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 Widespread trade liberalization and economic integration characterize the current era of globalization. While this approach has resulted in significant job creation, improved living standards, and a wider variety of cheaper consumer goods and services, opponents question if globalization's benefits outweigh the dislocations and downsides that it causes. Protestors are intent on stalling or rolling back globalization's progression and our review of the history of globalization reveals that a backlash is not without precedent. The article carefully examines the myth and reality of these two opposing positions on four key areas of the globalization debate: jobs; inequality and poverty; national sovereignty and cultural diversity; and the natural environment. This information is then utilized to derive a broad set of feasible policy recommendations that could help bring about a more sustainable form of globalization. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14600 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This article provides an insight into the changing role of businesses in dealing with the natural environment issues. From being regarded as poachers of the natural environment, many businesses have now started to position themselves as gamekeepers of the natural environment. This article traces the events and factors that have contributed toward this shift. The article starts with an introduction to the current state of the natural environment. It then discusses the role that businesses have traditionally played in contributing toward the rapid deterioration of the natural environment. The article then traces the events that have gradually resulted in businesses accepting that they have a responsibility to address environmental issues. This is followed by an overview of the business responses, to the risks and opportunities, posed by changes in the natural environment. The article then provides a brief overview of the various phase models that attempt to categorize business responses to environmental issue. The conclusion focuses on the challenges that lie ahead. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14599 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The health-care reform promised by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of March 2010 continues our dependence on a central feature of the American health-care system: employer-sponsored insurance (ESI). In this article I will criticize the assumptions regarding market and welfare concerns on which this dependence is based and argue that efforts to mandate ESI ignore both the dynamics of the employment relation and the nature of health-care needs. A comparison between investing in employee education and investing in employee health will reveal the pragmatic challenges to ESI and the covert appeal to employer beneficence on which ESI rests. This paper argues that relying on ESI to guarantee appropriate care for a significant segment of the population is undesirable and unsustainable from both market and moral perspectives. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14598 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST In a world of glossy corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports, the shallowness of the actual CSR results may well be its counterpart. We claim that the possible gaps between aspirations and implementations are due to the company's overrating abilities to deal with the irrational and complex moral world of business. Many academic approaches aim to lift business ethics up to a higher level by enhancing competences but will fail because they are too rationalistic and generalistic to match the pluralistic and situational practice constituted by the mosaic of values and set of constraints. This is demonstrated by describing and analyzing the CSR development of the multinational caterer Sodexo and in particular its Dutch branch. We explain what they do and why they are not successful. We present a new tool named Ethical Room for Maneuver that centers experiences and concrete situations in a playground of inquiry and experiment to enhance abilities to operate in themoral world and to meliorate business and society with more effectiveness. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14597 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The main purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of the conditions under which Business-nongovernmental organization (NGO) interactions lead to improvements in corporate social responsibility (CSR), by assessing the role that the stakeholder context of the firm plays in the processes. As a case study it takes an interaction process between one NGO and one company with both collaborative and confrontational traits, spanning eight years and two issue fields, palm oil and soy, which are characterized by varying stakeholder contexts. The analysis demonstrates that the business-NGO interaction induced a change from a direct to an indirect corporate responsibility, and clarifies how interdependencies between the company and other stakeholders than the NGO influenced the interaction. The stakeholder interdependencies vary per issue field: In some issue fields, the stakeholder context allows for effective, collaborative interaction between business and NGO, while in another issue field, characterized by different stakeholder interdependencies, collaborative, constructive interactionbetween the same business and the same NGO is not feasible and, in addition, less effective in terms of CSR than confrontational interaction. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14596 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST In a series of reports the United Nations Special Representative on the issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations has emphasized a tripartite framework regarding business and human rights that includes the state "duty to protect," the TNC "responsibility to respect," and "appropriate remedies" for human rights violations. This article examines the recent history of UN initiatives regarding business and human rights and places the tripartite framework in historical context. Three approaches to human rights are distinguished: moral, political, and legal. It is argued that the tripartite framework's grounding of the responsibility of TNCs to respect human rights is properly understood as moral and not merely as a political or legal duty. A moral account of the duty of TNCs to respect basic human rights is defended and contrasted with a merely strategic approach. The main conclusion of the article is that only a moral account of the basic human rights duties of TNCs provides a sufficiently deep justification of "the corporate responsibility to respect human rights" feature of the tripartite framework. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14595 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Although a research focus on the increasing involvement of corporations in shaping and maintaining the global rules of the game points out promising avenues for future research, it simultaneously makes clear how little currently established, mostly managerial conceptual frameworks have to offer in making sense of these developments. It is argued that we need to expand the rather restricted perspectives that these frameworks provide, in order to explore new conceptual foundations that will not only enable us to travel the con lines of the different disciplines involved with the study of the changing role of business in shaping the global rules of the game, but that can also systematically connect normative and positive research questions at the conceptual level. Three directions for this search for new foundations are briefly explored. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14594 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST In this article, we review and build on intergenerational and behavioral ethics research to consider how the motive to build a lasting legacy can impact ethical behavior in intergenerational decision making. We discuss how people can utilize their relationships to organizations to craft their legacies. Further, we elucidate how the legacy motive can enhance business ethics, incorporating theory and empirical findings from research on intergenerational decision making, generativity, and terror management theory to develop the legacy construct and to outline the psychological underpinnings of motivations to leave a positive legacy. We discuss the ways in which legacies can provide a link between life-meaning and pro-social motivation, and we consider the ways in which individuals' social environments can moderate the intensity of the legacy motive and can impact legacy-building behavior by determining the types of legacies that arc valued. Finally, we highlight the implications of these ideas for ethical behavior and sustainable decision making in business contexts. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14593 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14592 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Lateral hiring is the intentional action of one employer to identify, solicit, and hire an individual or group of employees currently employed by another firm, a practice often pejoratively labeled "poaching." We use the method of critical genealogy to demonstrate that the norms that discourage lateral hiring are constructions used by powerful employers to control the turnover of their employees, making them subjects of their employer's power rather than free and autonomous people in their own right. We suggest instead that ethical responsibility for entertaining or rejecting lateral hiring offers rests with the focal employee(s). We conclude that the form and symmetry of loyalty between employees and their current employers are the determinants of the appropriateness of an employee's decision to entertain and accept outside offers. These conclusions imply responsibilities for employers to forge (and employees to honor) symmetrical relational loyalty in the workplace, but not for alternate employers to refrain from making lateral hiring offers. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14591 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST A fundamental question of global business ethics is, "When moral business conduct standards conflict across borders, whose standards should prevail?" Western scholarship and practice tends to depict home country standards as "higher" or more "restrictive" or "well-ordered" than the "'lower" standards of emerging market actors. As much as the question appears culturally neutral, many who ask it do so with a culturally-specific lens shaped by prevailing conditions of Western economic strength. However, the dominant economic powers of the future are not likely to be the same North American and Western European markets that have reigned supreme in the recent past. As corporations increasingly re-examine their political roles in global governance, we need also to re-examine the moral authority of global ethical norms so they do not merely reflect the dominant ideologies of the most economically powerful market actors. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14590 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This article examines the presuppositions and theoretical frameworks of the "new-wave" "Post-Westphalian" approach to international business ethics and compares it to the more philosophically oriented moral theory approach that has predominated in the field. I contrast one author's Post-Westphalian political approach to the human rights responsibilities of transnational corporations (TNCs) with my own "Fair Share" theory of moral responsibility for human rights. I suggest how the debate about the meaning of corporate human rights "complicity" might be informed by the fair share theory. While i point out that Posi-Westphalians and moral philosophers may have fundamental disagreements about basic concepts such as legitimacy, justice, and democratic deliberation, I conclude that the Post-Westphalians have made a major contribution to the expansion of the field by presenting business ethicists with an opportunity to inform and guide debates about the potential future course of transnational governance. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14589 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This essay attempts to provide a useful research agenda for researchers in both strategic management and business ethics. We motivate this agenda by suggesting that the two fields started with similar interests, diverged, and are beginning to converge again. We then identify several streams that hold particular promise for developing our understanding of the relationship between strategy and ethics: stakeholder theory, managerial discretion, behavioral strategy, strategy as practice, and environmental sustainability. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14588 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Legal scholars and business ethicists are interested in many of the same core issues regarding human and firm behavior. The vast amount of legal research being generated by nearly 10,000 law school and business law scholars will inevitably influence business ethics research. This paper describes some of the recent trends in legal scholarship and explores its implications for three significant aspects of business ethics research--methodology, theory, and policy. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14587 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST In this updated and revised version of his 2008 Society for Business Ethics presidential address, Richard Nielsen documents the characteristics and extent of the 2007-2009 economic crisis and analyzes how the ethics issues of the economic crisis are structurally related to a relatively new form of capitalism, high-leverage finance capitalism. Four types of high-leverage finance capitalism are considered: hedge funds; private equity-leveraged buyouts; high-leverage, subprime mortgage banking; and high-leverage banking. The structurally related problems with the four types of high-leverage finance capitalism converged in something of a perfect economic storm. Explanations for the crisis are offered in the context of the type of the high-leverage finance capitalism system that permitted and facilitated the economic crisis. Ethics issues and potential reforms are considered that may be able to mitigate the destructive effects of what Schumpeter referred to as the "creative destructive" effects of evolutionary forms of capitalism while realizing the Aristotelian economic ideal of creating wealth in such a way as to make us better people and the world a better place. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14586 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST In this article I provide a critical perspective on governing the global corporation. While the papers in the 2009 special issue of Business Ethics Quarterly explore the political role of corporations I argue that they lack a sophisticated analysis of power across institutional and actor networks. The argument that corporate engagement with deliberative democracy can enhance the legitimacy of corporations does not take into account the effects of institutional, material and discursive forms of power [hat determine legitimacy criteria. As a result corporate versions of citizenship mediate versions of social responsibility and morality, which are reflected in the institutional and political economic norms that are produced by this power/knowledge. In order to overcome the limits of corporate social responsibility there is a need to develop more democratic forms of global governance of corporations. A radical revisioning of democratic governance would also need to overcome the limits posed by sovereignty and would require new forms of multi-actor and multi-level translocal governance arrangements in an attempt to create forms of power that are more compatible with the principles of economic democracy. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14585 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14584 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Do corporations have a duty to promote just institutions? Agreeing with Hsieh's recent contribution, this article argues that they do. However, contrary to Hsieh, it holds that such a claim cannot be advanced convincingly only by reference to the negative duty to do no harm. Instead, such a duly necessarily must be grounded in positive obligation. In the search of a foundation for a positive duty for corporations to further just institutions, Stephen Kobrin's notion of "private political authority" offers a promising connecting point. Political authority implies political responsibility; Political obligation, however, includes more than merely not doing any harm it is essentially positive obligation. The implications of the new political responsibilities of multinational corporations may even go far beyond the particular duty to promote just institutions; they may be symptomatic for a much more profound shift from an individual to a collective age. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14583 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST We call for business ethics scholars to focus more attention on how individuals and organizations respond in the aftermath of unethical behavior. Insight into this issue is drawn from restorative justice, which moves beyond traditional approaches that emphasize retribution or rehabilitation to include restoring victims and other affected parties, reintegrating offenders, and facilitating moral repair in the workplace. We review relevant theoretical and empirical work in restorative justice and develop a conceptual model that highlights how this perspective can enhance theory and empirical research in business ethics. We specifically identify topic areas that we believe have particular promise for business ethics scholars to pursue. We close our paper by discussing implications of the restorative justice approach for practicing managers. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14582 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST In this review, I survey theoretical accounts of exploitation in business, chiefly through the example of low wage or sweatshop labor. Labor of this kind is often described as self-evident]y exploitative and immoral. But for defenders of sweatshops as the first rung on a ladder toward greater economic development, the charge that sweatshop labor is self-evidently exploitative is unconvincing. I aim to accomplish three tasks. First, I will provide an overview of the many different uses of the charge of exploitation in business practice through an examination of the uses of the term in the literature on sweatshop labor. Second, I will discuss which of these senses of exploitation are defensible as identifying clear moral wrongs that take place in the context of business and, specifically, sweatshop labor. Third, I will apply the lessons learned from my exploration of exploitation in sweatshop labor lo other specific areas of business. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14581 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST As value chains become longer with increases in outsourcing and subcontracting, the challenges of fixing responsibility become more difficult. Using concepts from the literature on social networks, this paper considers issues of diffusion of responsibility and plausible deniability in such relationships. Specifically, this paper isolates three sources of denial of -- or defense against -- attributions of responsibility: connection, control and knowledge. It goes on to consider the effects on network density and actor centrality as third parties (tertius illuminans) alter the structure of these networks. Finally, preliminary conclusions are considered including suggestions for addressing these new challenges as well as the potential for conceptual cross-fertilization between network analysis and organizational ethics. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14580 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Despite sustained attention lo ethical leadership in organizations, scholarship remains largely descriptive. This study employs an empirical approach to examine the consequences of ethical leadership on leader promotabilily. From a sample of ninety-six managers from two independent organizations, we found that ethical leaders were increasingly likely lo be rated by their superior as exhibiting potential to reach senior leadership positions. However, leaders who displayed increased ethical leadership were no more likely lo be viewed as promotable in the near-term compared to those who displayed less ethical leadership. Our findings also show ethical culture and pressure to achieve results are important contextual factors that moderate the relationships between ethical leadership and leader promotability to senior leadership roles. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14579 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST There is considerable overlap between the interests of business ethicists and those of political philosophers. Questions about the moral justifiability of the capitalist system, the basis of property rights, and the problem of inequality in the distribution of income have been of central importance in both fields. However, political philosophers have developed, especially over the past four decades, a set of tools and concepts for addressing these questions that are in many ways quite distinctive. Most business ethicists, on the other hand, consider their field to be primarily a domain of applied ethics, and so adopt methods and conceptual frameworks developed by moral philosophers. In this paper, we discuss some of the salient differences between these two approaches, and suggest some ways in which business ethicists could benefit from taking a more "political philosophy" approach to these questions. Throughout, we underline the importance of seeking greater compatibility among the principles used in normative theorizing about markets, regulations, corporate governance, and business practices. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14578 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The literatures of business ethics and international business have generally had little influence on each other. Nevertheless, the decline in the power of nation states, the emergence of non-governmental organizations, the proliferation of self-regulatory bodies, and the changing responsibilities, roles, and structure of multinational corporations make constructive engagement between these two disciplines imperative. This changing institutional landscape creates many areas of common concern. In this article, we describe the changing institutional context of global business and suggest ways in which both business ethics and international business may inform each other more fruitfully. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14577 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST While Chinese societies often appear centralized and traditional, presumably impeding technology and innovation, these values may simply reflect the negative-leaning poles of Confucianism. This study proposes a Confucian work ethic dimension that stresses justified tradition. In combination with Western innovative cultures, this Chinese style might facilitate learning about knowledge and morality in an interaction seemingly unique to the Chinese science and technology sector. Specifically, contrary to the Western style that tolerates conflict to achieve harmony, Confucian work ethics - an Eastern way - prefer to respect hierarchy to attain harmony. Samples from the multinational corporations in Shanghai and privately owned enterprises in Hsinchu of Taiwan represent two levels of Westernization. The findings reveal that the two types of cultures almost equally influence the facilitation of learning about morality, whereas the Western way more effectively teaches about professional knowledge and the Eastern way more effectively teaches general knowledge. In addition, though the samples from both locations enjoy positive advantages from their combined cultures, Shanghai appears more Westernized than Taiwan, and Taiwan benefits more from Confucian work ethics and a higher level of quality learning, particularly with regard to morality. This result may suggest the benefits of Confucius' ideas, if they are not used excessively to emphasize the negative aspects. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14576 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Current literature suggests that corporate social responsibility (CSR) can affect consumers' attitudes towards an organization and is regarded as a driver for reputation-building and fostering sustained consumer patronage. Although prior research has addressed the direct influence of CSR on consumer responses, this research examined the mediating influence of consumer's perceived organizational motives within an NGO setting. Given the heightened public attention surrounding the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, data were collected from consumers of the Games to assess their perceptions of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) socially responsible initiatives. We hypothesized that consumers of the Games were likely to cognitively elaborate on CSR messages by way of three specific attribution effects derived from the literature. The results show that, contingent on CSR awareness, consumers responded positively to social efforts judged to be values-driven and stakeholder-driven; and a negative response was seen for efforts judged to be strategic. These attribution effects influenced various types of patronage and perceived organizational reputation. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14575 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST How can firms support their customers' collaborative, social responsibility initiatives - and especially pro-environmental, firm-customer collaborations? Does corporate transparency affect customers' willingness to undertake pro-environmental collaborative programs? This study addresses these questions in relation to the US residential electricity market. It focuses on the impact of customers' perceptions of the utility's degree of transparency and on the willingness to engage in pro-environmental behavior (PEB) related to electricity consumption. The responses of 1257 interviewees from US households to questions related to their electricity suppliers are analyzed through structural equation models (SEMs) using latent variables. Results show that customers' perceptions of an electricity utility's transparency affect their willingness to collaborate in environmental programs, and that the degree of perceived transparency of the utility is related to customers' environmental awareness. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14574 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Women are underrepresented in managerial positions and company international assignments, in part due to gender discrimination. There is a lack of fair and just treatment of women in selection, assignment and promotion processes, as well as a lack of virtue shown by business leaders in not upholding the principle of assigning comparable women and men equally to positions in management and postings abroad. Female professionals, however, initiate their own expatriation more often than they are assigned abroad by their company, and usually as often as men self-expatriate. What causes women to self-initiate expatriation? Women’s proactivity, in part an attempt to redress the disadvantage they face in managerial career advancement, appears influential, as are career and family motivations. Indeed, during expatriation, women fare well in their career and they repatriate only at the same rate as men. Compared with men, however, women repatriate less often for career than for family reasons. On their return, despite their international experience, women do not gain as much of a financial return on their investment in self-expatriation as do men, suggesting that women may suffer unfair, non-meritorious treatment at home. Overall, self-initiated expatriation provides a new, gendered, social context for researching women’s career advancement. The ethical issues associated with women’s self-expatriation – a lack of fairness and justice in selection, assignment and promotion decisions, and a lack of virtue shown by business leaders in upholding fair and just human resource decisions by gender – suggest practical avenues to resolve these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Business Ethics is the property of Springer Science & Business Media B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14573 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This article contributes to the literature on legitimacy by highlighting its paradox and constraints. While an optimal level of legitimacy-seeking behaviours may be necessary for organizational effectiveness, an excessive focus on legitimacy may lead to stakeholder mismanagement and have the opposite effect. These insights emerged from a longitudinal qualitative study of large-scale changes in public-sector health care in a Canadian province (1994-2002). In 1994, subordinate health care organizations underwent government-driven reforms to promote market-based logics of efficiency and cost reduction. Initial years post reforms were characterized by a singular focus on government-driven priorities and inattention to other stakeholders. However, instead of giving benefits of legitimacy, these behaviours led to anger and activism from non-institutional stakeholders such as staff and community due to a decline in quality and patient satisfaction. Eventually, greater attention to stakeholder concerns ended the stand-off. These findings also elaborate Suchman’s ( Academy of Management Review 20(3), 571-610, ) framework on legitimacy and explain that legitimacy may occur for reasons other than institutionalization of values and be temporary in nature. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14572 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This study examines unethical purchasing practices from the perspective of buyer-supplier relationships. Based on a review of the inter-organizational literature and qualitative data from in-depth interviews with purchase managers from diverse industries, a conceptual framework is proposed, and theoretical arguments leading to propositions are presented. Taking into consideration the presence or absence of an explicit or implicit company policy sanctioning ethically questionable activities, unethical purchasing practices are conceptualized as a three-tiered set. Three broad themes emerge from the analysis toward explaining purchasing ethics from a buyer-seller perspective: (a) Inter-organizational power issues ( inter-organizational power and idiosyncratic investments), (b) Inter-organizational relational issues ( long- term orientation and satisfaction), and (c) Interpersonal relational issues ( interpersonal ties and trust). Theoretical and managerial implications of the conceptual framework are discussed. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14571 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This study investigates the negative influence of consumer's perceptions of online retailer's deceptive practices (perceived deception) on consumer's relational variables (satisfaction and loyalty intentions to the online retailer). Also, the moderating role of product type (goods versus services), consumer's attitude toward the Internet, and consumer's demographics in the deception-relational outcomes link is considered. Data from 398 online consumers revealed that satisfaction totally mediated the influence of deception on loyalty. Furthermore, the deception-satisfaction link was moderated by all the hypothesized variables. Interestingly, a direct effect of deception on loyalty was found among more educated consumers, consumers who had a more positive attitude toward the Internet and consumers who had purchased a physical product. Implications for theory and management are discussed. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14570 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST We contribute to the study of offshoring and outsourcing by examining how stakeholders' ethical evaluations of these decisions are influenced by both their roles and the issues embedded within the decisions. Although offshoring and outsourcing have been studied from a transactional perspective, the moral issues embedded within these decisions can profoundly affect how the organization is perceived by outside stakeholders. First, we contend that investors use different moral paradigms compared with consumer stakeholders, as a result the stakeholder role an individual occupies significantly influences their ethical evaluation of offshoring and outsourcing decisions. Next, we examine whether embedded issues of product quality and information security increase the moral intensity of offshoring and outsourcing decisions, thereby negatively influencing ethical evaluations. Using vignettes, we find that respon- dents viewed either offshoring or outsourcing less favorably than relocation. Surprisingly, respondents viewed offshoring with data security risks more negatively than offshore outsourcing with quality risks, suggesting that the issue of information security has a greater moral intensity than the issue of product or service quality for both consumer and investor stakeholders. Thus, we show that that embedded issues play a significant role in stakeholders' ethical judgments of business decisions, such as offshoring and outsourcing. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14569 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST A correction to the article "Information Asymmetry and Socially Responsible Investment," published elsewhere in the same issue, is presented. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14568 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Selecting, applying and reporting on investment screens for socially responsible investing (SRI) presents challenges for companies, investors and fund managers. This article seeks to clarify the nature of these challenges in developing an understanding of the foundations of ethical investment screens. At a conceptual level this work argues that there is a common element to the ethical foundations of SRI, even with very different apparent motivations and investment restrictions. Establishing this commonality assists in explaining the information asymmetry problem inherent in SRI. A market-facilitated solution illustrates how these insights might foster the development of socially responsible investment. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14567 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This article explores the normative nature of institutions. The starting point of my investigation is Kahneman, Knetsch and Thaler's notion of the reference transaction from which I derive a recursive relationship between normative judgements and social practices (i.e. regular, routinised actions in a social group), an implication of which I call the 'self-justification of practices'. Drawing on John Dewey, I demonstrate how prevailing practices influence normative standards and thus how institutions become normative entities. I then show how, despite the conservative bias of normative standards, institutional change comes about. Finally, I enquire into the possibility of normative critique of prevailing practices and institutions. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14566 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This study examined individual difference characteristics as predictors of business students' attitudes toward sustainable business practices. Three types of predictors were considered: personal values, individualism-collectivism, and leadership styles. Data were collected from 248 business students attending a mid-sized university in western United States using self-reported questionnaires. Few gender differences were present. Hierarchical regression analyses, controlling for personal demographic characteristics, indicated that business students scoring higher on Rokeach's social value scale, collectivism, and transformational leadership also reported more positive attitudes toward sustainable business practices. Implications for research and practice are discussed. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14565 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This study examines whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards primary stakeholders influences the financial and the non-financial performance (NFP) of Indian firms. Perceptual data on CSR and NFP were collected from 150 senior-level Indian managers including CEOs through questionnaire survey. Hard data on financial performance (FP) of the companies were obtained from secondary sources. A questionnaire for assessing CSR was developed with respect to six stakeholder groups - employees, customers, investors, community, natural environment, and suppliers. A composite measure of CSR was obtained by aggregating the six dimensions. Findings indicate that stock-listed firms show responsible business practices and better FP than the non-stock-listed firms. Controlling confounding effects of stock-listing, ownership, and firm size, a favorable perception of managers towards CSR is found to be associated with increase in FP and NFP of firms. Such findings hold good when CSR is assessed for the six stakeholder groups in aggregate and for each stakeholder group in segregate. Findings suggest that responsible business practices towards primary stakeholders can be profitable and beneficial to Indian firms. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14564 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This paper documents the development and implementation of an ethically valid code of ethics in a newly formed national professional organization. It describes the experience and challenges faced by the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) and its leaders as they worked to establish ethics as an organizing framework early in its evolution. Designed by the investigators and supported by the NASMM Board, the process took place over a 2 year period and more than 130 people participated. It provides a model for code development that is both practical and grounded in theory. Although the content of a code of ethics (the 'product') provides guidance to organizational members in the conduct of everyday business, especially when they face ethically challenging situations, how the code is developed (the 'process') influences its ethical validity. Few published cases document an organization's experience developing a code, and this is the first case, to our knowledge, that provides a first-hand longitudinal account of an effective code development process. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14563 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Citizenship, such as corporate citizenship and organizational citizenship, has been an important issue in business management for decades. This study proposes a research model from the perspectives of social identity and resource allocation, by examining the influence of corporate citizenship on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). In the model, OCBs are positively influenced by perceived legal citizenship and perceived ethical citizenship, while negatively influenced by perceived discretionary citizenship. Empirical testing using a survey of personnel from 18 large firms confirms most of our hypothesized effects. Theoretical and managerial implications of our findings are discussed. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14562 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST With over 2 billion people lacking medicines for treatable diseases and 14 million people dying annually from infectious disease, there is undeniable need for increased access to medicines. There has been an increasing trend to benchmark the pharmaceutical industry on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance in access to medicines. Benchmarking creates a competitive inter-business environment and acts as incentive for improving CSR. This article investigates the corporate feedback discourses pharmaceutical companies make in response to criticisms from benchmarking reports. It determines whether these responses are part of a healthy process in increasing access to medicines or a barrier to improvement. A qualitative analysis on the feedback the industry provided was performed, and the responses seen in these statements were grouped by analysing the language used, the ideas portrayed and atti- tudes of the companies. Increasing transparency through benchmarking is a powerful tool which reveals the industry’s shortfalls to the public, affects the decisions of socially responsible investors, and is a risk to their financial bottom line. This article demonstrates the importance of benchmarking and transparency in creating inter-business competition and the translation of these responses to actual access to medicine practices. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14561 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST In this article, the researchers explore the following question. Can corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the corporate reputation of a firm lead to its brand equity in business-to-business (B2B) markets? This study discusses CSR from customers' viewpoints by taking the sample of industrial purchasers from Taiwan small-medium enterprises. The aims of this study are to investigate: first, the effects of CSR and corporate reputation on industrial brand equity; second, the effects of CSR, corporate reputation, and brand equity on brand performance; and third, the mediating effects of corporate reputation and industrial brand equity on the relationship between CSR and brand performance. Empirical results support the study's hypotheses and indicate that CSR and corporate reputation have positive effects on industrial brand equity and brand performance. In addition, corporate reputation and industrial brand equity partially mediate the relationship between CSR and brand performance. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14560 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Religion and faith are often central aspects of an individual's self-concept, and yet they are typically avoided in the workplace. The current study seeks to replicate the findings about the role of religious beliefs and practices in shaping an employee's reactions to stress/burnout and job attitudes. Second, we extend the literature on faith in the workplace by investigating possible relationships between religious beliefs and practices and citizenship behaviors at work. Third, we attempted to study how one's perceived freedom to express his/her religious identity at work was related to workplace attitudes and behaviors. Mixed results suggest that religiosity can be related to stress and burnout, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior. More research is needed to further qualify the results and explore the effects of one's perceived freedom to express his/her religious identity in the workplace. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14559 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The sheer impact of the recent global financial turmoil and scandals (such as Enron and WorldCom) has demonstrated that unbridled commercial entrepreneurs who are allowed to pursue their short-term opportunities regardless of the consequences has led to a massive depreciation of the wealth of nations, social livelihood and environmental degradation. This article suggests that the time has come for entrepreneurs to adopt a more integrative view of business that blends economic, social and environmental values. Social entrepreneurs present such a proposition through their deep commitment towards the social vision, appreciation of sustainable practices, innovativeness, ability to build social networks and also generate viable financial returns. It could be expected that social entrepreneurs often possess certain distinct personality characteristics which define their behaviours/actions. Personality traits are partly developed by innate nurturing, socialization and education. These tacit traits are also formed values/beliefs held and play an important role in driving social entrepreneurial decision making. Thus, personality traits may influence the intentions and the manner in which the individual acts. We hold that if social entrepreneurship is to be effective and impactful, business and management education can facilitate the development of these critical personality traits. Thus, this study primes at determining the personality traits that influence social entrepreneurs' start-up intentions. It also reinforces the findings that personality traits do influence entrepreneurship in general. This study examines the influence of the Big Five personality traits on social entrepreneurship dimensions. The findings reveal that agreeableness positively influences all dimensions of social entrepreneurship, whereas openness exerts a positive influence on social vision, innovation and financial returns. Methodologically, this study develops valid and reliable scales for social entrepreneurship and verifies the adopted Big Five personality measure of Schmit et al. (Pers Psychol 53:153-193, ) using the five-point Likert scale. The implication of this study is that element of appreciation of social responsibility, sustainability and character development needs to be integrated within the business education curriculum to support social entrepreneurs in realizing genuine value and impact to the causes and communities they serve. Future business leaders also need to be equipped with entrepreneurship skills, while exuding independent and reflective thinking in the pursuit life-long learning. The originality of this study lies in its focus on personality traits on social rather than commercial entrepreneurship. It is hoped that the findings will trigger a paradigm shift towards greater social entrepreneurship through education by nurturing sustainable development values in future business graduates. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14558 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This study proposes two identification cuing factors (i.e., CSR associations and CSR participation) to understand how corporate social responsibility (CSR) relates to employees' identification with their firm. The results reveal that a firm's CSR initiatives increase employee-company identification (E-C identification). E-C identification, in turn, influences employees' commitment to their company. However, CSR associations do not directly influence employees' identification with a firm, but rather influence their identification through perceived external prestige (PEP). Compared to CSR associations, CSR participation has a direct influence on E-C identification. On the basis of these findings, it is argued that CSR performance can be an effective way for companies to maintain a positive relationship with their employees. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14557 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST In The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) Adam Smith draws on the Stoic idea of a Providence that uses everything for the good of the whole. The process is often painful, so the Stoic ethic insisted on conscious cooperation. Stoic ideas contributed to the rise of science and enjoyed wide popularity in Smith's England. Smith was more influenced by the Stoicism of his professors than by the Epicureanism of Hume. In TMS, Marcus Aurelius's 'helmsman' becomes the 'impartial spectator', who judges actions in terms of the way they are seen by others. This is the key to justice, without which society collapses. Business school students should be taught that Smith's 'invisible hand' is best understood as a universal rationality that uses just actions for the benefit of the whole. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14556 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The recent proliferation of International Accountability Standards (IAS) has attracted significant academic interest, but the extent of their adoption and integration by global firms remains underinvestigated. Capitalizing on institutional theory and the typology of strategic responses to institutional pressures proposed by Oliver (Acad Manage Rev 16(1):145-179, ), this article uses an interpretive research methodology to analyze a sample of MNC practitioners' views regarding IAS, and derive some insights in relation to expected patterns of strategic responses to these new institutional pressures. The article also presents relevant remarks relating to the usefulness of institutional theory in the context of research relating to IAS. The findings suggest patterns of engagement combining elements of both conformity and resistance, although the answers correspond most closely to a decoupling or symbolic conformity strategic response. The findings are fleshed out and their implications delineated/assessed. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14555 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST The aim of this paper is to examine whether and how business ethics is connected with the well-being of a nation. There has been active research in the well-being of nations across the globe in the last two decades, resulting in substantial theoretical progress and a wealth of empirical data on the well-beings of different nations across the globe. Dissatisfied with the conventional measures such as the GDP, well-being researchers have been developing alternative measures that can better capture the true nature of the well-being of a country. The paper begins by examining why the GDP is inadequate as a good measure of the well-being of a country. Major alternative proposals on well-being or similar measures are summarized. Objective well-being of a nation refers to the conditions of well-being of a country. Subjective well-being of a nation is the perceptions of its citizens with regard to their satisfaction with the major conditions of living in that nation. The paper presents two central arguments leading to the conclusion that business ethics is an integral part of the well-being of a country. The first argument utilizes the concept of workplace well-being to establish the linkage. The second argument uses evidence from a recent survey of the perceptions of Taiwanese people on business ethics in relation to the well-being of a nation. The paper also reveals that common values tie the two together at a deeper level. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14554 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Trust is a crucial factor for the long-term economic success of a company. However, not only does the company establish trust, but the CEO representing the company builds up trust as well and, therefore, also influences the company’s success. Our study examines how different dimensions of trust (i.e., ability, integrity, benevolence, and information quality) influence the degree of overall trust in a company and in CEOs. Nevertheless, dimensions that influence trust in a CEO can be completely different to those influencing trust in companies. Companies and CEOs that act on an international level can hardly be experienced individually, and thus people get information about the company via media use. Therefore, additionally we examine which kind of media is used for getting information about a company or CEO and whether a relationship exists between media use and trust. Findings from a survey in Switzerland ( n = 245) show that companies are more trusted than CEOs and that the items which influence overall trust differ between CEOs and companies. Social responsibility as a benevolence item is important for both groups. Regarding information on different media channels, users of traditional media like newspapers, TV, and radio are most critical regarding trust in companies and CEOs. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14553 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST This study aims to propose a framework considering both economic issues and environmental effects in technology evaluation in order to provide firms' decision makers a useful reference in adopting technologies that will enable them to fulfill corporate social responsibilities and get competitive advantages at the same time. Recently, the demands for technology evaluation have increased with the flourishing development of technology licensing, technology transaction or joint venture on the one hand and with the pressing needs of environmental protection for human beings' sustainable development on the other hand. Under such conditions, it thus goes without saying that firms' decision makers are propelled to take into account both economic benefits and environmental effects in evaluating technologies by choosing low or nonpolluting technologies for manufacturing products. Although technology evaluation is not a new and emerging subject currently besetting scholars in the field of management, previous research on this topic has unwittingly left behind the pressing issue of environmental effects. Based on this observation, this study purports to develop a new framework for technology evaluation by taking both economic benefits and environmental perspectives into consideration. In it, we seek to demonstrate that our proposed framework will not only be a workable model but also can serve as a useful point of reference for technology appraisers and firms’ decision makers. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14552 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST Trust is a fundamental aspect of the moral treatment of stakeholders within the organization-stakeholder relationship. Stakeholders trust the organization to return benefit or protections from harm commensurate with their contributions or stakes. However, in many situations, the firm holds greater power than the stakeholder and therefore cannot necessarily be trusted to return the aforementioned duty to the stakeholder. Stakeholders must therefore rely on the trustworthiness of the organization to fulfill obligations in accordance to Phillips' principle of fairness ( Business Ethics Quarterly 7(1), , 51-66), particularly where low-power stakeholders may not be fully consenting (Van Buren III, Business Ethics Quarterly 11(3), , 481-499). The construct of organizational trustworthiness developed herewith is presented as a possible solution to the problem of unfairness in organization–stakeholder relations. While organizational trustworthiness does not create an ethical obligation where none existed before, stakeholders who lack power will likely be treated fairly when organizational trustworthiness is present. +++ Further information are available at csr-literature.net http://csr-news.net/literature/index.php?page=publication&kind=single&ID=14551 Wed, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST