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1 – 10 of over 3000Walter Leal Filho, Laís Viera Trevisan, João Henrique Paulino Pires Eustachio, Izabela Simon Rampasso, Rosley Anholon, Johannes Platje, Markus Will, Federica Doni, Muhammad Mazhar, Jaluza Maria Lima Silva Borsatto and Carla Bonato Marcolin
This study aims to investigate how sustainability and ethics are being addressed both by the literature and companies. Furthermore, it seeks to identify the specific strategies…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how sustainability and ethics are being addressed both by the literature and companies. Furthermore, it seeks to identify the specific strategies that these companies use to foster ethical behaviour and promote sustainability in their business operations.
Design/methodology/approach
The study entails a bibliometric analysis and a set of case studies from a sample of companies working in different industry sectors. Based on these tools, it analyses whether – and how – enterprises are placing an emphasis on sustainability and ethics as part of their businesses. In addition, the selected companies' unethical practices or socially irresponsible corporate activities were investigated and presented.
Findings
The findings suggest that using an ethics perspective can be a valuable tool in improving the accuracy and correctness of business decision-making. In addition, the paper has identified the fact that sustainability standards can be used to improve customer satisfaction as many important issues are addressed. Finally, the paper highlights the importance of ethical considerations when designing and implementing sustainability standards at enterprises and the need for regulatory guidance in this regard.
Originality/value
The paper addresses the need for studies on how sustainability and ethics are being discussed by both the literature and companies. The paper presents some elements that can be used as possible corporate indicators for a wider implementation of sustainability and ethics objectives in enterprises.
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The aim of this theoretical and conceptual research paper is to give a definition of the concept of corporate citizenship, which together with business ethics and stakeholder…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this theoretical and conceptual research paper is to give a definition of the concept of corporate citizenship, which together with business ethics and stakeholder management function as foundation of a vision of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for financial institutions and capital markets.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a conceptual methodology which analyzes the main aspects of corporate citizenship with regard stakeholder management and the UN SDGs. In particular there is focus on stakeholder justice, integrity and fairness with regard to stakeholder responsibility at capital markets.
Findings
This paper suggests that concepts of corporate citizenship, business ethics, stakeholder justice, integrity and fairness, as well as stakeholder responsibility must be conceived as the basis for an acceptable vision of sustainable development at capital markets.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is a theoretical paper so the paper is limited to the presentation of major concepts from the point of view of business ethics, stakeholder management and SDGs. This is a framework that needs to be developed in specific research and investment practice at capital markets.
Practical implications
This paper provides the basis for developing a good vision of SDGs in financial institutions and capital markets and it demonstrates that the SDGs must be developed as the foundation of ethics of investments and capital markets.
Social implications
With suggestions of visions of corporate citizenship, business ethics and stakeholder management this paper situates the firm in a social context as a social actor in the context of sustainable development. The business firm is therefore integrated in society and there is a close connection between business and society which needs to be developed in codes and values of ethics of financial institutions capital markets.
Originality/value
The originality and value of this paper is a conceptual formulation of the relation between the concepts of corporate citizenship, business ethics, stakeholder management and SDGs in financial markets. With this the paper refers to earlier research and summarizes concepts from this in a short synthesis.
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Olga Dziubaniuk and Maria Ivanova-Gongne
This study aims to explore how Russian-origin immigrant entrepreneurs manage to adapt their business-to-business (B2B) relationship management practices and moral concerns to the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how Russian-origin immigrant entrepreneurs manage to adapt their business-to-business (B2B) relationship management practices and moral concerns to the business ethics of their country of origin and of the host country via the prism of ethical relativism. By focusing on the ethical values of immigrant entrepreneurs in a business relationship context, the study aims to extend the currently limited understanding of these issues in the B2B marketing field.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach is applied to provide findings from eight in-depth interviews with first-generation Russian entrepreneurs living and doing business in Finland. A narrative approach to the data analysis is used, in particular by applying a thematic analysis of the collected interviews because of the focus on the personal experiences of the interviewees.
Findings
The results illustrate how the immigrant entrepreneurs adapt to ethical values and norms in Russia and Finland and how they enact those values in B2B relationship management in the countries. Immigrant entrepreneurs share several national and ethical backgrounds, which may influence their interaction in international markets, helping them adapt to country-specific business ethics.
Practical implications
The results imply that managers should acquire knowledge on ethical norms at the global level and at the national level, where they aim to expand their business. Productive business relationships involve the premises of honesty, transparency, fairness toward business partners and minimizing opportunism. However, business relations between developed and emerging markets may demand relativism when addressing ethical behavior.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies that explore the ethical values of immigrant entrepreneurs in the context of international business relationships. The study contributes to the limited literature on ethics in the fields of B2B marketing and immigrant entrepreneurship. The authors encourage further research on ethical values adoption by immigrant entrepreneurs, which is an essential topic in times of increased workforce immigration.
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S. J. Oswald A. J. Mascarenhas
In the wake of the extraordinary financial scandals that both preceded and followed the September–October Financial Crises of 2008, discussions about the executive virtues of…
Abstract
Executive Summary
In the wake of the extraordinary financial scandals that both preceded and followed the September–October Financial Crises of 2008, discussions about the executive virtues of honesty and integrity are no longer academic or esoteric, but critically urgent and challenging. As representatives of the corporation, its products and services, corporate executives in general, and production, accounting, finance, and marketing executives in particular, must be the frontline public relations and goodwill ambassadors for their firms, products, and services. As academicians of business education, we must also analyze these corporate wrongdoings as objectively and ethically as possible. What is wrong must be declared and condemned as wrong, what is right must be affirmed and acknowledged as right. We owe it to our students, our profession, our stakeholders, and to the business world. Contemporary American philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre (1981) proposes the issue of morality in a threefold question: Who am I? Who ought I to become? How ought I to get there? The answer to every question refers to the virtues, especially to corporate executive virtues. This chapter explores corporate executive virtues, especially the classical cardinal virtues of prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice as defining and enhancing corporate executive life.
Alicia Blanco-González, Cristina Del-Castillo-Feito and Giorgia Miotto
The aim of this paper is to measure the effects of universities' ethical management and positive impact on society affect the faculty engagement through the mediating effect of…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to measure the effects of universities' ethical management and positive impact on society affect the faculty engagement through the mediating effect of organizational legitimacy.
Design/methodology/approach
Engaged employees are characterized by better performance, increased productivity and by generating higher customer loyalty as well greater economic profit. The commitment to the organization they work for is affected by internal and external inputs. Among these, business ethics and corporate community outreach are key factors for improving employee engagement. The authors developed a survey that was distributed to professors of Spanish universities. To treat the data and test the proposed hypotheses, the authors applied structural equations through PLS-SEM.
Findings
This research contributes to the organizational management field literature and advises university administrators to adopt an ethical management style based on information transparency, accountability and faculty member involvement in the decision-making process in order to improve their engagement and, therefore, increasing student satisfaction, academic results and positive impact on the common good.
Originality/value
The novelty of the authors’ research stands in the inclusion of legitimacy as a mediation effect between business ethics and community outreach that affect employees' engagement and, specifically, faculty engagement.
研究目的
本文旨在量度大學的倫理管理和大學對社會產生的積極影響、如何透過組織合法性的仲介效果影響全體教學人員的敬業忠誠度。
研究設計/方法/理念
敬業的僱員的特徵是他們有較好的表現、有較高的生產率、及帶來更高的客戶忠誠度和更大的經濟利潤。僱員對其服務組織的忠誠度、是受內部和外部輸入所影響的。在這些輸入中,企業倫理和公司的社區外聯是改善僱員敬業程度的關鍵因素。我們設計了一個調查,並分發給西班牙各大學的教授。我們透過偏最小平方法-結構方程模型 (PLS-SEM) 、運用結構方程式來處理數據及測試提出的假設。
研究結果
本研究在組織管理文獻方面作出了貢獻,並建議大學行政人員、應採用基於資訊透明、問責制和教學人員在決策過程中能夠參與的合乎道德的管理風格。這是為了改善大學教學人員的敬業忠誠度,並因此也能提昇學生的滿意程度、學業成績及為公眾利益發揮更大的積極影響。
原創性/價值
本研究嶄新之處在於納入了合法性、以作為影響僱員敬業程度、特別是大學教學人員敬業程度的企業倫理及社區外聯之間的仲介效果。
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Akram Hatami, Jan Hermes and Naser Firoozi
To succeed in today’s dynamic and unpredictable business world, businesses are increasingly required to gain the trust of and inform the society in which they operate about the…
Abstract
Purpose
To succeed in today’s dynamic and unpredictable business world, businesses are increasingly required to gain the trust of and inform the society in which they operate about the social and environmental consequences of their actions. Corporations’ claims regarding the responsibility and ethicality of their actions, however, have been shown to be contradictory to some degree. We define corporations’ deceitful implementation of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies as pseudo-CSR. We argue that it is the moral characteristics of individuals, i.e. employees, managers and other decision-makers who ignore the CSR policies, which produce pseudo-CSR.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper.
Findings
The authors conceptualize the gap between true CSR and pseudo-CSR on a cognitive individual level as “moral laxity,” resulting from organization-induced lack of effort concerning individual moral development through ethical discourse, ethical sensemaking and subjectification processes. The absence of these processes prohibits individuals in organizations from constructing ethical identities to inhibit pseudo-CSR activities.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature on CSR by augmenting corporate-level responsibility with the hitherto mostly neglected, yet significant, role of the individual in bridging this gap.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the concepts of sustainability, responsibility and ethics focussing on their links and differences, also to understand how companies move…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the concepts of sustainability, responsibility and ethics focussing on their links and differences, also to understand how companies move respectively in these field; to understand how companies sometimes move away from the basic and deep meaning of these concepts, landing in a merely utilitarian sphere of personal advantage where ethics, instead of being an irreplaceable and essential stronghold, is found to be a fiction or just an instrument.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used assumes a theoretical critical approach and, based on the vast literature on the items, is based on a conceptual analysis of the themes of sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethics and of the behaviour that companies can adopt in the three contexts. A critical approach to these issues and concepts can effectively help us to understand how companies are responding to external demands and to the challenges of responsibility and sustainability, which are becoming increasingly pressing.
Findings
Ethics, sustainability, CSR and social and environmental reporting are distinct constructs with different meanings but linked by important conceptual and operational relationships.
Research limitations/implications
The results of the research are the consequence of the application of a critical approach based on a theoretical analysis of the concepts under study. It would be interesting to support the results achieved with empirical research studies.
Practical implications
This conceptual path helps scholars and companies themselves to understand the difference between the three key concepts analysed. Only by understanding the basic meaning will it be possible to really make one’s own and pursue it in the correct way.
Social implications
Nowadays, the authors are overwhelmed by these three concepts which are used as synonyms and incorrectly. This leads to confusion and misunderstandings. Knowledge of the characteristics and differences between these concepts and their concrete applications is of great importance.
Originality/value
This study tries to provide a critical discussion of how the three concepts intersect and differentiate, leading to concrete results or results that have nothing to do with their meaning. There are no conceptual papers in the literature that deal with the three concepts and also analyse the implications on the real world.
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Thamirys de Sousa Correia and Wenner Glaucio Lopes Lucena
The purpose of this paper is to verify the relations of the board of directors with the code of business ethics (CBE) of Brazilian publicly traded companies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to verify the relations of the board of directors with the code of business ethics (CBE) of Brazilian publicly traded companies.
Design/methodology/approach
As for the methodology, data were collected from companies that traded shares in Brasil, Bolsa e Balcão (B3) through the Comdinheiro database and codes of ethics or business conduct. For this, in relation to the dependent variable, indexes were elaborated to represent the CBE (CBEI). To represent the independent variables of the board of directors, the following variables were selected: size of board, gender of the president, independence, chairman/CEO, age and number of meetings.
Findings
With that said, the results show that the size of the board, the independence and the number of meetings explain the informative content of the CBE. Also, the accumulation of positions of president and CEO negatively influences CBEI, so the research suggests that non-accumulation of positions reduces agency conflicts, generating transparency of CBEI, according to Agency Theory.
Research limitations/implications
Considering the analysis of this research, it is important to highlight that the results should not be generalized because of the limitation of the sample period and because it was only for the Brazilian companies. However, they cannot be invalidated, given that, because of the robustness of the econometric models, it was possible to make inferences about the relations of the board of directors and the CBE of companies that trade in Brasil, Bolsa e Balcão (B3).
Practical implications
The relations identified in this study between the board of directors and the CBE imply the involvement of top executives, so that the CBE be closer to the characteristics of the business, while the values must be transmitted with clear language, avoiding misunderstandings and conflicts that may be used by individuals in bad faith, with the purpose of apologizing for illegal acts of company.
Social implications
The board’s characteristics seek to support corporate responsibilities, fulfilling a diversity of issues in the operational scenario, including influencing the information content of the CBE. Besides being an expression of the organizational culture, because it evidences the rules of behavior and values of the company.
Originality/value
The business ethics, which in this research is represented by the CBE, is a factor in which there is evidence in international studies that there are relations with the board of directors. In this context, the present study seeks to verify the relationship between the board of directors and the CBE of Brazilian publicly traded companies.
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Daniel Tolstoy, Sara Melén Hånell and Veronika Tarnovskaya
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are increasingly compelled to consider the United Nation’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). These goals are complex and may cause internal…
Abstract
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are increasingly compelled to consider the United Nation’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). These goals are complex and may cause internal goal conflicts for companies. To stay the course, MNEs will benefit from an ethical compass enabling them to take on leading roles in driving change towards a better future. We argue that ethical leadership in this new business landscape is bolstered by virtue ethics. MNEs with genuine ethical groundings will be equipped to make decisions in complex situations where the needs of a variety of stakeholders must be considered. The purpose of this chapter is to conceptually and empirically explore an MNE’s implementation of a particular SDG, through an ethical leadership lens. We contribute to international management and international business literature by offering a framework to analyse MNEs’ pursuit of SDGs.
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