When Organization Theory Met Business Ethics: Toward Further Symbioses

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pursey P. M. A. R. Heugens ◽  
Andreas Georg Scherer
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Professional Associations ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
Concise Overview ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
As If

ABSTRACT:Organization theory and business ethics are essentially the positive and normative sides of the very same coin, reflecting on how human cooperative activities are organized and how they ought to be organized respectively. It is therefore unfortunate that—due to the relatively impermeable manmade boundaries segregating the corresponding scholarly communities into separate schools and departments, professional associations, and scientific journals—the potential symbiosis between the two fields has not yet fully materialized. In this essay we make a modest attempt at establishing further connectivity by surveying the terrain covered by the two disciplines jointly, as if the boundaries between them did not matter. We commence by providing a concise overview of the organization theory discipline for interested non-specialists from the field of business ethics. Next, we proceed to point out four research themes commonly investigated by members of both communities, and also a variety of organization-theoretical perspectives on each. In the final part of this essay we explore what organization theory has to offer business ethics, and what the boundaries of that potential contribution are. We warn skeptical readers in advance that the spirit and tone of our essay is most definitely upbeat, as we are convinced that the potential for symbiosis between the two fields is vast and inspiring, even though it has only been unleashed partially and incidentally thus far.

scholarly journals Who Guides Vaccination in the Portuguese Press? An Analysis of Information Sources

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 2189
Author(s):  
Andrea Langbecker ◽  
Daniel Catalan-Matamoros
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Professional Associations ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Media Agenda ◽  
The Media ◽  
University Scientists

Sources of information are a key part of the news process as it guides certain topics, influencing the media agenda. The goal of this study is to examine the most frequent voices on vaccines in the Portuguese press. A total of 300 news items were analysed via content analysis using as sources two newspapers from 2012 to 2017. Of all the articles, 97.7% included a source (n = 670). The most frequent were “governmental organisations”, “professional associations” and the “media”. Less frequent sources were “university scientists”, “governmental scientific bodies”, “consumer groups”, “doctors”, “scientific companies”, “NGOs” and “scientific journals”. Most articles used only non-scientific sources (n = 156). A total of 94 articles used both categories and 43 used exclusively scientific sources. Our findings support the assertion that media can be an instrument to disseminate information on vaccines. Nevertheless, despite being present in most articles, the number of sources per article was low, therefore not presenting a diversity of opinions and there was a lack of scientific voices, thus suggesting lower quality of the information being offered to the audience.

scholarly journals Certified B Corporations and Benefit Corporations

Management ◽  
2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Work ◽  
The United States ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Central Research ◽  
Legal Form ◽  
Exemplary Teaching ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Benefit Corporations

Over the past decade, Certified B Corporations and Benefit Corporations, commonly known as B Corps, have emerged as a global phenomenon. Both organizational forms are for-profit businesses. Whereas Certified B Corporations have been accredited for their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices, Benefit Corporations are a new legal form, currently available in thirty-eight states and jurisdictions in the United States (US) as well as in British Columbia (Canada), Colombia, Ecuador, and Italy. Both types were promulgated by B Lab, a US-based nonprofit organization. Founded in 2006 in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, B Lab has sought to institutionalize business as a force for good. At present, certification is available to any business worldwide, and approximately 3,700 companies in seventy-four countries are currently certified. Prominent Certified B Corporations include Ben & Jerry’s, Danone North America, and Patagonia. Examples of Benefit Corporations include Data.World, Kickstarter, and Plum Organics. Overall, the B Corp movement’s radical aspiration to redefine business has garnered substantial attention from policymakers, media, businesses, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and academe. This article provides an overview of burgeoning scholarly work—ranging from general references and cutting-edge theoretical work to accumulating empirical findings and key pedagogical resources. A core focus is on enumerating the variety of theoretical perspectives that have been taken and the central research themes in extant work, including interdisciplinary publications. We close by discussing exemplary teaching materials and introducing other resources, such as the B Academics research community and available data sets for research.

Comments on BEQ’s Twentieth Anniversary Forum on New Directions for Business Ethics Research

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Crane ◽  
Dirk Ulrich Gilbert ◽  
Kenneth E. Goodpaster ◽  
Marcia P. Miceli ◽  
Geoff Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Editorial Team ◽  
Leadership Studies ◽  
Legal Studies ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Twentieth Anniversary ◽  
Social Scientific

ABSTRACT:In 2010, Business Ethics Quarterly published ten articles that considered the potential contributions to business ethics research arising from recent scholarship in a variety of philosophical and social scientific fields (strategic management, political philosophy, restorative justice, international business, legal studies, ethical theory, ethical leadership studies, organization theory, marketing, and corporate governance and finance). Here we offer short responses to those articles by members of Business Ethics Quarterly’s editorial board and editorial team.

Instrumental Understanding of Management Ideas

2019 ◽  
pp. 120-138
Author(s):  
Kjell-Arne Røvik
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Distinct Property ◽  
Symbolic Perspective ◽  
As If

This chapter discusses the instrumental status of management ideas through the lenses of three theoretical perspectives. While from the modernistic–rationalistic perspective, management ideas are conceived of as tools, they are also frequently described as legitimizing elements or fashions viewed from the social constructionist–symbolic perspective. However, seen from a pragmatic perspective—this chapter’s main analytical frame—the instrumental quality of a management idea cannot be decided upon a priori, as if it were a distinct property of each idea. Instead, the implementation phase stands out as critical for the shaping of management ideas. A pragmatic lens, such as offered by translation theory, helps to identify a range of possible trajectories of initiatives to implement management ideas. Some lead to instrumentalization and practical use, while others do not. It is argued that translation theory has the potential to guide practitioners’ efforts to instrumentalize management ideas.

Intellectual structure of research in business ethics

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huilin Xiao ◽  
Yanling Wang ◽  
Weifeng Li ◽  
Zhenzhong Ma
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Citation Analysis ◽  
Stakeholder Management ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Intellectual Structure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Political Csr ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Time Periods

Purpose The study aims to map the intellectual structure of business ethics studies by analyzing 17,246 citations of 225 papers published in Business Ethics Quarterly (BEQ) in the year between 2005 and 2014. Specifically, the purpose of the study is to describe the current state of BEQ, identify the most influential journals and works, identify the key themes of business ethics studies during 2005-2014 and, at the same time, report the changes in themes by making a comparison between two time periods – 2005-2009 and 2010-2014. Design/methodology/approach First, the study presents the information of the authors, institutions and countries that contribute to BEQ with a statistical analysis. Second, the study identifies the most cited journals and works in BEQ during 2005-2014 with a citation analysis. Third, the study identifies the key research themes in business ethics studies with a co-citation analysis. With the help of factor and social network analysis (NA), the study groups the research themes and maps their links. Findings First, the statistical results show that many well-known researchers from famous US institutions publishing in BEQ. Second, the citation analysis results show that quite a few journals become mature gradually in business ethics domain. Besides, most of the influential works are normative and theoretical. Third, the co-citation results indicate that “stakeholder management” and “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) are two main themes in business ethics studies in the past decade. Specifically, “stakeholder management” attracts the most research interests in both two sub-time periods. In addition, compared with the pure studies on CSR during 2005-2009, increasing researchers are keen on the theme of “political CSR under globalization” in the second five years. Meanwhile, other focus like “society, state and business ethics” earns a certain degree of attention in the time window 2005-2009. And “accountability in MNCs” and “political philosophy” are the new concerns in the year between 2010 and 2014. Originality/value The study confirms BEQ’s leadership role in business ethics domain. And, it further proves that business ethics has evolved as an independent discipline. It also helps the researchers to have a concise knowledge of the main contents and key points of business ethics research. Methodologically, co-citation analysis combined with factor and NA provides clear results and visualized figures which can be understood easily by the researchers and practitioners.

scholarly journals Romantic Film-Philosophy and the Notion of Philosophical Film Criticism

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 198-218
Author(s):  
Cato Wittusen
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Film Criticism ◽  
Careful Attention ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Art Forms ◽  
Philosophical Criticism ◽  
Film Aesthetics

A common critique directed at many philosophical readings of films is that they fall short of paying careful attention to film aesthetics. The film-philosopher Robert Sinnerbrink, who defends what he has dubbed ‘romantic film-philosophy’, is a notable exception on this score. Taking his cues from Stanley Cavell's writings on film, Sinnerbrink has developed and argued for a notion of philosophical criticism that takes aesthetic qualities of film into consideration. This paper attempts to relate Sinnerbrink's notion of philosophical criticism to recent conversations about the differences between academic writing on film and film criticism. I argue that some aspects of Sinnerbrink's approach make it natural to compare it with traditional film criticism. There are also elements of his approach that are comparable to the use of films to support and develop theoretical perspectives in some academic writings. Next, I consider whether Sinnerbrink succeeds in challenging the traditional hierarchy of philosophy over film and art. I argue that interpreting film with attention to how it contributes philosophically, as he recommends, doesn't entirely escape the philosophical disenfranchisement of film. In the final part of the paper, I argue that if we want to re-enfranchise film (and art in general), we should pay more attention to what film and other art forms offer us that we do not find in philosophy. In my discussion, I make use of André Bazin's notion of film criticism and Simone de Beauvoir's view on the metaphysical novel.

scholarly journals Community and research

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (01) ◽  
pp. C07
Author(s):  
Carmelo Polino
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Open Access ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
East Europe ◽  
Open Access Publication ◽  
Frontiers Of Science ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives

JCOM is eleven years old, and this is certainly a reason to celebrate. The journal has been a tribune where we could observe how geographical and institutional  frontiers of science communication (SC) have been expanded. As open access publication, JCOM has played a key important role to diffuse and make visible  the research results for all. This is relevant for many institutions and researchers in Latin America due to the difficulties for paying to access to the papers  published by the international scientific journals. The journal has made a relevant contribution to consolidation of the field of SC. Thinking on the future, JCOM  may stimulate a global debate on theoretical perspectives about SC, and devote special issues to describe different regional contexts (India and East Asia;  Latin America; Africa; or East Europe. The journal also may promote papers, special issues or specific discussions on SC and social theory.

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