CSR NEWS | csr-literature.net - the online bibliography in business ethics http://csr-news.net/literature/ (c) Wietse Balkema, Arthur van Bunningen, Hendri Hondorp, Dennis Reidsma This paper approaches the much-debated issue of corporate citizenship (CC). Many models depict the development process of CC, and yet attempts to find one extensive definition remain in progress. We argue that more than one type of citizenship may be needed to fully describe the concept. So far, social factors have dominated the definitions of CC, but citizenship functions can also be found in other areas. In fact, for maximum benefit, the type of citizenship should be tied to the sector and business field of the corporation in question. Using data drawn from three internationally operating corporations headquartered in Finland, we introduce three different types of CC that are in line with their core business ideas: cultural citizenship, environmental citizenship and technological citizenship. These new types of citizenships can help in grasping the complexity of business responsibility and ethics, and offer tools for gaining competitive advantage by differentiation. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14299 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The purpose of this paper is to investigate the changes in Finnish managers' corporate responsibility perceptions from 1994 to 2004. Following earlier research, the concept of corporate responsibility is operationalised using the stakeholder approach. Empirically, we ask how managers' views on stakeholder issues have changed during the 10-year research period, and how managers' stakeholder orientation compares with their economic orientation. The data were collected using a survey research instrument in the years 1994, 1999 and 2004. The research results show a positive change in managers' corporate responsibility perceptions during this time period. In addition, managers' stakeholder orientation seems to be in balance with their economic orientation. However, the economic context - in terms of both their own company's economic position and the general economic situation - has an effect on managers' stakeholder orientation. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14298 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Market relationships built on trust and governed by commonly accepted ethical norms are generally viewed as economically positive and beneficial to both parties; however, such relationships are occasionally the situs of a variety of unexpected and ethically questionable behaviours. This study examines the narratives provided by participants who share their experience as an exchange partner in a market relationship or as a close observer of an exchange partner in a market relationship to identify the use of short-term deceptions and ethics defections in managing these relationships. The data demonstrate a number of instances in which one exchange partner is willing to deceive another. Situations identified include deceiving current customers, new customers, current suppliers, governmental bodies, and employees and managers for the purposes of: protecting an existing relationship, pursuing a new relationship, ensuring product or service quality, and exerting control over a relationship. This research develops a general analytic framework for the occurrence of deception and defection from ethical norms in market relationships from elements of the study participants' narrative reports. This framework can be used by future researchers to design studies that examine the specific antecedents of these behaviours. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14297 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Alliances and other forms of cooperation between firms often promise great benefits, for example, by the exchange of knowledge or co-specialization of resources. At the same time, the necessary actions to realize these benefits can augment vulnerability to opportunistic behaviour of partners. In addition to formal contracts to mitigate the resulting behavioural uncertainties, often, mechanisms, such as reputation or ethical values, are suggested as important supplements. However, when it comes to assessment of a specific cooperation opportunity, it is difficult to account systematically for the economic consequences of these 'softer factors'. Therefore, this paper aims to surpass mere financial analysis of chance and risk and to integrate systematically both reputation and ethical values into an economic assessment of cooperative relationships. For this purpose, we develop a theoretical framework that is based on a simple-decision model to account for reputation and ethical values of potential partners as drivers of behavioural uncertainty reduction. We also discuss how this framework can be used to assess cooperative relationships and illustrate these ideas with reference to the inter-organizational accounting practices of a large drugstore chain and its suppliers. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14296 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Ethical issues at the workplace have once again become topical and important due to considerable adverse publicity surrounding reports of unethical business practices by corporate managers. Accordingly, this paper re-visits the question of whether gender, age and work experience do have an effect on ethical judgement, using 655 business students as respondents. This is necessary as business students are likely to become managers during their career and will face complex ethical concerns and dilemmas in their daily, routine affairs. The findings currently demonstrate that females are more ethically aware than their male counterparts - that is, there are differences between males and females regarding ethical judgement. There is also evidence to suggest that age is a factor that does impact on ethical judgement. However, we also found evidence to suggest that in some cases, the age factor does not necessarily have a significant impact on ethical awareness. The results further indicate that there is a difference in ethical judgement related to work experience. However, at the same time, in one question there is no evidence to suggest the claim that work experience does impact significantly on ethical judgement. Overall, it appears that ethical awareness does increase alongside work experience. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14295 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Stakeholder theory is one of the most influential theories in business ethics. It is perhaps not surprising that a theory as popular as stakeholder theory should be used in different ways, but when the disparity between different uses becomes too great, it is questionable whether all the 'stakeholder research' refers to the same underlying theory. This paper starts to clarify this definitional confusion by distinguishing between three different ways in which different lines of stakeholder research are connected with descriptive and instrumental stakeholder theory. First, a distinction is made between research connected with descriptive and with instrumental stakeholder theory as defined by Donaldson & Preston in the narrow or broad sense. Second, a distinction is made between research that interprets descriptive and instrumental stakeholder theories as either hypotheses or research areas. Third, a distinction is made between research that interprets Donaldson & Preston's central concept of ‚Äòstakeholder management‚Äô as either behaviour or rationale. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of these differences for empirical research into stakeholder theory. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14294 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The increasing popularity of socially responsible investment among individual investors throughout Europe reveals the need for a framework that allows the comparison of socially responsible retail markets in different European countries. This article proposes such a framework, containing 16 different characteristics of socially responsible retail markets describing the size, institutionalization and nature of this market and correcting for differences in the size of countries and financial markets. When this framework was applied to the Dutch and Belgian socially responsible retail markets, differences were found with respect to the nature of both markets (specifically the use of non-financial criteria, the asset allocation, the number of solidarity funds and investors' preferences for socially responsible savings products). Similarities were found with respect to the (absolute and relative) size and the degree of institutionalization of the socially responsible retail markets. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14293 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This article researches how a corporate code of ethics (CCE) implemented in local government X has influenced the behavior of its employees, middle managers, and managers. Metaphors from the existing and desired CCE elicited by these three groups provided information on how to improve the effectiveness of the CCE. This method proved to be very fruitful. It appeared that continuous systematic attention needed to be paid to the CCE after the CCE had been implemented, particularly by management. Initiatives from management to start discussions about relevant questions of integrity appeared to be also necessary to make the topic a 'normal' topic which employees were no longer afraid to discuss. In this way, the possibility could be created to develop collectively a 'practical' frame of reference concerning relevant questions of integrity that would help employees to make decisions in difficult situations during their work in the future. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14292 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Several theories, both ancient and recent, suggest that having the time to contemplate a decision should increase moral awareness and the likelihood of ethical choices. Our findings indicated just the opposite: greater time for deliberation led to less ethical decisions. Post-hoc analyses and a followup experiment suggested that decision makers act as if their previous choices have created or lost moral credentials: after an ethical first choice, people acted significantly less ethically in their subsequent choice but after an unethical first choice, people acted significantly more ethically in their subsequent choice. These findings provide the basis for a model of compensatory ethics. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14291 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This article explores the links between strategic goals, enterprise risk management, and ethics. We offer a typology of managerial attitudes toward strategic goals and rationality and explore the interaction between strategic and ethical decision making. In so doing, we offer a practical framework for managers to approach ethical dilemmas in the highly complex, volatile, and risky economy that we currently find ourselves in. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14290 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The introduction and validation of a new instrument, The Moral Reasoning Inventory, designed to measure an individuals' moral reasoning (MR) in response to two moral dilemmas within a business setting is the subject of this article. The instrument consists of two moral dilemma scenarios with eight MR statements. Two measurement scales were used for analyzing patterns of individual responses: the strength of belief in the reasons and the importance of those reasons for resolving the dilemma. Managers enrolled in a part-time MBA program were administered the new instrument. Data analysis clearly supported the effectiveness of the instrument to differentiate patterns of consistency in MR within decision groups. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14289 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Relying on an expanded view of leadership and the moral reasoning framework developed by Lawrence Kohlberg (), this study explores the moral reasoning of the chief executive officers at the 11 largest automobile manufacturers in the world. Using the CEOs' letter to their stakeholders found in the organizations' annual social responsibility reports, the CEOs' moral reasoning is compared to other managers' moral reasoning, and the moral reasoning exhibited within the CEO group is analyzed for differences due to regional location. Contrary to conventional understanding based on prior research, the CEOs in our sample did not exhibit moral reasoning at a higher level than a cross section of managers but there were differences within the sample of CEOs when looking at nationality. Implications of these results for CEOs, managers, academics, and others are explored. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14288 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST In this study, we consider the association between ethical conflict and adverse outcomes, including employee stress, (lack of) organizational commitment, absenteeism, and turnover intention. Our findings show that ethical conflict is associated with adverse outcomes. Our results identify the importance of ethical conflict for organizations and the benefit for organizations to address and mitigate ethical conflict. In addition, our research contributes to the person‚Äìorganization and turnover literature by extending the person-fit framework to the ethical domain and by suggesting that ethical conflict can be useful in predicting turnover. The findings of our study reinforce the need to minimize ethical conflict in the workplace due to the organizational costs associated with ethical conflict. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14287 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Earlier investigations have indicated that work beliefs in organization are impacted by different national cultures. In addition, those investigations have sought to understand the meaning of work in such different cultures. This study explores the meaning of work in the Egyptian context through an assessment of work beliefs and work attitudes. The article starts with a presentation of what is meant by the meaning of work and why research into work beliefs is both needed and worthwhile. The article then presents a review of the relevant literature that evaluated the meaning of work in different countries. The review also elucidates recent research efforts that have tried to shed some light on the meaning of work in Middle-Eastern contexts. Data were collected from 201 Egyptian white-collar workers. Work beliefs and some job attitudes were assessed. Results indicate the prevalence of the humanistic work-belief system. Job satisfaction was positively correlated with the humanistic work-belief system and negatively with the Marxist work-belief system. The implications of these and other findings for international managers are discussed and recommendations for future researchers are put forward. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14286 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The United States has a population of three hundred million, according to latest Census Bureau estimates. Forty-seven million, including many non-citizens, are uninsured. That is, 16% of the total United States population has no health insurance. Millions more have inadequate coverage and are in danger of losing that. Private, corporatized medical coverage, structured by the insurance industry, is the basis for the current system. This article is an attempt to lay out the principal health care issues, to look at the alternatives and the cost of those alternatives, and to try to determine whether there is a particular regime that, despite its imperfections, is the best available to us now. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14285 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a global private governance system overseeing the sustainability and biodiversity of the world forestry system through certification of forests and forestry processes and products, and is perceived as the strongest of the various certification schemes available (Domask, Globalization and NGOs: Transforming Business, Government, and Society, ; Gulbrandsen, Global Environmental Politics, ). It has seen more success in developed than developing countries in terms of amount of forest certified and number of chain-of-custody certificates issued, raising questions as to its ability to promote biodiversity Gulbrandsen, Global Environmental Politics, ). A number of challenges have risen to the pragmatic and moral legitimacy of the FSC as a global governance system: alternative certification schemes, output and market access, cost of certification, plantations, and illegal logging. I examine each of these challenges as they pertain to the dimensions of pragmatic and moral legitimacy of the FSC. I conclude with a discussion of theoretical implications for global governance systems using ecolabel schemes, as well as a discussion of practical implications for the FSC in particular. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14284 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This project investigates salient stakeholder forces of socially responsible supply chain orientation (SRSCO) in the apparel and footwear sector focusing on fair labor management issues. SRSCO was conceptualized as a composite of internal organizational direction and external partnership for a creation and continuation of fair labor conditions throughout the supply chain. Primary stakeholders identified were consumers, regulation, industry, and media. A total of 209 mail survey responses from sourcing managers of U.S. apparel and footwear companies were analyzed. Two dimensions of SRSCO were confirmed: internal direction and external partnership. Consumer and industry peer pressures were found significantly related to internal direction, while industry peers and media were significantly related to the external partnership. Regulation was not significantly related to either internal direction or external partnerships. Lack of regulation forces to govern labor issues and roles of consumers, industry peers, and media in promoting fair labor management are discussed in this article. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14283 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The recent global economic collapse brings new calls for reform and change as well as a re-examination of the ethical foundations underpining it. Most professors as well as students remain profoundly unhappy with the Business Curricula. The curricula appear to swing between technological training and academic theory. There is little genuine focus on the central issue of the problem: the students' and faculty's assumptive world which drives the selection of the materials chosen for presentation as well as the decision-making process. In the pragmatic quest to achieve status within academe, business schools appear to have forgotten that their subject matter is not one cognate domain but a mixture of several areas including mathematics, economics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, logic and planning. Course structures must be redesigned as consilient. That is, each course contains in it the links to other courses and is not expected to be complete in themselves; the new structures proposed are no longer under the direct control of one instructor but each course is under the control of a committee. This creates a linkage between courses that together from a linked chain of knowledge where the strength of the curriculum is tied to the consilient strength of the courses. The result is an organic and developmental model for teaching and learning with a strong ethical foundation as well as developed moral links to effective decision making. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14282 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST South Korean industrial conglomerates (chaebols) are discussed in the context of value-based management (VBM). Recent economics and finance literature on the diversion of corporate resources from the firm to the controlling shareholders (tunneling), for which chaebols are notoriously known, is discussed. Chaebols have engaged in empire building and expropriation of minority shareholders, distorting the process of efficient resource allocation in South Korea, and became the root cause of the 1997 financial crisis. We argue that the 1997 crisis should be viewed as a consequence of chaebols‚Äô systematic deviation from the guiding principles of VBM. We use tunneling within chaebols as an example of the need to directly address prohibition of the expropriation of minority shareholders as a primary postulate of VBM. We argue that VBM should require that the value generated by the firm not be expropriated from minorities, or any stakeholders, by dominant shareholders. We also examine moral and ethical considerations and present explanations as to why the unethical practice of tunneling has been tolerated by the South Korean public. We show that public opinion on tunneling is changing and that the treatment of minority shareholders by chaebols' controlling families is becoming increasingly unacceptable to South Koreans. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14281 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST I consider two influential arguments for employee participation in firm decision making: what I call the 'interest protection argument' and the 'autonomy argument'. I argue that the case for granting participation rights to some other stakeholders, such as suppliers and community members, is at least as strong, according to the reasons given in these arguments, as the case for granting them to certain employees. I then consider how proponents of these arguments might modify their arguments, or views, in response to this conclusion. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14280 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The purpose of this study was to determine the applicability of Buddhist practices in today's workplaces. The findings were supported by interviews with Buddhist masters and Buddhist business practitioners, as well as literature review, through phenomenological analysis. As a means of presenting the main reasons why Buddhist practices should be considered in contemporary workplaces, a SWOT analysis is presented. In this analysis, a number of strengths for using Buddhist practices in workplaces are listed such as pro-scientific, greater personal responsibility, and healthy detachment, while potential weaknesses such as non-harming, equanimity, and no competition are also reviewed. Both the strengths and the weaknesses could be listed in reverse if applied to a different extent. Among the opportunities were issues such as re-educating the world of business, enhancing personal ownership and a healthier society, while the threats comprised issues such as creating different imbalances, disinterest, and stationary development. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14279 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This study described and analysed the circumstances surrounding a fatal car accident involving personnel of a multinational corporation in a developing country. For some companies, road accidents are the leading cause of work-related fatalities in developing countries. This reality highlights the ethical dilemmas encountered in a global workplace. Questions as to how a company addresses safety concerns outside the standard work environment, the ethics of operating in a risky environment and the requirements for international consistency in compensation standards for loss of life were addressed. The authors argued that multinational companies should localize health and safety practices to address the important asymmetries between different regions of the world regarding social, cultural and infrastructural issues. Furthermore, the authors analysed the leadership role that should be played by multinational companies to help and support national governments to reduce traffic fatalities in developing countries. From this perspective, the article represents a contribution for the body of knowledge dealing with the business‚Äìsociety relations. The authors used an action research approach to address these issues, both in response to the particular incident and to contribute to the body of research in this field. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14278 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The purpose of cause-related marketing (CRM) is to publicise and capitalise on a firm's corporate social performance (CSP) by enhancing its legitimacy in the eyes of its stakeholders. This study focuses on the firm's internal stakeholders - i.e. its employees ‚Äì and the extent of their involvement in the selection of social campaigns. Whilst the difficulties of managing a firm that has lost or damaged its legitimacy in the eyes of its employees are well known, little is understood about the extent to which managers and their social partners listen to and involve their employees in the legitimation process. Through telephone interviews with non-profit organisations and senior managers of service sector firms, the extent of employee involvement in CRM campaigns and the perceived benefits of doing so are investigated. Amongst other things, we find that (i) the extent of employee participation varies significantly across firms; (ii) larger CRM campaigns tend to be managed centrally with relatively less employee participation than smaller ones and (iii) financial services firms are more likely to make CRM decisions centrally, with relatively less employee participation than retail services firms. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14277 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This study is an extension of our recent ethics research in direct marketing (2003) and information technology (2007). In this study, we investigated the relationships among core organizational values, organizational ethics, corporate social responsibility, and organizational performance outcome. Our analysis of online survey responses from a sample of IT professionals in the United States indicated that managers from organizations with organic core values reported a higher level of social responsibility relative to managers in organizations with mechanistic values; that managers in both mechanistic and organic organizations which were perceived as more socially responsible were also perceived as more ethical; and that perceived ethical attitudes and social responsibility were significantly associated with organizational performance outcome measures. Our article discusses research premises, conceptual framework, hypotheses, research methodology, data analysis, recommendations for further research, and conclusions. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14276 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This study drew on three theoretical perspectives - attribution theory, power, and role identity theory - to compare the job-related outcomes of sexual harassment from organizational insiders (i.e., supervisors and co-workers) and organizational outsiders (i.e., offend- ers and members of the public) in a sample ( n = 482) of UK police officers and police support staff. Results showed that sexual harassment from insiders was related to higher intentions to quit, over-performance demands, and lower job satisfaction, whereas sexual harassment from outsiders was not significantly related to any of the outcome variables investigated. We also examined two moderator variables: equal opportunity support and confidence in grievance procedures. Consistent with our hypotheses, equal opportunity support mitigated the effects of sexual harassment from supervisors on intent to quit and over-performance demands. Confidence in grievance procedures moderated the relationship between sexual harassment from supervisors and all outcome variables. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14275 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST A correction to the article "The Association Between Ethical Conflict and Adverse Outcomes," DOI 10.1007/s10551-009-0153-6, is presented. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14274 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The empirical relationship between a firm's social performance and its financial performance is still not well established in the literature. Despite more than 30 years of research and more than 100 empirical studies on the issue, the results are still mixed. We argue that the heterogeneous results found in previous studies are not due exclusively to problems related with the measurement instruments or the samples used. Instead, we posit that a more fundamental problem related with the endogeneity of social strategic decisions could be driving most of the empirical findings. We show that, using a panel data of 658 firms from 1991 to 2005, how some of the results found in previous research change, and some are even reversed when endogeneity is properly taken into account. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14273 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This article presents the results of the empirical testing of the corporate travel policy compliance model conceptualised by the authors and first published in the Journal of Business Ethics in 2009. In the previous article, the theory underlying the model was explained. This article follows with the results of the empirical testing of the model and focusses on those related to the influence of personal factors on policy compliance. The constructs used to define personal-related factors include personal ethics, individual morality, self-interest, levels of job- and life satisfaction and the conditions of travel. The empirical investigation sought to determine if personal-related factors significantly influenced travel policy compliance and from the study it could be concluded that there is a correlation, with certain factors exhibiting a stronger correlation than others. The implication is that organisations need to understand the impact of factors previously ignored or under-valued as determinants of non-compliance and take steps to recognise and remedy the situation to achieve higher levels of travel policy compliance amongst corporate travellers. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14272 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This article aims at understanding how 'ethical public issues' are created, and dealt within a public arena. Here, we view ethical public issues as social constructs, which are the results of issue framing contests. Such an approach will enable us to understand how ethical public issues emerge and are shaped by strategizing actors (including firms, NGOs, the media, and governments), in an attempt to impose their own definition and preferred solution to the issue. We also propose key factors which explain the success of a framing attempt, and evidence of such success. The empirical case of the labor conditions in West Africa's cocoa industry is used to illustrate this theoretical framework and methodological approach. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14271 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST In industries populated by small and medium enterprises, managers' good intentions frequently incur barriers to superior environmental performance (Tilley, Bus Strategy Environ 8:238-248, ). During the period when the U.S. wine industry was beginning to promote voluntary adoption of sound environmental practices, we examined managers' attitudes, norms, and perceptions of stakeholder pressures to assess their intentions to implement environmental management programs (EMP). We found that managers within the simple structures of these small and medium firms are responsive to attitudes, norms, and pressures from internal stakeholders and that voluntarily established EMP increased the success of firms' implementation of energy conservation and recycling practices. Applications of our findings to future research on small and medium enterprises as well as direct practical applications of our results are discussed. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14270 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This study addresses the question whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) matters in Asian Emerging Markets. Based on CSR scores compiled by Credit Lyonnais Securities (Asia), we assess the CSR performance of major Asian firms over a period of 3 years, from 2001 to 2004. The results show that there is a positive and significant relation between CSR and market valuation among Asian firms. We further find that CSR is positively related to the market valuation of the subsequent year. More importantly, Asian firms are rewarded by the market for improving their CSR practice. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14269 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This study explores the general problems associated with marketing across international markets and focuses specifically on the role of corruption in deterring international marketing success. The authors do this by introducing a broader conceptualization of corruption. The dimensions of corruption and their importance in explaining the exporters' successes in international markets are developed empirically. Partial Least Squares formative indicators are used in a comprehensive model including consumer resources (wealth and information resources), physical distance (kilometers and time zones), and cultural distance (linguistic and values differences) as alternative explanatory variables. Finally, differences in the model's performance across data from three exporting countries (France, Japan, and the US) are delineated and discussed. For example, the successes of French and Japanese exporters in international markets are in part determined by the levels of corruption in target countries. Alternatively, corruption in target countries does not appear to affect the successes of American exporters in global markets. The conceptualization of corruption in this study extends the more narrow view of corruption solely as bribery. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14268 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The problem of academic dishonesty in Business Schools has risen to the level of a crisis according to some authors, with the incidence of reports on student cheating rising to more than half of all the business students. In this article we introduce the problem of academic integrity as a holistic issue that requires creating a‚ê£cultural change involving students, faculty, and administrators in an integrated process. Integrating the extensive literature from other scholars, we offer a ten-step model which can create a positive culture for academic integrity. The successful implementation of a well-crafted academic integrity program can have a positive impact on business schools and improve the reputation of tomorrow‚Äôs business leaders. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14267 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Globalization leads to cross-border business transactions between societies with very different norms and regulations regarding bribery. Bribery in international business transactions can be seen as a function of not only the demand for such bribes in different countries, but the supply, or willingness to provide bribes by multinational firms and their representatives. This study addresses the propensity of firms from 30 different countries to engage in international bribery. The study incorporates both domestic (economic development, culture, and domestic corruption in the supplying country) and international factors (those countries' patterns of trade and involvement in international accords) in explaining the willingness to bribe abroad. The propensity to provide bribes was the lowest when corruption was not tolerated in the multinational firms' home countries, when the firms' countries were signatories of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) anti-bribery convention, and when those countries traded heavily with wealthier nations. Further, these findings are maintained when controlling for levels of economic development and cultural values in the supplying country. In terms of culture, firms from high power distance countries showed a somewhat greater propensity for providing bribes in transactions with less-developed nations. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14266 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This study proposes a conceptual model to explain persistent, accepted-as-normal corporate wrongdoing (hereafter banality of wrongdoing), particularly for high performance organizations. The model describes five explanatory variables: the culture of competition, ends-biased leadership, missionary zeal, legitimizing myth, and the corporate cocoon. Our thesis is that the nature of competition drives both legitimate and illegitimate goal-seeking to adopt an iconoclastic (rule-breaking) orientation. High performance organizations are favorable hosts for wrongdoing because high performance requires aggressive behavior at the ethical margins of what is acceptable. The way leadership reacts to competition sets the stage for ethical or unethical cultures to develop. Ends-biased leadership will project strong vision, using ideology and legitimizing myth as tools to inspire and motivate. The resulting missionary zeal justifies using questionable means because of the perceived value of the end. One critical method for building strong culture is creating a sense of being separate and apart from the ordinary. This cocoon effect may create a self-referential value system that is significantly at odds with mainstream culture and in which wrongdoing is banal. We intend an empirical study of the variables described in this model. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14265 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This is a case study investigating the growth of fair trade pioneer, Cafédirect. We explore the growth of the company and develop strategic insights on how Cafédirect has attained its prominent position in the UK mainstream coffee industry based on its ethical positioning. We explore the marketing, networks and communications channels of the brand which have led to rapid growth from niche player to a mainstream brand. However, the company is experiencing a slow down in its meteoric rise and we question whether it is possible for the company to regain its former momentum with its current marketing strategy. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14264 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This case is designed to help students analyze decision making from various ethical perspectives and to use stakeholder analysis. The case perspective is that of the CEO of Degussa AG, a multispecialty chemical company, headquartered in D√ºsseldorf, Germany. Degussa is considering whether to submit a bid to supply its anti-graffiti coating, Protectosil, for a new Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe being planned for Berlin. Degussa‚Äôs ethical dilemma is that a former Degussa subsidiary, Degesch, manufactured and supplied the Zyklon B nerve gas used by the Nazis to kill Jews in the concentration camps during World War II. Although Degussa has made attempts both to acknowledge and to atone for its war-time Nazi collaboration, public disclosure of its bid has the potential to engulf Degussa in controversy when activists and Jewish leaders learn of it. Students are asked to evaluate the bid's benefits and costs to Degussa‚Äôs stakeholders, to consider the relevance of a company's historical legacy to contemporary decision making, and to explore how German corporate history during and after the Holocaust has parallels to human rights issues in other countries. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14263 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The large numbers of children working in developing countries continue to provoke calls for an end to such employment. However, many reformers argue that efforts should focus on ending the exploitation of children rather than depriving them of all opportunities to work. This posture reflects recognition of the multiplicity of needs children have and the diversity of situations in which they work. Unfortunately, research typically neglects these complexities and fails to distinguish between types of labor market jobs, dismisses household chores as irrelevant, and conceptualizes children's needs largely in terms of the education they require for successful careers. Based on data collected in schools in Franca, Brazil, where children often combine school with work in the shoe industry, this study first examined the implications of labor market jobs and household work for their health, life satisfaction, and education. Analyses suggested that both forms of work negatively affected children's welfare, but the effects of household work were more extensive, especially for girls. The second part focused on children with labor market jobs and examined how facets of their jobs as well as their after-work household duties affected their welfare. A lack of discretion on the job undermined the health of both boys and girls, higher pay adversely affected boys' education, and housework had detrimental effects on all indicators of girls' welfare. This paper discusses the implications of these findings for further research and suggests the needs for attention to different forms of work activities within families. It concludes with suggestions for multinationals sourcing in developing areas that go beyond the usual calls for ridding their facilities and supply networks of child workers. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14262 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This article examines whether the charitable giving amount and likelihood of firm response to catastrophic events relate to firms' ownership type using a unique dataset of listed firms in China, where state ownership is still prevalent. Based on the data of Chinese firms' response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, we find that the extent of corporate contributions for state-owned firms following this disaster is less than that for private firms. State-owned firms are also less likely to respond in this disaster compared to private firms. The results also reveal that firm size, profitability, geography, cash resource available, and leverage affect firms' philanthropic disaster response behavior in China. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14261 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST In China, guanxi is the basis on which Chinese exchange a lifetime of favors, resources, and business leverage. Guanxi is considered a unique construct and a product of Confucian values and the contemporary political and socioeconomic system in Chinese society. With its cultural embeddings guanxi, as the social norm of conduct, functions as complex adaptive systems that expand and interconnect to become well-knit social networks; meanwhile the functions of well-fixing and self-reinforcement of the guanxi networks ( chuens) are synergetically activated internally, externally, and interactively, which shows their extreme flexibility of adaptation. Taking as a case study an outside direct investment (ODI) Taiwanese firm in China, we address and conduct a survey to examine the effect of guanxi on management. Results of the research suggest that guanxi is not limited to interpersonal links; it is also the switch that activates social networks and that reconciles interpersonal and internetwork mismatches to influence management efficacy. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14260 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This paper looks at whether the tenets of Islam are consistent with the 'Ten Principles' of responsible business outlined in the UN Global Compact. The paper concludes that with the possible exception of Islam's focus on personal responsibility and the non-recognition of the corporation as a legal person, which could undermine the concept of corporate responsibility, there is no divergence between the tenets of the religion and the principles of the UN Global Compact. Indeed, Islam often goes further and has the advantage of clearer codification of ethical standards as well as a set of explicit enforcement mechanisms. Focusing on this convergence of values could be useful in the development of a new understanding of CSR in a global context and help avert the threatened 'clash of civilisations'. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14259 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Ethics has assumed a dominant position in the current economic debate, and this study focuses on ethics as a legitimate underpinning to good business decision making. Using a self-response survey of marketing managers in Spain, the current theory on ethical decision making is extended. Results support the mediating influence of the PRESOR construct (an individual's perception of the importance of ethics and social responsibility for the effectiveness of the organization) on relativistic and idealistic moral thinking when one is considering the moral intensity of a situation. In addition, the study found support for the relationship between relativism (negative), idealism (positive), corporate ethical values, and job satisfaction, thereby providing additional support for the prior theory. Finally, a thorough review of the extant literature and suggestions for future ethics research in the marketing field are included. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14258 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The responsibilities of the manager have been examined through several lenses in the business ethics literature: Kantian (Bowie, ), contractarian (Donaldson and Dunfee, ), consequentialist (Friedman, ), and virtue ethics (Solomon,), to name just four. This paper explores what the ethical responsibilities of the manager would look like if viewed through an evolutionary lens. Discussion is focused on the impact of evolutionary thinking on the process of moral reasoning, rather than on the sources or the substance of morality. The conclusion is reached that the evolutionary lens supports the view that moral luck plays an important role in how we assign ethical responsibilities. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14257 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Although many studies have linked job attitudes and intentions to aspects of in-role and extra-role job performance, there has been relatively little attention given to such job responses in the context of employees' ethical/unethical behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate a possible relationship between positive job response (conceptualized as job satisfaction and intention to stay) and behavioral ethics. Ninety-two matched manager-employee pairs from a regional branch of a large financial services and banking firm completed survey instruments, with each employee providing information about his or her job attitudes and intentions and each manager assessing the ethical/unethical performance of his/her employees. Respondents also provided additional information required for our analyses. The results indicated that positive job response among subordinates was associated with higher supervisory ratings of the subordinates' ethical job performance. The managerial implications of the findings for managing ethical behavior are explored. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14256 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This research examines how the meaning of risk, safety, and accidents are constructed in a military context. We compare meanings of these constructs among members working for three organizations (Health and Safety Executive, Ministry of Defence, and Royal Marine Commandos) jointly responsible for planning and executing 'safe' military training and maneuvres in a particular unit of the United Kingdom‚Äôs Royal Marine Commandos. The discourse among these members embodies the inter-organizational collaboration over military safety, and through an analysis of this discourse we situate and frame shared and contested meanings of risk, safety, and accidents within this particular community of practice. We discuss implications of these findings for theory and practice, rallying for a more contextualized understanding of what risk, safety, and accidents mean in organizational life and thus the relative nature of the standards to which organizations are expected to adhere. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14255 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Globalisation has accelerated economic development in emerging economies through the outsourcing of their supply chains and at the same time has accelerated the degradation of environmental and social conditions. Society expects corporations to play an essential role in creating economic, environmental and social prosperity beyond their country of origin. In order to regulate outsourcing activities in the supply chain, many multinationals are constantly searching for ways to manage their indirect environmental and social impacts accordingly, as well as to meet their stakeholder expectations. Because expectations of stakeholders vary widely across different regions, this study intends, by engaging with major stakeholders, to identify what are the local and regional supply chain stakeholders' perceptions and expectations. The findings would help in building consensus, strengthening the implementation and establishing the future corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework. This study collects and analyses data from 21 major stakeholders in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The results indicate that local and regional stakeholders perceive that CSR is fairly significant to largely export-oriented businesses, but it is lagging behind the West due to the fact that most local/regional companies only become involved in CSR when this is a client requirement. They see responsible corporations as meeting the local legislative requirement; going beyond this requirement is unnecessary. A voluntary approach favours multi-party partnership initiatives with pilot trust programmes aimed at managers' and workers' capacity building. Most stakeholders favour the proposed regional partnership initiative, supply chain task forces aimed at bringing together relevant organisations and people with different sets of skills. Distinct roles of different organisations are identified to assist suppliers to understand CSR, and only this will bring about long-term sustainable change. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14254 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The main purpose of this study is to explore and map the intellectual structure of business ethics studies during 1997-2006 by analyzing 85,000 cited references of 3,059 articles from three business ethics related journals in SSCI and SCI databases. In this article, co-citation analysis and social network analysis techniques are used to research intellectual structure of the business ethics literature. We are able to identify the important publications and the influential scholars as well as the correlations among these publications by analyzing citation and co-citation. Three factors emerged in this study are: (1) ethical/unethical decision making, (2) corporate governance and firm performance, and (3) ethical principles and code of conduct. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14253 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Decades of empirical and theoretical research has produced an extensive literature on the ethical judgments construct. Given its importance to understanding people‚Äôs ethical choices, future research should explore the psychological processes that produce ethical judgments. In this paper, the authors discuss two steps needed to advance this effort. First, they note that the business ethics literature lacks a single, generally accepted definition of ethical judgments. After reviewing several extant definitions, the authors offer a definition of the construct and discuss its advantages. Second, future ethical judgment research would benefit from greater integration between theories of ethical decision making and theories of social cognition. Drawing upon the Hunt-Vitell ( Journal of Macromarketing 6(Spring), 5-15, ; In: N. C. Smith and J. A. Quelch (eds.), Ethics in Marketing. Irwin, Homewood, IL, pp. 775-784, ) model and the heuristic-systematic model (Chaiken, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 39(November), 752-766, ), the authors present a brief research agenda intended to stimulate research on the psychological processes behind ethical judgments. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14252 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST A review is presented of the book "Finance: Servant or Deceiver? Financialization at the Crossroads," by Paul H. Dembinski. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14251 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This paper investigates the development of corporate governance regulations in emerging economies, using the case of Bangladesh. In particular, the paper considers three issues: What type of corporate governance model may be suitable for an emerging economy such as Bangladesh? What type of model has Bangladesh adopted in reality? and What has prompted such adoption? By analysing the corporate environment and corporate governance regulations, the paper finds that, like many other developing nations, Bangladesh has also adopted the Anglo-American shareholder model of corporate governance. Analysis of behaviours of principal actors in the Bangladeshi corporate governance scenario, using new institutionalism as a theoretical foundation, then reveals that such adoption may be prompted by exposure to legitimacy threats rather than efficiency reasons. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14250 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST