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Today’s consumers are aware of restaurants’ effects on the environment and pressure them to implement green practices. As restaurant success largely depends on how employees meet customer expectations, employee green creative behavior (EGCB) is critical. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how to enhance EGCB by integrating a comprehensive set of three-dimensional components: external, organizational and individual factors.

Data analysis was conducted using responses from full-time employees in the US restaurant industry. The PROCESS macro was used to test the direct and indirect relationships between the study variables. A series of mediation analyzes were conducted to investigate the mediation effects of “restaurant ethical standards” and “employee green passion” on their relationships to “customer pressure” and EGCB.

The results verified a direct effect of “customer pressure” on “restaurant ethical standards” and EGCB. The study also demonstrated positive direct relationships of “restaurant ethical standards” – “employee green passion” and “employee green passion” – EGCB. The result showed that “restaurant ethical standards” and “employee green passion” sequentially explained the partial impact of “customer pressure” on EGCB.

The study recommends that restaurant managers acknowledge growing customer environmentalism and prepare to address their customers’ stricter green requirements. Restaurants need to review their ethical standards on a regular basis to meet rising customer pressure. The study also offers empirical evidence regarding the importance of selecting employees who are passionate about sustainability and empowering them to encourage their green creative behavior.

Although past studies have introduced various determinants of employee creative behavior, they have mainly focused on organizational and individual-level factors but have ignored a critical external factor, which is customer pressure. The study addresses this research gap by investigating the interrelationships between customer pressure and EGCB through restaurant ethical standards (organizational-level) and employee green passion (individual-level).

Provenance and ethical standards reflect foods that traceable and are supportive of the environment, sustainability and justice in the food supply chain. The purpose of this study is to understand higher education consumers’ food choices and to examine the predictors of purchasing intention of food with provenance and ethical standards.

An online questionnaire was completed by 296 students and staff members of the University of Central Lancashire. The questionnaire collected information on socio-demographic profiles; food choices, provenance and ethical standards; ethical purchasing and sourcing requirements and purchasing intention of food products with provenance and ethical standards. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the frequency of distribution of all socio-demographic characteristics. Multiple regression was used to examine if attitude, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) significantly predict the consumers’ purchasing intention (Step 1). Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the behavioural items using principal components estimation and varimax rotation. Multiple regression on the expanded TPB (Step 2) using the obtained factor scores were conducted to determine if the factors were significant predictors of purchasing intention of food with provenance and ethical standards.

Multiple regression on the expanded TPB model revealed that only attitude and perceived behavioural control were significant predictors of purchasing intention of food with provenance and ethical standards. The regression model explained about 50 per cent of the variance of the intent to purchase food with provenance and ethical standards where R² = 0.50 (Adjusted R² = 0.47). This was significantly different from zero F (5, 89) = 17.77, p < 0.001. The incorporation of “Preference for ethically sourced food” and “Perceived knowledge and status of provenance standards” did not increase the prediction of purchasing behaviour.

Two broad themes were identified from the factor analysis where the first factor prioritises “Preference for ethically sourced food” and the second factor conceptualises “Perceived knowledge and status of provenance standards”. The TPB was expanded to incorporate both factors but did not increase the prediction of purchasing intention. The authors recommend that other potential predictors, for example, moral concerns or perceived value of food with provenance and/or ethical standards to be tested using an extended TPB framework. The study is of value to higher and further education catering services to encourage more sustainable and local food consumption.

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 paper is to develop and test a model of the role managers and peers play in shaping salespeople's ethical behaviour. The model specifies that sales manager personal moral philosophies, whether sales managers themselves are rewarded according to the outcomes or behaviours of their salespeople, sales team job security, intra‐team cooperation, and sales team tactical performance all influence sales team ethical standards. In turn, ethical standards influence the probability that sales team members will behave (un)ethically when faced with ethical dilemmas.

The model is tested on a sample of 154 Finnish sales managers. Data were collected via mail survey. Analysis was undertaken using structural equation modelling.

Ethical standards appear to be shaped by several factors; behaviour‐based management controls increase ethical standards, relativist managers tend to manage less ethically‐minded sales teams, job insecurity impedes the development of ethical standards, and sales teams' cooperation activity increases ethical standards. Sales teams are less likely to engage in unethical behaviour when the teams have strong ethical standards.

Cross‐sectional data limits generalisability; single country data may limit the ability to generalise to different sales environments; additional measure development is needed; identification of additional antecedent factors would be beneficial.

Sales managers should consciously develop high ethical standards in sales teams if they wish to reduce unethical behaviour. Ethical standards can be improved if sales managers change their own outward behaviour (exhibit a less relativistic ethical philosophy), foster cooperation amongst salespeople, and develop perceptions of job security. How sales managers are rewarded may shape how they approach the management of ethical behaviour in their sales teams.

This paper appears to be the first to simultaneously examine both sales manager‐specific and sales team‐specific antecedents to sales team ethical standards and behaviours. As such, it provides an important base for research in this critical area.

This study explores the millennial perceptions of cause-related marketing (CRM) in international markets through the lens of an ethical continuum. Literature gaps exist in our understanding of cause-related marketing, ethics and millennials in an international context, with few studies offering insights into successful CRM campaigns in developed vs developing countries. Previous studies have yielded differing responses based on culture, sociodemographic and consumer perceptions.

An exploratory qualitative research method was adopted to build the theory necessary to address this research gap. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 155 undergraduate and postgraduate students representing 17 nationalities. Interviews were conducted in two regions (Ireland and United Arab Emirates) representing developed and developing markets.

Discrepancies exist between millennial consumers when it comes to ethical self-reporting, perceptions of CRM initiatives, choice criteria of CRM offers and purchase intentions. Findings also suggest that there is a relationship between the religious and ethical beliefs of millennials in certain regions. Gender showed no significant differences in perceptions of CRM.

This study examines millennial perceptions of CRM from multiple nationalities in developed vs developing markets. It introduces the ethical continuum in international CRM as a lens to examine perceptions of millennial consumers. The study identifies that millennials should not be treated as a homogenous group, suggesting different choice criteria of millennial consumers based on their ethical standards. It demonstrates emerging support for the role of religion in successful adoption of CRM.

This paper aims to consider whether ethical persuasion can be part of public relations practice.

The paper contends that the critical issue for practitioners is not whether they engage in persuasion, but whether they do so ethically. Accordingly, a definition of ethical persuasion is derived by examining unethical propaganda. The paper then considers what standard might be used to assess the ethics of persuasion. The notion of “the public interest” – ubiquitously linked to ethical practice in public relations – is considered but found to be too elusive to guide the practice individual practitioners. Other more assessable standards are identified, as is a guiding approach to ethics. The approach to ethics adopted in this paper is rule utilitarianism. The methodology of this paper is deductive and derivative analysis, argument and synthesis, drawn from a broad body of literature.

Persuasion can be ethical, and a definition of ethical persuasion is proffered. The public interest is not a standard that individual practitioners can determine, decide, know, or apply to assess the ethics of their practice. Ethical persuasion can, however, be assessed using other standards, discussed in the paper. Consequently, a set of criteria and standards to practicing ethical persuasion is developed.

The paper does not extend into a discussion of practical persuasive techniques. Therefore, an extension of this examination could consider a thorough assessment of the ethics of practical persuasive communication techniques.

Directly relevant to the daily work of public relations practitioners, communicators, adertisers and marketers, who are interested in acting ethically. The paper provide a basis for a guide to assessing the ethics of persuasive practice.

This paper confronts both the question of whether practitioners can use the notion of the public interest to assess the ethics of practice, and also what constitutes ethical (and unethical) persuasion, and considers how persuation can be used ethically.

This study examines the use of deception in a dyadic negotiation context. Two independent variables—the salience of ethical standards regarding deception and the availability of alternatives to agreement— were predicted to influence negotiators' willingness to deceive. It was hypothesized the presence of ethical standards would reduce deception, even when organizational reward contingencies and other external pressures favored its use. Competing hypotheses regarding the effects of alternatives were also proposed A role‐play exercise describing a negotiation between an automotive manufacturer and a supplier of component parts was used to test the study hypotheses. Eighty MBA students participated in the exercise. Results showed that the salience of ethical standards decreased the use of deception by negotiators and led to more equal agreements. However, contrary to expectations, the availability of an alternative had no effect on deception. Implications for theory and practice are discussed and future research directions are offered.

Martin Winterkorn had high aspirations for Volkswagen to become the world's leading automaker when he was promoted to CEO in 2007. Volkswagen lacked the technology needed to meet American emissions standards and fulfill their promise of a “clean” fuel efficient diesel engine. Instead, they chose to deceive the world, violating the law and the foundation the company's code of conduct was grounded in. This case provides an opportunity to explore corporate governance, ethical leadership, and the ethical and professional responsibilities that senior executives have to create and maintain an ethical culture. Examination of the details in the case uncover value conflicts. Examples of values included in IMA's Statement of Ethical Professional Practice are honesty, fairness, objectivity, and responsibility. IMA describes these as “overarching ethical principles.”

This focal chapter deals with the understanding of important ethical theories used in executive moral reasoning such as teleology, deontology, distributive justice and corrective justice, virtue ethics versus ethics of trust, from the perspectives of intrinsic versus instrumental good, moral worth versus moral obligation, and moral conscience versus moral justification. Ethical and moral reasoning will power executives to identify, explore, and resolve corporate moral dilemma, especially in the wake of emerging gray market areas where good and evil, right or wrong, just or unjust, and truth and falsehood cannot be easily distinguished. We focus on developing corporate skills of awareness of ethical values and moral imperatives in current otherwise highly commoditized and turbulent human, market, and corporate situations. The challenges of morality are multifaceted and diverse. Professionals usually have self-discipline and self-regulation abilities, ego strength, and social skills. Morality in the professions is not concerned with the issues of rudimentary socialization; rather, the issues involve deciding between conflicting values, where each value represents something good in itself. There are problems in both knowing what is right, good, true, and just on the one hand, and on the other hand, in doing what is right and avoiding wrong, doing good and avoiding evil, and being fair and just while avoiding being unfair and unjust. Several contemporary cases will illustrate the challenging dimensions of ethical and moral reasoning, moral judgment and moral justification embedded in executive decision processes, and corporate growth and profitability ventures.

This study aims to investigates the influence of proactive personality on employee radical creativity through transformational leadership, professional ethical standards and creative self-efficacy.

The data were collected from 343 superior–subordinate dyads in China. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to measure the validity of the variables. A regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between model assumptions.

The results showed that: (1) Proactive personality was positively related to employee radical creativity. (2) Transformational leadership and professional ethical standards moderated the relationship between proactive personality and radical creativity. Specifically, the relationship between proactive personality and employee radical creativity was strong, as expected. It was the strongest in the presence of high transformational leadership and high professional ethical standards. (3) Creative self-efficacy acted as a mediator in this interaction.

This study is a pioneering investigation in the Chinese context. It empirically examines the interactive relationship between proactive personality and radical creativity through transformational leadership and professional ethical standards. Additionally, it substantiates creative self-efficacy as the psychological mechanism behind this interaction. Consequently, this study offers a comprehensive framework with potential implications for personality assessments in the workplace, leadership training, criteria formulation and enhancement of radical creativity.