Perception of Business Bribery in China: the Impact of Moral Philosophy

This paper examines the impact of Chinese business managers’ moral philosophies on the perception of corrupt payments such as bribery, kickbacks and gift giving. Business managers from Mainland China were selected as target respondents. As hypothesized the survey results generally indicate that moral relativism is a significant predictor of Chinese business managers’ favorable perception of bribery and kickbacks. In examining the attitude toward gift giving, the survey showed that an individual’s attitude toward gift giving was neither affected by their moral relativism nor by their moral idealism, which implies that gift giving is widely accepted as legal practice in business in Chinese cultural society. Part of the paper was presented at the conference of World Business Ethics Forum, Nov. 1–3, 2006 in Hongkong and Macau.     

Who will Guard the Guardians? The Social Responsibility of NGOs

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) comprise the sector of society that attempts to hold business and other institutions accountable for their social responsibility. Yet NGOs rarely have established governance mechanisms whereby their members and supporters can hold them accountable for their activities. In contrast, other major actors in the society – notably governments, corporations, and unions – maintain long established albeit imperfect instruments of governance and responsibility. This article presents a variety of ways in which NGOs could voluntarily strengthen their internal governance and thus become more accountable to their members and supporters as well as society at large. In the process, these important civil society organizations would enhance their effectiveness in achieving improvements in key areas of public policy.     

领导风格与员工工作态度:互惠和信任的中介作用的实证研究

Reciprocity and trust are the basic principles of human social exchanges. Using a sample of 972 managers in China, we examined the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership styles and job-related attitudes of employees, as well as the mediating effects of both reciprocity and trust on the above relationship based on social exchange theory. The main findings of structural equation modeling analyses were shown as follows. Firstly, transformational leadership not only affects organizational trust and commitment directly, but also motivates organizational trust of employees through the mediation of generalized and balanced reciprocity indirectly, and thus enhances organizational commitment and stay intention of employees. Secondly, transactional leadership indirectly affects organizational trust and commitment of employees through the mediation of reciprocity. Thirdly, generalized reciprocity has direct effects on organizational commitment of employees, whereas balanced reciprocity exerts its influences through affecting organizational trust of employees. Managerial suggestions are provided. __________ Translated from Zhongda Guanli Yanjiu 中大管理研究 (China Management Studies), 2007, (1): 13–45     

Understanding gift giving in Japan

It's frowned on in the U.S., but in Japan gift giving has a long tradition. The practice of gift exchange has many complicated rules that an American should understand if he or she doesn't want to appear illmannered to a prospective business associate.     

Rebuilding Trust: Ireland’s CSR Plan in the Light of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Caritas in Veritate</Emphasis>

This paper seeks to contribute to the discussion on national corporate social responsibility (CSR) plans from the perspectives of the three logics as articulated in Caritas in Veritate, by using the Irish national CSR plan as an example. Good for Business, Good for the Community: Ireland’s National Plan on Corporate Social Responsibility 2014–2016 maintains that CSR activities can enable organisations to build relationships and trust with communities. One of the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis was the decrease in trust in banking systems and in business more broadly. It is well recognised that relationships of trust are essential to the life of the market, the state and civil society. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate contends that corresponding to the life of the market, the state and civil society are three logics: the logic of exchange (i.e. giving to acquire), the logic of public obligation (i.e. giving through duty) and the logic of gift (i.e. giving due to solidarity). This paper proposes that the normative framework of the three logics of Caritas in Veritate can be read into the Irish national CSR plan. This paper argues that the examples of CSR initiatives proffered by the plan could point organisations in the direction of the logic of gift and therefore enable the rebuilding of relationships of trust with citizens and communities.     

The Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing and Marketing Ethics

Abela and Murphy (J Acad Mark Sci 36(1):39–53, 2007) examined Service-Dominant (S-D) logic (Vargo and Lusch, J Mark 68(1):1–17, 2004) from the viewpoint of Marketing Ethics and concluded that whilst S-D logic does not have explicit ethical content, the Foundational Premises (FPs) of S-D logic do have implicit ethical content. They also conclude that what may be needed to make the implicit more explicit is the addition of another FP. The aim of this article is to explore whether S-D logic needs to be modified, if one wishes to construct a theoretical framework for analysis of Marketing that has ethical considerations fully integrated. We critically evaluate the claim that the FPs are inherently ethical and conclude that S-D logic should be modified. We offer an additional FP for consideration that relates to the role of personal and societal values in the co-creation of value. This FP is necessary because of the role that the ethical positions of actors play in exchange behaviour. However, it should be pointed out that whilst the article explores the ethical potential of S-D logic it does not privilege any particular ethical position or code. These concerns will be addressed in subsequent articles: the aim here is to establish the underlying rationale for including an explicit commitment to ethics in S-D logic.     

An Adversarial Ethic for Business: or When Sun-Tzu Met the Stakeholder

In the economic literature on the firm, especially in the transaction–cost tradition, a sharp distinction is drawn between so-called “market transactions” and “administered transactions.” This distinction is of enormous importance for business ethics, since market transactions are governed by the competitive logic of the market, whereas administered transactions are subject to the cooperative norms that govern collective action in a bureaucracy. The widespread failure to distinguish between these two types of transactions, and thus to distinguish between adversarial and non-adversarial relations, has led many business ethicists to develop a “uniform” moral code. Yet in market transactions, the checks and balances built into the system of commercial exchange are such as to permit more instrumental forms of behavior. In administered transactions, by contrast, these checks and balances are absent, and thus the institutional context calls for much greater exercise of moral restraint. In this paper, I begin the task of developing an adversarial ethic for business. According to this view, the competitive environment licenses a greater range of “self-interested” behavior, but also imposes its own constraints on the strategies that firms may adopt in the pursuit of their interests. Joseph Heath is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and the Centre for Ethics at the University of Toronto. He is the author of three books: Communicative Action and Rational Choice (MIT Press, 2001), The Efficient Society (Penguin, 2001), and with Andrew Potter. The Rebel Sell (HarperCollins, 2004). His research focuses on practical rationality, normative economics, and critical theory.     

A New Approach to Resolving the Right-to-work Ethical Dilemma

Union security has long been an industrial relations controversy. While compulsory unionism supporters say it benefits the working class, right-to-work advocates denounce it as an unethical infringement of individual rights and freedom. Unfortunately, neither side has adequately addressed the shortcomings of their viewpoint, nor the broader worker concerns about effective representation beyond just “unionism”. In this paper, we examine the ethical and practical problems of compulsory (union security) and voluntary (right-to-work) unionism and propose a new resolution, compulsory proportional representation, that has the advantages of: (a) ensuring workers’ freedom to associate or not associate, (b) promoting freedom to contract, (c) allowing free competition in representation in line with anti-trust principles, (d) improving industrial peace and efficiency, (e) enhancing fairness and social justice, and (f) addressing the employer–employee power imbalance. It is superior to either voluntary unionism, which often lead to management unilateralism, or compulsory unionism, where workers are compelled to join unions against their will. Helen Lam is an Associate Professor, Human Resource Management, in Athabasca University, working at the Centre for Innovative Management which focuses on graduate management programs in business administration. She received her Ph.D. from the Faculty of Business at the University of Alberta. Her research interests include the areas of downsizing, restructuring, quality initiatives, business ethics, employment relations, human rights and legal issues at the workplace. Her work has been published in a variety of academic journals. Mark Harcourt is a professor in the Department of Strategy and Human Resource Management, Waikato Management School, Waikato University. Mark has a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Alberta, a Masters of Industrial Relations from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University. His teaching focus is on employment relations and human resources management. Mark has also published articles in many national and international journals on a variety of topics, including health and safety, and discrimination.     

A guide map to the terrain of gift value

This article integrates a broad range of gift‐giving literature into a conceptual framework that puts the all too often overlooked construct of personal value at its core. Although there have been substantial contributions from the fields of anthropology, sociology, economics, and consumer behavior, efforts to model gift giving have failed to put the value of the gift‐giving experience at the center of the exchange. Within this article, a model of the gift‐giving experience that overcomes this critical shortcoming is proposed. The model establishes clear categories for breaking the giving process into easily examinable elements, and it is argued that although the concept of value is not a simple one, it should be central to any examination of the gift‐giving phenomenon. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Growth via Intellectual Property Rights Versus Gendered Inequity in Emerging Economies: An Ethical Dilemma for International Business

In this paper, we critique the emergent international normative framework of growth – the knowledge economy. We point out that the standardized character of knowledge economy’s flagship – intellectual property rights (IPRs) – has an adverse impact on women in emerging economies, such as India. Conversely, this impact on women, a significant consumer segment, has a feedback effect in terms of market growth. Conceptually, we analyze the consequences of knowledge economy and standardized IPR through a feminist lens. We extend the analyses by pointing to various contradictions surrounding growth norms; for example, there are inherent contradictions between established “formal” legalistic interpretation of IPR, “soft law” norms of corporate social responsibility, a fluid situation of moral claims of human rights, and different institutional capabilities at the international and domestic level. Consequently, we are able to demonstrate how standard IPR laws fail to deliver equity for all. We argue our case through exploring the growth aspects of the agricultural sector in India and the adverse impact of standard biopatenting on women farmers’ rights (as producers and consumers) and preservation of environment. We suggest that desired gendered equity is better achieved when there is a constellation of actors – private-sector business, the state, and civil-society leaders – working together to ensure a balanced development through tailoring of IPR to local needs.     

Gift giving: A community paradigm

To date, the marketing literature on gift giving has focused on two approaches or paradigms—economic and relational exchange. This study adopts a different perspective, proposing a community paradigm to provide a holistic view of gift giving. The data (based on 20 in‐depth interviews and 2 group interviews) suggest that, on the Internet, social networks of relationships cohere into gift‐giving communities that influence the purchasing of gifts. Findings about online gift giving are presented according to three community themes: (a) shared rituals and traditions, (b) shared values, and (c) shared responsibilities. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Consumer responses to gift receipt in business‐to‐consumer contexts

This article delineates business‐to‐consumer from consumer‐toconsumer and business‐to‐business gift giving, and discusses the influence of gift, recipient, and giver characteristics on gift evaluation and reciprocation likelihood in business‐to‐consumer contexts. A study examines the impact of relationship strength, gift value, nature of request, and recipient gender on gift evaluation, reciprocation likelihood, and future store choice. A stronger relationship with the business and an implicit request for reciprocation affect consumer responses to business‐to‐consumer gifts positively. Gift value and recipient gender did not have a significant effect on outcome variables. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Aesthetic Style as a Postructural Business Ethic

The article begins with a brief history of aesthetic theory. Particular attention is given to the postructuralist ‘aesthetic return’: the resurgence of interest in aesthetics as an ontological foundation for human being-in-the-world. The disordered individual-as-emergent-artist-and-artifact, who is at the centre of this ‘aesthetic return’, is then translated into the ‘dis’-organization that is the firm. The firm is thus defined in terms of its primal sensory impact on the world. It invokes a myriad of aesthetic relations between its disorganized self and others: its essence resides within these relations; its power of being is determined by its ability to project a unified aesthetic ideal – a ‘mirror fantasy’. The firm thus emerges as a style: where style is defined as an organizing – a sculpting – of aesthetic chaos. In order to achieve a grand style, the firm projects itself through time as a unified aesthetic ideal; as an ongoing work of art. The article concludes with a discussion of how this aesthetic theory of the firm relates to other accepted theories of the nature and purpose of business organizations.     

Sustaining Employee Owned Companies: Seven Recommendations

The employee owned company (EOC) might be the ideal blend of capitalism and communitarianism that vitalizes the global economy. EOCs – based on the concepts of employee participation and control – have sprung up in the United Kingdom, some parts of the European Union, the United States, Japan, and the former Eastern Bloc countries. Research has shown that they are able to compete effectively with more traditional companies. However, in addition to the pressures of business competition, EOCs face two other key problems as they strive to survive: (1) degeneration and (2) human nature and the abuse of power. After introducing the idea of the EOC and describing briefly these two key problems, this article presents seven recommendations for sustaining employee owned companies. These recommendations – grounded in sound organizational theory and the writings of experts in the field of employee ownership – are offered as hypotheses to be examined empirically by future researchers.     

Consumer Trust,Social Marketing and Ethics of Welfare Exchange

The global corporate scandals such as Enron, Worldcom and Global Crossing have raised fundamental issues of business ethics as well as economic, social and anthropological questions concerning the nature of business competition and global capitalism. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to introduce the concept of “welfare exchange” to the existing notions of economic, social and anthropological notions of business and exchange in markets and society in the 21st century. Global competition and business success in the 21st century continue to raise the nature of economic value and the interaction among diverse actors in international markets, institutions and society. We believe that the nature of such exchange between consumers and organizations, which can also be termed social marketing, need to increasingly take into account a welfare and ethical component. In this paper, we introduce our concept of welfare exchange to emphasize the importance of such welfare and ethical issues in the global business environment of the 21st century.     

Corporate Charitable Contributions: A Corporate Social Performance or Legitimacy Strategy?

This study examines the relation between firms’ corporate philanthropic giving and their performance in three other social domains – employee relations, environmental issues, and product safety. Based on a sample of 384 U.S. companies and using data pooled from 1998 through 2000, we find that worse performers in the other social areas are both more likely to make charitable contributions and that the extent of their giving is larger than for better performers. Analyses of each separate area of social performance, however, indicate that the relation between giving and negative social performance (cited concerns) only holds for the environmental issues and product safety areas. We find no significant association between corporate philanthropy and employee relations concerns. In general, these findings suggest that corporate philanthropy may be more a tool of legitimization than a measure of corporate social responsibility.     

The Business of Business is the Human Person: Lessons from the Catholic Social Tradition

I describe an ethic for business administration based on the social tradition of the Catholic Church. I find that much current thinking about business falters for its conceit of truth. Abstractions such as the shareholder-value model contain truth – namely, that business is an economic enterprise to manage for the wealth of its owners. But, as in all abstractions, this truth comes at the expense of falsehood – namely, that persons are assets to deploy on behalf of owners. This last is “wrong” in both senses of the word – it is factually wrong in that persons are far more than business assets, they are supernatural beings, children of God; and it is morally wrong in that it is an injustice to treat them as the former when they are the latter. I draw upon the social tradition of the Catholic Church to recognize that the business of business is not business, but is instead the human person. Following Church teachings, I describe a person-centered ethic of business based upon eight social principles that both correct and enlarge the shareholder-centered ethic of much current business thinking. I discuss implications of this person-centered ethic for business administration.     

Retail Philanthropy: Firm Size,Industry, and Business Cycle

This article investigates the effects of firm size, profitability, industry affiliation, and the business cycle on retailer philanthropy. The importance of industry and firm effects on giving was analyzed with regression models using industry-fixed effects as well as firm strategy variables. The analysis included instrumental variables methodology to account for simultaneity in the charitable giving–profits relationship. Data were gathered from the IRS Corporate Statistics of Income Sourcebook, data that provide firm size class measures covering the entire firm size distribution ranging from small retailers up to large multi-national retail firms. Retailer philanthropy was measured as the ratio of charitable contributions to total receipts. Important findings include a cubic relationship between retailer philanthropy and firm size; industry effects stronger than those observed for retail profit; and the absence of business cycle effects. The empirical research relating retail charitable giving to firm attributes including firm size and advertising, industry and business cycle factors are unique in the business ethics literature. Prior studies regarding the importance of industry on charitable giving utilized data across broad sectors of the economy. Firms from different sectors could be expected to differ in philanthropic approach due to differences in public contact as well as differences in public relations exposure. The strong industry effects reported for this sample of exclusively retail firms, with similar public contact, provide strong evidence for the importance of industry in determining firms’ charitable strategies.     

Corporations and NGOs: When Accountability Leads to Co-optation

Interactions between corporations and nonprofits are on the rise, frequently driven by a corporate interest in establishing credentials for corporate social responsibility (CSR). In this article, we show how increasing demands for accountability directed at both businesses and NGOs can have the unintended effect of compromising the autonomy of nonprofits and fostering their co-optation. Greater scrutiny of NGO spending driven by self-appointed watchdogs of the nonprofit sector and a prevalence of strategic notions of CSR advanced by corporate actors weaken the ability of civil society actors to change the business practices of their partners in the commercial sector. To counter this trend, we argue that corporations should embrace a political notion of CSR and should actively encourage NGOs to strengthen “downward accountability” mechanisms, even if this creates more tensions in corporate–NGO partnerships. Rather than seeing NGOs as tools in a competition for a comparative advantage in the market place, corporations should actively support NGO independence and critical capacity.     

Business Ethics: Law As A Determinant of Business Conduct

The Principles of Corporate Governance require that business conduct conform to the law. In recent years, news reports of business misconduct have cast doubt on a conclusion that conformity is the prevalent practice. This article explores the influence of law on business conduct by comparing the law’s requirements and purposes with actual business conduct in the market. Specifically, it explores whether certain legal regimes are more effective than others in inducing greater commitment to legal compliance by corporate actors. The conclusion drawn is that the prevalent legal regime – a vague common law or legislative mandate – is typically associated with corporate conduct that evades or ignores the law’s mandate or its underlying purpose. Vincent Di Lorenzo is Professor of Law; Senior Fellow, Vincentian Center for Church and Society, St. John's University; J.D. Columbia University (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar); Associate Articles Editor, Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. Before joining the faculty at St. John's University School of Law, Professor Di Lorenzo was a member of the faculty at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and was associated with a major Wall Street firm practicing in the real estate-banking department. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association. Professor Di Lorenzo has authored many articles and books in the banking, legislation and real estate areas.