Overcoming principles: dialogue in business ethics

Basing itself upon a virtue-ethics approach, this paper questions the value of syllogistic or deductive approaches to teaching business ethics and to the modelling of the kinds of judgments that executives are asked to make in situations of moral complexity. It urges that the teaching of ethical theories, of ethical principles, and of logical methods of moral thinking, and the use of hypothetical or historical scenarios, be augmented by the method of `Real Case Dialogue' which more nearly models the eal and intense existential realities of ethical decision making. A brief description of such a dialogue is offered so aslo provide an example.

The dynamics of business ethics: a function of time and culture-cases and models

Examines the construct of ethics in general and of business ethics in particular. Provides a conceptual discussion of the dynamics of ethics in society and the dynamics of business ethics in the marketplace. Ethics and business ethics constructs are dependent upon two principal parameters – time and culture. Eventually, ethics and business ethics are about what is perceived as acceptable or unacceptable at a specific time and in a specific cultural setting. What was ethical yesterday may not be ethical today, and what is ethical today may not be ethical tomorrow. Furthermore, both the company’s view and the views of others may determine what is acceptable or unacceptable in business ethics. This is a social construction that may differ between the parties involved in a specific context. The discussion is supported by two brief and different cases from the automobile industry. This research contributes a set of generic models that examine business ethics dynamics.

Proactive versus reactive business ethics performance: a conceptual framework of profile analysis and case illustrations

The topic of this paper focuses on proactive versus reactive business ethics performance in the marketplace. The internal perception of a corporation and the external perception of the same corporation are used as generic determinants of business ethics performance. In turn, they are underpinned by evolutionary and contextual issues in the marketplace. The authors provide a generic conceptual framework of proactive and reactive business ethics performance. Case illustrations underpin the positives and negatives of proactive and reactive business ethics in the marketplace. A profile analysis process of proactive and reactive business ethics performance is also outlined. The gap between the internal and external perceptions of a corporation’s actions becomes crucial to achieve successful business ethics performance in the marketplace. Therefore, a corporation’s current business ethics performance should always be regarded as an on-the-spot-account that is either proactive or reactive. An important insight of this research is that business ethics performance requires the ongoing re-connection with reality by corporations.

Business ethics in TQM : the qualities and spectrum zones of a case illustration

Purpose - The objective of this research is to introduce and describe a conceptual framework of business ethics in TQM.

Design/methodology/approach - In order to highlight the concepts proffered, a case study in the Swedish retail industry was conducted. The data that underpin the case illustration have been collected as part of a larger research project in the Swedish retail industry. Draws on and reports the findings from one case of the larger research project that has been used in this instance to inform the role of business ethics in TQM. The case illustration is based on a qualitative approach. The data were collected through interviews with leading executives in the corporation,

Findings - Both time and context become crucial parameters to manage the quality and spectrum zones of core values in the marketplace. In fact, the necessary quality management of business operations has to be performed without delay, minimising the damage. Therefore, the importance of business ethics becomes evident in TQM. In the long run, TQM will not succeed in business operations unless business ethics is considered in the core values to support the techniques and tools applied.

Research limitations/implications - The model has only been tested by relating it to one case in the Swedish retail industry.

Practical implications - TQM is dependent on the contextual and evolutionary issues in the marketplace. Therefore, TQM should be interpreted as a continuous process. The importance of continuously monitoring the spectrum zones and qualities of core values in TQM should not be under-estimated. Therefore, business ethics should always be present in TQM. Further research would benefit from other case studies of how business ethics benefits TQM. Therefore, the dynamics of business ethics in TQM should be further explored.

Originality/value - Business ethics needs to be an essential consideration of any TQM process. Examines how an organization can incorporate this task.

A model of business ethics

It appears that in the 30 years that business ethics has been a discipline in its own right a model of business ethics has not been proffered. No one appears to have tried to explain the phenomenon known as ‚business ethics’ and the ways that we as a society interact with the concept, therefore, the authors have addressed this gap in the literature by proposing a model of business ethics that the authors hope will stimulate debate. The business ethics model consists of three principal components (i.e. expectations, perceptions and evaluations) that are interconnected by five sub-components (i.e. society expects; organizational values, norms and beliefs; outcomes; society evaluates; and reconnection). The introduced model makes a contribution to the creation of a conceptual framework for business ethics. A few tentative conclusions may be drawn from the introduced model of business ethics. The model aspires to be highly dynamic. The ultimate outcome is dependent upon the evolution of time and contexts. It is also dependent upon and provides reference to the behaviours and perceptions of people. The model proposes business ethics to be a continuous and an iterative process. There is no actual end of the process, but a constant reconnection to the initiation of successive process iterations of the business ethics model. The principals and sub-components of the model construct the dynamics of this continuous process. They provide guidance on what and how to explore our common efforts to understand the phenomenon known as business ethics. The model provides opportunities for further research in the field of business ethics.

A longitudinal study of the commitment to business ethics of corporate Australia

This paper compares the results of a longitudinal study of ten years, conducted at five yearly intervals, from 1995 to 2005. The aim of the study was to examine the commitment to business ethics of the top 500 Australian companies. Primary data was obtained via a self-administered mail questionnaire distributed to a census of the top 500 Australian companies. This paper examines those responses that indicated that their company possessed a code of ethics. The paper finds that business ethics has continued to evolve and that, in most cases, such evolution has been positive. It would seem that codes of ethics have moved beyond a regulatory requirement and are now considered an integral component of corporate culture and commercial practice in many of Australia's top companies.

Structures, processes and performance of corporate and business ethics in supply chains

The objective of this paper is to introduce and describe a conceptual framework of firms' corporate and business ethics in supply chains in terms of ethical structures, ethical processes and ethical performance. A framework is outlined and positioned incorporating an ethical frame of reference in the field of Supply Chain Management (SCM). A number of areas and sub-areas of firms' corporate and business ethics are framed in the context of supply chains. The introduced framework should be seen as a seed for further development and refinement in the field of SCM. It provides opportunities for further research of ethical concerns in supply chains.

Complexity sciences and business ethics : a different perspective

This paper strives to shed some light on organizations' behaviours and practices of business ethics in the marketplace and the surrounding society by the aid of complexity sciences. For this purpose, a conceptual discussion will be based upon the causal frameworks of teleology introduced by Stacey, Griffin and Shaw (2000).