Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society

The acceptance of the "instrumental stakeholder" model by many business & society scholars creates opportunity for interparodigmatic theory development, for example between business ethics and strategy. Strategic behavior by firms in the social and political environment is an empirical fact, and at the some time objectionable to some business & society scholars. This workshop session will consider the possible linkages between emerging research streams in both ethics and strategy, discuss normative and practical conflicts, and identify theoretical approaches to increased integration.

The modern world is characterized by change and uncertainty, and these characteristics have led to an increasing dissatisfaction with traditional theories of business ethics and a general concern that they are somehow too abstract and removed from the actual processes by which humans make moral decisions. American pragmatism offers a new understanding of what it is to think morally that incorporates change and uncertainty into its decision making process.

The overall purpose of this paper is to situate, discuss, and analyze the topic of "forgiveness" within the body of business and society thought. In particular, this topic will be depicted to be a part of the business ethics literature and related to recent initiatives in the general topic arena of spirituality in business. It should be noted that forgiveness has recently (1990s) become the subject of social science research. However, a careful literature review shows that very little has been written about forgiveness, or the "forgiveness factor," in professional organizations such as businesses, government and academe. A major goal of this paper is to introduce this topic to our body of literature and to explore the possibilities it may have for enhancing theory and research in the Business and Society/Business Ethics fields. This will be done by delving into definitions, frameworks and research which have been conducted in other spheres and exploring the potential, applications and implications for business organizations, in particular.

This paper examines Donaldson's (1996) framework for handling conflicts in cross-cultural ethical decision-making situations. The authors suggest that Donaldson's algorithm uses as decision-making criteria some factors that do not, in fact, carry moral weight from a normative ethics perspective. Byre-formulating the algorithm using normative factors set forth by Kagan, we feel that the new framework would better address the moral issues faced by companies insituations where conflicts of ethics result from cultural differences.

This paper explores the question of whether or not doing business on the web is a significantly different undertaking than traditional forms of commerce. If so, we further seek to understand how that difference is relevant to an erosion of ethicality in making e-business decisions. Answers to these questions contribute to an understanding of the phenomenon of interest, namely the ethical abuses characteristic of many e-businesses or dot.coms, and they may also help in framing solutions that are targeted at the true cause of these abuses.

This paper discusses the practical, methodological, and ethical considerations involved in conducting Internet-based surveys. It was originally presented as a discussion session, and retains some of the "how-to" give-and-take of that session. Web-addresses for sample Web-based surveys are included.

One of the more recent trends in business ethics theory is to argue for norms for corporations on the basis of a social contract model. So far, however, the application of this method of argument has been without sufficient attention for the defining features characterizing the domain of business ethics and the specific assumptions of the social contract argument. In this paper, I situate the new trend of arguing for norms of corporate morality on the basis of a social contract against the background of two earlier traditions of social contract argumentation, i.e. contract theories of politics and of social justice. A comparative analysis of these earlier families of contract theory provides an indication as to how a well-formed contract theory for business ethics should be set up.

Pharmaceutical companies and health activists are in the midst of a debate about how AIDS drugs should be priced and made available in developing countries. Underlying assumptions about the nature and value of assistance, the appropriateness of market driven drug pricing in subsistence economies, and our relationship to Africa are raised here in search of a resolution for this debate.

Extending the work of Greening and Turban (2000), we hypothesized that corporate social performance (CSP) is an important factor in organizational attractiveness ratings, and that certain CSP dimensions are more salient than others. Our findings further support the idea that CSP is relevant to organizational attractiveness, and women are more concerned with CSP than men. CSP dimensions of environment, diversity, community and employee relations and product issues are more salient than other dimensions. Job seekers' actual knowledge of CSP changes perceptions of attractiveness, with low CSP ratings having a negative effect on ratings.

From an agency theory perspective, scholars argue that corporate contributions enhance the CEO's social status while preventing shareholder wealth maximization. Although recent studies have contributed to our understanding of corporate philanthropy, some methodological changes could be helpful in the investigation of the agency costs of philanthropy. We suggest methods of operationalizing constructs, sample selection, and statistical methodology not yet used in the investigation of agency motivated corporate philanthropy.

A central debate in socially responsible investing (SRI) concems the relationship between financial and social performance. Opponents of SRI argue for a negative association while proponents claim either a positive association or no relationship at all. We bridge this long-standing divide by measuring financial performance differences within SRI funds, not between SRI and non-SRI funds. We find that as the number of social screens used by an SRI fund increases, financial returns decline at first, but then rebound as the number of screens reaches a maximum. That is, we find a curvilinear relationship, suggesting that these competing viewpoints may, in fact, be complementary.

Carroll's (1979) four-part classification of corporate social responsibility as a pyramid building from minimal categories of economic and legal through to ethical and then philanthropic was used as the basis of empirical research aimed at understanding corporate social responsibility in Australia. This is a useful framework for understanding CSR in Australia, however, managers in this study described corporate activities that go beyond the minimum as being either philanthropic or strategic, and with strategic regarded as best practice. A revised model of Carroll's classification is presented.

It has been demonstrated that the fields of corporate social responsibility and corporate public relations are similar in their evolution and practice and that they both suffer from a certain lack of credibility (Clark 2000). Using this connection as a springboard, one can link several aspects of these fields to one another and thus further the thinking about the practice of management with respect to business and society issues. Specifically, relationship management literature, from the perspectives of both public relations and CSP, pose interesting parallels. Similarly illuminating is the literature surrounding the question of measurement, outcomes and consequences of managing stakeholder relationships. The ultimate goal of this paper and discussion is to use this thinking to enhance the credibility and reputation of those who engage in the practice of stakeholder management.

Hurricane Floyd made landfall in North Carolina on September 16, 1999, resulting in what many consider the worst disaster in the history of North Carolina. The purpose of this paper is to examine corporate social responsibility in the context of small business response in the aftermath of the storm. It is proposed that the results of this corporate giving, while being philanthropic in nature, will also provide the small business owners with positive advantages as compared to those firms that did not respond in kind.

This paper examines firms that face two objectives: profit maximization and social performance. By looking comparatively at the cases of altruism, coerced egoism, and strategy, this paper uses the tools of microeconomics to define the optimal level of social output that should be produced in each case. We show that it is wiser for the firm to act strategically than to be coerced into making social contributions. In addition, we argue that greater overall social output will be achieved by the strategic approach, than by the altruistic approach

This paper explores corporate environmental and social reporting by Japanese and U.S. automakers. It identifies some of the similarities and differences in reporting between U.S. and Japanese automakers and explores recent trends in environmental and social reporting in the industry.

Cultural organizations have been part of the infrastructure of communities for generations. As government officials and business leaders are noticing, sustainable communities require involvement and participation, not simply more resources. What lessons can we share across the business and cultural organizations sectors to make our communities more sustainable, healthy and vital?