The concept of negotiation as a ‘battle of the sexes’ is not new; in fact, in the 1990s, MBA students on a negotiation course were asked who they thought had the advantage in negotiations, and the overwhelming reply was ‘men’. This perception has little changed today. But according to this Idea, women have higher ethical […]
Read More… from Ethical Lapses in Negotiations – A Male Tendency
In Aristotle’s great work the Nicomachean Ethics, happiness (eudaimonia) is not a feeling so much as a state — and a state with a distinctly moral dimension. Synonymous with ‘living well and acting well’, it arises from being part of and being active in a social life and a political community, and it originates in […]
Read More… from Aristotle, Ethics and the ‘Art’ of Leadership
Decision-making on the financial markets is driven by information and by trust. But trust can be flagrantly abused. This was amply demonstrated by the Bernard Madoff scandal, considered to be the biggest fraud in American history. Madoff, a former non-executive chair of the NASDAQ stock exchange, used a ‘Ponzi scheme’ to defraud investors, paying returns […]
Blowing the whistle on internal wrongdoing can be a risky endeavour. What if nothing happens and you’re now branded a fink? What if there’s retaliation from your boss or even your peers? A team of researchers decided to empirically test the influence of the social environment — including both management and peers — on whistleblowing […]
Read More… from Blowing the Whistle on Unethical Conduct: It Takes a Village
A review of consumer research (based mainly in North America) and of literature from marketing and related social science disciplines confirms that marketing affects food consumption in ways beyond advertising. Pricing is one of the strongest influences. One econometric study, for example, found that a 10 per cent increase in prices at fast-food and full-service […]
Read More… from Healthy Bottom Lines – Food Marketing and Obesity Prevention
The concept of governance is certainly not new, but in recent years it has been gaining more attention, especially in the business world. ‘Corporate casualties’ are proof that commercial pressures nudge executives towards introducing irresponsible risk into routine business operations. Today, these risks are easily obscured thanks to technological complexity, the large scales on which […]
The story of Nelson Mandela is a remarkable illustration of forgiveness. In the face of fierce opposition from most members of the ANC, Mandela reached out to his former enemies to try to build a unified nation. “Forgiveness,” he told party members, “liberates the soul, it removes fear. That’s why it’s such a powerful weapon.” […]
Read More… from Learn to Forgive: Mandela’s Leadership Legacy
"The answer is moral leadership, or, more specifically, respectful leadership." One of the goals of leaders is to motivate employees to perform well, work in the collective interest and define themselves in terms of ‘we’ rather than ‘me’. (See Idea Number 164, ‘Instilling Morality In Organizations’.) In this, leaders who are demographically different from followers are […]
Read More… from Fostering Diversity and Inclusion with Respectful Leadership
The banking crisis and scandals involving companies such as Enron, Worldcom, Tyco and, more recently, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, have made the need to understand moral behaviour in organizations more urgent. Research so far has tended to take a leader-focused approach, implying that the ethical behaviour of leaders translates directly to ethical behaviour in followers. […]
Formal risk management systems now provide the dominant logic for governing an uncertain world and are prevalent in public services as well as private firms. What happens when these systems interact with indigenous risk practices and ethics-based risk controls? Existing literature suggests that hybridization is likely — that rules-based and ethics-orientated models complement each other […]
Read More… from Managing Risks: Culture Matters More Than Rules
