Contrasting the Behavioural Business Ethics Approach and the Institutional Economic Approach to Business Ethics: Insights From the Study of Quaker Employers |
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Authors: | Sigmund Wagner-Tsukamoto |
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Institution: | (1) School of Management, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE32RU, UK |
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Abstract: | The article suggests that in a modern context, where value pluralism is a prevailing and possibly, even ethically desirable
interaction condition, institutional economics provides a more viable business ethics than behavioural business ethics, such
as Kantianism or religious ethics. The article explains how the institutional economic approach to business ethics analyses
morality with regard to an interaction process, and favours non-behavioural, situational intervention with incentive structures and with capital exchange. The article argues that this approach may have to be prioritised over behavioural business ethics, which tends to analyse
morality at the level of the individual and favours behavioural intervention with the individual’s value, norm and belief system, e.g. through ethical pedagogy, communicative techniques, etc. Quaker ethics is taken as an example of behavioural ethics.
The article concludes that through the conceptual grounding of behavioural ethics in the economic approach, theoretical and
practical limitations of behavioural ethics, as encountered in a modern context, can be relaxed. Probably only then can behavioural
ethics still contribute to raising moral standards in interactions amongst the members (stakeholders) of a single firm, and
equally, amongst (the stakeholders of) different firms.
Dr. Sigmund Wagner-Tsukamoto is researcher in business ethics, organisational economics and economic issues that concern the
Old Testament. He is placed at the School of Management of the University of Leicester, UK. He holds two doctorates, one in
social studies from the University of Oxford, UK, and one in economic studies from the Catholic University of Eichstaett,
Germany. He has widely published on green consumerism and institutional economic issues that concern organization theory,
business ethics theory and an economic interpretation of the Old Testament. His publications include the books Understanding
Green Consumer Behaviour (Routledge, 2003) and Human Nature and Organization Theory (Edward Elgar, 2003). |
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Keywords: | behavioural approaches to business ethics economics & business ethics pluralism quaker industrialists stakeholder theory |
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