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Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 30 April 2019

S. J. Oswald A. J. Mascarenhas

This focal chapter deals with the understanding of important ethical theories used in executive moral reasoning such as teleology, deontology, distributive justice and corrective…

Abstract

Executive Summary

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.

Details

Corporate Ethics for Turbulent Markets
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-192-2

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 30 April 2019

S. J. Oswald A. J. Mascarenhas

Abstract

Details

Corporate Ethics for Turbulent Markets
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-192-2

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 30 April 2019

S. J. Oswald A. J. Mascarenhas

More than at any other period in human history, humankind is currently at the crossroads of war or peace, growth or decline, progress or regress, life or death, and hell or…

Abstract

More than at any other period in human history, humankind is currently at the crossroads of war or peace, growth or decline, progress or regress, life or death, and hell or heaven. We cannot leave these opposite polarities and possibilities to politicians and bureaucrats, to chance and expediency. These are expressions of turbulent markets. We must design and invent, plan and predict, and monitor and control our future and that of our posterity. In this regard, the concept of human personhood cum human dignity and responsibility is a fundamental part of this new self-understanding and undertaking. Ethics and morality are critical components on this creative journey to destiny. Corporate ethics, in particular, requires the development of a clear understanding of the existential situation of turbulent markets – that is, the relationship between executive autonomy and freedom, between human creativity and innovation, and between human culture and corporate social responsibility. Other critical concepts such as accountability and moral responsibility, the ethics of rights and duties, the executive virtue of moral and ethical reasoning, the building of trusting and caring relationships, and the like will be discussed in subsequent chapters.

Details

Corporate Ethics for Turbulent Markets
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-192-2

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 July 2019

Aaron Cohen and Sari Ehrlich

Constructive deviance is a behavior that can contribute to the effectiveness of an organization despite its problematic nature. Too few studies have examined the correlates of…

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Abstract

Purpose

Constructive deviance is a behavior that can contribute to the effectiveness of an organization despite its problematic nature. Too few studies have examined the correlates of this behavior. The purpose of this study is to examine variables that represent exchange and organizational culture and their relationship to supervisor-reported and self-reported constructive deviance.

Design/methodology/approach

The survey data were collected from 602 employees (a response rate of 67 per cent) in a large municipality in central Israel. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses were performed for each of the dependent variables (three self-reported constructive deviances and three supervisor-reported constructive deviance) controlling for divisions and departments.

Findings

The findings showed that self-reported constructive deviance was explained much better by the independent variables than supervisor-reported deviance. Organizational justice and moral identity had a strong direct effect on constructive deviance (self-reported). The mediation effect showed that an organizational climate for innovation had the strongest mediation effect among the mediators. Psychological contract breach was found to have a limited effect on constructive deviance.

Practical implications

Organizations should encourage procedural justice to encourage their employees to act in support of the organization, whether openly (formal performance) or more secretly (constructive deviance). Also, organizations should support innovation climate if they want to increase constructive deviance of their employees.

Originality/value

In a time when innovation and creativity are gaining increasing importance as behaviors that contribute to organizational success, more research on constructive deviance is expected. This study increases our understanding of this important concept stimulates additional studies of it.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 March 2022

Andrew T.W. Hung

The aim of this paper is to argue for the values of familial caring and relationships in addition to the provision of social media technology during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong…

1246

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to argue for the values of familial caring and relationships in addition to the provision of social media technology during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong.

Design/methodology/approach

The discussion of this paper has adopted an inter-disciplinary approach by integrating health care system and psychological analysis, based on cultural philosophical argument through the hermeneutic approach of classical texts and critical analysis.

Findings

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the dilemma between the public health measures for COVID-19 and sustaining elderly social psychological health through familial connection. From a Confucian perspective, the practice of filial piety (xiao, 孝), which demands taking care of parents, is essential for one’s moral formation, and for one’s becoming a virtuous (ren, 仁) person. The necessity of taking care of elderly parents by adult children is not something that can be explained in terms of consequentialism. Indeed, the rising trend of instrumental rationality seems to weaken rather than strengthen the sense of filial obligation. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic which tends to separate connections between family members, the author argues that we should emphasize the values of familial caring and relationship because it enhances the elderly’s characteristic of resilience.

Originality/value

This paper shows that while social media technology has mitigated the negative effect of social distancing, such online relationships should never replace the bodily connections between the elderly and their family members from a Confucian perspective.

Details

Public Administration and Policy, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1727-2645

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 March 2022

Collins Sankay Oboh and Eddy Olajide Omolehinwa

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of selected sociodemographic variables in the ethical decision-making (EDM) process of professional accountants in Nigeria.

1103

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of selected sociodemographic variables in the ethical decision-making (EDM) process of professional accountants in Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

The study obtained data from 329 professional accountants with the aid of a structured questionnaire containing four dilemmatic ethical vignettes. The data were analysed using Kendall correlation, Kruskal–Wallis and Jonckheere–Terpstra tests.

Findings

The results revealed that upbringing, especially parental discipline, and education are significant sociodemographic determinants of EDM. Religion and experience played little or no significant role in predicting accountants’ EDM in the face of ethical dilemmas.

Research limitations/implications

The study used a questionnaire to measure its variables, which may bias and somewhat inflate the findings. Hence, caution should be applied regarding its conclusion.

Practical implications

The evidence in this study could stimulate policy change and review to include a separate ethics course in the accounting education curriculum, which could enhance the ethics training of future accountants. This is important for countries like Nigeria, where no provision is made for a discrete ethics course in the curriculum for accounting under-graduate education.

Social implications

The study draws attention to the fact that ethical conduct among professionals and in society could be enhanced through proper upbringing and formal education.

Originality/value

The study adds some uniqueness in focusing on professional accountants in Nigeria, a developing country with high corruption profile and weak government institutions, and, as such, contributes to the limited research output on accounting ethics in developing countries.

Details

RAUSP Management Journal, vol. 57 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2531-0488

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 19 July 2023

Magnus Söderlund

Service robots are expected to become increasingly common, but the ways in which they can move around in an environment with humans, collect and store data about humans and share…

Abstract

Purpose

Service robots are expected to become increasingly common, but the ways in which they can move around in an environment with humans, collect and store data about humans and share such data produce a potential for privacy violations. In human-to-human contexts, such violations are transgression of norms to which humans typically react negatively. This study examines if similar reactions occur when the transgressor is a robot. The main dependent variable was the overall evaluation of the robot.

Design/methodology/approach

Service robot privacy violations were manipulated in a between-subjects experiment in which a human user interacted with an embodied humanoid robot in an office environment.

Findings

The results show that the robot's violations of human privacy attenuated the overall evaluation of the robot and that this effect was sequentially mediated by perceived robot morality and perceived robot humanness. Given that a similar reaction pattern would be expected when humans violate other humans' privacy, the present study offers evidence in support of the notion that humanlike non-humans can elicit responses similar to those elicited by real humans.

Practical implications

The results imply that designers of service robots and managers in firms using such robots for providing service to employees should be concerned with restricting the potential for robots' privacy violation activities if the goal is to increase the acceptance of service robots in the habitat of humans.

Originality/value

To date, few empirical studies have examined reactions to service robots that violate privacy norms.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 33 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-6225

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 July 2020

Mila Bujić, Mikko Salminen, Joseph Macey and Juho Hamari

This study aims to investigate how media content consumed through immersive technology may evoke changes in human rights attitudes. It has been proposed that our inability to…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how media content consumed through immersive technology may evoke changes in human rights attitudes. It has been proposed that our inability to empathize with others could be overcome by stepping into another's shoes. “Immersive journalism” has been postulated as being able to place us into the shoes of those whose feelings and experiences are distant to us. While virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree news videos have become widely available, it remains unclear how the consumption of content through immersive journalism affects users' attitudes.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing a between-subject laboratory-controlled experiment (N = 87) this study examined participant scores on the Human Rights Questionnaire before and after consuming 360-degree video immersive journalism content via VR (n = 31), 2D (n = 29), and Article (n = 27) formats. Collected data were analysed using statistical inference.

Findings

Results indicate that immersive journalism can elicit a positive attitudinal change in users, unlike an Article, with mobile VR having a more prominent effect than a 2D screen. Furthermore, this change is more strongly affected by users' higher Involvement in the content.

Originality/value

These findings are relevant for grasping the distinct effects novel and recently popularized technologies and media have on attitudinal change, as well as inform the current debate on the value of VR as “empathy machines”.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 30 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 March 2020

Abdulfatah Ali Belgasem-Hussain and Yousof Ibrahim Hussaien

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on and introduce the ethics of earnings management (EM) to researchers and students in the academic community in light of Kohlberg’s…

11364

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on and introduce the ethics of earnings management (EM) to researchers and students in the academic community in light of Kohlberg’s theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper contextualises and analyses the relevant literature to provide insights around the key concepts of the issue of ethics of EM. Therefore, theoretical approach has been adopted by reviewing the literature using a descriptive method. The study suggests relevance of the theory of moral development and reasoning by Kohlberg (1969) as an approach in the process of exploring the background and the reasons behind ethics of managers regarding EM. This theory helps to explain how individuals demonstrate and justify a sense of right or wrong. Thus, the paper is a literature review concluded with a proposed conceptual framework.

Findings

The paper provides conceptual insights about the ethics of EM, and it proposes a link between manager’s ethics regarding the phenomenon of EM and the framework of moral reasoning theory by Kohlberg (1969).

Originality/value

The importance and implications of Kohlberg’s theory, in terms of EM, resides within the fact that the theory is concerned with questions about how one ought to act – being as it acknowledges the well-known ethical theories. The work of Kohlberg can be classified as a descriptive analysis to the extent that it attempts to describe individuals’ moral development. This integration of normative and descriptive ethics, in turn, enables the theory to be used to explore managers’ moral reasoning in a more helpful way.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 30 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 May 2021

Mia Ljungblom and Thomas Taro Lennerfors

The purpose of this paper is to reach a deeper understanding of the Lean principle of respect for people (RFP to facilitate Lean implementation in Western organizations outside…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reach a deeper understanding of the Lean principle of respect for people (RFP to facilitate Lean implementation in Western organizations outside Toyota.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses an interpretative, hermeneutic approach to understand the RFP concept through a literature study of existing research about Lean implementation, and an inquiry into the underlying meaning of the RFP principle, by studying sources from Toyota and discussions about the RFP principle in Japan.

Findings

RFP is seen as a central principle in Lean implementations, but the failure of RFP is believed to cause Lean implementations to fail. The literature about Lean discusses the RFP principle both as a general positive atmosphere and as focused on developing the work capacity of employees. By studying the sources from Toyota, it could be understood that RFP is based on ought-respect. The authors also find that RFP is related to takumi, a perfected form of craftsmanship. The authors translate the concept to English by tying it to the recent literature about craft to develop RFP as RFC – respect for craftsmanship.

Research limitations/implications

As this is a conceptual paper, it is difficult to translate the findings into a tool for companies and organizations to use. However, that is the point of the paper: that the most important ideas are not translatable into tools.

Practical implications

It is necessary in Lean implementations to connect people’s work to craftsmanship. Through a discussion of craftsmanship before Lean implementations, it might be possible to nurture an understanding of the underlying values of Lean.

Originality/value

The authors have not found any papers that propose takumi as the base of the RFP principle, nor as a foundational concept at Toyota. It is necessary to understand the concept of takumi, as perfection in craft, to understand the RFP principle.

Details

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, vol. 12 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-4166

Keywords

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