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1 – 10 of over 5000The internationalisation of business and the process of globalisation raise many ethical issues about acceptable norms of conduct on the part of corporations. This article aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
The internationalisation of business and the process of globalisation raise many ethical issues about acceptable norms of conduct on the part of corporations. This article aims to evaluate whether there is progress in establishing standards for international business ethics.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper explores whether the case for a global standard of business conduct can be grounded and justified in rational argument.
Findings
As a moral minimum, corporate ethical codes need to rule out what the management believes to be clearly unacceptable behaviour. The distinction between thick and thin moral rules is particularly important in wrestling with the rights and wrongs of international business ethics. A good deal of room needs to exist for the local interpretation of these codes, but there are a number of situations where universal standards have to be enforced in the host country.
Originality/value
This paper summarises the progress made in establishing the field of international business ethics. And it identifies and discusses the evidence on the effectiveness of ethical codes in improving international business practice.
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Carlos López-Hernández and Ana Laura Chávez
Ethic code moral and ethic dilemma.
Abstract
Theoretical basis
Ethic code moral and ethic dilemma.
Research methodology
The case study is based on a series of in-depth interviews carried out with the owners and directors. The data were complemented by documentary analysis, including descriptions of internal processes, and industry information. The teaching note opted for an exploratory study using the open-ended approach of grounded theory.It is important to mention to the students that although the names of the characters and the company were modified for confidentiality reasons, the case actually happened.
Case overview/synopsis
Roberto Rodarte, an employee of Internet Architects Interactive, won a luxury car in a raffle from the hotel where he was staying in a business trip. Roberto decided to keep the car and did not inform the company of what had happened.The company did not have any established policies for these situations. Manuel de la Torre, a partner, thought that it would be fair if either Roberto give the car to the company Roberto, thought that the car belonged to him.The company decided to fire him. What could be done to avoid similar situations arising in the future?
Complexity academic level
The case can be used by administrative program students and Master of Business Administration students in courses such as management, good management practices, human resources, leadership and business ethics.
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This paper develops a comprehensive multidimensional legitimacy model that provides a generic framework for exploring legitimacy in institutions – including the legitimacy of…
Abstract
This paper develops a comprehensive multidimensional legitimacy model that provides a generic framework for exploring legitimacy in institutions – including the legitimacy of rules, codes, collective activities and organisations themselves. Through the use of 10 dimensions, covering concerns with fairness, efficacy, integrity, expectations, inclusive decision-making and more, the model aims to capture the full suite of distinct features that may be morally relevant in any given case. Each dimension is a continuum and can provide reasons for moral challenge, toleration or pro-active support. The model can be used to diagnose ethical risk areas, to compare reform initiatives and to inform empirical studies of descriptive legitimacy and the social licence to operate. It may also be used as an applied ethics methodology to evaluate overall institutional moral legitimacy; the paper discusses the contextual judgments required for this, including the way that some legitimacy factors can operate as defeaters, such that a serious failure on a pivotal dimension cannot be overcome by support from other dimensions.
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Where international nonviolence organizations have increasingly become key players in both the development and evaluation of effective nonviolent movements, little scholarly…
Abstract
Where international nonviolence organizations have increasingly become key players in both the development and evaluation of effective nonviolent movements, little scholarly attention has been given to their role in transnational mobilization. In this chapter, I present new data on a growing population of nonviolent protest INGOs, a transnational nonviolence network, working to globally spread tactical knowledge and resources. To examine determinants of how this population has grown as a whole, I employ negative binomial regression analysis to weigh the effect of nonviolent protest, social movements, and world society theories on nonviolent INGO expansion. I then examine how this network and its ties to different world regions have changed over the latter half of the twentieth century. I find it has been most significantly shaped by the expansion of global political and civil society networks, global human rights work, and a global discourse about nonviolence. The purpose here is to expand knowledge of the global institutional foundations of transnational protest resources, opportunities, and discourse among nonviolent movements.
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This paper set out to explore the potential for business leaders to do good in a way that is fully integrated with their organisational objectives and their personal purpose. In…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper set out to explore the potential for business leaders to do good in a way that is fully integrated with their organisational objectives and their personal purpose. In light of major issues confronting society, including environmental fragility, financial vulnerability and the reduced influence of traditional institutions, the paper proposes the need for a new global ethic, and suggests that leaders of global enterprises have a particular opportunity to make a profound difference in fostering such an ethic. It aims to explain what such an ethic could look like, and the organisational and personal competencies required for ethical leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes the human person as a starting‐point for addressing major challenges, rather than the challenge itself, builds on research by contemporary commentators on social trends, and draws on examples of business leaders who demonstrate the required competencies for a new global ethic.
Findings
The paper identifies the three key elements that are crucial for effective leadership: to master the art of being human, and to master the art of running a successful enterprise, while becoming a servant to society by fostering a new global ethic within their sphere of influence.
Originality/value
The paper identifies the emerging stakeholder concern for profit‐driven firms to become purpose‐driven, and shows how leaders who align personal purpose with organisational mission and societal need can have a positive impact on the world and foster a new global ethic
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The results to date of the contemporary organizational ethics movement are not encouraging; credible, empirical evidence of more ethical individuals and institutions remains to be…
Abstract
The results to date of the contemporary organizational ethics movement are not encouraging; credible, empirical evidence of more ethical individuals and institutions remains to be discovered. This is not surprising, given the daunting nature of organizational change, multiple perspectives toward ethics programs, and the need for transformational, as opposed to transactional, leadership. As currently conceived and executed, ethics training tends to be rule‐oriented, legalistic and superficial, and thus produces cynicism, boredom and passivity. Therefore, proposes an ethics training initiative consisting of a philosophical and an institutional framework, as well as a two‐stage program based on clarification of universal values and justification of organizational policies and practices in light of those values. The philosophical framework is grounded in the unified ethic, which combines deontology, teleology, and virtue, while the institutional framework is grounded in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the work of the Caux Roundtable. The ultimate aim of this ethics training program is to advance global democratic deliberation and decision making in both private and public organizations.
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The purpose of this paper is to answer the question posed in the literature: “What is the definition of law and justice?”
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to answer the question posed in the literature: “What is the definition of law and justice?”
Design/methodology/approach
The paper addresses the question from the vantage point of contrasting epistemological premises of liberalism and unity of knowledge.
Findings
Only the epistemology of unity of knowledge can answer the question as posed above. Rationalism and liberalism are unable to answer this question.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical section could be elaborated further, but this is beyond the scope of the paper.
Practical implications
The paper opens up a vista of applications in the area of institutional change and the moral and ethical edicts of law and justice for purposes of intellection and application.
Originality/value
The epistemological inquiry under unity of knowledge has answered the otherwise impending quest for an answer to the question that has remained unanswered.
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The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of requirements for firms’ codes of conduct when addressing homophobia in the context of continued colonialism and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of requirements for firms’ codes of conduct when addressing homophobia in the context of continued colonialism and coloniality.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a literature study.
Findings
First, occidental firms’ codes of conduct are shown to endanger indigenous homosexual individuals by endangering the protection offered by their indigenous ethics and society. Second, it is shown that tackling homophobia in firms’ codes of conduct on the foundation of occidental ethics forces homosexual individuals to conform to occidental homosexual identities in a world of a multitude of indigenous and hybrid homosexualities and identities render firms’ codes of conduct expressions of continued colonialism and coloniality. Third, a sole reliance on occidental conceptualizations of homophobia is shown to potentially camouflage unethical nationalistic and xenophobic intents.
Research limitations/implications
Additional research is needed on the dynamics of coexisting multiple indigenous homosexual identities, and reliable ways to determine the substance of indigenous homosexual identities need to be developed in the context of continued colonialism and coloniality.
Practical implications
Firms need to be cognizant of conflicting identities, hybrid identities and changing identities over time while avoiding to use purported protection against homophobia as a camouflage for nationalistic and xenophobic purposes.
Social implications
The paper ways to address the protection against homophobia in firms' codes of conduct in the context of continued colonialism and coloniality.
Originality/value
This paper closes a gap in the literature by considering firms’ codes of conduct as favouring homophobia as a result of continued colonialism and coloniality.
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