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1 – 10 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 4 September 2019

Chuck Huff

This viewpoint aims to highlight the necessarily technical nature of ethics in software development, propose a label (ethical bypassing) for ethical analysis that does not lead to…

259

Abstract

Purpose

This viewpoint aims to highlight the necessarily technical nature of ethics in software development, propose a label (ethical bypassing) for ethical analysis that does not lead to ethical action and introduce a philosophical foundation for technical analysis that leads to ethical software development.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodological approach is one of technical analysis that is aware of social science and philosophical knowledge bases.

Findings

The findings establish a clear technical foundation that is crucial to ethical analysis that will actually inform software development.

Research limitations/implications

The idea that beginning with technical expertise is the best way to begin ethical reflection on a technical implementation has been often suggested, but not really empircally tested. Research using cases or other qualitative approaches would need to be done to add credibility to the claim.

Practical implications

This approach suggests that collaboration between technically informed ethicists and ethically informed technical experts should begin with the exploration of the technical questions rather than with ethical speculation.

Social implications

A common approach to ethical education is to concentrate on ethical theory and its application in technical contexts. This approach suggests that this may lead to ethical bypassing by the student, the avoidance of the making technical decisions by extensive ethical reflection.

Originality/value

This paper introduces a new term, ethical bypassing, to the literature on the ethics of software development.

Details

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-996X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 May 2012

Mary Barnao, Peter Robertson and Tony Ward

This paper seeks to propose that approaching forensic practice from the vantage point of human dignity and its associated values can alert clinicians to a broader range of ethical

1511

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to propose that approaching forensic practice from the vantage point of human dignity and its associated values can alert clinicians to a broader range of ethical issues than reliance on codes of ethics. The paper aims to present a practical framework for ethical reasoning based on this approach and to demonstrate its application using examples drawn from forensic practice.

Design/methodology/approach

Three case vignettes are used to demonstrate how the ethical framework can be used as a heuristic device to encourage practitioners to be alert to genuine, although often subtle, ethical problems and to think beyond the confines of ethical codes.

Findings

The ethical framework outlined in this paper can alert clinicians to a broader range of ethical issues than those flagged by codes of ethics and encourage them to think about the contribution of systemic, as well as individual variables, to ethical problems.

Practical implications

Enriching ethical codes with the concept of dignity and human rights can assist clinicians to detect ethical issues in their daily practice and improve their ethical reasoning and decision making.

Originality/value

Relatively few articles address ethical issues in a forensic mental health context and those that do focus on specific issues rather than the process of ethical decision making. This paper provides forensic clinicians with a practical framework that can assist them to recognize ethical problems and make considered decisions about them.

Details

The British Journal of Forensic Practice, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6646

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2022

Shalini Srivastava, Deepti Pathak, Lata Bajpai Singh and Shalini Verma

The present paper intends to study the relationship between Machiavellianism and effectiveness. It investigates the parallel mediating effects of self-esteem and ethical

Abstract

Purpose

The present paper intends to study the relationship between Machiavellianism and effectiveness. It investigates the parallel mediating effects of self-esteem and ethical leadership on Machiavellianism and leader effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was administered to 260 managers from the banking sector. Statistical tools, like descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation, reliability analysis, validity analysis and parallel-mediated regression analysis, were used to analyze the data. Drawing from the conservation of resource (COR) theory, a parallel mediation model was empirically tested.

Findings

The study found a negative association between Machiavellianism and leader effectiveness, and the parallel mediating impact of self-esteem and ethical leadership reduced the impact of Machiavellianism on leader effectiveness.

Practical implications

The work suggests that the banking sector leaders can adapt ethical behaviors to create positive leader–member relations contributing to increased organizational efficiency and productivity.

Originality/value

The unique contribution of the study includes determining the mediating roles of self-esteem and ethical leadership, especially in the Indian context. Despite the availability of past studies on the constructs, the studies on the parallel mediating relationship between Machiavellianism and effectiveness was limited.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 41 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2008

Jörg Pont

Research involving prisoners repeatedly went astray during the last century, culminating in the cruel medical experiments inside the Nazi concentration camps that gave rise to the…

Abstract

Research involving prisoners repeatedly went astray during the last century, culminating in the cruel medical experiments inside the Nazi concentration camps that gave rise to the Nuremberg Code. However, prisoners continued to become victims of scientific exploitation by the rapidly evolving biomedical research industry. The common roots of these abuses were the flawed philosophy that the needs of the society outweigh the needs of the individual and the researchers’ view that prisoners are cheap, easy to motivate and stable research subjects. Prisoners are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse by research because their freedom for consent can easily be undermined, and because of learning disabilities, illiteracy and language barriers prevailing within prisoner populations. Therefore, penal laws of some countries supported by a number of internationally agreed documents prohibit research involving prisoners completely. However, prisoners must also be regarded as vulnerable to the specific health problems in prisons, e.g. transmissible diseases, mental disorders and suicide ‐ problems that need to be addressed by research involving prisoners. Additionally, the participation of prisoner patients in research they directly can benefit from should be provided. Hence, it must be a common objective to find the right balance between protection from exploitation and access to research beneficial to prisoners.

Details

International Journal of Prisoner Health, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-9200

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2014

Sagit Mor

This article examines the dialectics of wrongful life and wrongful birth claims in Israel from 1986 until 2012. In May 2012 Israeli Supreme Court declared that while wrongful…

Abstract

This article examines the dialectics of wrongful life and wrongful birth claims in Israel from 1986 until 2012. In May 2012 Israeli Supreme Court declared that while wrongful birth claims were still permitted, wrongful life claims were no longer accepted in a court of law. The article examines the conditions that allowed for and supported the expansion of wrongful life/birth claims until 2012. The article identifies two parallel dynamics of expansion: a broadening of the scope of negligent conduct and a view of milder forms of disabilities as damage that merits compensation. The article further suggests four explanations for such doctrinal evolution, two of which emanate from doctrinal ambiguities and the other two are rooted in social factors that have shaped the meaning of disability as a tragedy and state of inferiority. While recent developments seem promising, the article concludes with a word of caution. Such changes may reproduce past injustices mainly because the compensation mechanism has remained an individual-torts based one, which may run counter to the broader struggle for social change for disabled people.

Details

Studies in Law, Politics, and Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-785-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 April 2015

Lorraine Warren and Robert Smith

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the tension between rule-breaking and legitimacy for entrepreneurs, who are expected to challenge and change social or business…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the tension between rule-breaking and legitimacy for entrepreneurs, who are expected to challenge and change social or business norms. In doing so, they may be presented as heroes in the media, or alternatively, are cast out as villains with attendant negative press with consequent loss of legitimacy.

Design/methodology/approach

Through secondary data methods, the paper analyses the case of Vance Miller, an entrepreneur from the North of England who has achieved economic success amid reports of alleged criminality and poor ethical behaviour. Thus he spans rule-breaking and legitimacy.

Findings

The paper illustrates how rule-breaking directed towards demonstrable entrepreneurial achievement does not always result in media legitimacy. Miller’s storyline both chimes with and clashes with the discourse of the enterprise culture, providing a cautionary note for aspirant entrepreneurs.

Research limitations/implications

The hero-villain paradox remains relatively unexplored in the media, and thus further qualitative research is required, particularly for aspirant entrepreneurs with controversial or criminal backgrounds.

Practical implications

Entrepreneurs should question carefully the extent and potential consequences of rule breaking in regard to legitimacy.

Social implications

The paper highlights and indeed questions the role of the media in their representations of entrepreneurship, and challenges the valorisation of rule-breaking behaviour by entrepreneurs.

Originality/value

The paper makes a distinctive contribution to the literature by examining the relation between rule-breaking and legitimacy for an entrepreneur who is represented negatively in the media, yet remains successful, counter to the heroic stereotype.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 21 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Making Sense of Ultra-Realism
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-170-0

Article
Publication date: 15 September 2014

Brian P. Bloomfield and Theo Vurdubakis

The pupose of this paper is twofold. First, to consider the cultural reception of recent developments in genetic technology and human reproduction, particularly in relation to the…

Abstract

Purpose

The pupose of this paper is twofold. First, to consider the cultural reception of recent developments in genetic technology and human reproduction, particularly in relation to the prospect of human cloning and the advent of the “designer human”; and second, to explore the ways in which public discussion of these developments presuppose and recast issues of diversity, difference and (in)equality.

Design/methodology/approach

The research draws upon UK print media sources (broadsheet and tabloid newspapers) over the past two decades to examine the ways in which cultural expectations concerning developments in reproductive technology are commonly expressed. It does not aim at a quantitative examination of the content of what was said; rather it seeks to explore how it was said and thus the discursive resources that were employed in doing so.

Findings

The paper suggests that images of “technology” function simultaneously as “mirrors of society”, providing a means for articulating and rhetorically rehearsing the various philosophical antinomies and moral conflicts that characterize social organization.

Originality/value

The paper adopts a novel approach to the question of diversity, difference and (in)equality by considering the “monsters” discursively associated with recent developments in genetic and reproductive technology as well as the “monstrous” forms of social organization that they foreshadow.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 33 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 April 2020

Faruk Bhuiyan, Kevin Baird and Rahat Munir

This study aims to investigate the influence of organisational culture, specifically O’Reilly et al.’s (1991) six dimensions of the organisational culture profile (respect for…

2090

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the influence of organisational culture, specifically O’Reilly et al.’s (1991) six dimensions of the organisational culture profile (respect for people, outcome orientation, team orientation, innovation, attention to detail and stability) on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and the subsequent impact of CSR practices on organisational performance from the context of an emerging economy.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a survey of middle- and higher-level managers in Bangladeshi organisations to develop a seven-dimensional model of CSR practices and used structural equation modelling to analyse the developed hypotheses.

Findings

The findings provide evidence of the influence of the six different dimensions of organisational culture on the different dimensions of CSR practices. The findings highlight the diverse impacts (i.e. positive and negative) of CSR practices on organisational performance. The study also highlights the direct influence of organisational culture on both financial and non-financial performance. In particular, the outcome and team orientation culture are positively associated with non-financial and financial performance, respectively, while an innovative culture is negatively associated with both non-financial and financial performance.

Practical implications

The findings of the study provide practitioners, internal (i.e. the managers and business owners of both the local and multinational organisations) and external policy-makers, and foreign investors in an emerging economy with new insights into the role of an intra-organisational factor (i.e. organisational culture) in influencing the adoption of CSR practices and the subsequent impact of CSR practices on organisational performance.

Originality/value

Using the 52 guidelines of CSR practices provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, this study provides a unique empirical insight into the influence of organisational culture on CSR practices and the impact of CSR practices on organisational performance. The findings contribute to the limited CSR literature examining the influence of organisational culture on the adoption of CSR practices and its subsequent impact on organisational performance in an emerging economy.

Article
Publication date: 20 December 2021

Ernan Haruvy and Peter Popkowski Leszczyc

The purpose of this study is to determine how self-driven (intrinsic motivators) and monetary incentives (extrinsic motivators) are mediated by an effort to affect fundraising…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine how self-driven (intrinsic motivators) and monetary incentives (extrinsic motivators) are mediated by an effort to affect fundraising outcomes. This integration sheds light on crowding out between the two types of incentives as well the drivers of fundraising outcomes, specifically effort and donations.

Design/methodology/approach

A field experiment is conducted over a two-month period, involving an online fundraising campaign with over 300 volunteers assigned to one of five different incentive conditions. A special website was created to monitor fundraiser efforts. Fundraisers filled out pre- and post-study surveys.

Findings

While high monetary incentives result in the greatest immediate increase in funds raised, they crowd out future intentions to volunteer once incentives are withdrawn. Mediation analyzes show that fundraiser effort fully mediates the effect of intrinsic motivators and partially mediates the direct effect of extrinsic motivators on funds raised.

Research limitations/implications

A major limitation of field experiments is the lack of control, resulting in higher variation. However, while a more controlled experiment will reduce this variation, this goes at the expense of lower external validity.

Practical implications

Results indicate that – at least in the short run – monetary incentives can result in higher fundraising outcomes. However, this goes at the expense of a reduction in future volunteering once the incentives are withdrawn.

Originality/value

This study examines whether extrinsic or intrinsic motivators have a greater impact on funds raised and whether extrinsic motivators crowd out future intentions to volunteer. Different from previous research in which effort is a latent variable, the effort is directly observed over time.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 56 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

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