Ethics and entrepreneurship

As the study of entrepreneurship and the study of business ethics become increasingly established, the intersection of entrepreneurship and ethics is receiving increasing scholarly attention. In this paper, we review the research connecting ethics and entrepreneurship, classifying the literature into three broad themes; we also identify and integrate the key themes that emerge, and we offer suggestions for future research. We conclude by introducing the articles in this special issue.     

Ethics and Values

Book reviewed in this article:
Serageldin, Ismail and Martin-Brown, Joan (eds) Ethics and Values: A Global Perspective     

Embedding Ethics: Dialogic Partnerships and Communitarian Business Ethics

Although emotion has become one of the most popular research areas within organizational scholarship, few studies have considered its connection with unethical behavior. Using dual-process theory, we expand on the rationalist perspective within the field of behavioral ethics by considering the process through which two discrete emotions, anger and guilt, influence unethical behavior. Across two studies using different methodologies, we found that anger increases unethical behavior whereas guilt reduces unethical behavior. These effects were mediated by impulsive and deliberative processing. Overall, our results shed light on distinct mechanisms through which emotions can influence unethical behavior. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The Separation of Technology and Ethics in Business Ethics

The purpose of this paper is to draw out and make explicit the assumptions made in the treatment of technology within business ethics. Drawing on the work of Freeman (1994, 2000) on the assumed separation between business and ethics, we propose a similar separation exists in the current analysis of technology and ethics. After first identifying and describing the separation thesis assumed in the analysis of technology, we will explore how this assumption manifests itself in the current literature. A different stream of analysis, that of science and technology studies (STS), provides a starting point in understanding the interconnectedness of technology and society. As we will demonstrate, business ethicists are uniquely positioned to analyze the relationship between business, technology, and society. The implications of a more complex and rich definition of ‘technology’ ripple through the analysis of business ethics. Finally, we propose a pragmatic approach to understanding technology and explore the implications of such an approach to technology. This new approach captures the broader understanding of technology advocated by those in STS and allows business ethicists to analyze a broader array of dilemmas and decisions.     

Ethics and Ambition

Derrick Bell is one of the US' most forthright and best-known commentators on race and ethics. Bell, now visiting professor at New York University's School of Law, attracted headlines when he became the first tenured African-American professor at Harvard Law School in 1971, only to leave in protest about the lack of African-American women on the faculty. He also resigned as dean of Oregon Law School after the school refused to hire a qualified Asian-American woman. His latest book, Ethical Ambition, applies his thinking on ethics to the world of business.     

Ethics and enterprise

This paper summarizes three major approaches to the problem of business ethics. Comparisons and contrasts are drawn between the moralistic approach of Berhman, the social contract theory of Nash, and a comprehensive systems approach as articulated by Elbing. In the final section, some attempt is made to indicate how these models may be implemented into managerial policy decision making process by the use of group work and ascending communication. Some consideration of using organizational structure to implement ethical concerns is indicated.Samuel M. Natale is Associate Professor Management at the College of Business Administration, University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, Conn. 06602.     

Ethics and Ecotourism

The world's largest industry is trying to become environmentally sensitive, but is it succeeding? Judy Karwacki, currently working towards an MBA, has an MA in Political Studies; she runs a travel agency in Saskatoon and has a very strong personal interest in ecotourism. Colin Boyd is Professor of Management at the College of Commerce, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Sask., Canada S7N 0W0, and an Associate Editor of this Review.     

Reexaminating Perceived Ethics Issues and Ethics Roles among Employment Managers

This paper reexamines the perceived ethical issues and roles of employment managers based on their responses to a recent "Ethical Issues in Human Resource Management Survey." This research addresses five major questions including: 1) Whether employment managers' perceptions of the factors influencing unethical behavior vary according to gender, job position, and company size, 2) What are the perceived frequency and seriousness of misconduct among HR functional areas, 3) Whether groups of employment managers (i.e., males and females) vary significantly in their perceptions of the seriousness of unethical events, 4) Whether gender and organizational level influence how often particular ethics roles are played, and 5) What particular roles are being played by employment managers as they respond to ethical dilemmas. The findings show that regardless of gender, position, or company size, employment managers' ethical behavior is influenced most by the behavior of senior managers and their immediate supervisors. In addition, the respondents believe that ethical misconduct occurs more often and is most serious in specialties such as employment, health, safety, and security, and compensation. Gender, industrial category, and company size have a significant impact on how serious unethical practices were perceived to be. Finally, seven of the eight ethics roles were matched with the ethical dilemmas submitted by the survey respondents.     

Business Ethics and Quantification: Towards an Ethics of Numbers

Journal of Business Ethics - Social practices of quantification, or the production and communication of numbers, have been recognized as important foundations of organizational knowledge, as well...     

From Ethics 'By Proxy' to Ethics In Action: New Approaches to Understanding HRM and Ethics

In this paper we review recent UK literature on HRM and ethics and suggest that implicit in many accounts is a perception of a 'moral hole' appearing within the employee relations landscape which is based on external, reflective observations of HRM policies and practices. We argue that the investigation of HRM and ethics could be broadened by locating HRM and ethics research more explicitly within the social and cultural realities of organizations and their employees. Finally, we outline and illustrate what a social constructivist approach might add to research in this field and how it might provide insights that help bridge the gap between theory and practice.     

Ethics and environmental marketing

Corporations have scrambled to bring to market products positioned and advertised as addressing the needs of the environmentally-conscious consumer. The vast majority of claims presented in support of these products are best described, however, as confused, misleading or outright illegal. Ethical considerations have not yet been integrated into environmental marketing, and as a result, long-term harm on both the individual and societal level may result. A framework for reversing this trend is presented. It identifies the sequence of actions necessary for the development and communication of ethical environmental marketing claims. The sequence is based upon two aspects of ethical theory: moral style and normative behavior. Specific implications for marketers' actions at each stage in the sequence of framework development are also discussed.Dr. Joel J. Davis is Assistant Professor of Journalism at San Diego State University. Prior to joining the faculty at San Diego State, Dr. Davis was Vice President, Associate Director of Strategic Planning and Research at D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles Advertising.     

Culture and Consumer Ethics

Disparity in consumer ethics reflects cultural variations; these are differences in the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes one culture from another. This study explores the differences in consumer ethics across cultural dimensions using Hofstede??s (in Culture??s consequences: international differences in work-related values, Sage, Beverly Hills, 1980) model (collectivism, masculinity, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance) and Muncy and Vitell (in J Bus Res 24(4):297?C311, 1992) consumer ethics model (i.e., illegal, active, passive, and no harm). This is the first study to empirically explore consumer ethics using these two major constructs. Seven hundred sixty one African American consumers were used to test the four major hypotheses developed in this study. Current research has revealed that there are significant differences in ethics between consumers who score high and consumers who score low on Hofstede??s four cultural dimensions. In general, this research revealed that consumers who score high on collectivism, high on uncertainty avoidance, low on masculinity, and low on power distance scales reject questionable activities more than consumers who score low on collectivism, low on uncertainty avoidance, high on masculinity, and high on power distance. This study should prove valuable to international marketers because the Hofstede cultural model allows managers to identify differences in consumer ethics across different cultures and thus provides a theoretical base for designing effective marketing strategies.     

Ethics and Accounting Education

Some aspects of ethics and accounting education are explored in this research. Research findings suggest that there is strong support for the inclusion of ethics in business and accounting curricula. The majority of respondents who responded to the ethics coverage question think that ethics should be integrated with all accounting courses. Moreover, the respondents are of the opinion that there are four main objectives of accounting education. These are: broad-based education, development of balanced skills, development of moral values and practical-biased programmes. The respondents also suggested different ways of implementing these objectives. The study further reveals that in ethics teaching, real examples and case studies should be used.     

Ethics and service work

Service work is now a very wide ranging sector, where some forms of service work have different connotations to others, but some forms are still tainted with the degradations of domestic service. Much of the difference revolves around the personal nature of the service and the expectations of customers towards the service worker. Hence the importance of thinking about the ethics of the service relationship in a modern economy, and the need to put this on the right footing in terms of respect and dignity. The ethics of service work are explored in this article. Prior to this however, the nature of service work and the degree of degradation that can be experienced by those who do this kind of work are identified. It will be argued that service work ought to be morally evaluated according to the degree to which it helps to form and maintain the virtues of employees or whether it leads to the erosion of virtue and the active development of vices.     

Religiosity and Consumer Ethics

This article presents the results of an exploratory study that investigated the role that religiosity plays in determining consumer attitudes/beliefs in various situations regarding questionable consumer practices. Two dimensions of religiosity – intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness – were studied. Results indicated that an intrinsic religiousness was a significant determinant of consumer ethical beliefs, but extrinsic religiousness was not related to those beliefs.Scott J. Vitell is Phil B. Hardin Professor of Marketing at the University of Mississippi. He received his Ph.D. in Marketing from Texas Tech University. His recent publications have appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Retailing, the Journal of Business Ethics and the Journal of Consumer Marketing, among others. E-mail: svitell@bus.olemiss.edu Joseph G.P. Paolillo is a Professor of Management in the School of Business at the University of Mississippi. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, Eugene in Organization and Management. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Human Relations, Group and Organization Studies, The Accounting Review, Journal of Advertising and Journal of Business Ethics, among several others. E-mail: jpaolillo@bus. olemiss.edu Jatinder J. Singh is a Ph.D. student in marketing at the University of Mississippi. He received his masters from Punjab Technical University, India. He has coauthored a paper published for the American Marketing Associations winter Educators Conference, 2004.     

Ethics and the accountant

Every profession requires special knowledge and skills, and each professional is expected to possess certain essential personal qualities. Likewise, in the accounting profession, accountancy students need to possess certain essential personal qualities that their employers look for. The growing concern over the ethics of professionals makes it important consider the perceptions of the public, students, and accountants of the values of accounts in the working world.A questionnaire was given to a sample population of 500 which included the public, accounting students, and accountants. The questionnaire was designed to examine the personal qualities of accountants. From this study, the perceptions of the personal qualities of accountants are that accounts should be ethical and have integrity. These perceptions reflect the importance of ethics in the accounting profession. On other qualities, the public differ in perception from that of the students and accountants.James Poon Teng Fatt is a lecturer in Business Communication in the School of Accountancy and Business, Nanyang Technological University. His areas of research and interest are accounting education, entrepreneurship, and English for specific purposes.