Business Ethics the Environment & Responsibility最新文献

Nowadays, consumer ethics represents a relevant field of review. There have been some attempts to conduct literature reviews; however, these have been few and incomplete. For this reason, this paper follows two main objectives: (1) to develop a performance analysis to measure the impact/perceptibility of academic production on consumer ethics (most cited authors, journals and themes) and (2) to visually present the scientific structure by themes of research in consumer ethics as well as its evolution along time. Using SciMAT software, a comprehensive thematic review is discussed. 568 scientific papers (2569 keywords and 8642 citations) were retrieved from the Web of Science from 1995 to 2021 (May). Our results show three main periods with two main research themes (consumer and corporate social responsibility), which remain relevant themes at the time. Also, some new themes that promote ethical consumption have gained weight or appear over time, some of which are linked to the marketing field (such as experiences, satisfaction, attitudes or privacy among others).

Based on case studies and secondary data, this study theorises how and why firms engage in corporate social irresponsibility (CSIR). Using the inductive process of theory building based on case studies of two forestry companies operating in China, this study explains how and why organisations with initial intentions towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) engage in CSIR based on paths taken and the behaviours across micro (individual), meso (organisational), and macro (industry) levels. Hence, there is a ‘grey zone’ between CSR and CSIR (Clark, C. E., Riera, M., & Iborra, M. (2021). Business & Society, 61, 1473–1511. 10.1177/00076503211015911). This study extends the path dependence literature on CSIR (Küberling-Jost, J.A. (2019). Journal of Business Ethics, 169(3), 579–601) by integrating moral disengagement and the theory of planned behaviour, stakeholder agency, and institutional theory into path dependence theory based on observed behaviours across micro, meso, and macro levels.

Inconsistent corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices across stakeholder groups may induce undesired consequences for the firm. This study investigates the longitudinal and differential effect of chief executive officer (CEO) tenure on external and internal CSR and the moderating effects of two important contingencies relevant to the firm's social investments: firm visibility and slack availability. It presents CEO tenure as an important upper echelon factor that may induce differential preferences toward external and internal CSR and, therefore, CSR inconsistencies. Accordingly, it proposes two important and relevant contingencies and provides additional evidence on how a firm's visibility and slack availability could affect CEO tenure-related differential behaviors. The findings contribute to studies on the temporal orientations of CEOs and how they impact firm strategic behavior. They also contribute to the literature on firm visibility and slack and how they may interact with certain upper echelon characteristics and affect firm behaviors. The analysis cautions against the perceptions of the relationships between firm- and CEO-level variables and a firm's aggregate CSR.

Academic experience has been found to significantly impact on the attitudes and behaviors of managerial decision-makers, which in turn influences corporate strategic decisions. However, the impact of academic decision-makers on corporate ethical decisions, particularly corporate social irresponsibility (CSIR), has yet to receive due attention to date. In this study, we integrate the upper echelons theory and managerial discretion literature to examine whether and when academic CEOs (CEOs with academic experience) influence corporate social irresponsibility (CSIR). First, we suggest that academic CEOs discourage CSIR because they have higher moral standards; thus, their companies are less likely to engage in CSIR activities. In addition, we propose that negative attainment discrepancy (slack resources) reduces (enhances) academic CEOs' managerial discretion to incorporate their ethical preferences into their decisions, thereby weakening (enhancing) the above relationship. This study is the first to examine the relationship between academic CEOs and CSIR. Additionally, the empirical findings of this study offer crucial insights for shareholders and policymakers to prevent or mitigate CSIR effectively.

As AI technology becomes more influential, ethical considerations surrounding its application are becoming increasingly relevant. In this paper, I reflect on some moral questions from a Buddhist perspective and consider the moral status of AI to evaluate its function and purpose in our lives. Since a robot lacks the capacity to experience suffering and has no conscience, AI ethics are possible only as ethics about robots and not as ethics for robots. Despite having no concrete moral status, robots cannot be deemed entirely morally insignificant as they exist as moral objects toward which moral agents have a duty. Our unique endowment as human beings is the intelligence for moral deliberation as we develop AI technologies and determine the future direction of humanity. From a Buddhist point of view, there is potential to advance our spiritual growth through the realization of the interdependence between humans and AI. As we recognize the uniqueness of our humanity and take a middle-way approach, the rise of robots need not threaten our existence but could instead catapult humanity into a new dawn.

Resilience has become a topic of renewed interest due to the frequent difficulties encountered by organisations and individuals in the present turbulent world. It is widely recognised that HRM practices play a crucial role in stimulating employee resilience. However, only few studies have explored the role of socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) in enhancing employee resilience. Accordingly, our study aims to address this research gap by utilising self-determination theory to develop a theoretical model clarifying the effect of SRHRM on employee resilience, focusing on the mediating role of basic psychological needs. Furthermore, we identify collectivism as a critical moderating factor in the relation between SRHRM and employee resilience. For this purpose, data were collected from 355 employees in central China in three waves. Results revealed that SRHRM can enhance employee resilience by fulfilling basic psychological needs. Moreover, the results indicated that collectivism strengthens the indirect relation between SRHRM and employee resilience through the fulfilment of basic psychological needs.

Environmental sustainability is an increasingly important issue for many business and social actors. This has led many scholars to research the effects of this phenomenon from various points of view trying to understand whether green attitudes can influence consumer behaviours in sustaining consumer–brand relationships. Accordingly, this paper aims to explore the impact of green consumer values on consumer–brand relationships in driving intentional behaviour. The authors developed an empirical study based on a research framework with six latent variables and 43 manifest variables using a partial least squares-structural equation (PLS-SEM). A survey was given to a sample of Italian consumers (n = 661) to explore mobility choices from a sustainability perspective (i.e. car and motorcycle users). The main findings show that green consumption values positively impact offline and online brand responses. Moreover, the research outcomes are discussed and evaluated in terms of theoretical, managerial and policy implications. Finally, we present the main limits and future research opportunities.

This Special Issue is a collection of papers presented at the 32nd Annual Conference of the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN), which took place in Valencia (Spain) on 12–14 June 2019 and was entitled “Enterprise at the Service of Society”.

It is no secret that we live in a time of profound and rapid change: we hear talk of Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, digital transformation and teleworking, but much less about the service that enterprises can provide to society. For ages, business ethics literature has paid significant attention to business in society, often emphasising corporate social responsibilities (Crane et al., 2008; Garriga & Melé, 2004; Laasch et al., 2020) and, more recently, the necessity to contribute to sustainability (Blackburn, 2015). These approaches reflect different underlying perspectives, motivations and philosophical grounds. There is often an emphasis on business and economic results (Farver, 2019), but a sense of commitment can also exist without omitting the return on investment. Philosophical grounds generally include stakeholder theory (Freeman et al., 2018; Harrison et al., 2019), contractual views (Francés-Gómez, 2018) and, more recently, a common good-based approach (Arjoon et al., 2018; De Swaan, 2020; Melé, 2020).

The general idea that companies have an obligation to serve society and the planet has not been sufficiently explored in the business ethics literature. Searches for the keyword “service” are more likely to yield results related to particular “services” such as “financial service”, “healthcare service”, “customer service”, “public service”, etc., cases in which the term “service” tends to correspond to a department or functional division within a company. Only the literature specifically focused on leadership seems to have established the term “servant leadership” as a theoretical construct to identify a particular ethically defensible form of leadership (Greenleaf, 2002). However, it is worth noting that in this case “service” is used as an adjective, not a noun. With the hope of explaining what we consider to be a shortcoming, and propose alternatives, we intend to explore—in a cross-cutting and comprehensive manner—the service that enterprises should provide to society.

It is true that enterprises emerge in society, develop in society and utilise structures of society that provide them with political and financial stability, as well as legal safeguards. They also enjoy the benefits of citizen education and training, as well as energy, communications and transport infrastructures. In return, in fruitful symbiosis, the enterprise channels an essential service to society by, for example, providing employment, generating wealth and paying taxes. Many set aside a portion of their profits to social actions. In fact,

Primary stakeholder pressure has long been considered the main reason that firms engage in responsible behaviors. However, prior studies are generally silent on how industry characteristics reshape the relationships among stakeholders. By integrating information asymmetry in credence goods industries with the stakeholder power framework, we posit that the extent to which consumers can evaluate the qualities of goods alters the dynamics between a firm and its two primary stakeholders, regulators and consumers. Longitudinal data collected on 72 pharmaceutical companies indicate that consumers of pharmaceutical products can only influence firms indirectly through the regulator. Further, contrary to the conventional wisdom that innovative firms are more capable of resisting stakeholder pressure, we find that R&D investment increases the dependency of pharmaceutical firms on the regulator. Lastly, we do not find that lobbying reduces dependency on the regulator except for high R&D firms. These findings provide important theoretical, ethical, and policy implications.

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has represented an intense period of stress and anxiety for individuals, it has also been an opportunity for firms to engage in cause-related marketing initiatives as a means of providing support and helping them cope with this global pandemic. This study analyzes the influence of cause–brand fit and cause–brand alliance on customer-based legitimacy and reputation. This study also examines the mediating and moderating roles of trust and betrayal, respectively. Data were collected from 455 participants during the first wave of the pandemic, especially during the first lockdown. The results contribute to unveiling the economic and societal outcomes of cause-related marketing. The findings also enrich the antecedents of the legitimacy and reputation conferred by customers.