Duncan, W.J. Ethical issues in the development and application of business and management knowledge. J Bus Ethics 5, 391–400 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382785

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382785

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