When Deontology and Utilitarianism Aren’t Enough: How Heidegger’s Notion of “Dwelling” Might Help Organisational Leaders Resolve Ethical Issues

This paper offers an alternative to deontological and utilitarian approaches to making ethical decisions and taking good actions by organisational leaders. It argues that the relational and context-dependent nature of leadership necessitates reference to an ethical approach which explicitly takes these aspects into account. Such an approach is offered in the re-conceptualisation of ethical action on the part of leaders as a process of “coming into right relation” vis-à-vis those affected by their decisions and actions. Heidegger’s notion of “dwelling” is explored as a means of “coming into right relation”. Three aspects of dwelling: “staying with”, “comportment” and “active engagement” are described and ways in which they might be practically enacted by leaders are suggested. The paper concludes by reflecting on the ways adopting a “dwelling” approach to resolving ethical issues implies a re-conceptualisation of leadership itself.     

Images of Women in Online Advertisements of Global Products: Does Sexism Exist?

Research on female stereotypes in online advertisements is particularly scant, and thus, we lack evidence on whether women are depicted in derogatory (stereotypical) terms on the Internet or not. This theme has significant ethical implications. Hence, the objectives of this study are: (1) to provide evidence on female role portrayals in online advertisements of global products, and (2) to explore female role portrayals across web pages for different audience types. The results indicate that women are generally portrayed in a stereotypical way, supporting the notion that sexism is prevalent in online advertisements worldwide. Portrayal of women across web pages varies considerably, with female-audience web pages embracing “decorative” female images; male-audience web pages promoting polarizing depictions of women in “dependent” or “non-traditional” roles; and general-audience web pages using portrayals of women as housewives or equal to men. Overall, the findings suggest that “traditional” or “decorative” stereotypes are largely evident in all three audience types, although some “non-traditional” roles may occur. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

论中国招商引资过程中政府决策的合理性

Based on consumer and manufacturer behaviors, this research describes local governments’ unique role in the process of “attracting foreign direct investment (FDI)”. Drawing from a sample of 28 provinces plus four cities throughout China from 1998 to 2004, we construct an econometric model in this paper to analyze the common factors that influenced the result of “attracting FDI”. The main finding of this paper is that in the process of “attracting FDI”, local governments play a decisive role, which puts consumer surplus, producer surplus and the other social welfare into a basket to construct its plan for “attracting FDI”. The common factors which influence the result of “attracting FDI” are local costs, the number of foreign-invested company, the market share of local companies, and the market share of foreign-invested companies. Translate from Caimao Jingji 财贸经济 (Finance & Trade Economics), 2005, (12): 70–75     

Cognitive discrepancy in Chinese ��face��: Mian and lian, and their impact on cognition of country-of-origin image

Chinese “face,” as a complex social and psychological phenomenon, has attracted much attention from the fields of sociology and psychology. However, in the field of consumer behavior, research about how mianzi (face) affects consumer behavior is lacking. Moreover, research on the connotations of sub-dimension of mianzi (face), that is, lian and mian as well as their influences on consumer behavior is seldom seen. Based on the grounded theory, using focus group interviews and the self-report method, this study extracted scenario sentences of lian and mian, initially forming a preliminary scale with 14 positive items and 20 negative items concerning lian and mian. Moreover, by using close-ended questionnaire originated from previous grounded theory in terms of Chinese face, this study validated the discrepancy between “mian” and “lian.” Besides the discrepancy between “mian” and “lian” also appeared in consumer perception about product category and country-of-origin image.     

Mad as Hell or Scared Stiff? The Effects of Value Conflict and Emotions on Potential Whistle-Blowers

Existing whistle-blowing models rely on “cold” economic calculations and cost-benefit analyses to explain the judgments and actions of potential whistle-blowers. I argue that “hot” cognitions – value conflict and emotions – should be added to these models. I propose a model of the whistle-blowing decision process that highlights the reciprocal influence of “hot” and “cold” cognitions and advocate research that explores how value conflict and emotions inform reporting decisions. I draw on the cognitive appraisal approach to emotions and on the social-functional value pluralism model to generate propositions.     

Seven Pillars of Business Ethics: Toward a Comprehensive Framework

This article first addresses the question of “why” we teach business ethics. Our answer to “why” provides both a response to those who oppose business ethics courses and a direction for course content. We believe a solid, comprehensive course in business ethics should address not only moral philosophy, ethical dilemmas, and corporate social responsibility – the traditional pillars of the disciple – but also additional areas necessary to make sense of the goings-on in the business world and in the news. These “new pillars,” that we advocate include moral psychology, organizational design and behavior, motivational theory, and a unit on how society, business, and law interact. This last unit builds upon the work of Francis P. McHugh (1988) who urged an integration of “disciplines related to business ethics.” Our seventh pillar would encompass an integration of law, socio-political theory, and policy to demonstrate how business helps construct its own regulatory framework. The concluding recommendation is for a comprehensive “Seven Pillars” of business ethics approach. William Arthur Wines holds a B.S.B.A. with distinction from Northwestern University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan. He is admitted to the practice of law in Minnesota and the State of Washington. His research has appeared in over three dozen journals including the American Business Law Journal, Arizona Law Review, Economics of Education Review, Delaware Journal of Corporate Law, Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, Journal of Business Ethics, Labor Law Journal, Marquette Law Review, Nebraska Law Review, and The William and Mary Journal of Women and the Law. He is the author of two volumes of readings in business ethics and “Ethics, Law, and Business”, published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. in 2006. This material is subject to various copyright laws. Please do not transmit electronically, quote, or copy without the prior written permission of the author.     

Clearing Up the Egoist Difficulty with Loyalty

This paper seeks to analyze and to motivate a trend toward virtue ethics and away from deontology in the business ethics account of organizational loyalty. Prevailing authors appeal to “transcendent” values (deontology), skepticism (there is no loyalty), or Aristotelianism (loyalty is seeking mutual self-interest). I argue that the “Aristotelian” view clears up the “egoist” difficulty with loyalty. Briefly, critics feel we must “transcend,” “replace,” “overcome” and most especially sacrifice self-interest on the altar of ethics and loyalty. I argue that few things can be more ethical than loyalty to shared values. When a company and I both pursue the same value X, there becomes no difference between my seeking my best interest and my seeking the best interest of the company (and vice versa). Hence, the way out of the egoist difficulty with loyalty is seeing a company’s interests as my own (Aristotle’s third stage of friendship).     

Integrative Social Contract Theory and Urban Prosperity Initiatives

Urban communities in 21st century America are facing severe economic challenges, ones that suggest a mandate to contemplate serious changes in the way America does business. The middle class is diminishing in many parts of the country, with consequences for the economy as a whole. When faced with the loss of its economic base, any business community must make some difficult decisions about its proper role and responsibilities. Decisions to support the community must be balanced alongside and against responsibilities to owners, shareholders and relevant “stakeholders” in a relatively new context. Corporations in urban communities “hollowed out” by white flight or urban sprawl must decide what level of support they can and should provide. This paper examines corporate decisions within the emerging urban prosperity initiatives, using the framework of integrative social contract theory proposed by Donaldson and Dunfee. We suggest that urban prosperity initiatives present a mandate on corporations sufficiently strong as to qualify as an authentic norm. Further, we argue that strict adherence to a corporate bottom line approach or “corporate isolationism” is not congruent with contemporary community standards. Anita Cava is an Associate Professor of Business Law at the University of Miami’s School of Business Administration and serves as Co-Director of the University of Miami’s Ethics Programs, a university-wide entity that promotes research, teaching and service across the disciplines in areas of ethical interest and concern, and Director of Business Ethics Programs in the SBA. Professor Cava received her B.A. with Distinction from Swarthmore College and her J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she was a Hays Fellow. She joined the faculty after several years in private practice in Washington, D.C. and Miami. Her experience ranged from national employment cases to commercial and consumer litigation. Professor Cava’s teaching specialties are the legal environment of business and business ethics; here research interests concern legal and ethical aspects of healthcare administration, business ethics and employment issues. She has published in law reviews and business journals on such topics as “Advance Directives: Taking Control of End of Life Decisions,” “Law, Ethics and Management: Toward an Effective Audit” and “The Collision of Rights and s Search for Limits: Free Speech in the Academy and Freedom from Sexual Harassment of Campus”. Recipient of several School of Business Administration Excellence in Teaching Awards, Anita Cava was honored in 1996 by a University-wide Excellence in Teaching Award. She regularly teaches in UM’s well-known Executive MBA Program and has received Teaching Awards from these adult students as well. A frequent speaker on the topic of Business Ethics and Corporate Compliance, Professor Cava’s audiences have included community groups, management trainees, top executives of several corporations, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Goals Conference and Leadership Florida, among others. Don Mayer teaches ethics, legal environment of business, and environmental law at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He is a full professor in the Department of Management and Marketing at the School of Business. He attended Duke University Law School (J.D., 1973) and Georgetown University Law Center (Master of International and Comparative Law, 1985) and practiced law in North Carolina from 1975–1990 after serving in the United States Air Force from 1973–75. He has taught as a visiting professor at the University of Michigan, California Polytechnic State University, and the University of Iowa. He has been at Oakland University since 1990 and served as Associate Dean in 2000 and 2001. Professor Mayer has published in related areas of international law, environmental law, and corporate ethics. Recent publication include “Fort’s ‘Business as Mediating Institution’-A Holistic View of Corporate Governance and Ethics,” in 41 American Business Law Journal (Summer 2004), “Yes! We Have No Bananas: Forum Non Conveniens and Corporate Evasion,” Academy of Legal Studies International Business Law Review, vol. 4, at 130 (2004), and “Corporate Governance in the Cause of Peace: An Environmental Perspective,” Vanderbilt Transnational Law Journal, Vol. 35, No. 2 (March 2002). An article on corporate free speech and the Nike v. Kasky case is forthcoming in the Business Ethics Quarterly.     

Nurturing the Whole Person: The Ethics of Workplace Spirituality in a Society of Organizations

In a world which can be increasingly described as a “society of organizations,” it is incumbent upon organizational researchers to account for the role of organizations in determining the well-being of societies and the individuals that comprise them. Workplace spirituality is a young area of inquiry with potentially strong relevance to the well-being of individuals, organizations, and societies. Previous literature has not examined ethical dilemmas related to workplace spirituality that organizations might expect based upon the co-existence of multiple ethical work climates, nor has previous literature accounted for the relevance of the cosmopolitan (external, societal) source of moral reasoning in the ethical treatment of workplace spirituality. The purpose of this paper is to address these gaps by articulating two such ethical dilemmas related to workplace spirituality: the “quiet desperation” dilemma and the instrumentality dilemma. Moreover, I propose two theoretical contexts that foster “both-and” rather than “either-or” thinking, thereby mitigating (moderating) the relationships between climate combinations and conflictual aspects of the ethical dilemmas. For the “quiet desperation” dilemma, I propose a person–organization fit perspective to emphasize diversity of individual preferences instead of a managerially prescribed uniformity of spirituality. For the instrumentality dilemma, I propose a multiparadigm approach to workplace spirituality research to avoid the privileging of one research interest over another (e.g., instrumentality, individual fulfillment, societal good). I conclude with suggestions for future research.     

Flexicurity – a European Approach to Labour Market Policy

Although linguistically somewhat strange, “flexicurity”, the combination of labour market flexibility and security for employees, has become a much praised cornerstone of European labour market policies. Obviously, in an environment with rapid technical progress and frequently changing market conditions, employers need to manage their labour force flexibly. In order to achieve this flexibility without creating an unbearable situation for employees, security is the second pillar of the concept. Security refers, however, to “employability” rather than safety from dismissal. As such, the concept looks like an innovative European way of consolidating economic and social interests, although some argue that much flexibility is gained while the security aspect is being neglected. The concept has been successfully adopted in some European countries, notably Denmark and the Netherlands. However, each country has to find its own concept of “flexicurity” using a distinct combination of instruments that fit the national institutional, social and civic context.     

Ethical Theory and Business Practices: The Case of Discourse Ethics

By focusing on the reasoned debate in the discourse-ethical approach to business ethics, this paper discusses the possibilities and limitations of moral reasoning as well as applied economic and business ethics. Business ethics, it is contended, can be looked at from the standpoint of two criteria: justification and application. These criteria are used to compare three approaches: the Integrative Business Ethics, developed by Swiss philosopher Peter Ulrich, the Cultural Business Ethics of the Nuremberg School in German business ethics, and the concept of “Good Conservation” by Frederick Bird. It is argued that discourse-ethical approaches can be called upon for justifying moral principles. Improving the chances of their application, however, necessitates a good understanding of lifeworlds and culturally developed institutional settings. Bearing this in mind, further research perspectives stressing a linkage between discourse-ethical and critical approaches in social sciences are suggested.Dr. Thomas Beschorner is head of the research group “Social Learning and Sustainability” at University of Oldenburg, Germany and currently Visiting-Professor at McGill University, Montreal, Canada     

Challenges for Corporate Ethics in Marketing Genetic Tests

Public discussions of ethical issues related to the biotechnology industry tend to treat “biotechnology” as a single, undifferentiated technology. Similarly, the pros and cons associated with this entire sector tend to get lumped together, such that individuals and groups often situate themselves as either “pro-” or “anti-” biotechnology as a whole. But different biotechnologies and their particular application context pose very different challenges for ethical corporate decision-making. Even within a single product category, different specialty products can pose strikingly different ethical challenges. In this paper, we focus on the single over-arching category of “genetic testing” and compare tests for disease susceptibility and drug response. We highlight the diversity of ethical challenges – grouped under the broad categories of “truth in advertising” and “protecting intellectual property” – raised by the commercialization and marketing of these technologies. By examining social and technical differences between genetic tests, and the associated corporate ethics challenges posed by their commercialization, our intent is to contribute to the nascent business ethics literature examining issues raised by the development and marketing of genetic tests. Bryn Williams-Jones is Assistant Professor in the Département de médecine sociale et préventive and a member of the Groupé de recherche en bioéthique at the Université de Montréal, Canada. An interdisciplinary scholar, Bryn employs analytic tools from applied ethics, health policy and the social sciences to deconstruct the complexity of new technologies and analyse the embedded ethical, social, and political values. Current research focuses on commercial genetic testing (disease susceptibility, pharmacogenetics), biotechnology and intellectual property rights, and conflicts of interest arising with the commercialization of university research and development of industry partnerships. Vural Ozdemir is Director of the Biomarker and Clinical Pharmacology Unit, VA Long Beach Medical Center at the School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine and Co-Chair (together with Bryn Williams-Jones) for the Ethics and Science Policy Committee of the Pacific Rim Association for Clinical Pharmacogenetics. A clinical pharmacologist, Vural’s scientific research focuses on genetic and environmental determinants of inter-individual and inter-ethnic variations in drug safety and effectiveness. Ongoing socio-ethical analyses examine, for example, the role of Mertonian standards in university knowledge-commons and resolution of conflicts arising from the dual role of academic scientists as both actors and narrators in university-industry relationships.     

Patterns of Research Productivity in the Business Ethics Literature: Insights from Analyses of Bibliometric Distributions

In any academic discipline, published articles in respective journals represent “production units” of scientific knowledge, and bibliometric distributions reflect the patterns in such outputs across authors or “producers.” Closely following the analysis approach used for similar studies in the economics and finance literature, we present the first study to examine whether there exists an empirical regularity in the bibliometric patterns of research productivity in the business ethics literature. Our results present strong evidence that there indeed exists a distinct empirical regularity. It is the so-called Generalized Lotka’s Law of scientific productivity pattern: the number of authors publishing n papers is about 1/n ^c of those publishing one paper. We discuss the likely processes that underlie the productivity pattern postulated by the Generalized Lotka’s Law. We find that the value of the exponent c is equal to about 2.6 for the comprehensive bibliometric data across the two leading business ethics journals. The observed research productivity pattern in the business ethics area, a relatively young discipline, is interestingly very consistent with those found in much older, related business disciplines like economics, accounting, and finance. We discuss the general implications of our findings.     

Fairness and Consumer Decision Making under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive

This article analyses the unfairness concept from the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD). It considers why the nature and level of protection is particularly important given the range of coverage of the regime and the Europeanisation agenda. It argues that the UCPD concept provides the potential for a relatively protective approach to consumer decision making. At the same time, it emphasizes that realisation of this potential is partly dependent on recognizing the limits of transparency as a protective tool and in understanding the “professional diligence” and “average consumer” concepts in particular ways. It is further suggested that the protective potential of the regime is not necessarily undermined by the “average consumer” concept or by the “informed decision-making” paradigm of the general unfairness clause. Indeed, the general clause may be capable of extending the protective effects to some extent. Finally, it is suggested that regulators may have a key role to play in maximizing both the level of protection and the prospects for a genuinely common European approach.     

Applications of Business Theatre in New Service Development

Applying business theatre can not only make a contribution in the context of change management, learning and development processes in companies, but also in the new service development (NSD) process. The authors show how business theatre can be applied in each step of NSD and present insights that they gained from a students’ and a research project. As service theatre addresses the “emotional side”, it is an ideal complement to a systematic NSD approach that addresses the “rational side” of a service.     

Productivity and Microeconomic Reforms: Strengthening EU Competitiveness

This paper argues that standards of living are a meaningful measure of competitiveness. It views comparisons with the performance of other regions, and in particular with the US, as an evaluation of the distance to the “technology frontier” and the potential for improvements. Productivity and external competitiveness developments are reviewed from a sectoral perspective. A forward looking dimension is given by a brief presentation of the revised “Lisbon Strategy” and the new industrial policy approach proposed by the European Commission.      

中国本土文化环境下的商务"关系":一项探索性研究

Recently, guanxi has become one of the hottest topics in domestic academia. Although relationship and guanxi are the same in Chinese characters, significant differences exist between the “relationship” in the western academic context and what Chinese people are familiar with, the Chinese “guanxi”. The indiscriminate imitation of the western relationship marketing in China neglecting the Chinese native culture context is detrimental to a true and thorough understanding of the Chinese relationship marketing practice. Therefore, it is of great significance to conduct research on guanxi in the Chinese native commercial context. Based on domestic and foreign literature review, this paper uses a qualitative research method including content analysis and focus group to get a thorough understanding of guanxi both from the academia and from the practitioners, followed by quantitative analysis methods including questionnaire investigation and factor analysis to develop a native commercial guanxi concept scale. After comparison of the qualitative and quantitative research results, an integrated guanxi concept system is built, which lays foundation for the future guanxi research. __________ Translated and revised from Yingxiao kexue xuebao 营销科学学报 (Journal of Marketing Science), 2006, 9(1): 1–14     

The Institutionalization of Fair Trade: More than Just a Degraded Form of Social Action

The context of economic globalization has contributed to the emergence of a new form of social action which has spread into the economic sphere in the form of the new social economic movements. The emblematic figure of this new generation of social movements is fair trade, which influences the economy towards political or social ends. Having emerged from multiple alternative trade practices, fair trade has gradually become institutionalized since the professionalization of World Shops, the arrival of fair trade products in the food industry, and the establishment of an official “fair trade” label. With the strength that this institutionalization has generated, fair trade can now be considered a real trade system that questions, as much as it renews, the traditional economic system. In parallel, this transformation has exacerbated the tensions within the movement, which can be characterized as a clash between a “radical, militant” pole and a “softer, more commercial” one. However, it is not the actual institutionalization of fair trade which is being debated among fair trade actors on either side of the fence, but rather the challenges inherent in finding an economic institutionalization acceptable to social economic movements. Therefore the institutionalization process of fair trade should not be seen as mere degradation of social action, but rather as typical of the institutionalization process of new social economic movements. If we need to worry about the highjacking and alteration of the fair trade movement by the dominant economic system, the opposite is no less likely, as new social economic movements contribute to an ethical restructuring of markets.     

Do Ethics Matter? Tax Compliance and Morality

In this article we argue that puzzle of tax compliance can be explained, at least in part, by recognizing the typically neglected role of ethics in individual behavior; that is, individuals do not always behave as the selfish, rational, self-interested individuals portrayed in the standard neoclassical paradigm, but rather are often motivated by many other factors that have as their main foundation some aspects of “ethics.” We argue that it is not possible to understand fully an individual’s compliance decisions without considering in some form these ethical dimensions. Specifically, we argue here that there is much direct and indirect evidence that ethics differ across individuals and that these differences matter in significant ways for their compliance decisions. We then put this in the larger context of the inability of the standard neoclassical paradigm to explain compliance of at least some individuals, and we suggest several possible avenues by which theory can be expanded to incorporate ethics. We conclude by arguing that a full house of compliance strategies is needed to combat tax evasion, strategies that include the traditional “enforcement” paradigm suggested by and consistent with neoclassical theory, a less traditional “service” paradigm that recognizes the important role of a “kinder and gentler” tax administration in encouraging compliance, and, importantly, a new “trust” paradigm that is built on the foundation of ethics, in which the tax administration must recognize that it can erode the ethics of taxpayers by its own decisions.     

One More Awareness Gap? The Behaviour–Impact Gap Problem

Preceding research has made hardly any attempt to measure the ecological impacts of pro-environmental behaviour in an objective way. Those impacts were rather supposed or calculated. The research described herein scrutinized the ecological impact reductions achieved through pro-environmental behaviour and raised the question how much of a reduction in carbon footprint can be achieved through voluntary action without actually affecting the socio-economic determinants of life. A survey was carried out in order to measure the difference between the ecological footprint of “green” and “brown” consumers. No significant difference was found between the ecological footprints of the two groups—suggesting that individual pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour do not always reduce the environmental impacts of consumption. This finding resulted in the formulation of a new proposition called the BIG (behaviour–impact gap) problem, which is an interesting addition to research in the field of environmental awareness gaps.