Corporate Moral Responsibility: When it Might Matter

1995 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 555-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Corporate Responsibility ◽  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
Corporate Control ◽  
Corporate Moral Responsibility ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Socialization Processes ◽  
Practical Implications

Abstract:The debate over corporate moral responsibility has become a fixture in business ethics research and teaching. Only rarely, however, does the sizable literature on that question consider whether the debate has important practical implications. This article examines that question from a corporate control perspective. After assuming corporate moral responsibility’s existence for purposes of argument, the article concludes that such responsibility makes a difference in cases where it is present but personal responsibility is absent. Then the article tries to identify the forces that diminish personal responsibility when corporate responsibility exists. The most important such forces, it concludes, spring from the socialization processes people undergo when they enter groups. One example is the well-known phenomenon of groupthink, which can exculpate individuals by rendering them justifiably ignorant of foreseeable risks of harm.

Debunking Corporate Moral Responsibility

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Velasquez
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Moral Agent ◽  
Corporate Moral Responsibility ◽  
Corporate Organization ◽  
As If

Abstract:I address three topics. First, I argue that the issue of corporate moral responsibility is an important one for business ethics. Second, I examine a core argument for the claim that the corporate organization is a separate moral agent and show it is based on an unnoticed but elementary mistake deriving from the fallacy of division. Third, I examine the assumptions collectivists make about what it means to say that organizations act and that they act intentionally and show that these assumptions are mistaken in their failure to understand the nature of intentional causality and of “as-if” intentionality. In exposing these mistakes I set out my own view in the form of two theses, the first of which states that individual members of an organization are always causally responsible for any corporate act, and the second of which states that attributions of intentions to corporations are always either descriptive or prescriptive attributions of “as if” intentionality.

Principles of Managerial Moral Responsibility

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Soule ◽  
Marcus Hedahl ◽  
John Dienhart
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Integrative Social Contracts Theory ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
Social Contracts ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Social Contracts Theory ◽  
Integrative Social

ABSTRACT:The purpose of this paper is to formulate and defend a set of moral principles applicable to management. Our motivation is twofold: 1) to increase the coherence and utility of Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT); and 2) to initiate an alternative stream of business ethics research. To those ends, we specify what counts as adequate guidance in navigating the ethical terrain of business. In doing so, a key element of ISCT, Substantive Hypernorms, is found to be flawed beyond repair. So we propose and defend a remedy: prima facie moral principles. After delineating the appropriate criteria and format for such principles, we formulate, explain, and defend five of them. We conclude with a brief comment on future research possibilities.

The evolution of business ethics research in the realm of tourism and hospitality

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 1598-1621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehmet Ali Köseoglu ◽  
Yasin Sehitoglu ◽  
Gary Ross ◽  
John A. Parnell
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Tourism And Hospitality ◽  
Social Sciences Citation Index ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to illustrate how business ethics research is progressing in the tourism and hospitality (T/H) industries and suggest a research agenda. Design/methodology/approach This study applies bibliometric analysis to articles related to business ethics topics in the T/H fields published between 1995 and 2014 in six, nine and five leading hospitality-, tourism- and business ethics-oriented journals, respectively. Findings This study provides a broad view on business ethics research in the T/H fields based on leading authors, institutions, themes and methods used over the past two decades. Research limitations/implications This study assesses the progress of business ethics research in the hospitality and tourism fields. Only articles published in select, prominent Social Sciences Citation Index journals were analyzed. Practical implications This analysis focuses on published articles related to business ethics in the T/H fields. As such, it facilitates researchers, academic scholars and professionals in contributing to the field more effectively and advancing scientific progress in the literature. It aids practitioners by evaluating the extent to which scholars have investigated key issues in the field. Originality/value This study is the first to utilize bibliometric analysis to assess business ethics research focusing on T/H activities published in leading tourism, hospitality and business ethics journals.

Do they practice what they preach? The presence of problematic citations in business ethics research

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Serenko ◽  
John Dumay ◽  
Pei-Chi Kelly Hsiao ◽  
Chun Wei Choo
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Article Title ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Scholarly Publications ◽  
Desirable Outcome ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Growth Of Knowledge ◽  
Epistemic Role ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeIn scholarly publications, citations play an essential epistemic role in creating and disseminating knowledge. Conversely, the use of problematic citations impedes the growth of knowledge, contaminates the knowledge base and disserves science. This study investigates the presence of problematic citations in the works of business ethics scholars.Design/methodology/approachThe authors investigated two types of problematic citations: inaccurate citations and plagiarized citations. For this, 1,200 randomly selected citations from three leading business ethics journals were assessed based on: (1) referenced journal errors, (2) article title errors and (3) author name errors. Other papers that replicated the same title errors were identified.FindingsOf the citations in the examined business ethics journals, 21.42% have at least one error. Of particular concern are the citation errors in article titles, where 3.75% of examined citations have minor errors and another 3.75% display major errors – 7.5% in total. Two-thirds of minor and major title errors were repeatedly replicated in previous and ensuing publications, which confirms the presence of citation plagiarism. An average article published in a business ethics journal contains at least three plagiarized citations. Even though business ethics fares well compared to other disciplines, a situation where every fifth citation is problematic is unacceptable.Practical implicationsBusiness ethics scholars are not immune to the use of problematic citations, and it is unlikely that attempting to improve researchers' awareness of the unethicality of this behavior will bring a desirable outcome.Originality/valueIdentifying that problematic citations exist in the business ethics literature is novel because it is expected that these researchers would not condone this practice.

Empathy as moderator of gender differences in Chinese insurance agents' business ethical sensitivity

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1029-1042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Na Zhang ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Jing Wang
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Ethical Sensitivity ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Insurance Agents ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

To expand the business ethics research field, and to increase society's understanding of Chinese insurance agents' business ethics, we investigated how gender differences are related to agents' business ethical sensitivity and whether or not these relationships are moderated by empathy. Through a regression analysis of the factors associated with the business ethical sensitivity of 417 Chinese insurance agents, we found that gender played an important role in affecting business ethical sensitivity, and empathy significantly affected business ethical sensitivity. Furthermore, empathy had a moderating effect on the relationship between gender and business ethical sensitivity. Both men and women with strong empathy scored high on business ethical sensitivity; however, men with strong empathy had higher levels of business ethical sensitivity than did women with little empathy. The findings add to the literature by providing insight into the mechanisms responsible for the benefits of empathy in increasing business ethical sensitivity.

The Promise of Pragmatism: Richard Rorty and Business Ethics

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Sareh Pouryousefi ◽  
R. Edward Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Richard Rorty ◽  
Business Practice ◽  
Global Markets ◽  
Democratic Deliberation ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
Modern Slavery ◽  
Empirical Context

Pragmatists believe that philosophical inquiry must engage closely with practice to be useful and that practice serves as a source of social norms. As a growing alternative to the analytic and continental philosophical traditions, pragmatism is well suited for research in business ethics, but its role remains underappreciated. This article focuses on Richard Rorty, a key figure in the pragmatist tradition. We read Rorty as a source of insight about the ethical and political nature of business practice in contemporary global markets, focusing specifically on his views about moral sentiments, agency, and democratic deliberation. Importantly for business ethicists, Rorty’s approach sets in stark relief our moral responsibility as useful, practical thinkers in addressing the societal challenges of our time. We use “modern slavery” as an empirical context to highlight the relevance of Rorty’s approach to business ethics.

Do We Believe in Consequences? Revisiting the “Incoherence Objection” to Penal Substitution

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-228
Author(s):  
Christopher Woznicki
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
Union With Christ ◽  
Corporate Moral Responsibility ◽  
Penal Substitution

Summary Among recent assessments of penal substitutionary accounts of atonement one significant critique is Mark Murphy’s “incoherence objection.” In this essay I express general agreement with Murphy’s critique of penal substitution, yet I suggest that there is a way to reconceive the doctrine of atonement such that it is conceptually coherent, is commensurate with scripture, and is a version of penal substitution. I call this view: The Penal-Consequence View of Atonement. This is a view of atonement that makes use of a distinction between what I call “penal consequences” and “mere consequences.” The view is defended with special reference to the topics of corporate moral responsibility and union with Christ.

On Getting to the Future First

2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne B. Ciulla
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Present Problem ◽  
American Business ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Job Tenure ◽  
Know How ◽  
The Past ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Management Thinking

Abstract:This paper will discuss the uncertainty of job tenure, inequality of wages in American business, and the challenges for a creating a new social and moral compact between employer and employee. I begin by arguing that business ethics scholars missed some of the disturbing trends in management thinking because they often focused on current problems in business rather than questioning some of the basic assumptions about the way businesses are managed. As Rochefoucauld observed (albeit in a different context) we were overtaken by the evils of the present and I would argue, this was because we didn’t pay attention to the past. Business ethics research, like management research, is often ahistorical and hence tells only part of the story. If we don’t know how we got to a certain problem, it’s really difficult to see where the present problem and our solutions to it might lead us.

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