The economic, social, and environmental impacts of a spill and pollution (SP) accident can last for years. At the company level, SP accidents will generate negative publicity, damage share price and market values, and hurt the company’s reputation—in addition to potentially costing a company millions of dollars in clean-up costs and other expenses. Between 2015 […]
While the technological capabilities and impact of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought significant change to multiple facets of business and even society, the core of AI is still machines, not humans. And while these machines can learn, they cannot discern right from wrong—unless we deliberately step in to add an ethical dimension to AI. Where […]
Building on his own research, and other studies and theories developed by researchers in the field of ethics and morality, RSM professor Muel Kaptein offers a framework that answers the question: when should companies change their ethical norms. Ethical norms are the rules, policies and procedures of a company put in place to ensure the […]
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Unlike other careers, retirement from a military career typically occurs when people are still of working age. As a result, many veterans transition to a civilian workplace. In an average year, for example, the UK workforce will include between 13,000 to 23,000 veterans. Most companies are keen to hire veterans, who bring both experience and […]
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More than ever before, employees are asking the companies they work for to take a stand and become actively involved in supporting environmental and social causes. The increasingly visible activism and social engagement of employees is in large part due to changes in technology and culture. On the technology front, internal messaging boards and personal […]
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In 2019, 181 CEOs signed a Business Roundtable Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation. The statement reflected a growing sentiment in corporate governance attitudes that the purpose of a corporation extends beyond maximizing shareholder value to maximizing the value for the benefit of all stakeholders—which according to the Statement include “customers, employees, suppliers, communities […]
Read More… from Stakeholder Value: Best for Everyone or Just Poor Performers?
Milton Friedman notwithstanding, maximizing profit (and thus shareholder value) is no longer considered the one and only purpose of a corporation or business. The truly successful business is driven by a greater purpose that benefits society and our world and inspires a firm’s leaders and employees by giving their work meaning. The inspiration and commitment […]
Psychologists are divided concerning the link between personal misconduct and professional misconduct. Some argue that misconduct reflects a personal trait; others argue that behaviour is situational — a person may behave unethically in one context but not another. New research, building on the database of a website for married people looking to have an affair, […]
Read More… from Misbehaving, Private, Personal Misconduct Can Lead to Professional Misconduct
From its founding, Amazon has been a socially liberal company, notable for its active involvement in LGBTQ issues. Its Seattle, Washington headquarters is embedded in the Northwest, a socially liberal part of the country. Embeddedness refers to an employee’s ties and connections to a company (on-the-job embeddedness) or to a community in which the company […]
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‘Greenwashing’ is a new term that describes the actions of companies whose corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities prove to be more window-dressing than action. Two Michigan Ross professors, Jun Li and Di (Andrew) Wu used a set of databases as proxies to answer a complex and important question: Does corporate social responsibility really benefit society? […]
