The evolution of business ethics in India

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (11) ◽  
pp. 1073-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Berger ◽  
Ram Herstein

Purpose – Religion and culture can influence ethical behavior in business. It is suggested that there has been and continues to be, a deep interrelationship between religion, business ethics, and economic activity in India. As India is becoming a major global economic business partner, understanding its unique ethical business infrastructure is gaining in importance. The purpose of this paper is to intend to further the understanding of Indian (“Vendantic”) business ethics, as opposed to Greco – Roman business ethics, as the foundation of business culture in India. This paper further elaborates on the evolution of business ethics and its implications on doing business in and with Indian companies. Design/methodology/approach – The authors undertook a conceptual approach in order to understand the evolutionary process of Indian business ethics in a holistic view in order to understand better its workings and effect on business interaction. Findings – The paper explains the constructs of business ethics in India and shows its evolution over time. Originality/value – This original theoretical paper examines the evolution of Indian business ethics over time in line with environmental changes in the Indian business landscape.

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-184
Author(s):  
Puneeta Goel ◽  
Rupali Misra

Purpose Given the strong religious background of India, it is quite surprising that the country is ranked as the most corrupt nation in the Asia Pacific region in 2017. This prompts the authors to investigate the role of religiosity in shaping an individual’s preference for ethical behavior. The purpose of this paper is to explore the conceptual linkage between religiosity and attitude towards business ethics (ATBE) and also assess the role of gender and profession in shaping it. Design/methodology/approach Using a cross-sectional survey on two divergent professional groups, management students and working professionals, this study explores the causal role of religiosity on ATBE using pre-validated religious commitment inventory (RCI-10) and ATBE through multiple regression. The difference between ATBE owing to the difference in gender and profession is investigated using independent sample t-test and Levene’s F-test. Multiple analysis of variance and multiple analysis of covariance are used to test the difference in ethical business philosophies. Findings The findings of the study indicate that gender and profession do not influence ATBE, though religious individuals have an ethical approach towards business issues. The significant causal relationship between composite religiosity and ATBE is documented. Further, assessing the predictor role of intra- and inter-personal religiosity on ATBE, the authors see that only intra-personal religiosity, which measures individual’s meta-physical belief is found as a significant predictor of ATBE. Practical implications Individuals with higher intrapersonal religiosity would exhibit superior ethical conduct. For a developing country like India, such conduct at both private and public organizations would lead to reduced scams or frauds, stimulating economic growth. Originality/value Religion plays a significant role in the life of Indian people but its meaning and understanding differ from person to person. Evidence supports that people with strong religious beliefs whether management students or working professionals, tend to have a strong ethical attitude towards different situations in decision-making.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 499-512
Author(s):  
Florian Fahrenbach ◽  
Florian Kragulj

PurposeConsidering personality as changeable through a bottom-up process of altering states, habits and traits, constitutes a shift in the predominant paradigm within personality psychology. The purpose of this paper is to reconsider Bateson’s theory of learning and organizational triple-loop learning in light of this recent empirical evidence.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a multi-disciplinary conceptual approach. Based on an integrative analysis of literature from recent work in personality psychology, four dimensions (process, content, time and context) are identified that allow linking personality change and triple-loop learning.FindingsIdentifying a bottom-up process of changing states, habits and traits as being central to change personality, allows for reconsidering Bateson’s theory of learning as a theory of personality development (Learning II) and personality change (Learning III). Functionally equivalent, organizational triple-loop learning is conceptualized as a change in an organization’s identity over time that may be facilitated through a change in responding to events and a change in the organization’s routines.Practical implicationsInterventions that change how organizations respond to events and that change the routines within an organization may be suitable to facilitate triple-loop learning in terms of changing organizational identity over time.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the discussion on Bateson’s theory of learning and organizational triple-loop learning. As interest in personality change grows in organization studies, this paper aims to transfer these findings to organizational learning.


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 665-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Berger

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the evolution of Chinese business ethics over time and how it impacts business. While much research attention has been directed toward China and its various industries, the Chinese diamond industry has been largely neglected. This industry is the second in size and fastest growing globally. It is interesting to examine its evolution over time and how external factors affect the firms’ business ethics behavior. Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory field work involving the interview of major players was undertaken, complemented by extensive desk work, was used to create a base for future in-depth research of the secretive Chinese diamond industry. Findings – A paradox was identified in the Chinese diamond industry, namely, that while Chinese businesses tend to follow a relational governance model, China’s diamond industry tends to use rational mechanisms of governance and exchange, a paradox that is explained by mitigating factors. Research limitations/implications – Future studies should use a quantitative questionnaire with a larger set of Chinese diamond firms to further examine the paradox found. Future studies could also examine whether the transformation from a system based on social networks to a system based on market forces as found in the Chinese diamond industry is an indicator of an ethical and business evolution of the whole Chinese industry. This may illustrate the rationalization of the Chinese economy and its progression toward Western models of exchange as it further opens up to the West. Originality/value – This paper is a pioneering work on the business ethics and strategy implemented by firms in the Chinese diamond industry.


2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 221-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Rees ◽  
Rossilah Jamil ◽  
Kate Rowlands

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the attitudes of two key groups of stakeholders (n=22) from academia and industry toward the nature of business ethics and their integration and inculcation in MBA programs in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative study based on n=22 interviews with stakeholders from academia and industry. Findings – The main findings of the study indicate that respondents in this context tended define business ethics with reference to factors such as the interests of organizational stakeholders, environmental issues, property rights, and religion. It was also found that the respondents tended to consider ethical business practice to be primarily a social and religious obligation rather than representing a specific requirement of the workplace which could and should be developed during an MBA program. Research limitations/implications – The implications of the study are discussed in relation to some of the barriers that may exist to integrating business ethics into MBA programs in Malaysia. Originality/value – The study highlights the widely held view among the respondents that employees’ business ethics are primarily attributable to family upbringing, including religious instruction thus limiting the perceived need for and effect of later training and education in business ethics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Bartocci ◽  
Giuseppe Grossi ◽  
Sara Giovanna Mauro

PurposeParticipatory budgeting (PB) is considered a suitable tool for supporting and promoting citizen engagement in government work. Previous studies of PB have deeply investigated its design and effects, but paid little attention to the underlying logics of adopting and implementing PB. The purpose of this paper is to, accordingly, investigate the development over time of the institutional logics of PB and attempt to explain their effect on PB.Design/methodology/approachUsing a longitudinal multiple case study design, this research analyzes the evolution of institutional logics over time and across five municipalities in Italy. The analysis integrates documents with interviews conducted at two times to investigate the evolution of PB logics.FindingsThe development of PB is characterized by the spread of two emerging logics–i.e. managerial and community-building logics–that replace or coexist with the traditional political logic. Indeed, these different logics can coexist within governments, with different degrees of conflict or coexistence, resulting in what can be considered a hybrid logic.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the number of examined cases is limited, this research elaborates an original conceptual approach and provides new insights that could help in better designing and implementing PB.Originality/valueThis research builds knowledge of PB by shedding light on its different logics, linking them to diverse specific models of PB and exploring their changes over time.


Author(s):  
Konrad Huber

The chapter first surveys different types of figurative speech in Revelation, including simile, metaphor, symbol, and narrative image. Second, it considers the way images are interrelated in the narrative world of the book. Third, it notes how the images draw associations from various backgrounds, including biblical and later Jewish sources, Greco-Roman myths, and the imperial cult, and how this enriches the understanding of the text. Fourth, the chapter looks at the rhetorical impact of the imagery on readers and stresses in particular its evocative, persuasive, and parenetic function together with its emotional effect. And fifth, it looks briefly at the way reception history shows how the imagery has engaged readers over time. Thus, illustrated by numerous examples, it becomes clear how essentially the imagery of the book of Revelation constitutes and determines its theological message.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Razmi-Farooji ◽  
Hanna Kropsu-Vehkaperä ◽  
Janne Härkönen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to understand data management challenges in e-maintenance systems from a holistically viewpoint through summarizing the earlier scattered research in the field, and second, to present a conceptual approach for addressing these challenges in practice. Design/methodology/approach The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader in manufacturing and maintenance services. Findings This research provides a general understanding over data management challenges in e-maintenance and summarizes their associated proposed solutions. In addition, this paper lists and exemplifies different types and sources of data which can be collected in e-maintenance, across different organizational levels. Analyzing the data management practices of an e-maintenance industry leader provides a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice. Research limitations/implications Since this paper is based on studying the practices of a single company, it might be limited to generalize the results. Future research topics can focus on each of mentioned data management challenges and also validate the applicability of presented model in other companies and industries. Practical implications Understanding the e-maintenance-related challenges helps maintenance managers and other involved stakeholders in e-maintenance systems to better solve the challenges. Originality/value The so-far literature on e-maintenance has been studied with narrow focus to data and data management in e-maintenance appears as one of the less studied topics in the literature. This research paper contributes to e-maintenance by highlighting the deficiencies of the discussion surrounding the perspectives of data management in e-maintenance by studying all common data management challenges and listing different types of data which need to be acquired in e-maintenance systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2635
Author(s):  
Marli Gonan Božac ◽  
Katarina Kostelić ◽  
Morena Paulišić ◽  
Charles G. Smith

The aim of this research was to examine partial reflective awareness in ethical business choices in Croatia. The ethical decision-making is interlinked with sustainable practices, but it is also its prerequisite. Thus, better understanding of business ethics decision-making provides a basis for designing and implementing sustainability in a corporate setting. The research was done on student populations who will soon carry important roles and make important decisions for individuals, organizations, and society. The field research was conducted using Kohlberg’s scenarios. The results reveal that the process of decision-making goes through the lenses of respondents’ own preferred ethics. However, the reflective awareness of respondents’ preferred ethics is skewed and regularities in that deviations point out to the relevance of the context characteristics and arousal factors. In addition, the individuals do not use all available information in the assessment process. The revealed partial reflective awareness contributes to explanation of why people have problems with justifying their choices. As there are many examples of unethical behavior in the environment that remain unpunished, it is necessary to raise awareness of the issue. Improvement in reflective awareness would contribute to more sustainable ethical choices and reveal a possibility of an intervention design within the higher education framework.


2015 ◽  
Vol 64 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 82-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Calaresu ◽  
Ali Shiri

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore and conceptualize the Semantic Web as a term that has been widely mentioned in the literature of library and information science. More specifically, its aim is to shed light on the evolution of the Web and to highlight a previously proposed means of attempting to improve automated manipulation of Web-based data in the context of a rapidly expanding base of both users and digital content. Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual analysis presented in this paper adopts a three-dimensional model for the discussion of Semantic Web. The first dimension focuses on Semantic Web’s basic nature, purpose and history, as well as the current state and limitations of modern search systems and related software agents. The second dimension focuses on critical knowledge structures such as taxonomies, thesauri and ontologies which are understood as fundamental elements in the creation of a Semantic Web architecture. In the third dimension, an alternative conceptual model is proposed, one, which unlike more commonly prevalent Semantic Web models, offers a greater emphasis on describing the proposed structure from an interpretive viewpoint, rather than a technical one. This paper adopts an interpretive, historical and conceptual approach to the notion of the Semantic Web by reviewing the literature and by analyzing the developments associated with the Web over the past three decades. It proposes a simplified conceptual model for easy understanding. Findings – The paper provides a conceptual model of the Semantic Web that encompasses four key strata, namely, the body of human users, the body of software applications facilitating creation and consumption of documents, the body of documents themselves and a proposed layer that would improve automated manipulation of Web-based data by the software applications. Research limitations/implications – This paper will facilitate a better conceptual understanding of the Semantic Web, and thereby contribute, in a small way, to the larger body of discourse surrounding it. The conceptual model will provide a reference point for education and research purposes. Originality/value – This paper provides an original analysis of both conceptual and technical aspects of Semantic Web. The proposed conceptual model provides a new perspective on this subject.


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