Showing papers in "Business Ethics: A European Review in 1999"
TL;DR: In this article, the exclusive focus on large firms in the field of business ethics is challenged, and links are made between the idiosyncrasies of small firms and potential ethical issues.
Abstract: In this paper the exclusive focus on large firms in the field of business ethics is challenged. Some of the idiosyncrasies of small firms are explained, and links are made between these and potential ethical issues. A review of the existing literature on ethics in small firms demonstrates the lack of appropriate research, so that to date we can draw no firm conclusions in relation to ethics in the small firm. Recommendations are made as to the way forward for small firm business ethics research. Questions for investigation are suggested using micro, meso and macro perspectives. Much exploratory work needs to be done to lay the groundwork for this important area of social and commercial research in the future.
486 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the non-mandatory reporting of two aspects of social responsibility, corporate community involvement (CCI) and environmental impact, and explore why companies choose to make such disclosures.
Abstract: Recent years have witnessed an escalation in corporate social reporting (CSR) by UK companies (Gray, Kouhy and Lavers 1995). Whilst some elements of CSR reporting are required by law, much of it represents voluntary reporting. By investigating the non-mandatory reporting of two aspects of social responsibility, corporate community involvement (CCI) and environmental impact, this paper seeks to explore why companies choose to make such disclosures. It specifically asks whether companies are primarily motivated by the strategic need to manage their reputation and legitimacy rather than by the recognition of their ethical accountability, which is the stated purpose of reports produced by cutting edge companies (Clarke 1998).
254 citations
TL;DR: Corporate social responsibility is frequently defined primarily in terms of the social and environmental impact of systemic organisational activity, but this misses the point as discussed by the authors, corporate social responsibility should be understood as a process, through which individuals' moral values and concerns are articulated.
Abstract: Corporate social responsibility is frequently defined primarily in terms of the social and environmental impact of systemic organisational activity. This misses the point. To be applicable, corporate responsibility should be understood as a process, through which individuals’ moral values and concerns are articulated. Moreover, there are important grounds for asserting that such a process should be participative, involving employees (and perhaps other stakeholders). It seems inconsistent not to respect such groups’ right to an opinion, while at the same time purporting to be ethical and responsible; also, a better alignment of organisational policy and employees’ values holds possibilities for enhanced motivation and work performance. Through such a participative process, matters of social responsibility may be identified in the expectations and moral claims of an organisation’s stakeholders. Such claims constitute prima facie obligations to which those responsible for corporate policy should attend, and where such demands conflict then dialogue is required in order to establish an appropriate course of action.
110 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compare the normative foundations of the stakeholder and shareholder theories of the firm and demonstrate how the shareholder theory has at least as much normative support as stakeholder theory and suggest that a way forward may be for a variant of pure shareholder theory to emerge.
Abstract: This paper contrasts the normative foundations of the stakeholder and shareholder theories of the firm. It demonstrates how the shareholder theory of the firm appears to have at least as much normative support as stakeholder theory and suggests that a way forward may be for a variant of pure shareholder theory to emerge.
77 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the decision making of one ethical unit trust operating in the United Kingdom and described the development of the ethical criteria and the ways in which their implementation was monitored.
Abstract: Although ethical investment is a growing phenonenon which attracts a signficant amount of media interest, relatively little has been written about the internal operations of ethical investment funds. Using a variety of sources, including interviews with a fund manager and participant observation at meetings of the fund’s ethical advisory committee, this paper examines the decision making of one ethical unit trust operating in the United Kingdom. In particular, it describes the development of the ethical criteria and the ways in which their implementation was monitored. Several significant parallels between publicly stated ethical investment criteria and corporate codes of ethics are then discusssed.
74 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the assumptions regarding the role of independence through an exploration of conceptions of independence held by individuals involved in the activities of audit committees in major UK public limited companies.
Abstract: The Code of Best Practice produced by the Cadbury Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance (Cadbury Committee 1992) may be viewed as an ethical code in that it prescribes standards of board behaviour. The Code’s specific recommendations with regard to audit committees appear to offer a practical mechanism for the promotion of ethical behaviour through the inhibition of potentially unethical influences exerted by executive directors over external auditors. The rationale for these recommendations centres on the independence of audit committee members, implying that independence is a prerequisite for ethical behaviour. This paper questions the assumptions regarding the role of independence through an exploration of conceptions of independence held by individuals involved in the activities of audit committees in major UK public limited companies. It suggests that audit committees may have an unarticulated role in providing an arena for the display of independence by the participants. This display forms a part of the ceremonial performance which builds confidence in corporate governance mechanisms.
63 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on ethical investment and discuss the broad direction in which they would like their own work, and the work of others, to go in the future.
Abstract: It is common for professors to base inaugural lectures on work that they have already done, perhaps thereby giving a hint of why they have been appointed. One topic that has been an interest of mine over many years is ethical investment. The word `inaugural' suggests a degree of looking forward. Therefore, in addition to outlining some of the work that has brought me to this point, I would like to indicate the broad direction in which I would like my own work, and I hope the work of others, to go in the future. As I am focusing on ethical investment it would seem sensible to give an introductory indication of what is meant by that term. So the first question is:
43 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a framework for the integration of HR-based HR-specific HR-с-of-the-professionals with the HR-standard.
Abstract: Обсуждается роль менеджера по человеческим ресурсам в компании, объективная сложность его задачи - примирить ценности организации с ценностями этики профессионалов по управлению людьми. По данным исследований, то, насколько профессионалы HR могут влиять на организационную этику, зависит от культуры и структуры организации, а также от уровня доверия к самим HR-специалистам. В основном, ничто не указывает на значительность их влияния.
38 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that Corporate Community Involvement (CCI) is not a neutral activity with positive and mutual benefits for all involved, rather, it is a much more complex activity which may also have negative impacts.
Abstract: The central thesis of this paper is that Corporate Community Involvement (CCI) is not a neutral activity with positive and mutual benefits for all involved. Rather, it is a much more complex activity which may also have negative impacts. Using Donaldson and Preston’s (1995) explanatory model of the stakeholding concept as a framework, this paper explores: (1) the practice of CCI in the UK (with some reference to US experience from which UK firms have drawn extensively), (2) the grounds on which it is justified, and (3) the material consequences of such activity for corporate governance. It concludes by arguing that there is a case for a review of the law on CCI to assess the need for fuller public disclosure so as to allow shareholders and other interested groups the opportunity to assess the impact and effectiveness of CCI more thoroughly.
32 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that presently prevailing ethical theories can be largely dispensed with and that they are of limited use in solving ethical problems because they are "reductionist".
Abstract: It is argued that presently prevailing ethical theories can be largely dispensed with. Such theories are of limited use in solving ethical problems. They fail because they are ‘reductionist’. They take an aspect of morality to be the whole of morality. Moreover, the very process of constructing, testing, and modifying them reveals that we already have that understanding of the nature of the ethical which they purport to provide us with. (This is labelled the ‘paradox of ethical theory’.) That prior understanding is the identification of morality with the common good. This, it is claimed, is all the understanding we need to approach problems within business ethics or any other branch of ‘applied ethics’.
UNDERSHAFT. ...Well, come! Is there anything you know or care for?
STEPHEN. I know the difference between right and wrong.
UNDERSHAFT. ...Why man you’re a genius, a master of masters, a god! At twentyfour too!
STEPHEN. ... I pretend to nothing more than any honourable English gentleman claims as his birthright.
SHAW, Major Barbara, Act III
32 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the effects of the OECD Convention on Combating the Bribery of Foreign Public Officials, which was signed in 1997 and is due to be implemented by the signatory nation-states this year.
Abstract: This article discusses the effects of the OECD Convention on Combating the Bribery of Foreign Public Officials, which was signed in 1997 and is due to be implemented by the signatory nation-states this year. The Convention represents the expansion of legal measures to combat the bribery of foreign public officials by individuals or corporations, and it has been accompanied by the Organisation of American States’ Convention Against Corruption. Previously the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which applied only to United States individuals or corporations, ‘stood alone in the world as a legal barrier to transnational bribery’ (Low, Bjorklund and Atkinson 1998:245). This article proceeds in stages to evaluate implications of the Convention. Firstly the Convention is placed in the context of the increased focus on transnational business bribery in recent years. Second, the main points of the Convention are outlined. Third, the issues and problems posed by the Convention for business are discussed. Finally some themes regarding enforcement by the relevant authorities are outlined.
TL;DR: In this paper, it is shown that the attribution of such "imperfect" duties to corporations results in the generation of excessive costs and of unrealistic expectations on the part of stakeholders, and that distributive justice is more efficiently achieved by public sector involvement at the level of policy and project management.
Abstract: It is often argued that multinational companies and other foreign developers have a responsibility to improve the material conditions of the people in whose territories they operate. As a matter of distributive justice it is thought that these companies should be sharing the acquired wealth with these people through the creation of ‘collective goods’ (like schools and aid posts), infrastructure development and compensation disbursements aimed at their benefit. Recently “stakeholder theory” and even legislative changes in the first world (especially in the US) have sought to impress on the corporate world the necessity to share the profits with affected “non-shareholder” groups. Many see these developments as possible advancements for indigenous peoples, indigenous rights and the cause of distributive justice for aboriginal groups. However, it can be shown that the attribution of such ‘imperfect’ duties to corporations results in the generation of excessive costs and of unrealistic expectations on the part of stakeholders. Distributive justice is more efficiently achieved by public sector involvement at the level of policy and project management.
TL;DR: The relationship between business and society changes over time, and periodically there is a ‘legitimization crisis' as discussed by the authors, where the legal institutionalization of business firms prescribes narrow accountabilities and limited responsibilities: the challenge for business in the new millennium is to open these up and to broaden our understanding of the social significance of business activity without destroying its wealth creating processes.
Abstract: The relationship between business and society changes over time, and periodically there is a ‘legitimization crisis’. The paper will briefly explore some important questions about company legitimacy: why is company legitimacy important; why do legitimacy crises occur; and finally, are we in a crisis at the moment, and if so how can it be solved? The legal institutionalization of business firms prescribes narrow accountabilities and limited responsibilities: the challenge for business in the new millennium is to open these up and to broaden our understanding of the social significance of business activity without destroying its wealth creating processes. This will require a rethinking of the relationship to the shareholder and a new definition of the relationship with stakeholders.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the investigation of HRM and ethics could be broadened by locating HRM research more explicitly within the social and cultural realities of organizations and their employees, and outline and illustrate what a social constructivist approach might add to research in this field.
Abstract: In this paper we review recent UK literature on HRM and ethics and suggest that implicit in many accounts is a perception of a ‘moral hole’ appearing within the employee relations landscape which is based on external, reflective observations of HRM policies and practices. We argue that the investigation of HRM and ethics could be broadened by locating HRM and ethics research more explicitly within the social and cultural realities of organizations and their employees. Finally, we outline and illustrate what a social constructivist approach might add to research in this field and how it might provide insights that help bridge the gap between theory and practice.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an evaluation of the paternalistic model of HRM and reveal that this model is deeply flawed and does not provide a morally acceptable approach towards responsible citizens in a democratic society.
Abstract: The paper presents an evaluation of the paternalistic model of HRM. The analysis reveals that this conception of the employment relationship is deeply flawed and does not provide a morally acceptable approach towards responsible citizens in a democratic society. Moreover, where the employment relationship is based upon managerial hegemony and secrecy, the danger is that this can become institutionalized as a corporate morality that brings about the unintended consequences of moral indifference and unjust conduct towards employees and other stakeholders. The conclusion of this evaluation is that a wise management will try to open up its decision-making processes and seek the participation of a wide range of stakeholders in the determination of the economic and social purpose of the company. There is another option: the employment relationship can be informed by a communitarian perspective, which aims to strike a balance between the economic interests of employers and employees, and the need for justice to foster mutual cooperation in the pursuit of a common purpose. This conception of the employment relationship will be outlined here as HRM in the ‘community of purpose’.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how advertising ethics can be examined within a broadly social constructionist perspective, which is based on the notion of meaning making as a psychological principle in psychology.
Abstract: Advertising presents special difficulties for business ethicists. Ads are trivial entertainments, yet advertising culture has been held up as a metaphor for a general moral degradation in the post-modern epoch. Ads confuse us since they are a new and unfamiliar form of communicative discourse which we find difficult to place in an ethical category. This, mainly conceptual, paper attempts to explore how ethics in and of advertising may be subject to examination within a broadly social constructionist perspective. The paper sketches out a view of social constructionism which draws significantly on the ‘turn to language’ in psychology. It then attempts to discuss how ads might work, or rather, as the paper suggests, how ads mean. The social constructionist view point entails a rejection of cognitivist schemes of advertising psychology in favour of a mutualist framework within which ads and consumers jointly construct meanings which are essentially indeterminate. This ontological perspective has implications for ethical treatments of the field. The notion of meaning making as a psychological principle leads the discussion into an initial consideration of how normative approaches to advertising ethics might be framed. The self regulatory system obtaining in the UK is offered as an appropriate example. An underlying theme of the paper is that discussions of ethics in relation to advertising cannot rest upon a simplistic cognitivist notion of how ads ‘work’ upon consumers’ minds. The paper tries to show that a broadly social constructionist approach may offer a richer scheme for examining advertising ethics in its local, mediated, indeterminate and socially constructed character.
TL;DR: The authors explored the extent to which three models of management morality -immoral management, moral management, and amoral management - are extant in the European business environment and made two possible hypotheses regarding the models' presence in European business.
Abstract: This article explores the extent to which three models of management morality - Immoral Management, Moral Management, and Amoral Management - are extant in the European business environment. After a brief introduction and presentation of examples of each model, a further description of each model and European applications are outlined. Two possible hypotheses regarding the models' presence in European business are presented and then concluding observations are made.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors point out that despite an espousal of ethical humanism, and various attempts to develop professional standards, training and development activities can be vulnerable to unethical practice.
Abstract: Training and development activities are perhaps the aspects of HRM that are least likely to come under ethical scrutiny. However, despite an espousal of ethical humanism, and various attempts to develop professional standards, training and development activities can be vulnerable to unethical practice.
TL;DR: The adoption by the Co-operative Wholesale Society of what appears to be a socially responsible stance on food labeling practice and policy through the publication of a public report and a proposed code of practice is discussed in this paper.
Abstract: This paper takes as its focus the adoption by the Co-operative Wholesale Society of what appears to be a socially responsible stance on food labelling practice and policy through the publication of a public report and a proposed code of practice.
The central issue in the debate surrounding labelling is the question of ‘asymmetric information’ (when one party knows more about a product than the other). In order to function, markets need perfect information. The existence of asymmetric information gives rise to ‘market failure’ which prevents the ‘free market’ from functioning according to the laissez faire model. It can be argued that regulation will overcome this problem. However, this paper counters this argument on several grounds. In the first part of the paper labelling is examined as a textual construction, and ethical dimensions are revealed through an awareness of discourse and signification, which gives rise to a view of packaging as a version of reality partially built through connotation and association.
The second part of the paper examines political and regulatory concerns. Marketing and economic theories are discussed in terms of their impact upon ethical issues in food labelling. Sense is made of various arguments about the policy and practice of food regulation – particularly in the wake of the James Report calling for the establishment of a Food Standards Agency. Tactics for resisting regulation are also examined. The paper analyses the role and motivation of the CWS in taking these steps.
Consideration is given to the issue of where responsibility for information giving and public health education might lie, and what phenomena act as barriers to increased public awareness and action on dietary matters. Finally the debate over food labelling is used as an example of why it is problematic (and possibly unethical) to promote the free market model as the only sensible alternative to other modes of economic organisation.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how managers and professionals from two functional areas, finance and accountancy and human resource management, perceive, think about and act upon ethical conundrums at work.
Abstract: This paper explores how managers and professionals from two functional areas, finance and accountancy and human resource management, perceive, think about and act upon ethical conundrums at work. The study is based on 43 interviews in which respondents were asked to report on ethical issues and incidents they had experienced at work. A conceptual framework is presented which is used to analyse the critical incidents.
TL;DR: Bauman, Robert P., Jackson, Peter and Lawrence, Joanne T. From Promise to Performance: A Journey of Transformation at SmithKline Beecham as discussed by the authors, is a book about transformation at Smith-Kline High School.
Abstract: Book reviewed in this article:
Bauman, Robert P., Jackson, Peter and Lawrence, Joanne T. From Promise to Performance: A Journey of Transformation at SmithKline Beecham
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TL;DR: Serageldin, Ismail and Martin-Brown as mentioned in this paper reviewed a book called Ethics and Values: A Global Perspective, which is a collection of ethical and values from a global perspective.
Abstract: Book reviewed in this article:
Serageldin, Ismail and Martin-Brown, Joan (eds) Ethics and Values: A Global Perspective