Sovereignty as new beginnings: Action beyond the liberal subject, among undercover police investigators in Europe, for example

This article argues that Schmitt's “state of exception” is only one expression of the deeper sovereign phenomenon, specifically the human capacity to inaugurate new beginnings in shared space. Sovereign action thus includes anything from Schmitt's vertically-imposed state of exception, which eliminates political subjecthood, to the thrill of horizontally-arranged movements, which enable it. To make this argument, the article foregoes the idea of the bounded, internally coherent liberal subject in favor of a relational subject, who is both internally divided and inherently tied to others. The subject's instability and relationality make new beginnings possible and renders sovereign action promising, even if risky. An unexpected example of this fuller view of sovereignty appears in an undercover police team in southern Europe that investigates global human smuggling and trafficking rings. Based on extensive ethnographic research, this article shows how they often act on their own ethical judgments, reached by considering the standpoints of people tied to their investigations, rather than through obedience to law, policy, or superior command. Acting outside constitutional order, these investigators, (re)constitute themselves as particular persons through their joint actions and simultaneously constitute modest sovereign spaces, however tentatively.

Ethical Attitudes toward COVID-19 Passports: Evidences from Spain

A so-called COVID-19 passport or Immunity passport (IP) has been proposed to facilitate the mobility of individuals while the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic persists. A COVID-19 passport can play a key role in the control of the pandemic, specifically in areas with a high density of population, and the help of smart city technology could be very useful to successfully implement IPs. This research studies the impact of ethical judgments on user attitudes toward using vaccine passports based on a Multidimensional Ethics Scale (MES) that contains five ethical constructs: moral equity, relativism, egoism, utilitarianism, and contractualism. Regression analysis shows that MES satisfactorily explains attitude (R2 = 87.82%, p < 0.001) and that a positive evaluation in moral equity, egoism and utilitarianism is significant (p < 0.001). The objective of the passport (variable leisure) shows a significant negative moderating effect on moral equity (coefficient = −0.147, p = 0.0302) and a positive one on relativism (coefficient = 0.158, p = 0.0287). Adjustment by means of fsQCA shows that five ethical constructs satisfactorily explain both favorable and unfavorable attitudes toward IPs. Solutions explaining acceptance attain an overall consistency (cons) = 0.871 and coverage (cov) = 0.980. In the case of resistance, we found that cons = 0.979 and cov = 0.775. However, that influence is asymmetrical. To have a positive attitude toward the passport, it is a sufficient condition to attain a positive evaluation on a single ethical factor. On the other hand, when explaining resistance, and with the exception of the recipe ~utilitarianism (cons = 0.911 and cov = 0.859), explanatory prime implications require the interaction of at least two variables. Likewise, the context in which the passport is required is significant to explain rejection.

STUDENT'S ETHICAL JUDGMENT TOWARDS ACCOUNTING FRAUD: DOES FORENSIC ACCOUNTING COURSE MATTER?

Abstrak: Penilaian Etis Mahasiswa Terhadap Kecurangan Akuntansi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh mata kuliah akuntansi (audit) forensik, status sosial ekonomi, kinerja akademik, dan jenis kelamin pada penilaian etis mahasiswa tentang kecurangan akuntansi. Populasi penelitian ini adalah seluruh mahasiswa akuntansi aktif angkatan tahun 2014-2016 di Fakultas Bisnis dan Ekonomi Universitas Islam Indonesia. Penelitian ini menggunakan data dari sampel sebanyak 120 responden yang dikumpulkan menggunakan metode purposive sampling. Teknik analisis data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah analisis regresi linier berganda. Studi ini menemukan bahwa mata kuliah akuntansi forensik (audit), status sosial ekonomi, dan kinerja akademik memiliki pengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap penilaian etis mahasiswa tentang kecurangan akuntansi. Sebaliknya, jenis kelamin tidak mempengaruhi penilaian etis mahasiswa tentang kecurangan akuntansi. Hasil penelitian ini memberikan pencerahan bahwa mata kuliah akuntansi forensik memiliki peran yang sangat penting dalam memperbaiki pertimbangan etis mahasiswa terhadap kecurangan akuntansi. Selain itu, mahasiswa dengan kemampuan akademik yang tinggi dan tingat sosial ekonomi yang tinggi cenderung memiliki pertimbangan etika yang lebih baik. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa kemampuan bernalar yang baik dan rasional serta kecukupan ekonomi dapat menurunkan kecurangan akuntansi. Kata kunci: mata kuliah akuntansi forensik, status sosial ekonomi, kinerja akademis, jenis kelamin, penilaian etis, kecurangan akuntansi Abstract: Student's Ethical Judgment Towards Accounting Fraud. This study aims to determine whether forensic accounting (audit) courses, socioeconomic status, academic performance, and gender affect students' ethical judgments concerning accounting frauds. This study's population was all active accounting students from 2014-2016 at the Faculty of Business and Economics, Universitas Islam Indonesia. This study uses the purposive sampling method and collects the data from 120 respondents. The data analysis technique used in this study is multiple linear regression analysis. This study found that forensic accounting (audit) courses, socioeconomic status, and academic performance positively and significantly influence students' ethical judgments concerning accounting fraud. In contrast, gender did not affect the students' ethical judgments concerning accounting frauds. The results of this study provide insight that forensic accounting course have a very crucial role in improving students' ethical judgment against accounting fraud. In addition, students with high academic abilities and high socioeconomic levels tend to have better ethical judgments. This means that good and rational reasoning ability and economic adequacy can reduce accounting fraud. Keywords: forensic accounting course, socioeconomic status, academic performance, gender, ethical judgment, accounting fraud

ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF NON-AUTHORIZED (NON BPOM) FACE MASK IN INDONESIA LOCAL PRODUCT

The face mask trend has developed as a new trend in the Indonesian cosmetics industry lately. Due to the high demand for face masks, Indonesian mask manufacturers are innovating to create local face masks. Unfortunately, several non-authorized local face mask products have been traded on the market with a fairly high level of sales. This study aims to determine consumer awareness of the safety of non-authorized local face masks, and also the relationship between non-authorized local face mask factors. The data were collected by semi-structured interviews and online survey methods towards non-authorized local face mask users. Open coding will be used to process the qualitative data collected during the semi-structured interview, while the quantitative data were analyzed through PLS-SEM to analyze the relationship between the variable of non-authorized proneness, subjective norms, ethical judgments, and product evaluation that influence consumers buying behavior and their purchase decision towards non-authorized local face masks. The result indicates that there is a significant influence between the factor of non-authorized proneness, subjective norms, ethical judgments, and product evaluation that influence consumers buying behavior and their purchase decision for non-authorized local face masks. The findings of the study will be useful in raising consumer and business awareness of the risks of non-authorized local face masks. Furthermore, the results of this study will be used to help develop a demarketing strategy for non-authorized local face masks.

Impact of brand anthropomorphism on ethical judgment: the roles of failure type and loneliness

Purpose This paper aims to investigate whether anthropomorphized (i.e. humanized) brands are judged less negatively for competence failures than for moral lapses and how these ethical judgments impact negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) intentions of less-lonely and more-lonely consumers. Design/methodology/approach Two scenario-based experiments were conducted, involving a total of 1,375 US mechanical turk (Amazon consumer panel) participants. Findings Findings show that brand humanization has an impact on ethical judgments only for less-lonely consumers. More specifically, for less-lonely consumers, a humanizing strategy backfires when the failure is moral but helps the brand when the failure is competence-related. On the other hand, more-lonely consumers judge the situation less negatively overall, and this effect is not impacted by the anthropomorphization strategy. Process tests indicate that these judgments indirectly affect consumers’ intention to spread NWOM following negative events. Research limitations/implications Future research could examine the specific process for lonely consumers (i.e. the role of empathy) and manipulate the size of the negative events (i.e. consumer perceptions of moderate vs extreme failures). Practical implications Brand managers need to consider their specific situations, as anthropomorphization can have both positive and negative effects depending on the consumers and the failure type (moral vs competence). Originality/value Extant research indicates that a humanizing strategy backfires when the market has negative information about the brand. This research introduces types of negative information, as well as consumers’ loneliness as moderators and contributes to the literature in branding, business ethics and word-of-mouth.

Sustainability rating and moral fictionalism: opening the black box of nonfinancial agencies

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the practices, challenges and ethical issues underlying the fabric and dissemination of corporate sustainability ratings.Design/methodology/approachBased on 36 semi-structured interviews with sustainability rating practitioners, the study shows the trade-offs, ethical judgments and customizable aspects involved in rating practices, which cannot rely only on formal and predefined methods.FindingsIn contrast with the official optimistic rhetoric about the rationality and rigor of sustainability rating methods, agencies face serious challenges in the measurement and comparison of performance in this area, particularly in terms of the aggregation of scattered and fuzzy indicators, commercial pressures and the availability, materiality and reliability of the information collected. Despite these concerns, sustainability ratings do appear to be useful in improving corporate responsiveness and increasing investor awareness of the complex and difficult-to-measure aspects of nonfinancial reports.Practical implicationsRating agencies should collaborate to set up common indicators that would be easier for firms to produce and should better separate their sustainability rating production activities from other services they offer to companies (e.g. consultancy).Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on the measurement and promotion of corporate sustainability by analyzing rating practices through the lens of moral fictionalism, which here refers to the human tendency to build ethical judgments on fictional but convenient and useful representations.

Conclusion

Our goal in writing this book was to make it fundamentally different from most other books on ethics. First, we focused on sharing a process of making ethically sound and justifiable decisions, rather than addressing specific issues that require ethical judgments. The process involves taking proactive steps to be as well prepared as possible to manage ethical predicaments. School mental health professionals should analyze the situation fully, followed by seeking consultation from authoritative and objective sources, before identifying a full range of possible courses of action. Those courses of action and their anticipated outcomes for both the student and stakeholders are carefully considered. The selected course of action is “tested” before implementation to help ensure the best possible outcomes for the student and stakeholders and avoid unanticipated, adverse outcomes. The pupil services professional documents the steps taken to make the decision and is prepared to justify the decision, should any criticism arise. Finally, the implemented course of action is monitored and reflected upon to protect the student and improve future professional practice....