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1 – 10 of over 23000
Article
Publication date: 16 August 2021

M. Deniz Dalman, Manoj K. Agarwal and Junhong Min

This paper aims to investigate whether anthropomorphized (i.e. humanized) brands are judged less negatively for competence failures than for moral lapses and how these ethical

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate whether anthropomorphized (i.e. humanized) brands are judged less negatively for competence failures than for moral lapses and how these ethical judgments impact negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) intentions of less-lonely and more-lonely consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

Two scenario-based experiments were conducted, involving a total of 1,375 US mechanical turk (Amazon consumer panel) participants.

Findings

Findings show that brand humanization has an impact on ethical judgments only for less-lonely consumers. More specifically, for less-lonely consumers, a humanizing strategy backfires when the failure is moral but helps the brand when the failure is competence-related. On the other hand, more-lonely consumers judge the situation less negatively overall, and this effect is not impacted by the anthropomorphization strategy. Process tests indicate that these judgments indirectly affect consumers’ intention to spread NWOM following negative events.

Research limitations/implications

Future research could examine the specific process for lonely consumers (i.e. the role of empathy) and manipulate the size of the negative events (i.e. consumer perceptions of moderate vs extreme failures).

Practical implications

Brand managers need to consider their specific situations, as anthropomorphization can have both positive and negative effects depending on the consumers and the failure type (moral vs competence).

Originality/value

Extant research indicates that a humanizing strategy backfires when the market has negative information about the brand. This research introduces types of negative information, as well as consumers’ loneliness as moderators and contributes to the literature in branding, business ethics and word-of-mouth.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 55 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 April 2021

Maryna Murdock, Nivine Richie, William Sackley and Heath White

The purpose of this paper is to determine if the failure of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to persecute Madoff is, in fact, an ethical failure. The authors turn to…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine if the failure of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to persecute Madoff is, in fact, an ethical failure. The authors turn to the extension of Aristotelian theory of moral values, virtue epistemology, to identify specific failures. The authors generalize this study’s conclusions to an overall responsibility of regulatory agencies to exercise epistemic virtues in their decision-making process. The authors explore how behavioral biases confound the execution of epistemic duty, and how awareness of behavioral biases can alleviate epistemic failures. The authors conclude this study with recommendations to prevent future frauds of Madoff proportions.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors rely on recent advances in virtue epistemology and behavioral finance. The authors combine these two theoretical approaches to better understand the duty of competence inherent in being a finance professional, and even more so in being a regulator entrusted with overseeing financial industry, and psychological biases that may prevent finance professionals and regulators from performing this duty.

Findings

The paper concludes that the SEC employees failed to exercise epistemic virtues in their handling of the complaints implicating Madoff’s firm of fraud. This failure reveals a consistent pattern of behavioral biases in decision-making. The authors posit that knowledge of ethical theory, specifically virtue epistemology, as well as awareness of behavioral biases, which inhibit epistemically virtuous cognitive process, can improve the functioning of both finance industry and its overseers. The authors suggest that future finance professionals and regulators need to acquire this knowledge while pursuing their undergraduate education: it is the duty of business schools to facilitate this progress.

Originality/value

This paper combines the theory of virtue epistemology with the current knowledge of behavioral biases, which distort rational decision-making, to explain the failures of regulators to analyze fraud reports. The authors extend this finding to recommend the inclusion of the theory of virtue epistemology in business schools’ ethics curriculum.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 29 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2016

Max Chipulu, Udechukwu Ojiako and Alasdair Marshall

The purpose of this study is to examine whether individual demographic and socio-cultural factors affect actions taken by consumers in relation to ethical violations and failure

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine whether individual demographic and socio-cultural factors affect actions taken by consumers in relation to ethical violations and failure (or perceived ethical violations and failure) by service operations firms.

Design/methodology/approach

Data collection was undertaken over a two-year period, from 2011 to 2013, and involved sampling 3,155 respondents from 19 countries. Data analysis was undertaken utilizing hierarchical linear modelling (HLM).

Findings

Findings suggest that although both individual demographic factors (age and gender) and societal differences do affect ethical actions taken by service consumers, inter-societal cluster variations have a more significant effect on the ethical action than individual demographic differences do.

Originality/value

For service operations firms, the study findings offer evidence on the need for constant readjustment of service attributes in line with the ethical dispositions of the different demographic and socio-cultural clusters within the consumer base.

Details

Society and Business Review, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5680

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 June 2009

Rajan Selvarajan and Peggy A. Cloninger

The purpose of this paper is to examine how ethical assessments of employees are influenced by job performance outcomes, that is, by an employee's success or failure as measured…

4261

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how ethical assessments of employees are influenced by job performance outcomes, that is, by an employee's success or failure as measured by a successful or unsuccessful job appraisal.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 180 employees rated the performance of a fictitious salesperson described in one of four written vignettes as successful/ethical, successful/unethical, unsuccessful/ethical or unsuccessful/unethical.

Findings

Job performance outcomes bias the ethical assessments of raters, even raters with stronger ethical beliefs. Successful employees were judged to have exhibited more ethical behaviors than unsuccessful employees.

Research limitations/implications

Job performance outcomes are a systematic source of bias that should be examined to determine the locus of effect as either rater perception and/or recall of ethical behavior that is biased by the job outcomes achieved by ratees. Studies should also examine other rater characteristics such as cognitive moral development; whether ethical intensity of the incidents in the vignettes influences assessments; whether training or other sources of appraisal (e.g. customers or peers) moderates bias; and field settings.

Practical implications

Managers who reward unethical performance with positive job appraisals will influence other employees to be more accepting of unethical behavior and may undermine organizational processes such as background checks. Organizations may try to counter these effects by other sources of appraisal (e.g. customers or peers), training, or supplementary methods.

Originality/value

The research provides important new empirical evidence regarding incorporating ethical behavior into performance appraisals, and has implications for managers seeking to improve employees' ethical behaviors, and for researchers examining performance appraisals, cognition, ethics, and organizational processes.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 38 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2006

Robert L. Cardy and T.T. Selvarajan

The objective of this empirical study is to apply the methodology commonly used to performance appraisal and examine if outcomes achieved by ratees bias rater's judgment of ratee…

5801

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this empirical study is to apply the methodology commonly used to performance appraisal and examine if outcomes achieved by ratees bias rater's judgment of ratee ethical behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Two studies were conducted: in study 1 the participants were undergraduate business students and in study 2, the participants were MBA students but who were also full time employees. In both these studies, participants read the vignettes and rated the ratee performance using behavior observation scale.

Findings

Both the studies found support for the main hypothesis that outcomes achieved by the ratees influenced judgment of ethical behavior. The hypothesis that ethical beliefs of raters will moderate the biasing influence of outcomes on ethical judgment bias was not supported.

Research limitations/implications

If outcomes achieved by employees influence judgment of ethical behavior, future research has to examine how the biasing influence of outcomes on ethical judgments can be mitigated or eliminated.

Practical implications

If managers are influence by outcomes achieved by their employees in judging the ethical behavior, it can lead to “success breeds acceptance” culture. If organizations place undue emphasis on outcomes at the cost of ethical standards, unethical behavior of individuals could be condoned or justified which would lead to worsening of ethical climate in these organizations.

Originality/value

This study demonstrated that outcomes achieved by employees biases judgment of their ethical behavior and this finding has important implications for designing effective appraisal systems for assessing ethical behavior of employees.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 March 2022

Andrew West and Sherrena Buckby

Recognising the growing importance of professional judgement within professional accounting, this paper examines how it relates to Aristotelian practical wisdom, with reference to…

1231

Abstract

Purpose

Recognising the growing importance of professional judgement within professional accounting, this paper examines how it relates to Aristotelian practical wisdom, with reference to the ethical failure at Carillion plc in 2018. This includes an examination of how these concepts are similar and how they differ and a reconceptualisation of professional judgement in Aristotelian terms.

Design/methodology/approach

The conventional understanding of professional judgement is articulated with reference to accounting standards, professional accounting institutions and academic research. This is compared to Aristotelian practical wisdom, as presented in the Nicomachean Ethics. Both of these conceptualisations are analysed with reference to the failure of Carillion plc.

Findings

Some similarities as well as significant differences between the conventional conceptualisation of professional judgement and Aristotelian practical wisdom are identified. Application to the accounting failure of Carillion plc shows how an Aristotelian reconceptualisation of professional judgement, as an ethical concept, provides a more adequate understanding of unethical accounting behaviour.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis identifies aspects of professional judgement in accounting that have not previously been explored empirically, but which nevertheless have empirical support in other domains.

Practical implications

Professional judgement is reconceptualised in ethical terms, which informs how professional bodies and firms should conceive and apply this concept.

Originality/value

Although there has been research on judgement informed by psychology, there has been little research linking judgement and wisdom in an accounting context. This paper utilises a philosophically informed perspective on wisdom to reconceptualise professional judgement in a way that provides a more adequate understanding of ethical failures.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 36 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2003

Debra Grace and Aron O’Cass

In Australia, the child care industry has experienced substantial growth since 1991 resulting in a proliferation of child care centres throughout the country, to the point where…

3322

Abstract

In Australia, the child care industry has experienced substantial growth since 1991 resulting in a proliferation of child care centres throughout the country, to the point where supply of child care places is now in excess of demand. As a result, child care marketers now compete within a turbulent environment where it is vital to satisfy and retain customers in order to survive. Seeks to increase our knowledge of child care services consumption behaviour, and assist the child care marketer to understand their consumers and the difficulties they face as they interact with a service that they do not experience first hand. A self‐administered survey instrument was developed and administered to a sample of child care service switchers. The results indicate significant findings within, and between choice, switching, and post‐switching dimensions. The exploration of decision‐making areas provides a number of practical implications not only for the child care marketer, but also for government policy makers, child care consumers, and service providers in general.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 37 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 December 2022

Abyshey Nhedzi and Caroline Muyaluka Azionya

This study answers the call for research and theorising exploring ethical communication and brand risk from the African continent. The study's purpose was to identify the…

1119

Abstract

Purpose

This study answers the call for research and theorising exploring ethical communication and brand risk from the African continent. The study's purpose was to identify the challenges that strategic communication practitioners face in enacting ethical crisis communication in South Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

The researchers conducted ten in-depth interviews with South African strategic communication professionals.

Findings

The dominant theme emerging from the study is the marginalisation and exclusion of the communication function in decision-making during crisis situations. Communicators were viewed as implementers, technicians and not strategic counsel. The protection of organisational reputation was done at the expense of the ethics and moral conscience of practitioners. Practitioners were viewed and deployed as spin doctors and tools to face unwanted media interactions.

Originality/value

The article sheds light on the concepts of ethical communication and decision-making in a multicultural African context using the moral theory of Ubuntu and strategic communication. It demonstrates the tension professionals experience as they toggle between unethical capitalist approaches and African values. The practitioner's role as organisational moral conscience is hindered, suppressed and undermined by organisational leadership's directives to use opaque, complex communication, selective transparency and misrepresentation of facts.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 28 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 June 2015

Alexandra E. MacDougall, Zhanna Bagdasarov, James F. Johnson and Michael D. Mumford

Business ethics provide a potent source of competitive advantage, placing increasing pressure on organizations to create and maintain an ethical workforce. Nonetheless, ethical

Abstract

Business ethics provide a potent source of competitive advantage, placing increasing pressure on organizations to create and maintain an ethical workforce. Nonetheless, ethical breaches continue to permeate corporate life, suggesting that there is something missing from how we conceptualize and institutionalize organizational ethics. The current effort seeks to fill this void in two ways. First, we introduce an extended ethical framework premised on sensemaking in organizations. Within this framework, we suggest that multiple individual, organizational, and societal factors may differentially influence the ethical sensemaking process. Second, we contend that human resource management plays a central role in sustaining workplace ethics and explore the strategies through which human resource personnel can work to foster an ethical culture and spearhead ethics initiatives. Future research directions applicable to scholars in both the ethics and human resources domains are provided.

Details

Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-016-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2021

Razana Juhaida Johari, Md. Mahmudul Alam and Jamaliah Said

The primary role of auditors is to offer fiduciary services to society and users of financial reporting. With this role, users placed their trust and depend on the ability and…

Abstract

Purpose

The primary role of auditors is to offer fiduciary services to society and users of financial reporting. With this role, users placed their trust and depend on the ability and judgement made by the auditors during their auditing works. However, recent financial scandals involving high profile companies frustrated the public’s expectations, particularly in Malaysia. It is claimed that auditors are not having ethical sensitivity while executing their task in mitigating fraudulent financial reporting. Therefore, this study aims to examine the influences of ethical orientation, locus of control and the firm’s ethical culture on the auditors’ ethical sensitivity in Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

This study collected primary data based on a questionnaire survey among audit firms in the Klang Valley area and registered with Malaysian Institutes of Accountants.

Findings

The results showed ethical sensitivity has a significant negative relationship with relativism and in some cases has a significant positive relationship with idealism. Moreover, it found a significant positive relationship between ethical sensitivity and ethical culture.

Originality/value

This paper provides benefit to the audit firms, professional bodies, policymakers and academia in understanding the factors that might increase the sensitivity of auditors in dealing with ethical issues that could lead to fraudulent financial reporting in the company.

Details

International Journal of Ethics and Systems, vol. 37 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9369

Keywords

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