The Business Ethics of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata – A Forerunner in Promoting Stakeholder Welfare

This article examines the business practices of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the founder the Tata group of business in India in the 19th century, from the perspective of stakeholder welfare. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata was concerned about the welfare of all major stakeholder constituents. His business practices promoted the welfare of employees, customers, society, owners, competitors, environment and other stakeholders. He implemented several measures even before law mandated them thus acting as a forerunner in promoting stakeholder welfare. His business plans became the foundation for an economically strong India. This article, after an initial overview of the stakeholder framework, describes the business practices of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata with regard to major stakeholder constituents. Relevant research findings regarding each stakeholder constituent studied have been cited to show that the practices of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata have relevance to business even today. The author humbly dedicates the article to Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the Revered Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai University, Prasanthinilayam, India.     

Transcending Transformation: Enlightening Endeavours at Tata Steel

It is indeed a challenge for corporations to insulate themselves from the adverse conditions around and foster an organizational culture that ensures ethical behaviour. In their effort to foster and maintain such an organizational culture, corporations through various endeavours try to institutionalize ethics. A successful strategy that aims to institutionalize ethics starts with developing/adopting and implementing codes of conduct and duly complements with ethics education and management. This paper captures the enlightening endeavours of Tata Steel relating to institutionalizing ethics and its impact on transformation within the corporation and its transcendence beyond. Anwar HashmiS Elankumaran is OCL Visiting Asst. Professor at Management Centre for Human Values, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Kolkata, India. He may be reached at kumaran@iimcal.ac.in & elankumaran@hotmail.com. Ms. Rekha Seal is Ethics Counsellor at Tata Steel, Jamshedpur, India. She may be reached at ethics.counsellor@tatasteel.com & rekhaseal@lot.tatasteel.com Anwar Hashmi is Senior Manager – Ethics at Tata Steel, Jamshedpur, India. He may be reached at anwarhashmi@tatasteel.com     

Peter Drucker and the Denial of Business Ethics

This paper speculates upon the reasons for Peter Drucker's ongoing and vigorous denial of the relevance of business ethics. It contemplates whether Drucker consciously, or even perhaps subconsciously, associates the aims of business ethics with the aims of those associated with the Arbeitsfreude movement in Germany prior to the outbreak of the second world war. If this is the case the paper questions whether Drucker's distaste for some of the more notorious outcomes of that movement in Germany are reflected in his hostility to business ethics. Drucker's reflections regarding the social responsibilities of business are discussed, as are the limitations which he imposes upon such corporate social responsibility. Drucker's distinction between societal ethics and individual ethics are also discussed.     

The attitudes of business majors toward the teaching of business ethics

Business majors were tested for their attitudes toward the teaching of business ethics in university business education. Respondents indicated that they considered ethics an important part of a business curriculum and that they preferred integrating ethics into a number of different courses rather than taking a separate compulsory or elective ethics course. Ethical business practices were seen by respondents as increasing profit and return on investment and creating a positive work environment and public perception of the organization.Karen Stewart is an Assistant Professor at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. She has taught undergraduate business courses for over ten years and has published in the areas of educational marketing, business school accreditation, marketing by nonprofit agencies, and business ethics.Linda Felicetti is a Professor of Marketing at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. She has published in the areas of retailing, educational marketing, marketing of nonprofit organizations, and business ethics.Scott A. Kuehn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. He earned his Ph.D. in Communication in 1987. His research interests include the study of computer communication and the educational application of computers in higher education.     

The appearance standard: Criteria and remedies for when a mere appearance of unethical behavior is morally unacceptable

While there are companies whose codes of ethics state that mere appearance of unethical behavior by employees is morally unacceptable, this so‐called appearance standard has hardly received any attention in the business ethics literature. Using corporate integrity theory, this article explores the criteria that may explain how mere appearances of unethical behavior can arise (i.e., the presence of conflicts of interests, the entanglement of these interests, a reputation for lack of integrity, and deviant outcomes) and those that may make such appearances morally unacceptable (i.e., foreseeability, avoidability, and seriousness). The article proposes remedies for preventing and resolving instances when mere appearance of unethical behavior is morally unacceptable.     

Exposure to Ethics Education and the Perception of Linkage between Organizational Ethical Behavior and Business Outcomes

This study focused on the effects of individual characteristics and exposure to ethics education on perceptions of the linkage between organizational ethical practices and business outcomes. Using a stratified sampling approach, 817 students were randomly selected from a population of approximately 1310 business students in an AACSB accredited college of business. Three hundred and twenty eight of the subjects were freshmen, 380 were seniors, and 109 were working managers and professionals enrolled in a night-time MBA program. Overall, the respondents included 438 male students and 379 female students. Exposure to ethics in the curriculum had a significant impact on student perceptions of what should be the ideal linkages between organizational ethical practices and business outcomes. Gender based differences were found with female students having a higher expectation regarding what should be the “ethics practices and business outcomes” link. Exposure to ethics in the curriculum had a positive moderating influence on the gender-based effects on perceptions of ideal ethical climate. The interaction effect showed that exposure to ethical education may have a positive impact on males and allow them to catch up with females in their ethical sensitivities concerning the ideal linkage between organizational ethical behavior and business outcomes. Further, consistent with the literature, the study found that gender differences in ethical attitudes regarding the ideal ethical climate, while significant for undergraduates, appeared to narrow considerably for the working professionals who were part-time MBA students. Harsh Luthar is an Associate Professor of Management at Bryant University. He received his Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic University, Pamplin College of Business, in the Department of Management. His research interests include international differences and cross-cultural issues impacting global human resource practices, ethical attitudes of students, and the nature of spiritual leadership. Ranjan Karri is an Assistant Professor of Management at Bryant University. He received his Ph.D. in strategic management from Washington State University. His research interests include corporate and business strategies, enterpreneurship, ethical leadership and corporate governance.     

Corporate Identity,Ethics and Reputation in Supplier–Buyer Relationships

Multi-national corporations (MNCs) have been criticised for not behaving ethically in some situations, which could have a negative effect on their reputation. This study examines the ethics of a large MNC in its relationship with its suppliers. A brief literature review of corporate identity, business ethics and buyer–supplier relationships is undertaken. The views and perceptions of the buying staff and the suppliers to a large South African MNC are obtained and discussed. The results indicate that this MNC has a good corporate reputation among both its suppliers (an important stakeholder) and its own buying department. The existence and implementation of formal codes of ethics was found to be a necessary, but not sufficient condition for good ethical practice. Candid relationships with suppliers emerged as a second and important factor. Ethical perceptions of buyers by suppliers are driven by the management of corporate identity, through the elements of ethical standards and candid relationships. We present a model of corporate identity/reputation in Buyer–Supplier Relationships. Michael Bendixen is a Professor of Research Methodology and Statistics at the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business at Nova Southeastern University, Florida. His research interests include business ethics, governance and culture. His articles have appeared in the European Journal of Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of International Business Studies and Journal of Marketing Management amongst others. Russell Abratt is a Professor of Marketing at the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business at Nova Southeastern University, Florida. His research interests include corporate identity management and business ethics. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business and Psychology, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management, Industrial Marketing Management, and Business Horizons amongst others.     

Morality and Strategy in Stakeholder identification

Definitions of what it is to be a stakeholder are divided into "claimant" definitions requiring some sort of claim on the services of a business, "influencer" definitions requiring only a capacity to influence the workings of the business, and "combinatory" definitions allowing for either or both of these requirements. It is argued that for the purposes of business ethics, stakeholding has to be about improving the moral conduct of businesses by directing them at serving more than just the interests of owners. On that basis, influencer definitions are eliminated on the grounds that they only concern morally neutral strategic considerations and combinatory definitions on the grounds that the combining of ethical and strategic considerations they promise can be less confusingly achieved through an exclusively claimant definition. It is concluded that for the purposes of business ethics, stakeholders are claimants towards whom businesses owe perfect or imperfect moral duties beyond those generally owed to people at large.     

Impression management,overclaiming, and perceived unethical conduct: The role of male and female managers

This study examines the impact of impression management and overclaiming on self-reported ethical conduct of 174 managers (67 male, 107 female) who worked for a large not-for-profit organization. As anticipated, impression management and overclaiming positively influenced perceived unethical conduct of managers. Female managers were more prone to impression management than male managers. There was no significant difference in perceived unethical conduct or level of overclaiming of male and female managers.Peter P. Schoderbek is Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Iowa. He is the author of six books and many articles on various aspects of management. He has lectured through out the United States, Canada, Japan, and Europe, and has conducted seminars for federal agencies, private corporations, universities, and governments. Much of his work has been in project management and goal setting. His recent interests include strategic policy, business ethics, and compensation. Satish Deshpande is an Associate Professor of Management at Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University. He teaches human resource management courses. His current research interests include business ethics, managerial decision-making, and applied psychology in human resource issues. His publications include articles in the Academy of Management Journal, Compensation and Benefits Review, Human Relations, Journal of Small Business Management, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.     

A multidimensional scale for measuring business ethics: A purification and refinement

Many researchers in the field of business ethics have attempted to develop methods to determine and evaluate the ethics of a variety of different classes of people, including students, professionals, and mixed samples of students and professionals. Unfortunately, most of these studies were disjunctive, simply adding confusion to an already unfocused area of research. However, Reidenbach and Robin (1988, 1990), have changed this trend by attempting to quantify the various ethical philosophies into a multi-dimensional scale of business ethics. This paper examines the background of the Reidenbach and Robin (1988, 1990) scale — including the authors' findings, empirically tests the scale, and concludes that the scale needs further refinement. A promising result is a model with four dimensions: a broadbased ethical judgment dimension, a deontological judgment dimension, a teleological judgment dimension, and a social contract dimension.Randall S. Hansen is ABD at Florida State University, where his major is marketing and his support area is strategic management. His research interests are directed toward the applied areas of managerial and consumer ethical decision-making as well as strategic issues in social responsibility. He has published in theProceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science, Proceedings of the Southern Marketing Association, andProceedings of the Southern Management Association.     

Honorableness or Beneficialness? Cicero on Natural Law, Virtues, Glory, and (Corporate) Reputation

During the last decade corporate reputation as one of the central efforts of corporate citizenship behavior has gained increasing attention in scholarly research, as has the way that reputation can serve as an instrument for business purposes. This poses the question of how such reputation will be achieved. To answer these questions this article examines Cicero’s considerations concerning the interrelation of honorableness and beneficialness made in his work ‘On Duties’. Based on Cicero’s understanding of universal natural law and his idea that reputation derives solely from honorable behavior and the orientation in the common good, we show that also corporate reputation is achieved only if it is based primarily on ‘honorableness’, and that reputation is lost if financial interests override the intentions of honesty of a company.     

Ethics,success, and job satisfaction: A test of dissonance theory in India

A survey of middle level managers in India (n=150) showed that when respondents perceived that successful managers in their organization behaved unethically their levels of job satisfaction were reduced. Reduction in satisfaction with the facet of supervision was the most pronounced (than with pay or promotion or co-worker or work). Results are interpreted within the framework of cognitive dissonance theory. Implications for ethics training programs (behavioral and cognitive) as well as international management are discussed. Chockalingam Viswesvaran is assistant professor at Florida International University. His research interests include business ethics and personnel management. He has published in Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Relations Industrielles. Satish P. Deshpande is associate professor at Western Michigan University. His research interests include business ethics, managerial decision making. He has published in Academy of Management Journal, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Relations Industrielles, and Human Relations.     

The legal and ethical components of executive decision-making: A course for business managers

The debate on whether and how to teach business ethics in graduate business programs continues. The authors of this article suggest specific content and processes for a course aimed at giving MBA candidates the awareness, tools, and mental processes necessary to recognize and address ethical issues in decision making. The inclusion of labor law, discrimination issues, consumer protection legislation, securities laws, and an overview of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights coupled with the development of utilitarian, deontological, and egalitarian analysis of ethical issues provides the tools and processes necessary for ethical decision making. These tools and processes are applied in several class experiences using cases, moral audits, and the development of a code of ethics to help students acquire the knowledge, skills, and values needed in ethical decision making.S. Andrew Ostapski is Associate Professor of Management and Information Systems at the College of Business Administration, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia. His teaching and research interests include the legal environment, business ethics, and international business.John E. Oliver, is presently Professor and Head of the Department of Management and Information Systems at Valdosta State University's College of Business Administration.Gaston T. Gonzalez is an Aggregate Professor at Universidad Simon Bolivar and Visiting Professor at IESA both at Caracas, Venezuela. His teaching and research interests focus on strategic management, business transformation through information technology, and the application of system thinking to the institutionalization of ethics in organizations.     

Assessing some determinant effects of ethical consulting behavior: The case of personal and professional values

A random sample of 207 national business consultants is employed to test the effects of individual values and professional ethics on consulting behavior. The results suggest that the individual values held by consultants are positively correlated with professional ethics, but are negatively correlated with consulting behavior. Moreover, there appears to be no significant relationship between the professional ethics of consultants and business consulting behavior. Findings and issues regarding the effectiveness of codes of ethics and implications for both the provider and recipient of professional consulting services are discussed.Dr. Jeff Allen is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Marketing at the University of Central Florida, Orlando. He received his D.B.A. in Marketing. Professor Allen has published in theJournal of Travel Research theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theJournal of Education for Business. Dr. Allen's research interests include social responsibility, distribution management, and the development of marketing strategy.Dr. Duane Davis is currently a Professor in the University of Central Florida's Department of Marketing. Dr. Davis received his D.B.A. in Marketing. Professor Davis has published in theJournal of Psychology, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Travel Research, Interfaces, andIndustrial Marketing Management. This research stream largely focuses on research methodology, marketing of services, and strategic marketing management. In addition, Dr. Davis has co-authoredBusiness Research for Decision Making with PWS-Kent Publishing Company.     

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Ethical Attitudes of Business Managers: India Korea and the United States

Culture has been identified as a significant determinant of ethical attitudes of business managers. This research studies the impact of culture on the ethical attitudes of business managers in India, Korea and the United States using multivariate statistical analysis. Employing Geert Hofstede's cultural typology, this study examines the relationship between his five cultural dimensions (individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and long-term orientation) and business managers' ethical attitudes. The study uses primary data collected from 345 business manager participants of Executive MBA programs in selected business schools in India, Korea and the United States using Hofstede's Value Survey Module (94) and an instrument designed by the researchers to measure respondents' ethical attitudes (attitudes toward business ethics in general and toward twelve common questionable practices in particular). Results indicate that national culture has a strong influence on business managers' ethical attitudes. In addition to national culture, respondents' general attitudes toward business ethics are related to their personal integrity; their attitudes toward questionable business practices are related to the external environment and gender, as well as to their personal integrity. A strong relationship exists between cultural dimensions of individualism and power distance and respondents' ethical attitudes toward certain questionable practices. The analysis of the relationship between cultural dimensions of masculinity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation and respondents' ethical attitudes toward questionable practices produced mixed results, likely due to the lack of notable differences in cultural dimension scores among the countries surveyed.     

What Managers Could See in the Philosophical Block of “Free Will”?

Business ethics’ theories have come under a lot of criticism lately. The problem has been the lack of a philosophical base or the inadequate implementation of it. We are trying to solve this problem by examining the roots of ethics and then applying it to the business environment. The root that has been undeservedly overlooked has been the concept of free will, the oldest philosophical problem on which every ethics theory lies. We have chosen two theories that we think would be the best base for business ethics. We will shortly present the others. Since free will presents the core of business ethics, business ethicists must first agree on which theory to implement. Aristotle’s and Aquinas’ theory of free will best amplify the core of economic theory, because it gives reason a central and most important role in the theory. The concept of free will is mainly philosophical as is business ethics so the article follows this tradition, but we tried to give business examples where possible. We do not give a final conclusion because it should be reached by debate and mutual agreement between business ethicists. Matej Drascek is presently a graduate student at University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Studies. His research interests include: corporate social responsibility, stakeholder theory and business ethics. Stane Maticic got his Phd in Theology at University of Lateran, Rome. He is presently a priest at the Archbishopric of Ljubljana. His research interests include: ethics, symbolism and theology.     

The Worldwide Academic Field of Business Ethics: Scholars’ Perceptions of the Most Important Issues

We conducted an international survey of 211 scholars with expertise in business ethics. Each respondent was asked to identify the three most important issues that business ethics academia will face in the coming decade. Using content analytic procedures, responses were categorized and analyzed for commonalities. The results suggest that the most important issues facing business ethics academia in the future will be the following: (1) issues relating to business ethics education such as curriculum, pedagogy, faculty, and accreditation (2) the credibility of the business ethics field, (3) environmental issues, (4) issues relating to business ethics research such as research tools and quality of business ethics research (5) the decline of ethical behavior in society and organizations, (6) corporate social responsibility (CSR), (7) globalization, and (8) the institutionalization of ethics into business. We maintain that these issues have important teaching and research implications for the future sustainability of the business ethics discipline.     

Ethical Rationality: A Strategic Approach to Organizational Crisis

In this paper, we present an ethical and strategic approach to managing organizational crises. The proposed crisis management model (1) offers a new approach to guide an organization’s strategic and ethical response to crisis, and (2) provides a two-by-two framework for classifying organizational crises. The ethically rational approach to crisis draws upon strategic rationality, crisis, and ethics literature to understand and address organizational crises. Recent examples of corporate crises are employed to illustrate the theoretical claims advanced. Finally, the paper provides guidelines for a morally optimal outcome for the organization and its stakeholders. Peter Snyder is a Ph.D. student in Organizations and Strategic Management at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research interests include strategy making and corporate governance. Molly Hall is an attorney who practices international and environmental law in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She teaches adjunct courses in business ethics, environmental policy, and the European Union. Joline Robertson is a Ph.D. candidate in Organizations and Strategic Management at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her research interests include international business. Tomasz Jasinski is a Ph.D. student in Organizations and Strategic Management at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research interests include strategic alliances. Janice S. Miller received her Ph.D. from Arizona State Univerity in Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resource management. She has been on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee UWM since 1996 and has served as the Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the School of Business Administration since 2002. Dr. Miller’s primary research interests include performance management, compensation and ethical issues in organizations.     

The Stockholder – A Lesson for Business Ethics from Bioethics?

Business ethics – both stockholder and stakeholder theories – makes the same mistake as the one made by the traditional ethics of medicine. The traditional ethics of medicine was a teleological ethics predicated on the assumption that the goal of medicine was to prolong life and promote better health. But, as bioethicists have made plain, these are not the only or even the overriding goals of most patients. Most of us have goals and values that limit our desire for medical treatments. Similarly, the view of the stockholder in business ethics is that the stockholder has only one interest – profit. If stockholders have no other values or interests that would limit their desire for additional profit, their sole interest is in profit maximization. But investors are real people with interests and values that balance and limit their desire for profit. It would be an extremely odd individual who cared for nothing except more profit. And institutional investors are supposed to serve the interests of individual investors. Stockholders hold many stakes in the firms in which they invest. The conclusion that most stockholders have interests that would limit the pursuit of maximum profit has significant implications both for business ethics and for the management of for-profit corporations. Something like “informed consent for investors” is needed. Corporate managers, to the extent that they are to be agents of their stockholders, must not simply pursue profit maximization. They must ascertain the interests and values of their investors that limit the single-minded pursuit of profit.