The Role of Continental Philosophy in Business Ethics Research

Author(s):  
Mollie Painter-Morland
Author(s):  
Kristian Alm ◽  
David S. A. Guttormsen

AbstractThe paper addresses an understudied but highly relevant group of people within corporate organizations and society in general—the marginalized—as well as their narration, and criticism, of personal lived experiences of marginalization in business. They are conventionally perceived to lack traditional forms of power such as public influence, formal authority, education, money, and political positions; however, they still possess the resources to impact their situations, their circumstances, and the structures that determine their situations. Business ethics researchers seldom consider marginalized people’s voices and experiences as resources to understand their lives, as demonstrated through a review of 7500 articles published in the Journal of Business Ethics and Business Ethics Quarterly (2000–2019). Only 78 studies included aspects of marginalized groups. 69 of those studies discussed the topic of marginalized groups of people, but without integrating their explicit voices into the text. Only 9 of the 78 articles featured marginalized people’s explicit voices about their marginalization experiences incorporated into the text as a source for exploration. None of the identified studies discussed the potential for theorizing based on such voices. This paper contributes to business ethics theory by developing four theoretical possibilities vis-à-vis the critical voices of marginalized people’s experiences in business: (a) marginalized theory on critical agency and freedom of speech; (b) the gatekeeping role of academia; (c) primary sources; and (d) a participative perspective. Discussing the theoretical potential of quoting the above voices can enrich business ethics research in terms of the theoretical understanding of marginalized groups in business.


2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Pirson ◽  
Kenneth Goodpaster ◽  
Claus Dierksmeier

ABSTRACT:After a brief historical introduction, three interpretations of dignity in relation to management theory and business ethics are elaborated: Dignity as a general category, Human Dignity as Inherent and Universal, and Human Dignity as Earned and Contingent. Next, two literature reviews are presented under the headings of “Dignity and Business Research” and “Dignity and Business Ethics Research.” The latter discussion identifies three subcategories of business ethics research involving human dignity: the role of dignity as a cornerstone for paradigmatic shifts, the role of dignity as the ‘ultima ratio’ for the protection of human rights, and the role of dignity in organizing business practices. The article concludes with summaries of the three articles chosen for this special section.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-63
Author(s):  
Diego Costa Pinto ◽  
Adilson Borges ◽  
Márcia Maurer Herter ◽  
Mário Boto Ferreira

ABSTRACT:Business ethics research has long been interested in understanding the conditions under which ethical consumption is consistent versus context-dependent. Extant research suggests that many consumers fail to make consistent ethical consumption decisions and tend to engage in ethical decisions associated with ingroup (vs. outgroup) identity cues. To fill this gap, four experiments examine how construal levels moderate the influence of ingroup versus outgroup identity cues in ethical consumption. The studies support the contention that when consumers use concrete construal to process information, they will focus on ingroup cues and make ethical consumption decisions that are aligned with ingroup biases. However, when consumers use abstract construal, they will act more consistently with their inner goals rather than focusing on ingroup and outgroup cues. Social goodwill, which indicates desires to give back to society, is identified as mediating the effects. The findings have important implications for ethical consumption and social influence literature.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1029-1042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Na Zhang ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Jing Wang

To expand the business ethics research field, and to increase society's understanding of Chinese insurance agents' business ethics, we investigated how gender differences are related to agents' business ethical sensitivity and whether or not these relationships are moderated by empathy. Through a regression analysis of the factors associated with the business ethical sensitivity of 417 Chinese insurance agents, we found that gender played an important role in affecting business ethical sensitivity, and empathy significantly affected business ethical sensitivity. Furthermore, empathy had a moderating effect on the relationship between gender and business ethical sensitivity. Both men and women with strong empathy scored high on business ethical sensitivity; however, men with strong empathy had higher levels of business ethical sensitivity than did women with little empathy. The findings add to the literature by providing insight into the mechanisms responsible for the benefits of empathy in increasing business ethical sensitivity.


Author(s):  
Arun Kumar ◽  
Hari Bapuji ◽  
Raza Mir

AbstractScholars of business and management studies have recently turned their attention to inequality, a key issue for business ethics given the role of private firms in transmitting—and potentially challenging—inequalities. However, this research is yet to examine inequality from a subaltern perspective. In this paper, we discuss the alleviation of inequalities in organizational and institutional contexts by drawing on the ideas of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, a jurist, political leader and economist, and one of the unsung social theorists of the twentieth century. Specifically, we focus on Ambedkar’s critique of the Indian caste system, his outline of comprehensive reform, and prescription of representational politics to achieve equality. We contend that an Ambedkarite ethical manifesto of persuasion—focussed on state-led institutional reforms driven by the subaltern—can help management researchers reimagine issues of inequality and extend business ethics beyond organizational boundaries.


2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne B. Ciulla

Abstract:This paper will discuss the uncertainty of job tenure, inequality of wages in American business, and the challenges for a creating a new social and moral compact between employer and employee. I begin by arguing that business ethics scholars missed some of the disturbing trends in management thinking because they often focused on current problems in business rather than questioning some of the basic assumptions about the way businesses are managed. As Rochefoucauld observed (albeit in a different context) we were overtaken by the evils of the present and I would argue, this was because we didn’t pay attention to the past. Business ethics research, like management research, is often ahistorical and hence tells only part of the story. If we don’t know how we got to a certain problem, it’s really difficult to see where the present problem and our solutions to it might lead us.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 286-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Callaghan ◽  
Greg Wood

Purpose – The aim of this research was to determine the evolution of engagement with business ethics in the top 500 Australian corporations operating in the private sector from 1995 to 2010. Design/methodology/approach – Primary data were obtained via a non-sponsored and unsolicited self-administered mail questionnaire distributed to a census of the top 500 Australian companies operating in the private sector administered in both 1995 and 2010. This paper examines and compares the responses of the companies that possessed a code of ethics at those times. Findings – This paper finds that business ethics has continued to evolve over the period of the study and that, in most cases, such an evolution has been positive, with the majority of companies exhibiting high levels of engagement. Research limitations/implications – While the responses provided a rich picture of the evolution of Australian corporate engagement with business ethics, further longitudinal research exploring international and cross-cultural contexts would add to this understanding of organisational engagement. Practical and social implications – It would seem that codes of ethics have evolved beyond a regulatory requirement and are now considered an integral component of the corporate culture and commercial practice in the majority of Australia’s top 500 companies. Originality/value – Despite a history of business ethics research, longitudinal studies seeking to understand the evolution of corporate engagement to business ethics are exceedingly rare. This paper, unique and original in its focus on an Australian context, provides a basis for future studies focused on exploring international and cross-cultural contexts. This paper makes a substantive and valuable contribution to the literature as it quantifies the evolution of corporate engagement over a 15-year period.


Author(s):  
Gusti Oka Widana ◽  
Sudarso K Wiryono ◽  
Mustika S Purwanegara ◽  
Mohamad Toha

The positive of impact of market orientation toward business performance of a company is a common wisdom in the marketing literatures. Hence the prior studies recommend that the connection will depend on other strategic actions. In this regards, this study tries to assess the construct of business ethics as the precedent of market orientation in the context of Indonesia Islamic banks. Upon assessing data using SmartPLS, this study finds that market orientation is the determinant of business performance and Islamic business ethics is the precedent of market orientation. However, market orientation is not effective as the mediator in the relationship between Islamic business ethics and business performance. The discussion of this finding is provided as well as the managerial implication at the end of this paper.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-38
Author(s):  
Lívia Benita Kiss

Ethics has existed in religion and philosophy for thousands of years and has been applied to business activities in the same way ethical values and norms have been applied to everyday life. This article summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the study of business ethics as the form of applied ethics, which studies morals, ethical principles and problems in the business environment. The main goal of the study is to analyze business ethics from the point of view of integration of general morals and ethical norms to business, a combination of key signs of the right (good) or wrong behavior while doing business, determined on the basis of expected behavior approved by the society. The study of the role of business ethics in the corporate sector of the economy allowed to determine the most general principles of business ethics, namely awareness, caring, compliance, consideration, fairness, honesty, implementation, integrity, integration, loyalty, responsibility, and trustworthiness. The methodological basis of the research is analytical, statistical and comparative methods based on the use of Google Trends. In general, in Google Books, the use of the term business ethics shows an exponential trend. The findings show that the highest search frequency of business ethics is in the “all” category, after that in the “business and industry” category, then in the “science” category, finally in the “law and government” category. On average, the highest interest frequency was in 2004 in all examined categories. The author has proved that a third-degree polynomial downward trend can be fitted to each time series. The analysis of this concept on a geographical basis showed that the interest frequency of the principles of business ethics was most significant in South and Central East Africa, in South and Southeast Asia, over and above in the Caribbean. Keywords: business ethics, principles of business ethics, Google Trends, Google Books Ngram Viewer, time series analysis.


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