Organizational justice has become a major focus of management research in recent years, due to its connection with numerous employee outcomes; satisfaction, commitment, trust and reduced levels of turnover have all been associated with an employee’s perceived level of justice in their workplace. But how exactly do changes in perceptions of justices—both and positive or […]
Subject: Business Ethics
Choosing a Venture Capitalist: The Ethical Dimension
Entrepreneurs sometimes have several offers from venture capitalists ‘on the table’ and will often spend a significant amount of time evaluating potential financiers, but the factors that influence their ‘willingness to partner’ are under-researched. The majority of studies concentrate on the things that might make a new venture a ‘good bet’ for the investor; only […]
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Investment Banking: Technology and the Decline of Trust
Investment banking was once regulated mainly by ‘reputational incentives’: bankers were motivated to act in the client’s best interests by concern for the bank’s good name. It was a system that owed as much to pragmatism as integrity. Contracts relied on the honest exchange of information (about, for example, the quality of securities) and the […]
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Changing Attitudes to Business Ethics: Insights from South Africa
Recent decades have seen increased focus on corporate governance and business ethics — and an increased number of ethics-based courses at business schools. While this is true of countries across the world, South Africa can be considered a special case. In South Africa, dramatic changes to the corporate governance regime have coincided with — and, […]
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Reflective Leadership to Counter Corruption in Emerging Markets
Despite decades-long efforts to eradicate it, corruption continues to be a serious business risk in emerging markets. Policies by national and international governments have had only limited success; so, too, have strategies by companies. The difficulties are often said to be particularly great in Russia, where the rule of law has been diverted by a […]
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Reasons for Product Recalls: Safety on the Line
The past 10 or so years have seen a significant rise in the incidence of product recalls. Multiple sectors and product categories, ranging from toys to automobiles and food to pharmaceuticals, have been involved — and, in some cases, the business and human costs have been immense. (Faults in Toyota cars in 2009 and 2010 […]
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Premium Pricing Socially Responsible Products
Companies are making and selling socially responsible products, hoping to benefit from the social conscious of their customers. Previous research on what customers are willing to pay for social responsibility has been mixed — while in many cases, the studies confirm the opportunity for a significant premium, a smaller number of researchers have found little […]
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CSR: Pride Comes Before a Fall
Intuitively, one might assume that people who have ‘done good things’ and received recognition for their ethical stance would feel encouraged to continue in the same vein. But this research suggests that, when it comes to top business leaders, this simply isn’t the case. The research finds that CEOs with a track record of ‘going […]
When Financially Deprived Employees May Shift Moral Standards
Academic research supports the anecdotal evidence that people value moral standards. And yet, academic research also supports the suggestion that people don’t always seem to act in concert with their stated beliefs. There are certain conditions or situations in which people allow themselves to loosen their moral standards. A team of leading researchers in the […]
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Paid-for Online Product Reviews: The True Price
Online product reviews are becoming an important part of the marketing ‘mix’. In 2012, a study by Bazaarvoice found that 80 per cent of ‘Generation Y’ consumers (those born between 1977 and 1994) are heavily influenced by consumer-generated reviews from strangers when they make purchasing decisions, particularly in categories such as electronics, cars and travel. […]
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