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The constructs of relativism and absolutism have a significant role to play in the development of ethical theory; however, they are commonly simplified in their depictions and are philosophically more complex than we give them credit for. The purpose of this paper is to undertake an in‐depth examination of ethical relativity and ethical absolutism before concluding with a discussion of which research implications warrant further investigation.

A descriptive, historical, anthological approach has been taken.

Ethical relativism is regrettably subject to a proliferation of related terminology and, in many instances with different meanings ascribed to similar terms. In addition, ethical relativity appears to attract different research perspectives that are heavily dependent on their academic origins. A clear distinction needs to be made between ethical and situational relativity. It is suggested that relativism is present in the process of moral justification and that ethical relativism should be analyzed from three levels: the individual level, the role and group level, and the cultural levels. The over‐riding objection to ethical relativism rests on the consequences of accepting relativism, which undermines the existence and strength of global moral standards and the inherent positioning of ethical absolutism. Absolutism does not deny the existence of multiple moral practices evident around the world, but proposes that variations in ethical actions could still be rooted in common universal moral standards based on our requirements as human beings and the necessities of long‐term survival.

The ensuing discussions of relativism and absolutism open up a rich vein of research opportunities and suggest caution is required in regard to research methodologies. From a methodological perspective, care needs to be taken. For example, using hypothetical ethical dilemmas that are often unrelated to a specific industry or cultural setting has resulted in many researchers observing situational relativity rather than true ethical relativity.

This paper specifically examines whether there are differences in underlying and basic moral standards even though similarities in ethical behaviour have been determined, or whether differing ethical actions could, as the absolutists believe, originate from common universal standards despite apparent differences in perceptions and actions across cultures.

The purpose of this article is to chronicle the publication events in the 1980s and 1990s that framed the development of the series of controversies in marketing that are known as the “philosophy debates”.

The article uses a participant’s retrospective approach.

The article finds that seven publication events are key to understanding marketing’s philosophy debates. The seven are the publication of the “little green book” by Grid, Inc. in 1976; the philosophy of science panel discussion held at the Winter American Marketing Association Educators’ Conference in 1982; the special issue of the Journal of Marketing on marketing theory in 1983; three articles on the “critical relativist perspective” by the Journal of Consumer Research in 1986 and 1988; the “blue book” by South-Western in 1991; a trilogy of articles on truth, positivism and objectivity in the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Consumer Research in 1990-1993; and an article on “rethinking marketing” in the European Journal of Marketing in 1994.

Chronicling the key publication events enables readers to understand what the debates were about and provides readers a starting point for further investigating the issues in the debates.

Recently two reports appeared in the press, each of which expressed a very different attitude towards intellectual property. One, in the Australian press, discusses a bill before the US House of Representatives that would “give American copyright holders freedom to hack PCs used to illicitly share files over peer‐to‐peer (P2P) networks, without fear of prosecution or litigation”. That this represents a fairly strong view of the importance of intellectual property can be seen further as the report continues.

The purpose of this paper is to compare three cultural approaches from anthropology and business literature: National Culture Approach (NCA), Corporate Culture Approach (CCA), and Transactional Culture Approach (TCA). The author grounds these approaches in different epistemological standpoints and locate them at different positions on the unity-infinity continuum. The author outlines their strengths and weaknesses, and offer the Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF) as a transactional tool for cultural sense-making.

Reviewing conventional NCA/CCA frameworks reveals that while their simplicity renders them attractive to users, their assumption of stable, internally homogenous and coherent cultures has its limitations. Conversely, reviewing anthropology-based TCA literature reveals that while TCA overcomes some limitations of NCA/CCA frameworks, it also has its weaknesses – it overemphasizes “self-interest” as the preferred form of rationality, and some TCA scholars render cultural comparisons impossible by supporting cultural infinity. Finally, examining DCF reveals that it overcomes some limitations of NCA/CCA frameworks, while simultaneously advancing TCA. Nevertheless, DCF too has limitations which are also exposed.

Most NCA/CCA scholars support the “unity” argument of culture, while some transactional scholars support the “infinity” argument. DCF finds a perfect balance between the two through “constrained relativism”. Also, since DCF focuses on human transactions, it is not limited in its applications to specific levels and scales. It can therefore be applied to scenarios spanning across levels and scales. Finally, it offers a compromise between the differentiation and fragmentation perspectives of corporate culture, and brings out the best of the interpretivist and post-modernistic traditions.

The exposition of DCF opens up new avenues for research which have hitherto remained unexplored for want of appropriate frameworks, for instance the UN Peace Corps., NATO, Medecins Sans Frontiers, etc.

By focusing on human transactions, the paper allows for a much more dynamic conceptualization of culture as compared to static NCA/CCA frameworks.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a retrospection on the importance, origins and development of the research programs in the author’s career.

The study uses an autobiographical approach.

Most of the articles, research monographs and books that constitute this research and publishing efforts can be categorized into seven distinct, but related, research programs: channels of distribution; marketing theory; marketing’s philosophy debates; macromarketing and ethics; relationship marketing; resource-advantage theory; and marketing management and strategy. The value system that has guided these research programs has been shaped by specific events that took place in the author’s formative years. This essay chronicles these events and the origins and development of the seven research programs.

Chronicling the importance, origins and development of the seven research programs will hopefully motivate and assist other scholars in developing their own research programs.

Examines the ethical problems within international purchasing and sales interactions. Bribery is identified as the major problem, though this is only true in North‐South trade, and ignores evidence of unethical practices in the interactions between purchasing and sales generally. Business people in the North tend to adopt double standards when criticizing the acceptance of bribery in some cultures, while ignoring the unethical practices in their own cultures. An interaction approach avoids cultural relativism, by seeing gifts and entertaining as a necessary part of the development of personal relationships which characterize successful international business relationships. It seems that a majority of international business transactions take place without the intervention of unethical inducements. Furthermore, the development and introduction of codes of ethics as well as the work of organizations such as Transparency International all suggest the climate is changing to one more supportive of high ethical standards.

This paper seeks to examine the ethical dilemmas that emerge when offering microfinance services in BOP markets.

Utilizing the ethical lenses of deontology, teleology, virtue ethics and moral relativism, the paper builds on prior research on ethical issues in BOP markets and the ethics of microfinance to highlight the specific stakeholder impacts facing MFIs. Relevant literature and examples from practice are utilized to illustrate the different ethical perspectives.

In general, many of the key dilemmas represent themselves in the extreme poverty segment of the BOP where commercial business models have the least traction.

Propositions are developed for the corrective actions in the paper which might allow future research to uncover differences in intervention success in different BOP markets.

The discussion of potential interventions for the various stakeholders may ameliorate criticisms of MFIs, suggest opportunities for cross‐sectoral partnerships and improve outreach to the poorest of the poor.

For each issue addressed, this paper looks at the types of corrections that are made or called for through markets, government actions and civil society to respond to the negative impacts uncovered through our analysis.

The analysis in this paper contributes to the theoretical ethical literature with a very specific application to an emerging concern in the field of microfinance. It also offers prescriptive scenarios for industry and public policy makers. It challenges the ethics underlying businesses that wish to target the full spectrum of Base of Pyramid participants.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between cultural heritage and attitudes toward fraud. The data indicates that the culturalisation process is complex, with no apparent absolutes. People claiming different cultural heritage do differ in how they approve of fraud in general, but what is equally significant is how these same people universally evaluated specific types of fraud. A comprehensive analysis of the results, taking into consideration all the potential correlates – cultural heritage as well as age, education, gender and occupation – indicates that the respondents may have been influenced by an overarching “corporate culture” that tends to assimilate diverse attitudes into a more universal standard of behaviour.

“Communism has never concealed the fact that it rejects all absolute concepts of morality. It scoffs at any consideration of “good” and “evil” as indisputable categories. Communism considers morality to be relative, to be a class matter… It has infected the whole world with the belief in the relativity of good and evil.” Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, Warning to the West, 1975.

The view is taken that the study of diverse cultures can contribute to the development of environmental accounting and reporting. The focus is upon seeking to articulate insights from three indigenous cultures: the Australian Aboriginal, the Maori and the Native American. These cultures, alive today, provide relevant insights for those concerned with challenging mainstream and Western practices and seeking to develop alternatives. Attention is focused on these insights and it is hoped that further research will be stimulated.