Laudato si’ – A Macromarketing Manifesto for a Just and Sustainable Environment

This paper posits that Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on environmental climate change, Laudato si’ (“Praise be to you, my Lord”), or LS for short, provides a compelling and multi-faceted framework for co-creating a just and sustainable environment. LS includes considerable commentary about how markets and marketing impact the physical and social environment. Additionally, the document provides religion-inspired ethical norms for market conditions, actions, and performance that reflect both (a) the social teachings of the Catholic Church as they have evolved over the past 125 years and, as we will explain, (b) a foundational predicate of macromarketing scholarship – that is, a recognition of market systems as the primary mechanism for effectively and efficiently provisioning goods and services in contemporary society. The intent of this paper is also to harmonize two perspectives of business purpose regarding ecological issues (i.e., ethical efficacy vs. economic efficiency), commonly seen as conflicting and mutually exclusive. Absent that harmonization, those perspectives appear to force a choice between “social values and norms” and “economic incentives and circumstances” – a dichotomy that is neither optimal nor practical. Rather, we recognize that key themes in Laudato si’(LS) - environmental stewardship, concern for social justice, and a “common good” orientation that supersedes economic advantage - also correspond to issues addressed by macromarketing scholars since that sub-discipline emerged. LS is foremost a powerful “Call to Action” for those who care about protecting the ecological environment. However, LS is intentionally vague about specific solutions. It defers to analysts, academics, and policy experts to provide those. This paper outlines how macromarketing researchers are powerfully positioned to suggest the specific market and policy adjustments called for in LS.

Ethical leadership within law enforcement agencies: pedagogical and cultural challenges

Purpose Effective ethical leadership is crucial for law enforcement leaders. Ultimately the presence or absence of ethical leadership has significant implications for society. Yet Western law enforcement agencies (LEAs) invest little by way of time, effort or understanding into how law enforcement leaders interpret and develop a sense of ethical competence for leadership. This is a significantly under-researched area within law enforcement anywhere in the world. The purpose of this paper is to assess, measure and more fully understand how social constructivism, problem-based learning (PBL) and self-reflection assist front-line leaders to learn and internalise ethical reasoning for leadership within a law enforcement environment. Design/methodology/approach The research was designed to assess, measure and more fully understand how social constructivism, PBL and self-reflection assist front-line leaders to learn and internalise ethical reasoning for leadership within a law enforcement environment. Data were collected during a two-day ethical leadership workshop delivered to 13 leaders in supervisory positions from the Australian Border Force and the Australian Federal Police. The pedagogical approach was to blend PBL and self-reflection within a social constructivist centred learning experience and measure changes in the ethical efficacy of the research participants through qualitative and quantitative measures. Findings The research suggests that blending PBL and self-reflection within a social constructivist learning environment can contribute towards law enforcement leaders’ learning and internalising of ethical reasoning. This is demonstrated through the measurement of ethical efficacy both before and after the learning experience, with particular growth evident towards understanding ethical perspectives and concepts. Research limitations/implications Limitations include the fact that results cannot be generalised due to the size of the case study. This is compounded by the fact that much of the data are self-reported and responses offered by the participants are subjective. As a result, much of the data were subject to the attitudes and personal perceptions of the participants thus making the information subjective. Aside from demonstrating an impactful learning approach, this research has highlighted that amongst contemporary Australian LEAs there has been little effort or progress towards finding meaningful and effective pathways to encourage or grow ethical efficacy. Practical implications Given challenges faced by LEAs, both Australian and international, the critical need for investment in learning for ethical leadership is both clear and emergent. Law enforcement ethical leadership learning cannot be satisfied through online learning and other cost-efficient means alone. A face-to-face problem-based and reflective learning environment that combines trust, tools and tension in equal measure offers promise for enhanced ethical efficacy. Achieving this requires significant investment in face-to-face learning utilising high-level facilitation skills. Social implications There is a deep and disturbing malaise within Australian LEAs in relation to ethical leadership development, exacerbated by the dearth of investment directed towards learning for front-line ethical leadership. Australian LEAs sit at the crossroads in relation to their application of ethical leadership learning. Given the recent challenges, if these agencies fail to fully engage with this opportunity, the cost will be unfortunately borne by all citizens. Originality/value The implication is a clear need to understand and establish the most effective way for law enforcement officers to grasp the importance of ethics and in doing so, learn ethical leadership. Understanding how law enforcement leaders interpret and develop a sense of ethical competence for leadership is a significantly under-researched area within adult learning and there is little evidence of similar effort within law enforcement anywhere in the world. The overarching objective of this research therefore was to identify pathways that strengthen and enhance ethical leadership as an enabler towards achieving just and corruption-free law enforcement services for the communities.

Consumers' Perceptions of Native Advertisements

With the rapid growth of native advertising, there has been an increased interest to address ethical concerns and deception online. To address this concern, we look at the consumer's ethical efficacy toward native ads and we compare native ads (such as in-feed and advertorial) to banner ads. Results confirm that consumers trust native ads more than banner ads. Moreover, we uncover that consumers ethical efficacy (i.e., confidence in ethical decision making) affects their intention to share native ads through eWOM. However, consumer individual differences influence intention to share content online and trust in the native ads. We study the moderating effects of salience, using the fashion context, and its influence on ad trust and willingness to share through eWOM. Recommendations for business professionals and academics are discussed and future research guidelines are addressed.

Cultivating Essential Capacities for Moral Resilience

Developing the capacities that help clinicians recognize moral adversity and suffering in their daily work and efforts to support them to design and practice strategies that protect their integrity at the heart of clinical practice. These capacities include knowing fundamental values, cultivating mindful awareness and self-attunement, cultivating reflection and insight, developing moral and ethical efficacy, engaging in activities that support self-stewardship, and engaging in ongoing, transformational learning. Each of these capacities must be intentionally cultivated and practiced. Clinicians can begin wherever they are to explore each of them in a synergistic manner. They are enabled by a culture that encourages clinicians to regularly do the right thing for the right reason without fear of reprisal.

Helping Thy Neighbor? Prosocial Reactions to Observed Abusive Supervision in the Workplace

This article examines employee reactions to observing abusive supervision at work. Specifically, we integrate deonance theory with fairness theory and social cognitive theory to explore when and why employees who witness abuse toward a coworker engage in prosocial behavior intended to protect the victim. We first develop a moderated mediation model of prosocial responses to abuse, which identifies overall fairness as a first- and second-stage moderator, influencing the relationships between observed abusive supervision and observer deontic reactions and between deontic reactions and coworker protective behavior. Results from Study 1 support a model in which overall justice moderates the second link, indicating that fair norms and principles might prompt observers of abuse to direct their deontic anger toward coworker protective responses. Study 2 extends this work by further exploring the mediating mechanism by which overall fairness moderates the relationship between deontic anger and prosocial behavior for the coworker. Utilizing a critical incident technique, Study 2 reveals support for a mediated moderation model, indicating that the moderating effect of overall fairness occurs through its impact on ethical efficacy. These findings contribute to work on abusive supervision, third-party responses to injustice, and overall fairness by helping to better understand observer prosocial reactions to abusive supervision.