Professional ethics

About: Professional ethics is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5045 publications have been published within this topic receiving 80332 citations.

Trust: the connecting link between organizational theory and philosophical ethics

Abstract: Numerous researchers have proposed that trust is essential for understanding interpersonal and group behavior, managerial effectiveness, economic exchange and social or political stability, yet according to a majority of these scholars, this concept has never been precisely defined. This article reviews definitions from various approaches within organizational theory, examines the consistencies and differences, and proposes that trust is based upon an underlying assumption of an implicit moral duty. This moral duty—an anomaly in much of organizational theory—has made a precise definition problematic. Trust also is examined from philosophical ethics, and a synthesis of the organizational and philosophical definitions that emphasizes an explicit sense of moral duty and is based upon accepted ethical principles of analysis is proposed. This new definition has the potential to combine research from the two fields of study in important areas of inquiry.

A Contingency Framework for Understanding Ethical Decision Making in Marketing

Abstract: This article addresses a significant gap in the theoretical literature on marketing ethics. This gap results from the lack of an integrated framework which clarifies and synthesizes the multiple va...

Integrated and Decoupled Corporate Social Performance: Management Commitments, External Pressures, and Corporate Ethics Practices

Abstract: Corporations can respond to expectations for socially responsible processes and outcomes in organizationally integrated ways or in easily decoupled fashion. This study focused on a particular type ...

Professional Ethics and Civic Morals

Abstract: Emile Durkheim is one of the founding fathers of sociology and Professional Ethics and Civic Morals is one of his most neglected yet insightful works. Durkheim's view that the instability of industrial society was connected to the decline of religion and his characterization of the state as the ultimate moral force in society reveal his lifelong engagement with the relationship between the individual and society. In Professional Ethics and Civic Morals Durkheim poses a major question: given the negative social consequences of unfettered markets, which caused what he termed ‘anomie’, how is the state to reconcile morality with the market? Durkheim argues that the answer is to be found in the evolution of a civil religion, in the form of professional codes and civic values, which would counteract the effects of individualism, just as guilds had regulated medieval economic life. Arguing that the state has a vital role to play in moral life and that morals are at bottom social facts – a controversial position which drew considerable criticism – Durkheim also argues that the state had a duty to protect the rights of the individual, via a form of cosmopolitan patriotism. Durkheim also articulates a highly original and critical interpretation of the rules around property and inheritance – a perspective which resonates with debates about inequality and the redistribution of wealth today. Included in this Routledge Classics edition is a new introduction by Bryan S.Turner, placing Durkheim in contemporary context and outlining the key tenets of Professional Ethics and Civic Morals.

Amateurs, Professionals, and Serious Leisure

Abstract: For fifteen years, Robert Stebbins has conducted extensive research on amateurs and professionals in theatre, music, archaeology, astronomy, baseball, football, magic and stand-up comedy His publications give the theme of serious leisure in-depth scholarly attention This text brings together the findings of this research project to provide a theoretical framework that reveals the commonalities across these eight fields Throughout this project Stebbins has built on the work of Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss and their notion of "grounded theory" First, Stebbins extensively observed the routine activities of amateurs and professionals in each field studied Then, as he became more familiar with the life-styles of the participants, he conducted lengthy, unstructured, face-to-face interviews with, in most cases, 30 amateur or professional respondents Each field demanded special methods of observation, analysis, interviewing, probing and reporting As much as possible, however, Stebbins asked similar questions of all respondents in all fields so as to permit generalizations across these diverse fields The result was a "substantive grounded theory" of each field studied Stebbins has developed a "formal grounded theory" of amateurs and professionals based on the research accumulated in all eight substantive fields By transcending a variety of contexts, he argues, one can gain a more enduring appreciation of the elements that affect peoples' experiences in work and leisure pursuits A review of the findings across this wide range of activities, including his findings and ideas on hobbyists and career volunteers, enabled Stebbins to derive better definitions of the main concepts of the project, such as "amateur", "the public", and "serious leisure" -- as well as "professional", where he distinguishes between client-centred and public-centred professionals who, while sharing numerous ideal-typical attributes, vary as to the power and control they have over their work in a democratic society He presents inductive conclusions about careers and the costs and rewards in the eight amateur-professional fields considered He examines the external world of amateurs and professionals in the light of such issues as family ties, relations among amateurs and professionals and among amateurs and their employers, public images, critics and journalists, community contributions, and the question of marginality for amateurs who are caught between the work world of the professional and the casual leisure world of the majority of the population He concludes with an exploration of the future role of serious leisure in relation to predictions of greater unemployment and increased leisure time and longevity