When Responsibility Can't Do It

Is being responsible good enough? Stone (1975) argued that we need corporate moral responsibility because neither law nor market is adequate to forestall harmful effects of business activities. However, it is not possible for businesses to become responsible for all forms of foreseeable, preventable harm that they produce. This is illustrated here by cases from insurance, television programming, automobiles and weapons production. Reflection on these examples leads to the formulation of a new conception of unintended harms as moral externalities of business activities. Although one might argue that these (negative) moral external effects are outweighed by the desirable end products of business activities, three reasons not to accept the results of such a “moral subtraction”(or double effect) argument are presented. Instead, the article concludes by offering four techniques for a qualitative, ethical analysis of produced artefacts and their consequences; intended not to displace but to supplement the study of moral responsibility in business.     

On Corporate Virtue

This paper considers the question of virtues appropriate to a corporate actor’s moral character. A model of corporate appetites is developed by analogy with animal appetites; and the pursuit of initially virtuous corporate tendencies to an extreme degree is shown to be morally perilous. The author thus refutes a previous argument which suggested that (1) corporate virtues, unlike human virtues, need not be located on an Aristotelian mean between opposite undesirable extremes because (2) corporations do not have appetites; and (3) corporate virtues must serve the end of sustainable profit. If these disanalogies between corporate and human virtue no longer hold, then the stage is set for us to formulate a more adequate model of good corporate character that would encompass other-regarding virtues.     

Effects of Advice on Auditor Whistleblowing Propensity: Do Advice Source and Advisor Reassurance Matter?

Journal of Business Ethics - We conduct an experiment to investigate the joint effects of advisor reassurance and advice source in enhancing the impact of advice on auditors’ whistleblowing...     

Will Consumers Purchase Stevia as a Sugar Substitute?: An Exploratory Study on Consumer Acceptance

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, commonly known as Stevia, is an ancient sweet herb native to Paraguay. The plant, especially the leaves, has a sweetening effect 300 times sweeter than saccharose. Malaysia has taken a particular interest in promotion of Stevia derivatives as a precautionary measure to combat chronic diseases. This study aims to investigate factors that influence the acceptance of Stevia-based products by consumers. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire with 900 consumers from Klang Valley areas. The results revealed that most of the respondents were willing to use Stevia-based products as a substitute for sugar. There was also a significant relationship between level of education and consumer’s willingness to change for Stevia-based products. Health benefits, promotion, availability, and price were found to be the most influential factors toward acceptance of Stevia-based products by consumers. An effective promotion is necessary to increase consumer’s awareness toward a more healthy diet.     

Market Reaction to Changes in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index

Firms added to (deleted from) the S&P 600 index experience a significant price increase (decrease) at announcement. Firms that newly enter (exit) the S&P universe experience a larger price increase (decrease) than firms that move between S&P indexes. Trading volumes are higher after the announcement and institutional ownership increases (decreases) following index additions (deletions). However, the price and volume effects are temporary and are fully reversed within 60 days, in contrast to the permanent effects reported for S&P 500 changes. Our results support the temporary price‐pressure hypothesis and are similar to results reported for Russell 2000 index changes.     

The association between accounting students’ lone wolf tendencies and their perceptions, preferences and performance outcomes in team projects

In this study we examine the association between accounting students’ lone wolf tendencies and their perceptions of the usefulness of team work, team interaction behaviors, and team performance. While prior studies find that students generally perceive positive benefits from engaging in team work, our study finds that students with greater lone wolf tendencies perceive fewer benefits from engaging in team work. We also find that during team interactions, teams with a greater proportion of students with higher lone wolf tendencies experience less team commitment and team leadership. Further, such teams rate the outcome of their project negatively, although, there is no significant association with the project marks earned by these teams. We discuss the implications of our findings and suggest directions for future research.