Accounting for the Unaccountable: Biodiversity Reporting and Impression Management

This paper explores the strategies organizations use to demonstrate their accountability for biodiversity and legitimize their impact in this area through the use of techniques of neutralization. Neutralization aims to manage stakeholder impressions on very socially sensitive issues. Based on the content analysis of 148 sustainability reports from mining organizations, the study sheds light on the successful use of rhetoric in reports on non-measurable and potentially unaccountable issues. Specifically, the study shows that mining organizations use four main techniques of neutralization when they explain their impact on biodiversity. When they address stakeholders, they defend their social legitimacy and environmental responsiveness using one of the four techniques: they claim of a net positive or neutral impact on biodiversity, they deny that they have a significant impact, they distance themselves from the impact of their actions, and they play down their responsibilities. The study contributes to the literature on corporate sustainability and accounting for stakeholders. It focuses on under-researched issues such as the management of biodiversity and the tactics used to rationalize negative impacts. The study also bridges the gap between theories about organizational legitimacy, impression management, and techniques of neutralization.     

Ownership, Privacy and Monitoring in the Workplace: A Debate on Technology and Ethics

A panel held at the International Conference on Information Systems, December 5–7, 1993, addressed the importance and ethicality of several issues relating to ethics and information technology use. The substance of the debate and results of audience votes on the issues are presented in this paper as a means of initiating a broader debate on the issues, for it is with debate that we reach a group consensus on acceptable behavior and practice. With consensus, we can begin to develop codes and policies that are feasible and practical for ethical computer use.Specific dilemmas debated involved the issues of privacy and ownership, including the ethicality of using company resources for personal use and monitoring compliance to company policies about computer use. In general, we found little consensus about ethicality of any of the types of conduct, although we found a high degree of consensus that the debated issues were important and should continue to be discussed. The final question concerned policies and codes. While policies and codes were believed to be necessary, they were also perceived as ineffective. Several suggestions for practical action to enhance the efficacy of ethical codes are presented.     

The role of moral intensity and fairness perception in judgments of ethicality: A comparison of managerial professionals and the general public

Using a scenario approach involving hypothetical moral decisions, the study aims to (1) compare managerial professionals' ethicality judgments with those made by the general public, and (2) ascertain the roles of perceived intensity (Jones, 1991) as well as perceived fairness of the moral issue in judgments of ethicality. While the two respondent groups made similar ratings on variables of moral intensity, fairness, and ethicality; the evaluation processes underlying their ethicality judgments were different. Empirically, the study has also established a link between judgments of fairness and judgments of ethicality.M. Singer is senior lecturer in Psychology at Canterbury University, New Zealand. She holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and has published widely in academic journals. Her areas of interest include decision making, work motivation, social justice and selection issues.     

Ethical or practical: An empirical study of students' choices in simulated business scenarios

Graduate and undergraduate students were asked to evaluate the ethicality and practicality of the lead character in several case scenarios. Students' responses indicated they believed practicality was more important than ethicality. The majority of students were able to determine the correct ethicality of the cases presented to them. The authors conclude that more research is needed in the antecedents of a student's value system.Dr. White is U.C. Foundation Professor of Management at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he has been a faculty member since 1981. Dr White has published in the areas of general management, operations management, and personnel. Dr White holds the Ph. D. Degree in Management.Mr. Dooley is a candidate for the doctoral degree in management and holds an MBA degree.     

The legitimacy of accountants' participation in social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting

This paper discusses the legitimacy of accountants' recent involvement in social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting (SEAAR). Support for accountants' legitimacy is proposed by highlighting some of the technical skills they offer to the SEAAR process as conceived in AA1000. It is argued that the relevance of these skills is strengthened within a conception of SEAAR which principally perceives it as a risk/stakeholder management process focused primarily on the concerns of corporate management as opposed to those of the wider society. However, the paper moves on to maintain that if we wish to promote a conception of SEAAR primarily focused on accountability to stakeholders (denoted as 'true accountability') as opposed to risk/stakeholder management, then, particularly in the domain of external social audit, the legitimacy of accountants' participation may be disputed. The paper therefore concludes by cautioning against facilitating the unquestioned entry of accountants into the realm of SEAAR.     

Three Elements of Stakeholder Legitimacy

This paper focuses attention on the stakeholder attribute of legitimacy. Drawing upon institutional and stakeholder theories, I develop a framework of stakeholder legitimacy based on its three aspects—legitimacy of the stakeholder as an entity, legitimacy of the stakeholder’s claim, and legitimacy of the stakeholder’s behavior. I assume that stakeholder legitimacy is socially constructed by management and that each of its three aspects exists in degree in the manager’s perception. I discuss how these aspects interact and change over time, and propose an agenda for future research on stakeholder legitimacy.     

Making the unlikely marriage work: The integration process of Chinese strategic asset-seeking acquisitions

Chinese firms increasingly engage in risky strategic asset-seeking acquisitions in developed economies. Realizing the potential value of these acquisitions requires a careful integration process. Based on an analysis of Geely's acquisition of Volvo in 2010, we develop a spiraling model that helps us understand these post-acquisition integration processes. We identify that external and internal legitimacy issues and pressures for value creation are the main factors influencing the integration process. In combination and over time, these forces lead to different configurations of symbolic management (geared to address legitimacy concerns) and substantive management (aimed at the realization of synergies). In the Geely-Volvo case this led to four stages through which the integration process proceeded — distancing, balancing, building, and diversifying. Other comparable acquisitions may go through slightly different phases, depending on circumstances, but we expect the same set of forces to mold these integration processes in similar ways.     

Planning and the Entrepreneur: A Longitudinal Examination of Nascent Entrepreneurs in Sweden

We studied 623 nascent entrepreneurs during a six‐year period, examining how their planning decisions impact venture‐level performance. Our study is unique in that we tracked nascent ventures, examining their planning behavior, including changes to plans. Relying on the theory of legitimacy, this paper adds to the scholarly debate over the merits of business planning by examining, longitudinally, the impact of planning during a six‐year period, accounting for both pre‐emergent nascent activity and post‐emergent success factors. We found that neither formal planning nor changes in the business plan increased venture‐level performance over the six‐year study period.     

New to the game and questioning the rules: The experiences and beliefs of founders who start imitative versus innovative firms

This paper examines how founders' work experiences and beliefs about an industry's prevailing practices influence the degree of novelty exhibited by their firms. Our results indicate that extensive experience in the core of an organizational field constrains individuals into acting as “imitative entrepreneurs,” essentially reproducing established routines even if they question their legitimacy. In contrast, founders with greater experience in the field's periphery are more likely to act as “innovative entrepreneurs,” as are those who more strongly question the ethicality of prevailing practices. Doubts about the functionality of established routines are not sufficient, on their own, to provoke acts of innovative entrepreneurship.     

Effects of Nationality,Gender, and Religiosity on Business-Related Ethicality

Cross-national studies of business-related ethicality frequently have concluded that Americans possess higher ethical standards than non-Americans. These conclusions have generally been based on survey responses of relatively small convenience samples of individuals in a very limited number of countries. This article reports a study of the relationship between nationality and business-related ethicality based on survey responses from more than 6300 business students attending 120 colleges and universities in 36 countries. Two well-documented determinants of business ethics (gender and religiosity) were investigated as moderators of the nationality–business ethicality relationship. The major research finding is that, while statistically significant differences were found between the business-related ethicality of American survey participants and the business-related ethicality of the non-American survey participants, the magnitudes of the differences were not substantial. The results of the study suggest that (i) more empirical cross-cultural/national research is required on business-related ethicality and (ii) previous explanations for cross-cultural/national differences in ethics need to be reconsidered before further generalizations are warranted.     

Ethical Management,Corporate Governance,and Abnormal Accruals

Recent research has linked the reduction of abnormal accruals to corporate governance metrics. The results of these studies, however, are based on samples taken from periods prior to promulgated board independence requirements. In other words, during this time period, management not only had discretion over accounting accruals, but also significant influence over the choice of membership on the board of directors. This study suggests that ethical management practices may be a correlated omitted variable in these studies, thus resulting in causal inference problems in the previous research. We argue that, rather than the board of directors monitoring and reducing abnormal accruals as has been posited, management who was not engaging in abusive earnings management was attempting to signal the market regarding the quality of the firm’s financial information through its choice of board membership.     

Diversity Identity Management: An Organizational Perspective

Organizations are faced with the challenge of responding to increasing pressures to promote diversity in various ways. We draw attention to one possible proactive organizational response—the incorporation of diversity in organizational identity. This initial response necessarily evokes subsequent tasks of managing the changed identity. Therefore, this article also addresses the management of diversity identity within organizations, and relevant organizational outcomes. Our theoretical model is grounded in institutional theory, and we propose that the management of diversity identity can impact both perceptions of legitimacy as well as diversity identity. Adequate, inadequate, and optimal management of diversity identity have differential effects on legitimacy and diversity identity. We contribute to the literature by a) unbundling initial and later firm responses to promoting diversity at the organizational level, and b) offering a more nuanced understanding of the complexities of managing diversity identity within organizations.     

The Relationship Between Psychic and Cultural Distance and Business Ethicality Attitudinal Values of Future Business Leaders

ABSTRACT

Psychic distance and cultural distance between countries are phenomena that can affect a company's entry strategy into foreign markets, as can differences in levels of business ethicality. The author examines the use of three measures of psychic and/or cultural distance (Brewer, 2007; Ellis, 2008; Fletcher & Bohn, 1998) and assesses the extent to which they are related to business ethicality values. A two-stage sampling design was used to survey undergraduate business students in 23 countries regarding their business-related ethics attitudes. This study had 13 countries in common with the Brewer (2007) and Fletcher and Bohn (1998) studies and 12 countries in common with Ellis (2008). Comparisons were made between the index values of the countries and their average scores on a scale of business ethicality by correlation analysis. Correlations were not statistically significant. The results suggest that none of the measures of distance examined is a good indicator of business ethicality and vice versa. Thus, one cannot assume a priori that a country that is culturally or psychically close to one's own country will have similar business ethicality values.     

Entrepreneurial retrenchment among small manufacturing firms

Strategic management researchers have traditionally focused on growth-oriented strategies for small firms. Yet studies of small businesses have consistently cited overzealous pursuit of growth as the number one contributor to financial decline and failure. Record numbers of small firms are finding themselves confronted with declines of sufficient magnitude to require the implementation of turnaround strategies.Much has been written about turnaround strategies for large corporations—the problem is that the commonly recommended turnaround strategies are not often feasible for small firms. Unfortunately, there are no investigations reported in the literature that approach the subject of turnaround from the perspective of the small-market-share businesses.The purpose of this research was to explore turnaround from the small firm perspective. The study focused on the turnaround strategy most often referred to as entrepreneurial retrenchment, i.e., the aggressive pursuit of cost and asset reduction. The results showed that firms that pursued entrepreneurial retrenchment were more successful than firms that continued to pursue growth with the preexisting configuration of assets, even after a period of extensive cost cutting. The findings suggest strongly that managers of successful small-market-share firms must be able to quickly recognize and ameliorate underper forming assets when they encounter turnaround situations.The findings were a result of empirical analyses of 33 small-market-share firms that had encountered turnaround situations. Turnaround situations were initially identified by the incidence of at least two successive years of declining profitability that exceeded any industry-wide decline that may have occurred over the same time period. The firms were subsequently contacted to verify that they considered the timeframe to indeed coincide with a period during which their managerial actions were targeted to achieve a performance turnaround.Each of the firms was then classified according to the direction of their cost and asset changes over the turnaround period. Nonretrenchers were those firms that did not achieve net reductions in costs or assets for any years after the decline. Cost retrenchers were those firms that achieved net costs reductions but not asset reductions for a minimum of one year succeeding the decline. Finally, entrepreneurial retrenchers were those firms that sustained a minimum of one year of asset reductions in addition to cost reductions in the years immediately after the decline.Although entrepreneurship research has traditionally focused on developing and investing in new businesses, little has been done on the issue of asset restructuring that precedes entrepreneurial endeavors in established companies (Robinson and Pearce 1988). For single businesses the essence of entrepreneurship is the ability to quickly respond to marketplace opportunities. The underside of this pursuit is the ability to quickly reposition assets to accompany ensuing moves for competitive viability.For single business firms, an inability to respond quickly to financial downturns creates turnaround situations. Therefore, an examination was prepared to determine the value of retrenchment as a means to achieve turnaround and financial stability.The results were produced through an analysis of longitudinally collected financial data that was used to profile each firm's turnaround situation severity, their classification of retrenchment, and the degree to which they were able to successfully achieve a return to predownturn financial performance.     

Exploring origins of ethical company/brand perceptions: Reply to Shea and Cohn's commentaries

This article responds to key questions that Shea (2010) and Cohn (2010) raise on Brunk's (2010a) work on consumer perceived ethicality (CPE) of a company or brand and expands on suggestions for further research. In particular the response here (1) considers concerns of generalizability, impact of cultural context, and transiency of the domain of CPE framework, (2) offers new insights into the complex and dynamic nature of CPE and its formation, (3) discusses issues relating to ethical consumption behavior, and (4) concludes with a debate on managerial implications including real-life strategic as well as operational challenges of effective CSR management.     

Role of customer perceived brand ethicality in inducing engagement in online brand communities

In recent times, ethical consumerism has motivated firms to behave ethically to garner various benefits for their brands. More specifically, firms have become more conscious of consumers' perceptions of brand ethicality. Thus, recent research on this topic attempts to explore the factors that can lead to the formation of perceptions of brand ethicality and its favorable outcomes for the brand. This research contributes to the existing literature on brand ethicality by examining the role of perceived brand marketing communications in engendering perceptions of brand ethicality among consumers. Further, this research explores online brand community engagement as the outcome of perceived brand ethicality. The study's results based on the analysis of 397 responses exhibit that various elements of brand communications tend to generate favorable perceptions of brand ethicality. Such perceptions of the brand ethicality further induce an inclination towards engaging with online communities of such brands. The study offers specific implications for academicians and practitioners.     

Are Organisation Researchers too Obsessed with the Economic Responsibility of the Firm?

The original intent of business education in America focused on the development of professional managers who would look after the interests of society. As economic and shareholder theories influenced business education, firm performance became the manager’s top – if not only – priority. The economic responsibility of the firm also appears to be dominating scholarly interest in organisations as well. However, business firms constitute part of the fabric of society and closer attention should be paid by organisation researchers to the social responsibilities of the firm. In doing so, a more balanced research approach can be achieved. In this article, we give evidence that research within the study of the organisation, specifically in the field of management, has predominately turned its attention to the economic responsibility of the firm. We close by demonstrating that other fields within organisation research also appear to be favouring the study of performance and we offer suggestions as to how scholars might better address the firm’s role in society beyond its economic responsibility. Jeremy Galbreath is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Curtin University of Technology where he is studying corporate social responsibility (CSR). He has published extensively, with over 50 articles in print and 3 book chapters. Dr. Galbreath's research and teaching focuses on strategic management, the resource-based view of the firm, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder management, the ethicality of profit making strategies, intellectual capital and information technology.     

有限道德、确定效应与供应商伦理管理的实验研究

企业决策者对供应商行为准确无偏的伦理判断是有效供应商伦理管理的起点。但是,在有限道德的制约下,企业决策者的伦理判断会出现受害对象确定性偏差,进而影响企业对供应商的伦理管理。运用认知心理学实验方法,采用两因素混合设计与情境法,设计三种不符合伦理规范行为的模拟场景,并把每种行为描述成“受害对象确定”与“不确定”两种情形,研究供应商不符合伦理规范行为的受害对象是否确定、行为类型对企业对供应商行为的伦理判断与伦理管理的影响。方差分析的结果表明受害对象是否确定与行为类型对伦理判断与伦理管理主效应均显著;回归分析结果表明伦理判断对受害对象是否确定与伦理管理二者之间的中介效应也显著。     

Recognizing Ethical Issues: An Examination of Practicing Industry Accountants and Accounting Students

The academic debate why and how companies are dealing with sustainability is dominated by two main arguments—the profit-seeking and the legitimacy-seeking view. While the first argues that companies (only) establish sustainability management measures if this helps to increase their economic success, others emphasize that companies predominantly react on societal pressure dealing with sustainability (only) to secure legitimacy. Whereas both lines of argument have gained a lot of attention in academia, little is known about their relative importance in shaping corporate practice. This papers aims to fill this gap with an empirical analysis of corporate practices of large companies in ten countries worldwide. To capture the organizations’ rationale in sustainability management practice, we systematically applied various measures related to actors and operational activities focusing on the companies’ intention to pursue sustainability management, the integration of sustainability management to the core business, and the actual implementation of related measures. Overall the findings indicate that seeking legitimacy dominates corporate sustainability management practices.