Business ethics research at the world's leading universities and business schools

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.

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On Getting to the Future First

Business Ethics Quarterly ◽

10.2307/3857694 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 53-61 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Joanne B. Ciulla

Keyword(s):

Business Ethics ◽

Present Problem ◽

American Business ◽

Management Research ◽

Job Tenure ◽

Know How ◽

The Past ◽

Basic Assumptions ◽

Ethics Research ◽

Management Thinking

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.

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The engagement with business ethics

European Business Review ◽

10.1108/ebr-11-2013-0138 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 286-304 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Michael Callaghan ◽

Greg Wood

Keyword(s):

Business Ethics ◽

Private Sector ◽

Corporate Culture ◽

Longitudinal Research ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Primary Data ◽

Regulatory Requirement ◽

Content Type ◽

Cultural Contexts ◽

Ethics Research

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.

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Ethical Preferences among Business Leaders: Implications for Business Schools

Business Communication Quarterly ◽

10.1177/108056990006300103 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 63 (1) ◽

pp. 23-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Roger N. Conaway ◽

Thomas L. Fernandez

Keyword(s):

Business Ethics ◽

Ethical Issues ◽

Business Schools ◽

Environmental Risks ◽

Business Leaders ◽

Ethical Values ◽

Business Faculty ◽

Insider Information ◽

Ethics Program ◽

Arthur Andersen

Since 1976, the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has encouraged business schools to include ethics in their curricula. Because lan guage is the means for conveying values, including ethical values, business com munication faculty play an important role in deciding what should be taught, and how. But until very recently, most researchers failed to look specifically at actual practices and perceptions in the workplace. To address that need, we conducted a survey of 250 business leaders concerning their ethical preferences and compared our results with an earlier study of business faculty and students. The survey, adapted from one used in the Arthur Andersen Business Ethics Program, consists of 20 narratives which presented respondents with the need to judge the impor tance of certain issues and their approval or disapproval of the action or decision described. We found no significant differences in responses to the 14 items which addressed ethical issues in such areas as creating health and environmental risks, taking credit when credit is not due, focusing on disability issues, deceiving cus tomers with products and services, and using insider information to gain personal advantage. We did find significant differences in responses to six narratives focused on ignoring wrongdoing in the workplace, doing special favors for others to gain personal advantage, and covering up flaws in merchandise or operations. Our results, and the survey instrument itself, provide useful tools for the business com munication classroom.

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Business Ethics: New Challenges for Business Schools and Corporate Leaders

10.4324/9781315497815 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Paul E Peterson

Keyword(s):

Business Ethics ◽

Business Schools ◽

Corporate Leaders ◽

New Challenges

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Rethinking Ethics Education in Business Schools in the Post-Financial Crisis Epoch

Handbook of Research on Teaching Ethics in Business and Management Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-61350-510-6.ch020 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 342-356

Author(s):

Vlad Vaiman ◽

Throstur Olaf Sigurjonsson

Keyword(s):

Financial Crisis ◽

Business Ethics ◽

Ethics Education ◽

Business Schools ◽

Moral Character ◽

Business Leaders ◽

Direct Part ◽

Financial Industry ◽

Continuous Education ◽

Business Elite

This chapter deals with a multitude of perspectives on ethics education in business schools and provides a compelling example of Iceland, where unethical behavior of its business elite and the total disregard for commonly accepted ethical rules of conducting business led to unsustainable expansion of the financial industry and its subsequent collapse in the fall of 2008. The authors examine whether ethics education or more precisely, the lack thereof, played any role in this financial collapse, and whether business schools should contribute to molding moral characters of their students, who will ultimately become the next generation of business leaders. Here are a few important highlights of what has been found. First, a consensus seems to have been reached that business schools have an important role in developing the moral character of their students, something they haven’t practiced sufficiently according to managers. Second, business schools ought to take a more direct part in a society’s discourse on business ethics and perhaps be in the forefront of these discussions. Third, there is a clear need for not only asking business schools to contribute to molding the moral character of students but to reshaping that of practicing managers through re-training and continuous education.

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