Approaching virtuousness through organizational ethical quality: toward a moral corporate social responsibility

Today, in both theory and practice, the concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethics are not necessarily related. Organizations can demonstrate high levels of social proactivity in their CSR policies with or without having laudable levels of ethical quality or virtuousness. This article introduces the concepts of organizational ethical quality (OEQ) to evaluate the moral excellence of CSR actions and policies, identifying and categorizing varying levels ranging from the absence of ethical virtuousness, termed immoral CSR (ICSR), to high levels of moral CSR (MCSR), or ethical virtuousness. High MCSR is the product of both high levels of OEQ in conjunction with more proactive CSR policies based on social action.     

How happiness mediates the organizational virtuousness and affective commitment relationship

Recent moral and financial collapse of high profile organizations around the world led the business community, the popular and business press, and researchers to rediscover the worthiness of organizations' virtues. Aiming to contribute to this momentum, this empirical study investigates how perceptions of organizational virtuousness (OV) predict affective well-being (AWB) and affective commitment (AC). Two hundred five individuals participate. The findings show that perceptions of OV predict AC both directly and through the mediating role of AWB. The study suggests that fostering organizational virtuousness (e.g., through honesty, interpersonal respect, and compassion; combining high standards of performance with a culture of forgiveness and learning from mistakes) improves employees' AWB and promotes a more committed workforce. Considering these findings and mirroring the growing contributions of the positive psychology, positive organizational behavior, and positive organizational scholarship movements, the study suggests that a “positive-people-management” perspective should be considered, both by practitioners and scholars.     

Corporate executives: Disasters and moral responsibility

In his article “The Moral Responsibility of Corporate Executives for Disasters”, John Bishop has argued that we are justified on moral considerations for holding corporate executives responsible for disasters resulting from corporate activities, even in circumstances where they could not reasonably have been expected to possess the information necessary to avert these disasters. I argue that he is mistaken in this claim.     

Corporate moral responsibility and the moral audit: Challenges for Refuse Relief Inc.

Much debate has occurred as to whether or not moral responsibility should be ascribed to corporate entities. The present study advances the theory that moral responsibility is a self-imposed or attributable aspect of corporate operations which extends beyond the parameters established by law.In this context, the corporation must consciously endeavor to discharge its moral responsibility to avoid, minimize, eliminate and compensate for the potential or actual harm which its operations cause. To achieve this objective, consideration is given to the establishment of a Moral Audit Committee, an internal monitoring mechanism, with a proposed generic structure. The corporate Mission Statement and Code of Ethics play a vital role as well in building an institutional environment which supports this self-appraisal process. With this system in place, the ambit of a Moral Audit is then examined. This study concludes with a case analysis, which partly depicts the Moral Audit process.S. Andrew Ostapski is Assistant Professor of Business Law, University of Miami, School of Business Administration, Coral Gables, Florida. A.B., 1975 Oberlin College; J.D., 1978, Capital University Law School; LL.M. in International Law, 1986, University of Miami School of Law.Camille N. Isaacs is a Foreign Service Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kingston, Jamaica. B.A., 1983, University of the West Indies; M.B.A., 1991, University of Miami, School of Business Administration.The name of the corporation and other data have been altered to preserve the anonymity of the firm, but the essential factual basis has not been materially distorted.     

Virtual organizations: Computer conferencing and organizational design

Computer conferencing systems link groups of users who “meet”; in the virtual space of a computer and interact around a common purpose or topic. These electronically constituted and mediated groups can mirror, cross‐cut, or hive off from existing organizational structures. This article reports a study of organizational structuring processes that accompany the introduction of a computer conferencing system in six industrial organizations. The relationships among technological capabilities and constraints, existing organization structures, managerial intent, and the unanticipated consequences of implementation for structural change are discussed. Employing the same software system in each case, organizational outcomes are radically different.

Earlier analysts have focused on a contingency model of the organization‐to‐technology relationship. Computer conferencing systems, however, confound the distinction between technical and organizational systems; they exist in an overlapping border domain between their two parent systems. This article explores the character of this overlapping domain and proposes the terms “virtual group”; and “virtual organization”; to evoke the special status of groups created through computer conferencing. Virtual organizations are semiotic entities in Weick's [1] sense of equivoque and their essentially ambiguous, interpretable character is important in shaping organizational outcomes. Virtual groups become part of the ongoing process of structuration [2], while also providing a new tool for organizational design.     

Work identification and responsibility in moral breakdown

This paper provides a detailed study of fraud in practice through an empirical investigation of B.P.Sayers, a family‐owned stockbroking firm that had been in existence for over 100 years and that collapsed due to the fraudulent activities of the firm's junior partner. An interpretive narrative methodology has been employed which has resulted in the development of a detailed understanding of fraud and moral breakdown in organizations, resulting from a failure of responsibility that arises from a dysfunctional work identification and its moral implications. In developing this account of fraud, the conceptual framework utilized is drawn from the moral philosophical work of Emmanuel Levinas who explicated how the breakdown of social relations of responsibility results, in turn, in moral breakdown.     

The organizational context for moral development: Questions of power and access

In this article it is argued that much research into processes of moral learning and development in organisations has been conducted under somewhat controlled conditions, and that these do not permit testing of individuals' thought and action under more extreme circumstances. Therefore in practice one needs to acknowledge the effect of the actual organisational context. Three aspects or issues concerning the effect of this context on interventions are identified: first, systemic factors, especially corporate culture, impact on individual behaviour; second, consultants and developers may have difficulty when working with people at different levels of moral development; and, third, differential influence among members of an organisation affects the possibility of, and the enactment of, moral development programmes.Each of these considerations is discussed while employing conceptualisations based on Kohlberg's ideas. However the question of influence and power is not one which has been addressed to any significant extent by writers in this particular area. The essential argument in this article is that this must be done if the full potential of research into moral development in organisations is to be realised.Patrick Maclagan is Senior Lecturer and director of Research in the Department of Management Systems & Sciences, School of Management, University of Hull, U.K. His current research interests concern managerial behaviour and management learning with reference to ethics in organisations.     

Guanxi and organizational dynamics in China: a link between individual and organizational levels

Guanxi in China is a very ancient concept embedded in the Confucian concept of life and one that is a ‚hot' topic in that it is currently attracting increasing attention from both Western and Chinese scholars. One aspect of Guanxi which has been the subject of most of the research of late is the influence of Guanxi on firm performance. However, relatively few studies have examined how Guanxi at the individual level is transferred into a firm to influence its financial performance. This study first reclassifies Guanxi into obligatory, reciprocal, and utilitarian types at the individual level as a means to clarifying the confusion brought above from previous studies. It then provides a conceptual framework in which to systematically characterize the link between Guanxi at the individual level and organizational dynamics: that is, how is Guanxi at the individual level shifted to a firm and how does it affect organizational dynamics of that firm at the organizational level. Finally, it provides a deeper understanding of the financial implications of Guanxi to business firms in China. Dr. Yi Zhang is Associate Professor of School of Public Administration and a former postdoctor of Scholl of Management at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. His research lie in international business and FDI, strategic management in China, and organizational learning. His work has been and will be published in the Journal of Business Ethic and Singapore Management Review. Zigang Zhang is Professor of College of Management at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. His research interests include strategic management, knowledge management, and cooperation management.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Fourth Asia Academy of Management Conference, December 2004, in Shanghai, P.R. China.     

The moral responsibility of corporate executives for disasters

This paper examines whether or not senior corporate executives are morally responsible for disasters which result from corporate activities. The discussion is limited to the case in which the information needed to prevent the disaster is present within the corporation, but fails to reach senior executives. The failure of information to reach executives is usually a result of negative information blockage, a phenomenon caused by the differing roles of constraints and goals within corporations. Executives should be held professionally responsible not only for trying to prevent negative information blockage, but for succeeding. It is concluded that executives are professionally responsible for fulfilling their moral obligation to prevent disasters.John D. Biship has a Ph.D. in moral philosophy from Edinburgh University (1979), and an MBA from McMaster University. He has worked for several years for two multi-national computer corporations. In 1987 he read a paper on Greed; The Limits of Selfishness in a Free Enterprise Economy at Trent University.     

Social responsibility in youth service organizations: Hong Kong evidence

The paper attempts to investigate the key factors affecting the social responsibility development in social welfare organizations. The study also measures how social welfare organizations are performing towards the social responsibility objectives. This paper focuses on a study undertaken among a number of youth service organizations in Hong Kong. The results showed that youth service organizations perceive they have supportive organizational culture and the management has been showing strong willingness in promoting social responsibility. The people from a senior level see that the motivating factors are more important than the junior people, but they perceive the ‘social pressure’ is less important than the junior people. The big contrast implies that the management people do not take ‘social pressure’ into serious consideration. The study reveals a significant influence from the management on the adoption and implementation of social responsibility activities. This further confirms the importance on promoting social responsibility at the operational level, with the top management providing clear strategic direction, and supportive resources and environment.     

Corporate social responsibility and organizational effectiveness: A multivariate approach

In this paper, three major themes in research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) are identified. Of particular interest, however, is the potential link between CSR and organizational effectiveness (OE). Data collected from 410 college graduate and undergraduate students were used to examine this relationship. Using factor analysis, eight dimensions of CSR and three components of OE were extracted. Canonical analysis was then performed. The result supports the proposition that specific CSR practices affect select OE outcomes. In addition, the method employed here provides a parsimonious approach to give priority to social claims.Shaker A. Zahra, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Strategic Management, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, U.S.A. His research centers on the role of board of directors in the strategic process, determinants of technological innovation in large corporations, and ethical issues associated with strategic choices. His research has received several awards.Michael S. LaTour, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Marketing, College of Business, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23508, USA. His research centers on the role of arousal in consumer behavior and ethical issues arising in this context.     

Managing organizational ethics: How ethics becomes pervasive within organizations

This study analyzes real experiences of culture management to better understand how ethics permeates organizations. In addition to reviewing the literature, we used an action-research methodology and conducted semistructured interviews in Spain and in the U.S. to approach the complexity and challenges of fostering a culture in which ethical considerations are a regular part of business discussions and decision making. The consistency of findings suggests patterns of organizational conditions, cultural elements, and opportunities that influence the management of organizational cultures centered on core ethical values. The ethical competencies of leaders and of the workforce also emerged as key factors. We identify three conditions—a sense of responsibility to society, conditions for ethical deliberation, and respect for moral autonomy—coupled with a diverse set of cultural elements that cause ethics to take root in culture when the opportunity arises. Leaders can use this knowledge of the mechanisms by which organizational factors influence ethical pervasiveness to better manage organizational ethics.     

Groups,responsibility, and risk taking in business organizations

Discussions of risk taking in the modern business organization frequently focus upon the behavior of individual moral agents. Here I attempt to identify some of the complexities of risk taking when it is a group phenomenon and to do so in such a way as to shed some light upon the ethics of group risk taking in business organizations. Gregory Mellema is Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College, where he has taught eleven years. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) and subsequently has completed an M.B.A. at the University of Michigan. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Individuals, Groups, and Shared Moral Responsibility, and has published articles in over a dozen journals, including Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, American Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophia, and Philosophical Studies.     

Entrepreneurial intentions: The influence of organizational and individual factors

An individual's intent to pursue an entrepreneurial career can result from the work environment and from personal factors. Drawing on the entrepreneurial intentions and the person-environment (P-E) fit literatures, and applying a multilevel perspective, we examine why individuals intend to leave their jobs to start business ventures. Findings, using a sample of 4192 IT professionals in Singapore, suggest that work environments with an unfavorable innovation climate and/or lack of technical excellence incentives influence entrepreneurial intentions, through low job satisfaction. Moderating effects suggest that an individual's innovation orientation strengthens the work-environment to job-satisfaction relationship; self-efficacy strengthens the job-satisfaction to entrepreneurial intentions relationship.     

Media governance and corporate social responsibility of media organizations: an international comparison

Media companies are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of their reputation. In order to legitimate themselves, they are starting to present themselves as ‘good corporate citizens’ by engaging in media governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The communication of those activities is crucial for the building of reputation. However, to date, no comprehensive studies have been conducted to evaluate the communication of media governance and CSR activities of media organizations. This study aims to fill this gap and examined websites and reports of selected media organizations in Germany, Italy, France, Austria, and Switzerland. Results indicate that public service media organizations communicate proportionally more on media governance than private media organizations, which may be due to the fact that public service media organizations feel more accountable to the public as they have a public service obligation. Concerning the communication of their CSR activities, media organizations focus on society‐oriented measures.     

Value congruence: The interplay of individual and organizational value systems

This paper focuses on the individual manager making difficult decisions within the context of the organization in which he or she is a member. It proposes a method for examining the interplay of individual and corporate value systems, offering a value congruence model. Hypotheses are generated concerning the varying nature of the value conflicts faced by managers. These are then evaluated based upon interview data from a cross-section of managers in two organizations. The impact of differing organizational value systems is discussed, as well as the implications of the study for research in this area.Jeanne Liedtka is an Assistant Professor and Chair, in the Department of Management at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. Her current research interests involve the study of value conflict in the health care field.     

The relative importance of social responsibility in determining organizational effectiveness: Student responses

This paper investigates the relative importance of social responsibility criteria in determining organizational effectiveness. The organizational effectiveness menu was used as a questionnaire with a sample of 151 senior undergraduates. Each respondent was asked to rate the importance of the criteria from three constituent perspectives within a service organization: (1) as a manager, (2) as an investor, (3) as an employee. Later, a subsample of students (n=61) responded to the same questionnaire acting as a manager in an assigned case study. The results indicated that students acting as managers, investors, or employees rate social responsibility criteria among the least important of the determinants of organizational effectiveness. Moreover, while specific situations may call for changes in the relative importance of these criteria, social responsibility criteria were not viewed, generally, as the most important determinants of organizational effectiveness.Kenneth L. Kraft is currently an Associate Professor of Management at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. His recent papers explore the relationships between strategy, structure, social responsibility, and organizational effectiveness in a variety of settings.     

Balancing individual and organizational goals in global talent management: A mutual-benefits perspective

Drawing from the talent management and global mobility literatures, there is simultaneous pressure to address both organizational goals to place talent internationally, and individual goals of self-initiated expatriation. This raises important questions for the future of global talent management (GTM): how might individual and organizational goals be balanced to the mutual benefit of both parties? Qualitative data from pilot studies in multinational corporations demonstrate a largely financially driven balancing act between self-initiated and organization-assigned expatriate assignments. Building primarily from psychological contract theory, this study builds propositions for future research, and explores the implications for global talent management practice.     

The role of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness: Students versus managers

This paper investigates the differences in perceptions between business students and service-sector managers regarding the role that ethics and social responsibility serve in determining organizational effectiveness. An organizational effectiveness instrument containing business ethics and social responsibility items served as a questionnaire for a sample of 151 senior business undergraduates and 53 service-sector managers. The results indicated that while students acting as managers rate some social responsibility issues as more important than do managers, they also rate ethical conduct and a few dimensions of social responsibility lower than do managers. The findings have direct implications for both business practitioners and educators.Kenneth L. Kraft received his D.B.A. from the University of Maryland in 1982 and is currently an Associate Professor of Management at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. His recent papers explore the relationships between strategy, structure, social responsibility, and organizational effectiveness in a variety of settings. Anusorn Singhapakdi is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Old Dominion University. His current research interests center on marketing/business ethics and selected public policy issues in marketing. He has published in Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, International Journal of Value Based Managementas well as other journals and proceedings.