The Golden Rule and Business Ethics: An Examination

The phenomenon of globalization of markets has been accompanied by calls for a globalization of ethical norms. One principle often referred to in such calls is the so-called Golden Rule. The rule, often stated as Do unto others as you would have others do unto you, has long been used and referenced in the business literature. But those who use it often do so without full realization of the rule itself and what it stands for. This paper examines the history, meaning, and problems of the rule and attempts to show, through a case analysis, how these problems surface when using the rule in a business context. In so doing it attempts to clarify exactly what the rule means and how it can fit into a universal code of morality.     

The Moral Floor: A Philosophical Examination of the Connection Between Ethics and Business

This paper examines the philosophical basis for the argument that there is a connection between ethical behavior and profitability. Both sides of this argument – that good ethics is good business and that bad ethics is bad business – are explored. The possibility of a moral floor above which ethical behavior is not rewarded is considered, and an economic experiment testing such a proposition is discussed. Johnson & Johnson suffers a potentially devastating blow when some cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules cause several deaths. Johnson & Johnson voluntarily pulls Tylenol off the shelf, to universal acclaim. When Tylenol is returned to the marketplace, its share of the over-the-counter painkiller market becomes greater than it was before the tragedy. Arthur Andersen, the venerable accounting firm, is caught in the web surrounding the downfall of Enron, Inc. As Enron’s various sins are discovered, it is found that Arthur Andersen auditors had signed off on flawed audits and had shredded documents to cover themselves. Andersen is prosecuted for, and convicted of, obstructing justice (although the conviction is later overturned). Today the firm barely exists and has no resemblance to the Big Five accounting giant of 1999. These stories seem to indicate that ethical (or unethical) behavior leads to positive (or negative) financial results. But the philosophical arguments underpinning such statements are seldom subjected to proper analysis. They are perhaps wishful thinking, or perhaps based on examples such as the above without considering other examples that may reinforce a contrary position. This paper will explore the philosophical arguments and empirical evidence regarding these statements and state some research questions for exploration in this area. In particular we will propose the possibility that a moral floor exists above which firms that engage in ethical activities will not reap rewards, but below which firms that engage in unethical activities will be punished by actors in the economic marketplace. We will discuss an economic experiment to determine if such actors indeed form a moral floor.     

Moral Luck and Business Ethics

Moral luck – which seems to appear when circumstances beyond a person’s control influence our moral attributions of praise and blame – is troubling in that modern moral theory has supposed morality to be immune to luck. In business, moral luck commonly influences our moral judgments, many of which have economic consequences that cannot be reversed. The possibility that the chance intervention of luck could influence the way in which we assign moral accountability in business ethics is unsettling. This paper argues that if we cannot explain moral luck away, we should give consideration to moral risk in our moral judgments and the associated assignment of economic rewards regarding episodes in which moral luck plays a role.     

Business Ethics and Moral Motivation: A Criminological Perspective

The prevalence of white-collar crime casts a long shadow over discussions in business ethics. One of the effects that has been the development of a strong emphasis upon questions of moral motivation within the field. Often in business ethics, there is no real dispute about the content of our moral obligations, the question is rather how to motivate people to respect them. This is a question that has been studied quite extensively by criminologists as well, yet their research has had little impact on the reflections of business ethicists. In this article, I attempt to show how a criminological perspective can help to illuminate some traditional questions in business ethics. I begin by explaining why criminologists reject three of the most popular folk theories of criminal motivation. I go on to discuss a more satisfactory theory, involving the so-called “techniques of neutralization,” and its implications for business ethics.

Defining a Moral Problem in Business Ethics

Managing expectations in a business ethicscourse is important and a key place to begin iswith a definition of a moral problem. Untilrecently I would explain, using moral terms,good and bad, right and wrong, duty or obligation or theircognates, what a moral problem is generally andthen what it may be in business. However Ifound that using familiar terms with vague orambiguous meanings to define the subject matterof the course counterproductive. What Irequired is a means of explaining to thebeginning student what a moral problem iswithout relying on the prior associations andmeanings of the term moral that thestudent brings to the discussion. In recentyears I realized that what I wanted, as astarting point for the business ethics course,is a definition of moral problem thatdoes not use specifically moral terms i.e.good, bad, right, wrong, duty. For pedagogicalreasons, I wanted a definition that suppliesthe criteria for determining whether a givenproblem is a moral problem or not without usingcommon moral terms. This paper reviews thetreatment given to the concept of a moralproblem in a number of standard business ethicstexts and then presents a working definitionthat does not rely on the use of specificallymoral terms. The definition is then critiquedfor limitations and weaknesses.     

The Ethics Narrative and the Role of the Business School in Moral Development

Media stories of ethical lapses in business are relentless. The general public vacillates between revulsion, impatience, cynicism, and apathy. The role of the Business School in Moral Development is debated by scholars, accrediting agencies, and Schools of Businesses. It is a question to which there is no easy answer and one with which Business Schools continue to grapple. This article places the concept of “moral imagination,” theories of moral development, and ethics in a behavioral context. It then discusses a staple of business education, the case study, as a form of ethics narrative that provides ethical modeling within that context. Finally, in discussing the narrative role of the classroom professor in ethical modeling, it provides a framework for further discussion of the role of business education in moral development.     

The Untapped Relevance of Moral Development Theory in the Study of Business Ethics

The construct of cognitive moral development seemingly has powerful practical relevance in many areas of life. Nonetheless, moral reasoning seems of marginal relevance at best in the context of business ethics. Simply put, moral reasoning measurement indices are often only weakly related to many other apparently pertinent variables, and such findings cast doubt upon the construct validity of cognitive moral development. Many such unexpectedly weak relationships, however, may stem from two largely unrecognized methodological artifacts. The first artifact is an almost total reliance on the P index of the Defining Issues Test (DIT) designed to assess moral development even when this index may be inappropriate in a particular context. A second artifact that seems particularly salient in the context of attitudes toward authority involves a not always appropriate reliance on samples that include respondents whose moral reasoning is uncoupled from their action choices. These artifacts may restrict the amount of variance explained in observed relationships, and thus constrain the potential for moral reasoning to understand and explain behavior and attitudes relevant in the context of business ethics. Researchers are urged to use DIT D scores (in addition to P scores) in specific situations, and to examine relationships among high DIT U scorers whose moral reasoning is tightly coupled with their action choices. The application of these guidelines may have profound implications for advancing our fundamental understanding of moral reasoning, and of increasing its relevance to business ethics.     

The Questionable Use of Moral Development Theory in Studies of Business Ethics: Discussion and Empirical Findings

The topic of the article is how moral development theory can enlighten the understanding of ethical behaviour in business. It discusses previous research on the subject, and reports an empirical study of academics (engineers and business economists with a master degree) working in the private sector in Norway.Moral development theory is based on a long research tradition, and many researchers within business ethics have assumed the importance of moral reasoning in business environments. However, the truth of these assumptions has not been confirmed by previous empirical research.The article reports on my investigation into the relationship between moral reasoning, ethical attitudes and decision-making behaviour. The data were collected by a survey study among Norwegian engineers and business economists working in businesses (N = 449) in 1997.It has been hypothesised that strong ethical attitudes would have a restraining effect on moral reasoning. In order to test this, ethical attitudes were categorized into four issue categories. The assumption being that the four categories would explain the different restraints on moral reasoning. The statistical testing showed that there was a negative, but not significant, correlation between strong attitudes and good moral reasoning ability.It was also hypothesised that good ability in moral reasoning would tend to exhibit a smaller difference between Policy-decisions and Action-decisions. This hypothesis was based on the difference in behaviour explained in "espoused theory" and "theory in use". When making policy-decisions these can be based on espoused theory and nice "talk" because it is always possible to make exceptions to or reconsider a policy. Action-decisions, on the other hand, are very concrete because they immediately trigger an action. The statistical testing rejected my hypothesis but gave a significant converse result: Good ability in moral reasoning seems to imply less stability and more inconsistence.The article concludes with the fact that moral reasoning testing seems to explain some differences in moral reasoning among people in business but not what kind of behavioural effects these differences actually have.     

A Multicultural Examination of Business Ethics Perceptions

This study provides an evaluation of ethical business perception of busIness students from three countries: Australia, Taiwan and the United States. Although statistically significant differences do exist there is significant agreement with the way students perceive ethical/unethical practices in business. The findings of this paper indicate a universality of business ethical perceptions.     

Enhancing Business Ethics: Using Cases to Teach Moral Reasoning

The growing trend of required ethics instruction in the business school curriculum has created a need for relevant teaching materials. In response to this need the Journal of Business Ethics is introducing a new case section. This section provides a forum for publishing and accessing a range of materials that can be used in teaching business ethics. This article discusses how business ethics cases can facilitate the development of deductive, inductive and critical reasoning skills.     

Moral Identity as Leverage Point in Teaching Business Ethics

This paper examines whether appealing to learners’ moral identity makes a significant contribution to improving their ethical decision making beyond traditional, rule-based teaching. In response to criticisms leveled at rule-based ethics teaching by alternative approaches, we identify moral identity theory and experiments in moral psychology as useful sources to draw on for the creation of a new, identity-based ethics teaching approach. We develop and apply a set of regular self-reflection focused writing tasks added to the traditional teaching program over a one-semester period, and assess the outcomes of an overall sample of 149 postgraduate business school students, who were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: exposure to both identity-based tasks and rule-based teaching, exposure to rule-based teaching only, and the control condition (i.e., no exposure to ethics teaching). Our findings show that, while the three groups reported the same level of ethical decision making at the beginning of the semester, at the end of the semester the students who were exposed to both identity-based and rule-based teaching reported higher level of ethical decision making compared to those who were only exposed to rule-based education. In addition, the students who received rule-based teaching reported higher ethical decision making compared to those in the control condition. These results suggest that a teaching approach which appeals to the learner’s moral identity can act as an effective leverage point when complementing rule-based teaching. This simple approach should be widely adopted as common practice in graduate business schools.     

Moral Schemas and Business Practices: The Ethics of Guangzhou Migrant Marketers

This article explores the ethics of migrant marketers in Guangzhou. Data were collected from 357 migrant marketers who lived in Guangzhou. A model of Ethical Action has been developed to test the antecedents and outcomes of the ethical decision-making process. It measured moral intention using four ethical scenarios. The results show that the egoistic schema had a positive effect on their intention to act unethically, while the legislative schema exerted a negative effect. The results confirm that moral intention was a strong predictor of an individual’s subsequent actual behavior, and it fully mediated the influence of the legislative schema on actual behavior. This study adds to ethics literature by incorporating the construct of social identity and found a moderating effect between the legislative schema and moral intention. The relationships were stronger for individuals who were lower rather than higher in social identity. Analysis of these results lead to a discussion of the implications for marketing ethics in China.     

Business Students' Perception of Ethics and Moral Judgment: A Cross-Cultural Study

Business relations rely on shared perceptions of what is acceptable/expected norms of behavior. Immense expansion in transnational business made rudimentary consensus on acceptable business practices across cultural boundaries particularly important. Nonetheless, as more and more nations with different cultural and historical experiences interact in the global economy, the potential for misunderstandings based on different expectations is magnified. Such misunderstandings emerge in a growing literature on "improper" business practices – articulated from a narrow cultural perspective. This paper reports an ongoing research on the cultural and contextual aspects of business ethics. The objective is to investigate how the perception/attitudes of business students towards the ethical dimension of doing business varies in different countries; Whether there are socio-cultural factors that influence the perception of ethicality in business practices. Research findings among business students in six countries: China, Egypt, Finland, Korea, Russia, and the U.S.A. are reported. While all groups had basic agreement on what constitutes ethical business practices, differences are found in the respondents' tolerance to damage resulting from "unethical" behavior. Without underestimating the role of national culture, variations in research results also point to the importance of current socio-political developments in the relevant countries. Implications for business teaching and management development are discussed.     

Moral Dilemmas in Business Ethics: From Decision Procedures to Edifying Perspectives

There have been many attempts during the history of applied ethics that have tried to develop a theory of moral reasoning. The goal of this paper is to explicate one aspect of the debate between various attempts of offering a specific method for resolving moral dilemmas. We contrast two kinds of deliberative methods: deliberative methods whose goal is decision-making and deliberative methods that are aimed at gaining edifying perspectives. The decision-making methods assessed include the traditional moral theories like utilitarianism and Kantianism, as well as second order principles, such as principlism and specified principlism. In light of this assessment, we suggest taking a closer look at two perceptive models, casuistry and particularism. These models are used for dealing with moral dilemmas that provide for edifying perspectives rather than decision-making. These perceptive models, though less scientific and not as good at prescribing an action, are more human in the sense that they enrich our moral sensibilities and enhance our understanding of the meaning of the situation. Yotam Lurie is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Ethics at the Department of Management at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. Lurie holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on a variety of issues in applied ethics, particularly within the context of business and professional ethics. Robert Albin is a Lecturer in Philosophy and Ethics and the Chair of the Department of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Sapir College, which is located in the Negev Region, Israel. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Research interests are in the fields of Philosophy of Culture and applied ethics with a special interest in journalistic ethics. He published a book on the topic: A Chronicle of the Decline of Rationality: Ethics in the Practice of Journalism, 2004. (in Hebrew).     

Teaching Business Ethics: The Role of Ethics in Business and in Business Education

The paper begins with an examination of traditional attitudes towards business ethics. I suggest that these attitudes fail to recognize that a principal function of ethics is to facilitate cooperation. Further that despite the emphasis on competition in modern market economies, business like all other forms of social activity is possible only where people are prepared to respect rules in the absence of which cooperation is rendered difficult or impossible. Rules or what I call the ethics of doing, however, constitute just one dimension of ethics. A second has to do with what we see and how we see it; a third with who we or what I describe as the ethics of being. Of these three dimensions, the first and the third have been most carefully explored by philosophers and are most frequently the focus of attention when teaching business ethics is being discussed. I argue that this focus is unfortunate in as much as it is the second dimension which falls most naturally into the ambit of modern secular educational institutions. It is here that moral education is most obviously unavoidable, and most clearly justifiable in modern secular teaching environments. I conclude by describing the importance of this second dimension for the modern world of business.     

Weaning Business Ethics from Strategic Economism: The Development Ethics Perspective

For more than three decades, business ethics has suggested and evaluated strategies for multinationals to address abject deprivations and weak regulatory institutions in developing countries. Critical appraisals, internal and external, have observed these concerns being severely constrained by the overwhelming prioritization of economic values, i.e., economism. Recent contributions to business ethics stress a re-imagination of the field wherein economic goals are downgraded and more attention given to redistribution of wealth and well-being of the weaker individuals and groups. Development ethics, a lesser known field of normative enquiry, already offers nuanced justifications against economism which business ethicists can use in their current attempts to wean the field from old habits.     

Ethics,Moral Development,and Accountants-in-Training

This research investigates how ethical stages of development, locus of control, age, and gender separately and jointly affect ethical decision-making. Senior- and graduate-level university accounting students are used to examine the link between moral development and ethical responses. Four accounting-environment vignettes are used in the survey. Two of the vignettes are more closely linked to the Code of Professional Conduct; the other two vignettes describe ethical dilemmas that are less code-driven. The expectation is that moral development, as measured by the Defining Issues Test (DIT), will indicate a link to expected responses on the vignette items not specifically covered by the Code.Because an individual's locus of control (LOC) may also be expected to have an impact on ethical decision-making, a LOC variable is examined. Based on a review of the LOC and ethics studies, the expectation is that internal LOC respondents would respond more ethically. Much of the ethical research has also included an examination of gender and age differences. However, the results have indicated conflicting evidence. This research also examines the gender and age issues within the senior-graduate student accounting context.Results indicate that gender is insignificant in the analysis. The LOC variable is significant on one of the vignettes. Additionally, the DIT P score is significant in another of the vignette decisions. Possible reasons for the results are discussed.