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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Business ethics'
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Isidorsson, Gustav. "Ethics Affecting Business : -Improving Ethical Performance." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Sektionen för ekonomi och teknik (SET), 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-14352.
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Ethics as a subject is investigated in this paper and in particular how ethics can be analyzed in different organizations. The paper investigates how the generic ethical performance (EPE) evaluation model can help organizations to evaluate their ethical performance. The base for the empirical material is collected through qualitative interviews with staff on four different international organizations. The results proclaim that the EPE model can help organizations to narrow down focus and to categorize results, which help organizations to analyze ethical behavior. If the EPE model is complemented with an improvement model (the Deming cycle) an ethical improvement model is created. Conclusions are that evaluating ethical performance is not simple and the results can be ambiguous. The EPE model should be seen as a tool in generic cases and not as the only way of evaluating ethics. If ethics is processed according to the Deming cycle small steps of continuous improvement should help organizations to improve ethical performance. The more you study something the more you realize the complexity of it. Opening doors to new knowledge is like finding yourself in a labyrinth. Some ways are leading to dead ends and sometime you get lost. But when you have been walking in the labyrinth for a while you tend to recognize how the different paths are connected and a web is revealed. This study reveals a gap between theoretical knowledge and knowledge about how to implement and use theories of ethics in “real life” situations. The paper ends with ideas for future possible research, the Ethical Improvement Model (EIM) created in this paper is brought forward as a suggestion.
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Górski, Wojciech. "Business ethics." Thesis, Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/5918.
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Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.The Polish public procurement and the Polish Ministry of Defense (MOD) acquisitions programs have been subject to frequent violations and abuses since the public procurement system was introduced in Poland, in 1995. The complex Polish economic situation and the MOD's budget constraints call for tools that allow public money to be managed properly. This thesis examines the laws and regulations binding the public procurement in Poland along with current ethical concerns that the MOD has encountered. This thesis further recommends elements of a Ethics Program, which the Polish MOD should adopt and implement within its procurement organizations.
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Górski, Wojciech. "Business ethics /." Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2002. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion-image/02Jun%5FGorski.pdf.
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Guedes, Mauricio Jose Machado. "Business ethics /." Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2002. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion-image/02Jun%5FGuedes.pdf.
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Byrne, Kathleen Elizabeth. "Indoctrination and business ethics." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp05/mq22704.pdf.
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Dempsey, James A. "Business ethics & collective responsibility." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/4121.
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The idea that ‘business ethics' picks out a distinct discipline within ethical theory is contentious; in particular, it is unclear why theoretical approaches to moral and political philosophy cannot satisfactorily address ethical concerns in the context of business activity, just as they can in the context of other human activities. In response, I argue that some features of the business environment require more focused analysis than currently available. This environment is characterised by the presence of large social groups – business organisations – that are not political in nature, but yet wield considerable power and are the vehicles for complex forms of collective action. The most pressing ethical concern raised by such collective action is collective moral responsibility. I develop an account of collective responsibility that is tailored to business organisations and that combines a number of strands of moral thought – a desert-based account of moral responsibility that is of a kind with that typically applied to individual humans; a pluralistic account of how collective responsibility is generated that is rooted in irreducible group-level properties; and a moderate approach to social ontology that sees nothing mysterious in ‘distinct' collective entities. From this starting point I develop two detailed models that illustrate how business organisations can constitute distinct collective entities that may be held morally responsible. The first shows how such organisations may satisfy the conditions required to hold moral agency, which is typically assumed to be a prerequisite for moral responsibility. The second breaks with this tradition and argues for the possibility of ‘non-agential' moral responsibility in cases where complex organisational structures mediate the actions of the moral agents that populate them. I conclude by showing how this distinct organisational-level responsibility, far from insulating organisation members from personal culpability, illustrates quite distinct standards against which such individuals may be judged.
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Zaharov, Igor', and Natal'ya Oleinik. "Social responsibility and business ethics." Thesis, Видавництво СумДУ, 2007. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/8353.
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Corporate social responsibility is the commitment of businesses to behave ethically and to contribute to sustainable economic development by working with all relevant stakeholders to improve their lives in ways that are good for business, the sustainable development agenda, and society at large.
When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/8353
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Li, Yan. "The effects of business ethics course on students' ethical attitudes." Thesis, University of Macau, 2006. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b1677039.
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Riccio, Marisa A. "Fraud and ethics in the accounting profession /." Staten Island, N.Y. : [s.n.], 2005. http://library.wagner.edu/theses/business/2005/thesis_bus_2005_ricci_fraud.pdf.
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Cooper, Thomas J. "Ethical theory and business ethics : the search for a new model." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.390031.
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Bartlett, Lucinda. "Ethical business : an ethnography of ethics and multiplicity in commercial settings." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:778f42c8-4b9b-493e-9ae5-631f4cdbb3fc.
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This thesis is a study of ethics and multiplicity as found within contemporary commercial settings. Drawing on Science and Technology Studies (STS) sensibilities and ethnographic-style research, the thesis proposes that current ethical phenomena should be understood as a user-enacted chimerical object: an object that is multiple in its ontology and as much enacted by what it is, as what it is not. This research is particularly pertinent now because the term 'ethical' has become commonplace in modern Western life, including crucially within commercial activities. In certain uses, doing ethics becomes synonymous with doing business. Despite the increasing prevalence of what is considered 'ethical business', the exploration of how the term is appropriated and enacted remains largely under-examined. Through examination of research material gathered during extensive ethnographic studies in three self-avowedly 'ethical organisations' - an ethical start-up, an ethical confectionery company, and an ethical consultancy - the thesis addresses this research gap. By focusing on the users of ethical business, the investigation questions traditional market assumptions of homogeneity within producing organisations, the supposed linear transfer of ethical knowledge, what we can know about 'users', and the genesis of novel ethical realities. Through this questioning the thesis provides new insights on the ethical object. The thesis additionally builds upon questions of how far we can push the boundaries of what we can know about knowledge, and whether it is possible to bring the mess of investigation back into the reporting. Developing previous applications of constitutive reflexivity, the research symmetrically investigates the appropriateness of my application of STS sensibilities to ethical business as a new research area, and interrogates my thesis as an ethical object in order to address the underlying question(s) of whether 'STS means ethical business?'
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Aljohani, Azizah. "Bitcoin: Technology, Economics and Business Ethics." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/36949.
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The rapid advancement in encryption and network computing gave birth to new tools and products that have influenced the local and global economy alike. One recent and notable example is the emergence of virtual currencies, also known as cryptocurrencies or digital currencies. Virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, introduced a fundamental transformation that affected the way goods, services, and assets are exchanged. As a result of its distributed ledgers based on blockchain, cryptocurrencies not only offer some unique advantages to the economy, investors, and consumers, but also pose considerable risks to users and challenges for regulators when fitting the new technology into the old legal framework.
This paper attempts to model the volatility of bitcoin using 5 variants of the GARCH model namely: GARCH(1,1), EGARCH(1,1) IGARCH(1,1) TGARCH(1,1) and GJR-GARCH(1,1). Once the best model is selected, an OLS regression was ran on the volatility series to measure the day of the week the effect. The results indicate that the TGARCH (1,1) model best fits the volatility price for the data. Moreover, Sunday appears as the most significant day in the week. A nontechnical discussion of several aspects and features of virtual currencies and a glimpse at what the future may hold for these decentralized currencies is also presented.
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Karamali, Eleni. "The impossible writing of business ethics." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/11060.
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This thesis offers a deconstructive reading of Business Ethics. Following Jacques Derrida, it shows how a deconstructive reading is not a reading which brings a set of protocols to an object or judgments to a field - we are not here concerned with offering an external criticism of Business Ethics, as if we were privy to its incontestable truth from the very outset. Instead, our reading of Business Ethics is a reading which strives to come to terms with Business Ethics’ own limits by considering how the literature on Business Ethics limits itself. We pursue this reading of Business Ethics as a self-limiting writing along two principal registers - hospitality and translation – in both cases demonstrating how Business Ethics constitutes its outside as an outside which it simultaneously treats as an inside, and thereby annihilates. It is in this sense that we read Business Ethics as an ‘impossible writing’, impossible precisely because the very self-presence it seeks to grant to itself - the would-be language of ethical business - is itself foreclosed within the very gesture of seeking an encounter with a language it takes as its own. The first such gesture we consider is the manner in which Business Ethics invites the work of Emmanuel Levinas, albeit on certain conditions which serve only to make a welcoming of Levinasian ethics impossible. The second such gesture we consider is the manner in which Business Ethics translates itself into and out of the languages of Business and Ethics respectively, only to make its own language impossible. These two instances of impossibility, rather than serving to fatally limit the field, must rather be read as fundamentally constitutive of it. I conclude by arguing for an understanding of Business Ethics writing as both necessary and impossible.
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Miller, Anthony Otto. "Emerging institutions in global business ethics." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.616176.
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Kroukamp, TC. "An approach to e-business ethics." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/1776.
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Woermann, Minka. "A complex ethics : critical complexity, deconstruction, and implications for business ethics." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/5293.
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Thesis (DPhil (Philosophy))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study commences with a critical, philosophical exploration of the ethical theories that constitute the normative basis of the dominant business ethics paradigm. It is argued that the universal and communitarian notions of the good upon which this paradigm is based, are inadequate in helping us deal with the complexities that define the modern day business environment. It is suggested that a sophisticated and affirmative account of postmodernism is a better suited alternative, as this paradigm is geared towards assisting us in finding workable solutions to our problems in the absence of universal truths or homogenous operating environments. Although postmodernism serves as a useful starting point for challenging the normative basis of business ethics, this study moves beyond this broad paradigm in providing an analysis of both complexity theory (specifically critical complexity theory), and Jacques Derrida’s deconstructive philosophy. The paradigm of critical complexity presents us with a useful framework for understanding, and thinking through the implications that complex phenomena hold for us, for our practices, and for our understanding of our responsibilities. Deconstruction (which serves as a philosophical example of a complex position) contributes to, and supplements this paradigm. Specifically, deconstruction draws attention to the processual nature of ethical decision-making and action, as well as to the ethical and political implications that arise from our limited knowledge of complex phenomena. Once critical complexity theory and deconstruction are adequately defined, a close reading of a critical text on the relevance of Derrida for understanding business ethics is presented. In undertaking the close reading, a number of criticisms against deconstruction are addressed, and an argument is made for why a more complex understanding of ethics is preferable to universal or communitarian notions of the good – and, therefore, preferable as a normative basis for business ethics. After making the case for a complex ethics, a general circumscription of a complex ethics is provided. This circumscription is premised on an understanding of ethics as a critical, provisional, transgressive, and imaginative enterprise. The specific implications that such a notion of ethics hold for teaching business ethics, and for understanding prominent business ethics themes (such as corporate social responsibility, responsible leadership, and sustainable development) are also elaborated upon. In conclusion, it is argued that taking cognisance of the insights and implications that arise from this study will help to support the future viability of business ethics. This is because a complex understanding of ethics can promote the development of robust and flexible strategies, which are needed for dealing with the realities of the modern business environment.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie begin met ‘n kritiese, filosofiese ondersoek na die etiese teorieë wat die normatiewe basis van die dominante sake-etiek paradigma vorm. Daar word aangevoer dat die universele en kommunitaristiese idees van die goeie, waarop hierdie paradigma berus, onvoldoende is om ons in staat te stel om die kompleksiteite wat die hedendaagse sakeomgewing definieer sinvol te hanteer. Die voorstel word gemaak dat ’n gesofistikeerde en positiewe beskrywing van postmodernisme ’n meer gepaste alternatief is, omdat hierdie paradigma gerig is op werkbare oplossings vir ons probleme in die afwesigheid van universele waarhede of homogene werksomgewings. Alhoewel postmodernisme as ’n nuttige vertrekpunt dien om die normatiewe basis van sake-etiek te bevraagteken, beweeg hierdie studie verby die breë paradigma deur ’n analise van beide kompleksiteitsteorie (meer spesifiek kritiese kompleksiteitsteorie), en Jacques Derrida se dekonstruktiewe filosofie aan te bied. Die paradigma van kritiese kompleksiteitsteorie verskaf aan ons ‘n nuttige raamwerk om komplekse verskynsels te verstaan, en ook om deur die gevolge wat kompleksiteit vir ons praktyke en ons begrip van ons verantwoordelikhede te bedink. Dekonstruksie (wat dien as ’n filosofiese voorbeeld van ’n komplekse posisie) dra by tot, en vul hierdie paradigma aan. Meer spesifiek fokus dekonstruksie ons aandag op die prosessuele aard van etiese besluitneming en optrede, sowel as die etiese en politieke implikasies wat uit ons beperkte kennis van komplekse verskynsels voortspruit. Nadat kritiese kompleksiteitsteorie en dekonstruksie deeglik omskryf is, word ‘n kritiese teks oor die moontlike bydrae wat Derrida tot ons begrip van sake-etiek kan lewer noukeurig ontleed. Deur die loop van die ontleding word ’n aantal punte van kritiek teen dekonstruksie aangespreek, en ’n saak word uitgemaak dat ’n meer komplekse begrip van etiek verkieslik is bo universele en kommunitaristiese idees van die goeie – en dus meer geskik is as ’n normatiewe basis vir sakeetiek. ’n Algemene omskrywing van ’n komplekse etiek word ook verskaf om verdere steun te bied vir die verkieslikheid van so ’n opvatting van die etiek. Hierdie omskrywing is op die begrip van die etiek as ’n kritiese, provisionele, oorskryende, en verbeeldingsryke onderneming gebaseer. Die bepaalde implikasies wat hierdie idee vir onderrig in sake-etiek en ’n kennis van prominente sake-etiek temas (soos korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid, verantwoordelike leierskap, en volhoubare ontwikkeling) inhou, word aangespreek. In die gevolgtrekkig word daar geargumenteer dat kennisname van die insigte en implikasies wat uit hierdie studie voortspruit die toekomstige lewensvatbaarheid van sake-etiek kan bevorder. Dit is omdat ‘n komplekse begrip van die etiek die ontwikkeling van robuuste en buigsame strategieë, wat nodig is vir die hantering van die realiteite van die moderne sakeomgewing, kan aanspoor.
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Scharmer, Carl, and Emma Andersson. "How can companies benefit from business ethics? : A study of business ethics in the baby nutrition market." Thesis, Jönköping University, Jönköping International Business School, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-759.
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Problem: Increased information flow and augmented knowledge have together with increased competitiveness created restrictions for companies aiming not to consider the environmental and social aspects in their goals. Stakeholders have started to consider these aspects to larger extent recently. However, many companies do not see the opportunities with using an ethical approach, and whether they will benefit from it.
Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to examine how companies can benefit from practicing business ethics within the organizations, by comparing theoretical studies and empirical findings.
Method: Due to the purpose, a qualitative method approach was chosen. Data were collected through semi-structured telephone interviews with all respondents. The selection of interviews consist of the three largest actors on the Swedish baby nutrition market; HIPP, Nestlé, and Semper.
Conclusion: Companies benefit from applying an ethical approach, in terms of environmental and social goals into the organization. Ethics is still a complex concept, with several definitions. Companies may use the TBL model for their implementation of the two additional aspects, to make it more concrete. The ethical approach includes work beyond what is regulated and legislated. The motivational factors for companies applying ethics vary, nevertheless the stakeholders’ interest for the company increase with environmental and social aspects included in the goals. To evaluate the ethical standpoint it is important for companies to verify whether their approach is correctly made and if it accurate received. Evaluating an ethical approach is however, difficult to make due to the complexity of the concept and its intangibleness.
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Hawkins, Timothy Glenn. "Explaining Buyer Opportunism in Business-to-Business Relationships." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2007. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3664/.
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The interaction among firms in the supply chain is necessary for business process execution and relationship success. One phenomenon of great significance to buyer-supplier relationships is opportunism. Opportunism is defined as behavior that is self-interest seeking with guile. It is manifested in behaviors such as stealing, cheating, dishonesty, and withholding information. Opportunism negatively impacts relational exchange tenets such as trust, commitment, cooperation, and satisfaction. Furthermore, perceptions of opportunism negatively affect firm performance. In lieu of the known negative effects of opportunistic behavior on buyer-supplier relationships, why do agents continue to engage in opportunistic tactics with their exchange partners? A comprehensive examination is necessary in order to understand why sourcing professionals engage in acts of opportunism. Understanding why opportunism occurs will reveal how to deter it, and this remains a gap in the literature. Based on theories in economics, marketing channels, supply chain management, decision science, and psychology, a comprehensive model tested a set of factors hypothesized to drive the use of opportunistic tactics. Factors include buyer-supplier relationship-specific factors, environmental factors, individual personality-related factors, and situational factors. Data was collected via internet survey of sourcing professionals from private industry and government agencies. Common to many studies of ethics, respondents made choices based on two hypothetical vignettes. Two logistic regression models were used to test the hypotheses. Factors found to affect buyer opportunism included buyer power, corporate ethical values, pressure to perform, leadership opportunism, business sector, honesty/integrity, and subjective expected utility. This research contributes to theory by combining several disparate theories to best explain opportunism. A comprehensive evaluation should determine which theory explains the most variance in decision making. The study contributes to practice by identifying those important factors contributing to a sourcing professional's decision to use opportunistic tactics. The ability to manage these factors should improve the probability of relationship success. Additionally, the identification of these factors should help leaders to make more accurate estimates of transaction costs - key knowledge required to make an informed make or buy governance decision.
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San, Angelo Dominick III. "The Ethics of Trade: A Prequel to the Study of Business Ethics." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/271942.
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"Business Ethics" is a subject that is unavoidably interdisciplinary. Certainly, the two Words - when treated as separate matters - are most often studied by academics in different fields: the former typically by those in business colleges (no surprise there), and the latter by philosophers. My thesis examines the way in which there seems to be a tension between how those in each respective discipline view the practice of combining business and ethics in an academic context. It then attempts to find the starting point for thinking about the foundation of business ethics. In essence, I argue for where I think the general conversation surrounding business ethics ought to begin. My argument is that an understanding of the fundamental reasons we trade is a crucial and prerequisite lens through which business ethics should be viewed. Determining moral prescriptions appropriately for businesses and agents interacting with businesses requires accounting for that which business, as an institution, is derived from. My thesis explains why I find this to be the case.
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Puttee, Colleen. "Business ethics fact or fiction a look at the application, acceptability and adaptability of ethical values in the business sector /." Access electronically, 2005. http://www.library.uow.edu.au/adt-NWU/public/adt-NWU20060719.113638/index.html.
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McDonald, Don Michael. "Is biblical management good business?" Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1985. http://www.tren.com.
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Warren, Richard C. "Research on corporate governance and business ethics." Thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2013. http://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/322949/.
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My research and publications over the past 25 years can be related to two major themes: building up the case for business ethics education in UK Business schools, and the development of a virtue ethics approach to institution building in business and management. My business ethics research papers have been focused on the exploration and use of virtue theory as an approach to applied ethics in the context of business and organisational life, exploring subjects such as loyalty, codes of conduct, executive remuneration, job security, health hazards, service work, shareholder responsibilities, temperance, maritime piracy. Virtue theory is a useful framework to approach ethical issues in work organizations. First, this is because its emphasis on the shared values in a community (rather than a set of universal rules) lends itself to understanding ethical standards within communities of practice or professions. Second, because of its emphasis on moral education and development, virtue ethics has useful purchase on issues around management and professional development. These two themes were combined in the study of corporate governance and accountability. The relationship between business and society is a complex phenomenon and requires a multi-disciplinary approach to understand its full ramifications. My book, Corporate Governance and Accountability is an analysis and a synthesis of the politics of corporate governance and draws upon economics, management, law, politics, ethics, and sociology to examine the representative institution of business in our society, the company. An analysis is made of how its legal form has changed over the years in response to social drivers and political imperatives. The book attempts to track the nature and course of these developments and tries to understand the present situation, and then attempts to give some insights into how companies may be expected to develop in the future. The perspective of the study, although multi-disciplinary, in many aspects is perhaps, in the final analysis, predominantly political, because it is the relationship of the company to society that is the major focus of the analysis. In this respect, a major theme of the study is to examine to what extent the corporate form changed in response to socio-political factors as well as economic factors.
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Martinez, Edgardo Armando. "The Dynamics of Ethical Decision-Making in Business Settings: Some Implications for the Teaching of Ethics in Business Education." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/14607.
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This study investigated ethical decision-making in the context of business settings and the teaching of ethics in business education. Over the past century or so, there has been a general acceptance of the need to teach business ethics in business education. However, close scrutiny shows that it has been patchy, and where it has been taught it is often only as an elective. Nevertheless, ethics is important in the business world and unethical behaviour can exact severe punishment. This suggests it should be taught, but that raises questions of how, and on what theoretical basis? For the past half-century, Kohlberg’s developmental theory of moral development has provided the main model in business education, but in the last decade criticisms have come from the social-intuitionist approach and from dynamic systems theory (DST). A dynamic systems approach was used as the main theoretical framework for this study. The adoption of this approach impacted the research methodology of this study and the interpretation of the data. In terms of method, whereas Kohlbergian and similar cognitivist approaches used hypothetical dilemmas in conducting research, this study employed five scenarios that attempt to mirror real-life ethical dilemmas that arise within a business context. Each scenario contained an ethical dilemma, but it was up to the participant to identify it. In terms of the analysis of data, whereas previous approaches applied supposition-laden scoring schemes based on assumed stabilities (e.g., stages and levels) in development, this study attempted to identify emerging and shifting patterns of decision-making in different contexts. Research was undertaken with 16 MBA students enrolled in a business school in a university in Sydney. The findings of this study appear to provide important clues about ethical decision-making, which could be used in future to design alternative pedagogies and teaching materials, when teaching business ethics in the context of business education.
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Barnard, Lukas Daniël 1983. "Assessing some aspects of managerial ethics within the South African business environment / Lukas Daniël Barnard." Thesis, North-West University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/8784.
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Since the early 2000s there has been a growing awareness of the indivisible link between ethical conduct on the one hand and business practice on the other. A spate of corporate scandals, due to poor ethical management and deficient ethical decision making, has increased public scrutiny of organisational conduct. This indivisible link between ethics and management warranted investigation; consequently some aspects of managerial ethics in the corporate environment of South Africa were analysed and the role of training in sensitising managers to ethical decision making was examined.
Both a comprehensive literature review and an empirical investigation were conducted in order to satisfy the objectives of the research study. The literature review provided insight into some of major concepts relating to managerial ethics, while also providing an overview of the global and South African ethical situation. It also revealed some pertinent current issues regarding managerial ethics training and ethics training in general. The empirical investigation was based on a quantitative research approach and was conducted through a questionnaire. A diverse group of managers who are all furthering their managerial studies at an accredited South African business school formed the study population. A total of 108 respondents completed the questionnaires, which were then statistically analysed, by the North-West University’s (NWU) Statistical Consultation Services.
Both the literature review and the empirical investigation indicated a growing perception that ethics and ethical leadership is deteriorating, while the prevalence of ethical conduct breach has been on the increase. On a positive note there are strong indications that a favourable climate is being created in South African organisations, by the establishment of formal ethical codes and the development of business values. However, further investigation revealed that while formal policies and codes are in place, the implementation of these policies is lacking. A lack of understanding of the importance of ethical management was also identified, along with indications that current managerial training does not provide managers with the practical tools for real world application of ethical codes.
Recommendations regarding possible action steps to start bridging the gap between the stated business values and ethics codes and the physical implementation of these guidelines are made, along with suggestions for further research.Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013
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Hawkins, Timothy Glenn Pohlen Terrance Lynn. "Explaining buyer opportunism in business-to-business relationships." [Denton, Tex.] : University of North Texas, 2007. http://digital.library.unt.edu/permalink/meta-dc-3664.
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Ping, Alistair C. "Why good people do bad things in business." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2017. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/114002/1/Alistair_Ping_Thesis.pdf.
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In this thesis inter-disciplinary research from the fields of business ethics, moral philosophy, criminology, social psychology and neuro-cognitive science are synthesised to develop a causal factor model which explains why good people do bad things in business. The model was tested by interviewing senior executives involved in corporate crimes and the results have significant implications for ethics education and training.
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Cook, Roger. "Ethics at work : the discourse of business ethics : an investigation into ethical discourse in UK higher education and organisational contexts." Thesis, University of West London, 2014. https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1102/.
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This thesis aims to make an original contribution to the development of effective ethical discourse at work through the development of a conceptual model which reframes existent philosophical ideas and moral perspectives. Its intention is both to facilitate better personal understanding, and to enable improved moral communication between individuals, workforce communities and organisations. This is needed because the impacts of the banking crisis, and continued incidences of corporate wrongdoing are exposing the weaknesses in managerial capitalism, and provide evidence that the rhetoric of business values is sometimes at odds with reality. Contemporary organisations are also increasingly being required to explain and defend the values which shape their business conduct, an irreversible trend driven by factors such as the growth of the social media, increasing private ownership of wealth, shareholder activism, and stakeholder empowerment. The thesis presents a framework for ethical analysis and discourse. The research takes the form of transdisciplinary enquiry. Applying a critical realist perspective, relevant bodies of literature are reviewed, leading to the creation of a proposed analytical framework and an associated process model. It is proposed that together these comprise the tools to help the development of the ethical manager. Using a case study approach, the framework is first trialled among postgraduate professional MBA students. Based on initial research findings, a developed framework is then adapted and field-tested for relevance to practising managers in diverse organisational contexts, and potential further uses and applications considered. Concept testing demonstrates that a flexible managerial model of ethical analysis the thesis [proposes] is successfully developed for use by business practitioners, consultants and business ethicists. Management as a discipline is pragmatic in nature, drawing in an eclectic manner on differing academic disciplines, and the proposed model is similarly derived from a transdisciplinary approach to business ethics which seeks to gain insights from diverse disciplines, drawing from both moral philosophy and developmental psychology to create an original PREP framework and associated process model.
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Hortell, Albin, and Daniel Hellgren. "Marketing-Ethics in Swedish Universities : Perceived importance and implementation of ethics in marketing courses." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Handelshögskolan vid Umeå universitet (USBE), 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-44819.
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As a result of recent corporate scandals, a stronger environmental movement and increased transparency of companies’ overseas activities, the demand of higher ethics has impacted all of society. With a current situation where companies need to be viewed as responsible, fair and more ethical in order to compete, new initiatives towards extensive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is taken on a daily basis. When even oil companies such as BP are taking steps to be perceived as more green no one can doubt that something is changing. With this trend of increased ethical standards and requirements throughout society, we have conducted a research where we investigate the role of universities related to these issues. Our aim was to find out what importance Sweden’s universities give to ethics within marketing education and, if this importance is reflected in how it is implemented in the courses. Our approach to answering these questions was to interview representatives of four different Swedish universities. We chose interview subjects that were involved in the planning and execution of marketing courses. We used a qualitative research method in order to not only see the level of implementation of ethics, but also to get to know the underlying thoughts determining how it is implemented. Our analysis showed us a rather unanimous way of thinking between the universities. What we found was that the universities do indeed view ethics as something important that should be implemented in education as well as in business. On the actual implementation however, the responses we got showed that it didn’t precisely reflect the importance given to ethics. The need of more ethics was not only visible in the analysis but also to some degree verbalized by some of the respondents.
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Nel, Jan-Derick. "The business of power and the power of business : (determining meta-ethics)." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/21191.
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Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A changing world brings about many different challenges. The same applies to business operating in society. These changes and challenges relate to business ethics in general and how it impacts on the decisions that business makes every day. The ethical challenges that business has to face have a profound effect on meta-ethical concerns. Awareness of this situation can help to direct business and the rest of society to reach positive outcomes. When looking at current cases it is evident how corporate culture and leadership play a very important role in this matter. The cases shows how the power of business is exerted in practice and it can serve a positive purpose in determining meta-ethics.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'n Veranderende wêreld gee tot baie verskillende uitdagings aanleiding. Dieselfde geld vir besigheid wat in die samelewing funksioneer. Dit hou verband met sake-etiek in die algemeen en watter invloed dit uitoefen op die besluite wat besigheid elke dag moet neem. Die etiese uitdagings wat besigheid elke dag in die gesig staar, het 'n diepgaande uitwerking op meta-etiese kwessies. 'n Bewustheid van hierdie situasie kan help om leiding aan besigheid en die res van die samelewing te bied ten einde positiewe resultate te bereik . As die huidige gevalle in ag geneem word, is dit klaarblyklik dat korporatiewe kultuur en leierskap ’n baie belangrike rol in hierdie verband speel. Dit toon hoe die kragtige invloed van besigheid in die praktyk gebruik word en hoe dit 'n positiewe rol kan speel om meta-etiek te bepaal.
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Esser, Jan Hendrik. "Who cares? : moral reflections on business in healthcare." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/52612.
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Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This evaluation serves the purpose of illuminating concepts and ideas behind the moral impact of business values in healthcare and to establish a framework for the analysis of moral dilemmas found in the sphere ofbio-medical ethics. The historic developments of business in healthcare are examined, looking at how and why business became an integral part of the health care system. The concept of "managed healthcare" is introduced and used as the context in which the different institutional role-players are brought together. Managed healthcare is defined by a discussion of the different organisational structures through which it manifests itself. The policies, procedures and regulations that managed healthcare organisations implement and control to fulfil their general function are also examined. Some normative aspects pertaining to the concept of managed health care are explored, including the institutional values of business and that of medicine. A brief discussion of the economic system in which the business agents or role players function are included in the evaluation of the institutional values of business. Further arguments are made to show how the healthcare system with all its role players displays the characteristics of a complex system. Discussions on the fundamental values of medicine concentrate on the basic ideas behind virtues and principles of medical ethics. It is argued that the development of these virtues and principles are important foundations on which the medical profession stands. The moral impact of combining these institutional values within the context of managed healthcare relationships is examined and some important moral dilemmas or conflicts are identified. It is further argued that the fundamental relationships between all the role players in the health care system have changed as all the agents function within a complex system, giving rise to new organisational structures and relationships, with new conceptual roles, ideals, values and practices.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie evaluasie het dit ten doelom sekere konsepte en idees agter die morele impak van besigheidswaardes in gesondheidsorg te illumineer en om 'n raamwerk daar te stel vir die verdere analise van morele dilemmas in die sfeer van bio-mediese etiek. Die historiese ontwikkeling van besigheid in gesondheidsorg word verken deur die redes aan te voer waarom besigheid deel van die gesondheidsorgsisteem geword het. Die konsep "bestuurde gesondheidsorg" word gebruik as die konteks waarin die verskillende institusionele rolspelers bymekaar gebring word. Bestuurde gesondheidsorg word gedefinieer deur die verskillende organisatoriese strukture waardeur dit manifesteer. Die prosedures, regulasies en bereid wat bestuurde gesondheidsorgorganisasies implementeer om hul funksies te vervul word ook verken. Normatiewe aspekte van bestuurde gesondheidsorg word verken, waarby ingesluit word die institusionele waardes van besigheid sowel as dié van medisyne. 'n Kort beskrywing van die ekonomiese sisteem waarin die besigheidsagente, of rolspelers funksioneer word ingesluit by die evaluasie van die institusionele waardes van besigheid. Verdere argumente word gevoer om te wys daarop hoe die gesondheidsorgsisteem met al sy rolspelers die karakter toon van 'n komplekse sisteem. Die basiese idees agter deugsaamheid en morele beginsels van bio-mediese etiek word bespreek om die fundamentele waardes van medisyne te beskryf. Daar word geargumenteer dat die ontwikkeling van hierdie waardes 'n belangrike fondament is waarop die mediese professie staan. Die morele impak van die kombinasie tussen die institusionele waardes van besigheid en medisyne binne die konteks van bestuurde gesondheidsorg word geevalueer en belanrike morele dilemmas en konflikte word geidentifiseer. Verder word geargumenteer dat die fundamenrele verhouding tussen al die rol spelers in die gesondheidsisteem verander het danksy die funksionering van die agente binne hierdie komplekse sisteem. Dit lei op sy beurt na veranderinge in organisatoriese strukture en verhoudinge met nuwe konsepsuele rolle, idiale, waardes en praktyke.
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Rodriguez, Deidre K. "Ethics in organizations and measuring the effectiveness of ethics programs action research proposal /." [Denver, Colo.] : Regis University, 2005. http://165.236.235.140/lib/DRodriguez2005.pdf.
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Mpekansambo, Lawrence M. "The limits of virtue theory in business ethics." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/80336.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The overall aim of this study is to establish the implications, effectiveness and limitations of making Aristotelian virtue theory a meta-theory of business. The study intends to test what the business world would be like with the virtue framework as its meta-theory, i.e. if virtue theory provided the fundamental principles that underlie the formation and operation of business enterprises, thus making virtue the philosophy of business. Since virtue is concerned with moral character rather than moral principles – it is community-based rather than individualistic – the application of the virtue framework to business implies that we will have to deal with the reality that individualistic capitalism is corrosive to virtue. The virtue framework is only compatible with collective forms of capitalism, not individualistic forms. Thus, in order to nurture virtues, it is necessary to build an economic system, a type of capitalism that is compatible with the virtue framework. Such a project is morally plausible because it is congruent with human nature, which is rational and social.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die algehele doel van hierdie studie is om die implikasies, effektiwiteit en beperkings van die toepassing van die Aristoteliaanse teorie van deug as metateorie vir besigheid vas te stel. Die studie beoog om te toets hoe die besigheidswêreld sou lyk met deugdeteorie as metateorie, dit wil sê as deugdeteorie die fundamentele beginsels wat die formasie en bedryf van besigheidsondernemings onderlê voorsien en dus deug die filosofie van bedryf maak. Deugde is bemoei met morele karakter eerder as morele beginsels omdat dit gemeenskapsgegrond eerder as individualisties is. Die toepassing van ʼn deugde-raamwerk op die sakewêreld impliseer dus dat ons moet afreken met die realiteit dat individualistiese kapitalisme korrosief is vir deugde. Die deugde-raamwerk is slegs verenigbaar met kollektiewe vorme van kapitalisme, eerder as individualistiese vorme. Om die deugde te koester is dit dus nodig om ’n ekonomiese sisteem te bou in die vorm van ’n kapitalistiese stelsel wat verenigbaar is met die raamwerk. Só ʼn projek is moreel aanneemlik omdat dit ooreenstem met die menslike natuur, wat rasioneel en sosiaal is.
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Herseth, Todd L. "Business ethics education and Mezirow's transformative learning theory." Thesis, University of South Dakota, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10131552.
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The purpose of this study was to determine if using intentional, transformational learning strategies in an undergraduate business ethics course improved the curriculum with respect to targeted, student learning outcomes. Since business schools have a social mandate to provide opportunities for ethical growth and development, improving the efficacy of business ethics education is of paramount importance. The importance of this mandate has been further highlighted in recent years by egregious instances of misconduct by business professionals whose actions have had obvious and profoundly negative impacts upon the stability of our financial systems and state of the world economy.
This was a quasi-experimental, quantitative study conducted at a university of approximately 8,000 students. The focus of the study was to measure the effects of intentional, transformational learning strategies on the occurrence of transformational learning and cognitive moral development among students enrolled in the university's online business ethics course. The intentional, transformational learning strategies utilized were those identified by David Warren Keller in a 2007 study and adapted to an online learning environment. The correlation between epistemological development based on the Perry Scheme (of William G. Perry Jr.) and the occurrence of transformational learning was also examined in this study.
While this curricular intervention was not found to have had a statistically significant impact on the targeted outcomes, a statistically significant correlation was observed between epistemological development and transformational learning. A principle conclusion of the researcher is that the online learning environment is the most likely explanation for the difference in the efficacy of the curricular intervention when comparing the results of the Keller study to the current study due to the affective dimensions of the student learning experience (central to transformational learning) in the online learning environment and the limitations inherent therein, which are detailed in the study. Finally, the correlation observed between epistemological development and transformational learning, while statistically significant, was inconclusive due to the absence of additional correlations which would have been expected, yet merits further study.
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Song, Ji-Hwan. "Business ethics and the corporate manipulation of expressions." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/21542.
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The thesis examines how morality is corporately appropriated in the context of new managerial discourses. The theoretical argument focuses on the relations between the fashion for business ethics in the academy and current attempts to reconstruct 'corporate culture' within companies. The argument begins with questioning the notion of "shared values" as a tenet of corporate culturism. This scepticism over values being shared arises from the epistemological difficulties of researchers, or anyone else, going beyond the position that expressions are shared. The argument suggests that if a sharing of expressions can be directed and narrowed, then this is a condition of possibility for the social manipulation of morality. The importance of this argument is that it allows for power effects to be asymmetrical and stabilised without recourse to assumptions of a totalitarian state. Indeed, in the present analysis, forms of resistance to "values" may become power effects, provided expressions are monitored and directed. The thesis argues that the shared expressions are appropriated for the imperatives of corporate strategy. Entrapped in the mixed messages of corporate strategy, managers become engaged in a complicity to mobilise and narrow the circulation of shared expressions. The thesis suggests that the managerial work to re-present the imperatives of corporate strategy is dominated by a corporate manipulation of expressions. The thesis concludes that a current status of most of business ethics discourse remains an 'apology' for a new managerialism. The moral prescriptions are peripherally directed at the "other", rather than centrally internalised into the moral subjects' subjectivity. The tenet of shared moral values is fractured as is implied in a very meaning of 'share': unite and divide. Managers, as employees, also partake in a complicity to exploit morality through the medium of shared expressions such that they become trapped in a vicious circle of moral cynicism and dependence.
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Chapuis, Glen E. "Teaching business ethics in an introductory management course /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 1997. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p9841270.
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Walls, John Linn. "Managing an Effective Way to Teach Business Ethics." ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/1947.
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Unethical behavior is prominent in the business world and typically leads to negative consequences for people and the environment. Business ethics education acknowledges that ethics teaching has a positive effect on business decisions; however, the problem was the lack of information that is specific to the factors and strategies required to best educate students in business ethics. This lack of information is demonstrated by continued ethical lapses. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to research what is known and unknown on the subject of teaching business ethics through a design intended to understand the lived experiences of ethics instructors. The ethical framework for this study was based on the virtue and justice approaches as a technique for analyzing ethical aspects of a decision, with the goal of improving ethical outcomes. Data collection was completed via interview questions regarding a successful strategy of teaching business ethics. To accomplish this goal, 15 business ethics instructors were interviewed individually to record their lived experiences relating to teaching ethics. Information relating to ethics course design, along with missing components, was the topic of questions. Data analysis using open and axial coding generated 7 major theme clusters that include highlighting character and virtue ethics, increasing concern for stakeholders, and employing the teachings of Socrates and other classic scholars as a basis. The implications for positive social change point to an opportunity for business schools to produce socially conscious leaders who engage in ethical conduct.
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Skalbeck, Paul A. "Key components to an effective ethics training program." Menomonie, WI : University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2007/2007skalbeckp.pdf.
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Jose, Anita. "Institutionalization of Ethics: a Cross-Cultural Perspective." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1996. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278977/.
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Business ethics is a much debated issue in contemporary America. As many ethical improprieties gained widespread attention, organizations tried to control the damage by institutionalizing ethics through a variety of structures, policies, and procedures. Although the institutionalization of ethics has become popular in corporate America, there is a lack of research in this area. The relationship between the cultural dimensions of individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity/femininity and the perceptions of managers regarding the institutionalization of ethics is investigated in this study. This research also examined whether managers' level of cognitive moral development and locus of control influenced their perceptions. Data collection was performed through a mail survey of managers in the U.S. and India. Out of the 174 managers of American multinationals who responded to the survey, 86 were Americans and 88 were Indians. Results revealed that managers' perceptions were influenced by the four cultural dimensions. Managerial perceptions regarding the effectiveness of codes of ethics and the influence of referent groups varied according to their nationality. But, managers from both countries found implicit forms of institutionalizing ethics, such as organizational systems, culture, and leadership to be more effective in raising the ethical climate of organizations than explicit forms such as codes of ethics, ethics officers, and ethics ombudspeople. The results did not support the influence of moral reasoning level and locus of control type on managerial perceptions. The results suggested that in order for ethics institutionalization efforts to be successful, there must be a fit or compatibility between the implicit and explicit forms of institutionalizing ethics. The significance of this study rests on the fact that it enriched our understanding of how national culture affects managerial perceptions regarding the institutionalization of ethics. This is the first comparative study between U.S. managers and Indian managers that examines the variables, both explicit and implicit, which influence how ethical values are cultivated and perpetuated in organizations.
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Griffiths, Mary Alida. "Poverty and the role of business." Thesis, Link to the online version, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10019/938.
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Mayanja, Jamiah. "Business ethics in Ugandan small and medium-sized enterprises." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8521.
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SMEs have been acknowledged by governments globally as a prime source of economic growth and development. In Africa there has been a noticeable increase in the number of SME establishments. In Uganda, SMEs are the most popular business choice and play a major role in the national economy. Although SMEs significant economic contributions are generally acknowledged, being ethical and successful has become a challenge, as many SMEs in Uganda have not fully adopted and integrated ethics into their business strategies. Understanding the reasons for the increased unethical behaviour in SMEs is central to their continued business success. The primary objective of the study was to investigate the factors that influence ethical business conduct in Ugandan SMEs. From a comprehensive literature review, three main independent variables (staff-, business- and external environment factors) were identified as variables influencing ethical business conduct (dependent variable) of SMEs. A hypothetical model was developed to determine whether the independent variables have an influence on the dependent variable. Twelve hypotheses were formulated to test the relationships between three staff factors, five business factors, four external environment factors and ethical business conduct. The study sought the perceptions of SME owners or managers in the Kampala District and utilised the quantitative research paradigm. A survey was conducted with the aid of a structured self-administered questionnaire distributed by three fieldworkers. A combination of convenience and snowball sampling was utilised. The final sample comprised 384 respondents. The validity of the measuring instrument was ascertained by using exploratory factor analysis. The Cronbach‟s alpha values for reliability were calculated for each of the factors identified during the exploratory factor analysis. A total of ten valid and reliable factors were retained. Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to test the correlation and statistical significance of the relationships hypothesised between the various independent and dependent variables. One statistically significant relationship was found between the staff factors (employee attitude) and ethical business conduct. Two statistically significant relationships were found between the business factors (knowledge acquisition and management practices) and ethical business conduct. Three statistically significant relationships were found between the external environment factors (legal requirements, industry norm and media power) and ethical business conduct. External environmental factors seem to have a greater influence on SME ethical business conduct in Uganda. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to identify if significant relationships exist between the eight demographic variables and seven reliable and valid independent variables. Furthermore, post-hoc Scheffé tests identified where the significant differences occurred between the different categories. Cohen‟s d-values were calculated in order to assess the practical significance of the mean scores. A total of twelve practical significant relationships were identified. SME owners or managers should consider employing staff with the right attitude to uphold sound ethical business values. They should implement ethical management practices to promote ethical business conduct amongst employees and ensure that employees are made aware of what is regarded as acceptable ethical business behaviour. SME owners or managers should adhere to legal requirements and industry norms to be known as businesses exhibiting ethical behaviour and utilise media to instil and guide ethical values in employees. Lastly, they must pay attention to the role that demographical variables such as: gender, level of education, current employment status, number of years in business and number of employees, play in behaving ethically in business.
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Starusko, Mary Catherine. "Moral Maturity, Ethics and Business: A Cultural Comparative Analysis." NSUWorks, 2009. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/hsbe_etd/107.
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This research study examines moral maturity levels against age, gender, race, and education levels of a Pittsburgh-based company that has more than 250 employees. The sample includes a widely diverse employee population of males and females of various ethnicities. The sample also includes employees who work in various positions ranging from clerical positions to management level positions. Potentially, each of these employees will be confronted with ethical dilemmas at sometime in their daily work environment. This dissertation will examine the moral maturity levels of the survey participants and the impact of age, gender, race, and education. This research study uses the Defining Issues Test (DIT), which is one of the most widely used instruments in the field of moral psychology and is known for its overall reliability and objectivity.
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Snell, Robin S. "The ethics of management learning." Thesis, Lancaster University, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.389865.
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Fourie, Sharon. "The impact of business ethics education on attitudes towards corporate ethics of B Com. Accounting students at the University of Zululand." Thesis, University of Zululand, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10530/1099.
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A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law in filfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in Commerce in the Department of Accounting at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2011.“We are conscious of the reality that corruption in many forms has deeply infected the fibre of our society. Precisely because we face the challenge of dealing with systematic corruption, we need a dispassionate and systematic approach to this question.” Nelson Mandela, at the opening of Parliament (February 17, 1995) It would appear that the integrity of leading organizations, and the ethical behavior of leaders in the workplace, can have a positive impact on the organization as a whole. Many such leaders are moulded and developed in our institutions of higher education. Is there then an onus on these institutions to attempt to instill such ethical values into tomorrow’s leaders? Business ethics courses have in recent years become prevalent world wide, and more recently here in South Africa. The question that begs asking however is: Does teaching an ethics course to students have an effect on their moral judgment, competence and attitudes toward corporate ethics? Many believe that integrity, and hence ethical behaviour, is not something that can be acquired as an adult, but is dependent on your upbringing, social status and perhaps religion. These aspects of life may form a foundation for thinking, but as we are constantly growing and developing, especially in the formative years, they too can be developed. Based on the undisputed need for ethical leaders the following hypothisis was developed. Higher education institutions using a well-designed Ethics instruction programme can positively influence the undergraduate student’s moral judgment competence and attitude toward corporate ethics. A literary review was conducted including both local and international studies. Based on this a survey instrument was prepared, tested and distributed. Solomon’s four group design was chosen as the most appropriate method of research. Although this research showed no statistical or practical improvement in students’ attitude toward business ethics I believe the teaching thereof at least provides the student with an awareness of the situations she/he may encounter on entering the business world. It also provides methods for resolution of conflict both internal and external to which the student may later refer. In this study there were not found to be any significant demographics affecting students’ attitudes, however the sample did have demographic limitations. As significant resources are allocated to the teaching of ethics it would be prudent to conduct further research into the effectiveness of teaching business ethics. The purpose of further research would not be to justify no longer teaching ethics, but to develop a standard of best practice in this regard. We can not change the world overnight and we possibly can not even change the views of an entire group, but if we can just create one ethical leader we have made a difference to the world.
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Cheung, Wing-chung. "An analysis of ICAC's liasion policy business ethics campaign /." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 1995. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B31964710.
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Witt, Matthias. "Assessing the Compatibility of Business Ethics and Sustainable Development." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-169037.
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Since 1987, the United Nations has promoted sustainable development as a form of development that takes into account and balances economic, ecological, and social considerations. To achieve sustainability, the United Nations has repeatedly required private businesses—among other actors—to assume a broader set of social responsibilities. This is though highly contested in the corporate world and among economists. To throw light on this debate, the aim of this paper is to assess whether contemporary theories of business ethics are compatible with the Brundtland notion of sustainable development. For that reason, the responsibilities for sustainable development that corporations should assume are deduced from the Brundtland Report; followed by an introduction to the field of business ethics and a detailed discussion of major contemporary theories reflecting instrumental, integrative, political, and ethical approaches to corporate social responsibility. By comparing the different responsibilities the compatibility of sustainability with each discussed theory on business ethics is assessed. This paper finds that the compatibility is low for instrumental theories, moderate for integrative and political theories, and high for ethical theories on business ethics. Nevertheless, ethical theories assume a normative perspective on sustainable development, idealizing how corporations ought to act in a sustainable world. In reality, the world is far from sustainability. This is not least a result of national economic and legal policies maintaining conditions and structures that continue to promote globalization and free markets. It is argued that the combination of fierce competition and corporations’ opportunities to take advantage of weak legal systems in emerging and developing countries leads firms to further subscribe to an instrumental approach to business ethics. It is suggested that international politics develop a global legal framework based on sustainable development that provides competitive conditions at arm’s length. At the same time, recent management research is presented that suggests that corporations can promote sustainability if they contribute solutions to the social and environmental problems of our time. The pursuit of sustainability, therefore, results more from business opportunities than from any ethical convictions.
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Mohammed, Firdaus. "Business ethics : A case study in Gävle in Sweden." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för kultur-, religions- och utbildningsvetenskap, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-12195.
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Research was conducted on the ways that smaller organizations establish and maintain their ethical standards as they grow. In this study, the development of business ethics and corporate social responsibility in growing firms is studied using two successful organizations: AB Gavlegardarna and Lantmateriet, both in Gavle. Both the legal compliance strategy and integrity strategy have been used by these firms in guiding their policies with respect to the stakeholders of the organization. The values of the leaders in each of these organizations have been inserted into the business via unwritten policies and by the patterns of ethical behavior by the founders. Keywords: Business ethics, Corporate social justice, Swedish context
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Cheung, Wing-chung, and 張永松. "An analysis of ICAC's liasion policy: business ethics campaign." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1995. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31964710.
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Cheung, Wing-chung. "An analysis of ICAC's liaision policy : business ethics campaign /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1995. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B1402388X.
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Adam, Hassan Ali. "The ethics programme : a new competitive advantage." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/21433.
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Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2011.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the world of business today, the reputation of an organisation matters tremendously. After the global financial crisis in 2008-2009, it has never been more difficult for organisations to maintain a positive reputation. The past decade differs from previous ones, as rules and regulations enforced by regulatory bodies are more rigid, public criticism and expectations are greater and the emotional contracts between employees and leadership are not as strong as they once were. The financial services industry, in South Africa and abroad, has been inundated by unethical behaviour and the global downturn has exacerbated this problem. In light of the revelations that have come to pass worldwide, the magnifying glass has been firmly fixed on companies operating within the financial services sector. The crisis has led to numerous companies questioning and reviewing their own compliance and organisational practices to establish whether they are ethical. In the South African financial services industry there has been a war raging among organisations fighting for market share. With the increased competition levels among businesses, there is a desire to find new and creative ways of achieving competitive advantage. Business ethics, therefore, has become essential in the conducting of any type of business. The competitive advantage of business ethics revolves around the building of relationships with organisational stakeholders based on its integrity, which will maintain these relationships. By establishing an ethics programme, an organisation could enable the management of business ethics in the workplace. Ethics programmes often convey the values of the organisation, making use of policies and codes to guide behaviour and the decision-making process of stakeholders. These programmes could be used, during turbulent times, to maintain a moral path, especially when leaders require a clear moral compass for guidance. This moral compass function is also very helpful for new employees, as they may need to be familiarised with ethically correct behaviour within the organisation that aligns with its values. If employees are satisfied with the ethics programme, it could work as a mechanism to stimulate productivity, teamwork and to motivate personnel. A study was conducted within a private sector organisation in the South African financial services industry with a focus on evaluating the effectiveness of their ethics programme. The findings from the fieldwork established that the ethics programme of the organisation was found to be highly effective, as perceived by both employees and directors. An effective ethics programme means that the ethical culture of the organisation is strong. The findings serve to confirm that, by monitoring the key variables that play an important role in predicting the effectiveness of ethics programmes, organisations can achieve a positive result by knowing what the impact of potentially harmful behaviour can have on the ethical climate and culture. The findings also serve to confirm that an effective ethics programme can become a source of competitive advantage if engaged correctly by the entire organisation. This study may be used to argue that sound business ethics and ethics programmes can be viewed as a new competitive advantage that organisations require for long-term sustainability and business success.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In vandag se sakewêreld is die reputasie van ’n organisasie geweldig belangrik. Sedert die globale finansiële krisis in 2008-2009 is dit vir organisasies moeiliker as ooit om ’n positiewe reputasie te handhaaf. Die afgelope dekade is anders as die voriges omdat reëls en regulasies wat deur reguleringsliggame afgedwing word, meer rigied is, openbare kritiek en verwagtinge groter is, en die emosionele kontrakte tussen werknemers en leierskap nie meer so sterk is as vroeër nie. Die bedryf van finansiële dienste – in Suid-Afrika en in die buiteland – is erg geteister deur onetiese gedrag, en die globale insinking het dié probleem vererger. In die lig van onthullings wat wêreldwyd plaasvind, word die vergrootglas ferm gerig op maatskappye wat binne-in die finansiëledienste-sektor sake doen. Die krisis het tot gevolg gehad dat talle maatskappye hul eie reëlnakoming en organisatoriese praktyke bevraagteken en hersien om vas te stel of hulle wel eties is. In die Suid-Afrikaanse (SA) finansiëledienste-bedryf het daar onder organisasies ’n oorlog om markaandeel gewoed Met die toenemende vlakke van mededinging onder sake-ondernemings, is daar ’n begeerte om nuwe en kreatiewe maniere te vind om mededingende voordeel te bereik. Sake-etiek het dus noodsaaklik geword om enige soort besigheid te bedryf. Die mededingende voordeel van sake-etiek draai om die bou van verhoudings met organisatoriese aandeelhouers, gebaseer op hul integriteit wat hierdie verhoudings in stand gaan hou. Deur die vestiging van etiese programme kan ’n organisasie die bestuur van sake-etiek in die werkplek moontlik maak. ’n Etiese program dra dikwels die waardes van die organisasie oor met die gebruik van beleid en kodes as riglyne vir gedrag en die besluitnemingsproses van aandeelhouers. Hierdie programme kan in onstuimige tye gebruik word om ’n morele weg te handhaaf, veral wanneer leiers ’n helder morele kompas nodig het vir leiding. Die funksie van hierdie morele kompas is ook baie nuttig vir nuwe werknemers omdat hulle vertroud wil raak met eties korrekte gedrag binne-in die organisasie wat in lyn is met sy waardes. As werknemers tevrede is met die etiese program, kan dit dien as meganisme om produktiwiteit en spanwerk te stimuleer, asook om hulle te motiveer. ’n Studie wat binne-in ’n organisasie in die private sektor van die Suid-Afrikaanse finansiëledienste-bedryf gedoen is, het gefokus op evaluering van die doeltreffendheid van hul etiese program. Die bevindings van die veldwerk het gestaaf dat die etiese program van die organisasie hoogs doeltreffend was, soos waargeneem deur die werknemers en direkteure. ’n Doeltreffende etiese program beteken dat die etiese kultuur van die organisasie sterk is. Die bevindings dien as bevestiging dat, deur die monitering van die belangrikste veranderlikes wat ’n belangrike rol speel in die voorspelling van die doeltreffendheid van etiese programme, organisasies ’n positiewe uitslag kan bereik indien hulle weet wat die impak van potensieel skadelike gedrag op die etiese klimaat en kultuur kan hê. Die bevindings bevestig ook dat ’n doeltreffende etiese program ’n bron van mededingende voordeel kan word as dit korrek deur die hele organisasie omarm word. Hierdie studie kan gebruik word in ’n betoog dat gesonde sake-etiek en etiese programme beskou kan word as ’n nuwe mededingende voordeel wat organisasies benodig vir langtermynvolhoubaarheid en sake-sukses.
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Russell, La Toya M. "FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ETHICAL DECISIONS OF SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AND MANAGERS IN EMERGING MARKETS:THE CASE OF INDIA." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu156823308307142.
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