Conscientious business-to-business organizations: Status quo and future research agenda

Nowadays, manifold business-to-business (B2B) organizations are embracing corporate social responsibility (CSR) to contribute to society. However, and largely due to several bad past practices, stakeholders are increasingly skeptical of CSR initiatives, often perceiving them as insincere and manipulative. This skepticism has been further accentuated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and stakeholders have started to demand organizations for a broader and more holistic approach to contributing to society. In this editorial, we present ‘conscience' as such broader and more holistic approach, and describe how the papers included in our special issue examine organizational conscience in the B2B context from different angles, including identity, leadership, relationships, communication, activism, social impact, corporate purpose, and co-creation. Finally, we propose several future research opportunities that can further advance knowledge in relation to conscientious organizations.

Better CSR? return to neighborliness

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is often criticized for being overly broad and , if not cynical and deceitful. This leaves many stakeholders frustrated or disengaged, including occasionally the organization's own staff and shareholders. We see the extraordinary disruptions of the past three years amid the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to reengage with CSR in a more meaningful way. Echoing early conceptualizations by academics and practitioners, we turn to the idea of neighborliness as a guide for this transformation, outlining concrete ways in which this can be operationalized for focused engagements that reflect each company's embeddedness in distinct communities. © The Regents of the University of California 2023.

Access to Medicine in Developing Countries: Elevating State Obligations Over Corporate Profit

This paper investigates the divergence between the objectives of the state in ensuring citizens' right to health and the profit-maximization objective of pharmaceutical corporations in relation to, access to, and supply of medicine. This divergence is pertinent given both the rising cost of medicines and unmet needs, particularly in developing countries. This paper analyses the correlation between pharmaceutical corporations' profit drive and the state's welfare obligation. There is a need to bridge the gap between business and human rights, which can be achieved by combining the concepts of "business ethical responsibility" and corporations' contributions to "common good" with the jurisprudence on the right to health. This is imperative in view of the impact of the business of pharmaceutical corporations on vulnerable populations, particularly in, but not limited to, developing countries.

Ethics and the Future of Meaningful Work: Introduction to the Special Issue.

The world of work over the past 3 years has been characterized by a great reset due to the COVID-19 pandemic, giving an even more central role to scholarly discussions of ethics and the future of work. Such discussions have the potential to inform whether, when, and which work is viewed and experienced as meaningful. Yet, thus far, debates concerning ethics, meaningful work, and the future of work have largely pursued separate trajectories. Not only is bridging these research spheres important for the advancement of meaningful work as a field of study but doing so can potentially inform the organizations and societies of the future. In proposing this Special Issue, we were inspired to address these intersections, and we are grateful to have this platform for advancing an integrative conversation, together with the authors of the seven selected scholarly contributions. Each article in this issue takes a unique approach to addressing these topics, with some emphasizing ethics while others focus on the future aspects of meaningful work. Taken together, the papers indicate future research directions with regard to: (a) the meaning of meaningful work, (b) the future of meaningful work, and (c) how we can study the ethics of meaningful work in the future. We hope these insights will spark further relevant scholarly and practitioner conversations.

Walk the Talk: The Boohoo Case Study

This case study of a UK-based global fast fashion brand Boohoo encourages critical exploration of a complex, ethical and reputational crisis. Taking a macromarketing perspective, the reader is encouraged to consider all of the factors, actors and relationships in the industry, society and the supply chain to appreciate the resulting ethical considerations that arise. Boohoo has been described as a successful online company that provides a wide range of products, including clothing, footwear, beauty products and accessories. However, the company came under fire in July 2020 after an exposé published in the Sunday Times, the Sunday paper of The Times, named Britain's most trusted national newspaper. The exposé published a report from an undercover investigation that revealed some unacceptable practices in relation to working conditions. The poor working conditions were worsened by the COVID-19 outbreak. As the media criticised Boohoo, the company launched an independent review which eventually confirmed the allegations and stated that the investigation's findings were "substantially true”. Written from the perspective of a PR consultancy that wants to help Boohoo restore its reputation, the case uses secondary information to thoroughly understand Boohoo's situation. The PR consultants therefore investigate the Sunday Times' allegations, Boohoo's practices and responses to those allegations, and the company's practices from an ethical point of view. The PR consultancy also investigates the fashion industry, with a focus on fast fashion, which creates an environment where suppliers and retailers in the system try to produce products as cheaply and profitably as possible. To fully understand those affected by this exposé, those influential to the industry and those stakeholders who govern or put pressure on the industry, they consider: the people and local government of Leicester (pronounced Lester), the supplier factories, national government websites and views of pressure groups and charities. © The Author(s) 2023.

Corporate social responsibility, business ethics, sustainability, and innovation: a theoretical analysis of the importance of these concepts in times of pandemic

Concepts such as corporate social responsibility, business ethics, sustainability, and innovation must be current practices in addition to the pertinence and interdisciplinarity with which they must be managed, especially in the context of a pandemic that has pushed organizations toward procedures that require inclusion and integration of those practices to ensure their survival. It is our goal in this chapter to provide a theoretical exposition and analysis, in an individual and interrelational way, of the concepts listed above as being aggregators of good organizational practices and with the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the need for organizations to face these practices in a new context and adapt to a new scenario marked by large-scale unpredictability, which has increased the relevance of integrative and sustainable policies that must promote innovative procedures at the organizational and stakeholder levels. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Employer Branding in the Fashion Industry: CSR Actions by Fashion SMEs

Little is known about SMEs' perceptions of CSR, sustainability, and business ethics, particularly in the fashion industry. We have even less information on the relationship between SMEs' CSR actions and employer branding. This important knowledge gap is addressed in this study. We intend to focus on how small and medium-sized enterprises that are operating and considered sustainable in the fashion industry interpret the concept of sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and business ethics, which CSR elements appear in relation to employees, and how they contribute to employer branding. In the course of our qualitative research, we conducted semistructured, in-depth interviews with the owners and managers of 10 European businesses, bearing sustainability in mind. Our results show that the organisational culture and the reputation perceived by a wide range of stakeholders are the most essential elements of employer branding, which promotes employees' commitment to sustainable fashion enterprises.

The Effect of Ethics in Business on Happiness, Aggressiveness and Inconsistency of Efforts and Rewards

The present study investigates the effect of business ethics on happiness, aggression and inconsistency of effort and reward of auditors in Iran and Iraq. The statistical population of the present study includes all partners, managers and auditors working in audit institutions in Iran and partners of the audit institutions, assistant auditors, auditors, individual second rank and individual first rank, with a total of 365 questionnaires completed by Iranian respondents out of 450 questionnaires and 250 questionnaires completed by Iraqi respondents out of 350 questionnaires, a total of 615 questionnaires from the two countries in 2022. Also, the methods of variance analysis and ordinary least squares regression and Smart PLS 3 and Stata 15 software were used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. The results from testing this research's hypotheses indicate a negative and significant relationship between business ethics and aggression, effort-reward mismatch and a positive and significant relationship between business ethics and happiness. Since the current research was conducted in the emerging financial markets of Iran and Iraq, which are highly competitive, along with having special economic conditions, and since the occupation of the ISIS terrorist group, the civil wars in Iraq, severe world economic sanctions against Iran and the global crisis of Covid-19 in Iran and Iraq have led to special conditions, the current research can bring helpful information to readers and help the development of science and knowledge in this field. © 2023 by the authors.

Betting against pandemics: Ethical implications of the "COVID Claimania" in Taiwan, 2020-2022.

Among measures tackling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the selling of private insurance policies covering individual infection is overlooked by the ethics literature. To record the "COVID Claimania" in Taiwan and to assess its ethical implications, we collected 38 policies from 10 insurers sold between January 2020 and May 2022 and found that their risk calculation of the COVID-19 prevalence ranged from 0.5% to 11.08%. In reality, the prevalence by the end of 2022 was 37% in Taiwan. Selling private insurance policies is ethically problematic in three ways. First, it represents the insurance industry's irresponsible risk-taking profit-seeking behaviors. Second, it would jeopardize the effectiveness of the disease-prevention measures by inducing uncontrollable moral hazards. Third, it would expose the insurance companies to unbearable financial risks and cause substantial negative external impacts. The government should intervene in the private insurance market in preparation for future public health emergencies.

Ethical decisions during COVID-19: level of moral disengagement and national pride as mediators

COVID-19 created a global crisis of unprecedented comprehensiveness affecting personal and professional lives of individuals worldwide. The pandemic and various governmental guidelines associated with it had numerous consequences for the workplace and the marketplace. In light of the global nature and multiplicity of the consequences of the pandemic, this study examines the impact of individual characteristics of respondents from three countries from various areas of the world: China, Israel, and the USA toward COVID-19 related business ethics decisions in three different spheres: human resources, marketing, and social responsibility. Data from 374 respondents in these three countries indicated that moral disengagement was negatively related to all of the ethical decisions presented, with national pride moderating the above. Possible implications of these findings and future research directions are presented.

Business ethics in the era of Covid 19: How to protect jobs and employment rights through innovation

The pandemic situation generated by the novel coronavirus virus (COVID-19) created several moral and economic dilemmas. While trying to save many local and world economies, entrepreneurs, leaders, and policymakers faced the challenges of managing the resultant economic and financial disruptions and risks coupled with the moral obligation to observe business ethics. This research is based on a documental collection, revision, and analysis of relevant and emerging literature to catch the best practices and experiences adopted by various governments and businesses, especially in western countries, to protect the jobs and employment rights of workers. Among other things, this study urges social policymakers to adopt innovative mechanisms and programs to not only protect the rights of employees but also help maintain jobs during pandemic situations and economic crises The research suggests that adhering to business ethics will enhance the use of technology and boost the sense of innovation and creativity of both employees and their organizations. The importance of the collaboration between public Administrators, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and employees to maintain the fundamentals of business ethics and protect employees' rights is adjudged to be critical to a speedy recovery from the losses and disruptions caused by the pandemic.

ESG Controversies: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis for the Sociopolitical Determinants in EU Firms

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria are novel and exciting tools of corporate disclosure for decision making. Using quantitative and qualitative analyses, the present study examined the key characteristics and trends of ESG controversies in the European market. At the same time, it identified the controversies’ determinants. A bibliometric analysis was the qualitative method employed on the data derived from Scopus using Biblioshiny software, an R package. The quantitative analysis involved an international sample of 2278 companies headquartered in Europe from 2017–2019 being studied using a Generalized Linear Model. The findings of this research highlighted the role of the “S” and the “G” dimensions of the ESG controversies as the most crucial in affecting controversies. Women are under-represented in the business hierarchy, but their natural characteristics such as friendliness and peaceability lead to a low level of illegal business practices. However, independent of gender, executives have personal gains that they want to satisfy. Thus, executives may become involved in unethical practices and harm their colleagues and the business’s reputation. On the other hand, democracy emerged as one of the most disputed factors. Democracy gives people the voice to express themselves and publicly support their ideas without restrictions. Although, the regression results showed that democracy is not always operated as the “pipe of peace” and can affect, to some extent, controversies.

Leader to leadership: A paradigm shift?

Global estimates of employees in the post-pandemic era have shown that a large portion of the workforce has been impacted- most negatively impacted. Leadership needs to be redefined as consisting of two parts, leader and leadership. The first is that the individual must learn how to be a leader. This often involves individuals learning new skills in change management, conflict management, culture/diversity/inclusion, morals and ethics in business, and teamwork skills, to name only a few. Once individuals can lead themselves, and only then can they grow to lead others. This growth component involves individuals practicing their leader skills while being exposed to feedback and evaluation from peers to learn better how to be more effective at leading other people. At the practitioner level, a differentiation needs to be made between leader and leadership development. Each level needs the opportunity to practice and mature. Leader and leadership development initiatives must be directly associated with the correct competencies because the competencies at the leader level are different from those at the leadership level. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Responsible Leadership and the Reflective CEO: Resolving Stakeholder Conflict by Imagining What Could be done.

In light of grand societal challenges, most recently the global Covid-19 pandemic, there is a call for research on responsible leadership. While significant advances have been made in recent years towards a better understanding of the concept, a gap exists in the understanding of responsible leadership in emerging countries, specifically how leaders resolve prevalent moral dilemmas. Following Werhane (1999), we use moral imagination as an analytical approach to analyze a dilemmatic stakeholder conflict (between indigenous communities in rural India and an emerging market multinational enterprise headquartered in the same country) through the lense of different responsible leadership mindsets and in light of different ethical principles and moral background theories. Based on this analysis, we arrive at a tentative moral judgement, concluding that the instrumental approach is morally inferior and recommending the integrative approach as the morally superior choice. In the subsequent discussion-focussed on what "could" (instead of "should") be done, we apply the integrative script and use moral imagination as a pathway for generating morally justifiable solutions. Through this analysis, we provide novel insights on how to apply an integrative responsible leadership approach to a stakeholder conflict situation, using the single case study to expand the responsible leadership discussion to emerging markets.

Sustainable and responsible investment funds in Europe

Purpose>The sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) is the part of sustainable investment which focusses on mutual funds. The purpose of this paper is to map and evaluate all the active European SRI funds, their performances and correlation with the national identity.Design/methodology/approach>The sample of the research was analysed with descriptive statistics, mainly the frequency, the mean and the correlation analysis. A well-known volatility is represented by the synthetic risk and reward indicator (SRRI). Other two ratings are the environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds score distribution and the ESG funds letter rating distribution.Findings>SRI investment may seem to be performing better than in the funds with a different focus. The segment of SRI funds will grow for the next decade.Research limitations/implications>There is a lack of definitions and clear metrics for sustainable investing. For better performance, it would be also appropriate to examine each country separately.Practical implications>This paper is part of the project targeting to design a model and methodology of SI evaluation taking into account ESG factors and risks, including profitability in a selected sector. This model can be used by investors for better decision-making.Social implications>The paper focusses on the funds selecting investments that fulfil ESG criteria, which are part of the social responsibility and sustainability.Originality/value>An analysis of the current approaches to evaluating investments shows that the key barrier in the transitions to sustainable investment is not taking into account the ESG factors. The research in this paper includes the ESG factors in the evaluation.

Intrinsic Values and Human Rights: Corporate Duties Depend on Industry Values

Drawing on the work of Donaldson and Walsh, this article explains why for-profit companies in industries denominated by intrinsic values such as health, education and justice, have heavier responsibilities when it comes to honouring the human rights reflected in their industry identity. Optimized collective value, the overarching aim of any system of business, is defined in terms of the satisfaction of intrinsic values, a definition that gives special meaning to firms operating in industries themselves defined in terms of intrinsic values. Nor are such companies' responsibilities to human rights, such as the right to healthcare, conveniently reducible to the 'enlightened' pursuit of profit. For example, a pharmaceutical company such as Pfizer or Moderna may be required to make its COVID-19 vaccine more accessible to COVID-19 victims in developing countries at the expense of optimizing profits over the long run. Such companies have a special and mandatory correlative duty to honour the right to healthcare that derives from their corporate constitutional purpose.

Business Ethics Quarterly Special Issue on: Organizational Ethics of Life and Death

Albert Einstein, Letter of October 1944 to Mrs. Born, in J. Berger Photocopies: Encounters (1997: 72) Guest Editors Mar Pérezts, Emlyon Business School;OCE Research Centre Marianna Fotaki, Warwick Business School Yuliya Shymko, Audencia Business School Gazi Islam, Grenoble Ecole de Management;IREGE Overview A fundamental question of organizational ethics revolves around how life and death are collectively organized (Elias, 1985;Agamben, 1998). [...]as organizational ethics scholars, we must examine how our ideas operate within complex social and natural worlds, for what ends, and which support they render to different forms of being and of living. The impact of dominant organizational paradigms varies across social groups and non-human forms of life, leading to new inequalities and amplifying pre-existing ones across geographical and political differences (Biehl, 2005;Bauman, 2014;Fotaki & Prasad, 2015). In line with the disciplinary and thematic scope of the Business Ethics Quarterly, we invite scholars from a variety of perspectives to consider the roles of (business) organizations and organizing in the ethics of life and death, as it plays out in light of growing inequalities and recent global phenomena such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter, refugee crises, the rise of authoritarianism, global political conflicts, wars, and climate change.

CSR and CEO's Moral Reasoning in the Automotive Industry in the Era of COVID-19

This paper assesses whether and to which extent the COVID-19 pandemic, which represents a scenario of high moral intensity, is influencing the moral reasoning of top CEOs (chief executive officers) in the paradigmatic case of the automotive industry and how this moral reasoning relates to their CSR response to the crisis and their CSR plans in the long run. To this end, we took the CEO letters before and after the pandemic outbreak of the top 15 automotive companies, and applied Weber's method to conduct a moral reasoning categorization, along with an examination of their CSR approach and initiatives. The results show a predominant moral paralysis among these CEOs, where positive reactions addressed are philanthropic in nature and more likely to be a transient response to the crisis, rather than a sustained long-term improvement of their CSR rooted in a significant moral approach enhancement. Furthermore, CEOs at the lowest stages of moral reasoning, primarily focused on their own business and immediate stakeholders, are less likely to highlight these philanthropic initiatives. The outcome evidences the convenience of addressing CSR from the lens of moral reasoning, and it further draws the attention of the scientific community, companies and their top management, stakeholders, and society to the relevance of investigating and considering the moral reasoning of top management in large corporations and its implications.

Consumer perceived ethicality of banks in the era of digitalisation: The case of Poland 1

Ethically conducted business has a positive impact on consumer trust, satisfaction and loyalty. The aim of this paper is to identify the bank activities that customers perceive as ethical and to what extent they affect consumer perceived ethicality. The binomial logit model applied in this study demonstrates that the honesty of financial advice, use of e-banking services and use of artificial intelligence technology to improve the quality of banking services have a significantly positive impact on consumers' perception of banks in Poland as ethical institutions. Significant variables that negatively influence consumer perceived ethicality include gender, education, use of financial advisory services, banks' manipulation of information about financial products and use of personal data against the will of customers.