Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons^™

Ethical Issues In Knowledge Management: Conflict Of Knowledge Ownership, Isabel D. W. Rechberg, Jawad Syed

Publications and Research

Purpose: This paper reviews ethical issues inherent in the theorisation and practice of knowledge management (KM) with specific attention to the conflict of knowledge ownership between organisations and individual employees.

Design/methodology/approach: Relevant literature was identified and reviewed via EBSCO host and ISIWeb.

Findings: The paper notes that knowledge, although rooted in individuals, is often claimed or treated as owned by organisations, creating a conflict of knowledge ownership. The paper argues that such an approach to appropriation and management of knowledge leads to tension in knowledge processes between organisations and individuals, and also among individuals. This situation may, in turn, jeopardise …

Ethical Implications Of Friendly Takeovers: A Financial Manager’S Story, Barbara Tarasovich

WCBT Faculty Publications

Case study in which Bernadette was heading the corporate acquisitions team. It was important for Bernadette to be certain that there was no unethical behavior on the part of the project and management team responsible for the acquisition and integration of these companies. The pressures to achieve synergies can often result in people problems, cultural value, and ethical differences that impede the smooth integration of companies. For each acquisition, Bernadette needed to ensure that the newly acquired assets were secure. In addition, she had to ensure that the acquired companies were not employing inappropriate accounting practices in order to inflate …

Ethics Readiness: An Analysis Of Community College Students' Moral Sensitivity Scores, Julie Wallace

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In this retrospective causal-comparative study, the readiness of Virginia community college students to receive an accounting ethics curriculum was analyzed by measuring and comparing their moral sensitivity scores to the moral sensitivity scores of a group of four year university students. A sample of college students attending community college principles of accounting courses and a sample of college students attending four year university principles of accounting courses were administered a nationally recognized moral sensitivity survey instrument, the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT2). The survey results were analyzed using a t-test for differences between means. It was found that there was …

Corporate Social Responsibility, Daniel H. Brown

Senior Honors Theses

This paper will address Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its far-reaching implications. Initially, the term CSR will be introduced and defined to provide the backbone for the following discussions. The paper will address the theoretical constructs of CSR, managerial strategies for implementing CSR and the application of stakeholder theory. The thesis is built upon Dr. Archie Carroll’s four-part CSR construct. In addition, international standards of CSR, with a focus on Nike, Inc.’s actions, will be evaluated.

Introducing A Writing Skills Intervention Into An Undergraduate Financial Accounting Course, Barbara M. Tarasovich, Benoit Boyer

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper describes how integrating a research project into an undergraduate business school core accounting course provides opportunities to develop critical writing skills while reinforcing ethics as part of the business school curriculum. The paper discusses an end-to-end process from the overall goals and details of the assignment to assess student skills. After researching an ethical topic in business, students are challenged to complete a research paper examining the issue and stating and supporting their opinion and views of the issue. While writing courses or assignments are not unusual in business program, the unique approach described in this paper includes …

Ethics In The Accounting Curriculum, James H. Thompson

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

The number of corporate debacles in recent history has been a great concern to the financial community. From Enron to Bear Stearns, the events have highlighted that greed, incompetence, and deception exist systemically. After these and other similar events, the importance of professional ethics intensified. Has the concern for improved ethical behavior compelled academic institutions to provide greater emphasis on ethics in accounting degree programs?

Several findings emerged in this study. First, ethics is more commonly part of the course description than it is to be part of the course title. Second, there is greater emphasis on ethics in undergraduate …

Equine Welfare As A Mainstream Phenomenon, Bernard E. Rollin

Equine Husbandry and Welfare Collection

The 20th century has witnessed a bewildering array of ethical revolutions, from civil rights to environmentalism to feminism. Often ignored is the rise of massive societal concern across the world regarding animal treatment. Regulation of animal research exists in virtually all Western countries, and reform of “factory farming” is regnant in Europe and rapidly emerging in the United States. In 2012, a series of articles in The New York Times focused welfare attention squarely on the horse industry. Opponents of concern for animals often dismiss the phenomenon as rooted in emotion and extremist lack of appreciation of how unrestricted animal …

Evaluation Of Ethical Issues In The Knowledge Age: An Exploratory Study, Leila Halawi, Richard V. Mccarthy

Publications

Unethical information technology (IT) conduct is estimated to cost billions of dollars in deficits for enterprises. Included in this unethical behavior are issues associated with the knowledge age. Many IT ethics concerns do not have guidelines that are well recognized or broadly accepted. This study will explore the ethical perception of a diverse group of knowledge workers. It will also examine the effects of deterrents, individual factors and external variables to determine if there are noted differences in ethical perceptions that can be explained by these variables.

Agenda: 2012 Energy Justice Conference And Technology Exposition, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, University Of Colorado Boulder. Colorado European Union Center Of Excellence, University Of Colorado Boulder. Presidents Leadership Institute

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Co-sponsored with the Colorado European Union Center of Excellence and the Presidents Leadership Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The ability to harness energy is fundamental to economic and social development. Worldwide, almost 3 billion people have little or no access to beneficial energy resources for cooking, heating, water sanitation, illumination, transportation, or basic mechanical needs. Energy poverty exacerbates ill health and economic hardship, and reduces educational opportunities, particularly for women and children. Specifically, access to efficient and affordable energy services is a prerequisite for achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) relating to poverty eradication.

In response, the UN …

Virtue, Vice, And The Globalization Of World Economies, Stephen Preacher

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study postulates that the recent world financial crisis, symptomatically manifested in the financial markets, is more fundamentally the result of a systemic disregard for moral constraints. This has occurred at macroeconomic levels within the industrialized nations and has pervaded the global economy. Moral relativism has become the dominant ethical system in society and government, and has undermined the virtuous ideals and self-restraint that foster the benefits of capitalism. Coupled with advances in technology and globalization, the effect of vices such as avarice, irresponsibility, excessive risk tolerance and criminal activities have been exacerbated. Government manipulation and intervention has further served …

The Impact Of Corruption On Firm Tax Compliance In Transition Economies: Whom Do You Trust?, Anna Alon, Amy M. Hageman

Faculty Publications

Tax compliance is an important issue for governments and the public alike. To meet public needs and fund public mandates, firms around the world are expected to comply with tax laws. Factors that are related to organizational (firm) tax compliance have not been sufficiently examined in the literature. Due to the increasing global influence of transition economies, factors associated with firm tax compliance in transition economies are particularly of interest. Based on a sample of over 5,000 firms from 22 former Soviet Bloc transition economies, we find that higher levels of corruption and higher levels of particularized trust (reliance on …

Improving Ethics Education In Accounting: Lessons From Medicine And Law, Chunhui Liu, Lee J. Yao, Nan Hu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The purpose of this paper is to offer accounting educators additional perspectives for ethics education by considering teaching approaches from medicine and law. It takes the form of literature review and argument. The paper finds that ethics education in accounting shows deficiencies in terms of code-bound content, less systematic formal training, less informal hands-on training, and less usage of partnering in comparison to ethics education in medicine and law, thereby producing students with higher moral cognitive capabilities. Based on these findings, the authors provide some recommendations for improvement.

Improving Ethics Education In Accounting: Lessons From Medicine And Law, Chunhui Liu, Lee J. Yao, Nan Hu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The purpose of this paper is to offer accounting educators additional perspectives for ethics education by considering teaching approaches from medicine and law. It takes the form of literature review and argument. The paper finds that ethics education in accounting shows deficiencies in terms of code-bound content, less systematic formal training, less informal hands-on training, and less usage of partnering in comparison to ethics education in medicine and law, thereby producing students with higher moral cognitive capabilities. Based on these findings, the authors provide some recommendations for improvement.

Understanding The Relationship Between Entrepreneurship Education, Experiential Learning And Business Ethics, Kathleen Farrell, Thomas Cooney, Christina Benson, Gary Palin

Conference papers

Recent cognitive research in entrepreneurship describes the entrepreneur as a ‘motivated tactician’, who can be characterized as a “fully engaged thinker who has multiple cognitive strategies available” (Haynie et al., 2010: p18), and the ability to shift and choose rapidly from among them based on specific goals, motives, needs and circumstances, leading to the ability to act (or not) in response to perceived entrepreneurial opportunities. The Association for Experiential Education broadly defines experiential education as: “a philosophy and methodology in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills and …

Insider Trading In The United States, James H. Thompson

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

Insider trading is the buying or selling of a corporation's stock or other securities by an employee who has the potential to access non-public information about the company. Although most individuals associate insider trading with illegal activity, a majority of the trades are done legally. Illegal insider trading refers generally to buying or selling a security, in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence, while in possession of material, nonpublic information about the security. This paper discusses disclosures, regulatory efforts, impact on investor confidence, relationship to ethics, and history of major court decisions regarding insider …

Professionalism And Ethics: A Quantity Surveying Perspective, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

The Society of Chartered Surveyors in Ireland requires its members to “Be able to justify your own actions at all times, and demonstrate your own personal commitment to abide by ethical standards to maintain the integrity of the profession.” Society of Chartered Surveyors (2006). This paper presents a review of six readings provided to final year students of the Dublin Institute of Technology DT111 BSc (Hons) Construction Economics and Management Programme as part of their coursework for the Construction Administration and Management Module (RECE4815). The paper discusses the principles and means by which the above standards are achieved in the …

Executive Compensation: The Role Of Shari’A Compliance, William Martin, Karen Ahmed

Publications – Dreihaus College of Business

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illuminate issues surrounding executive compensation as it relates to current understandings of Islamic business law. Methodology We review the emerging bodies of literature in the fields of executive compensation and opinions of stock options under Shari’a law. Findings It appears that the trend in offering employee stock options as part of a Shari’a compliant compensation package is acceptable in most cases, yet because of its close association with the more problematic idea of derivative transactions, the company must be vigilant in obtaining the approval from its Shari’a Standards Board before offering …

Ethical Issues In Business And The Lawyer's Role, Robert J. Rhee, Carol Morgan, Tamar Frankel, Mark Fagan

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Stakeholder Theory In Strategic Management: A Retrospective, Jeffrey S. Harrison

Management Faculty Publications

This chapter will provide a description of the personal journey of the author who, as a newly graduated Ph.D. in strategic management in 1985, embraced stakeholder theory. Perhaps one of the interesting aspects of this narrative is that the field of strategic management itself was in its infancy at the time of my graduation. So I have “grown up” in the strategy field while simultaneously observing and to some extent participating in the development of what we now call stakeholder theory. Over the past two and a half decades I have frequently found myself frustrated by my strategy colleagues’ lack …

A Moral Contractual Approach To Labor Law Reform: A Template For Using Ethical Principles To Regulate Behavior Where Law Failed To Do So Effectively, Zev J. Eigen, David S. Sherwyn

Faculty Working Papers

If laws cease to work as they should or as intended, legislators and scholars propose new laws to replace or amend them. This paper posits an alternative—offering regulated parties the opportunity to contractually bind themselves to behave ethically. The perfect test-case for this proposal is labor law, because (1) labor law has not been amended for decades, (2) proposals to amend it have failed for political reasons, and are focused on union election win rates, and less on the election process itself, (3) it is an area of law already statutorily regulating parties' reciprocal contractual obligations, and (4) moral means …

Legal And Ethical Implications Of Corporate Social Networks, Gundars Kaupins, Susan Park

Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Corporate social networking sites provide employees and employers with considerable opportunity to share information and become friends. Unfortunately, American laws do not directly address social networking site usage. The National Labor Relations Act, civil rights laws, and various common law doctrines such as employment at-will and defamation provide the pattern for future social networking laws. Ethical considerations such as productivity, security, goodwill, privacy, accuracy, and discipline fairness also affect future laws. Corporate policies on corporate social networking should balance the employer‘s and employee‘s interests. Existing laws and ethical issues associated with social networking should impact social networking policies related to …

Corporate Ethics And Ceo Compensation, Martin Mack

Senior Honors Projects

Corporate ethics and chief executive officer (CEO) compensation will be forever linked together. The dramatic increase in recent corporate scandals has driven increased scrutiny of the enormous executive salaries that CEOs collect each year. The connection between these two topics led me to explore how executive compensation plans are designed and how ethics affect executives’ decision making. In this paper I try to determine which financial factors are the best indicators of a CEO’s compensation. I also examine how profitable a company is with an ethical CEO compared to a company with an unethical CEO. The companies I use are …

Business, Profit, Partnership And The Global Common Good, Scott Kelley, Patricia Werhane, Laura Hartman

Mission and Ministry Publications

The chapter considers the reduction of poverty through for-profit initiatives, with a critique of global corporations that take goods and services out of the "bottom of the pyramid" rather than developing new markets that provide new jobs as well as export products and services. Thus, the common good is served through economic empowerment without having to appeal to global philanthropy. An inversion of intuitive thinking is proposed whereby models for for-profit initiatives are considered that will contribute to the common good rather than using a notion of the common good to inspire global companies.

An Assessment Of The Impact Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act On The Investigation Violations Of The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Karen Cascini, Alan L. Delfavero

WCBT Faculty Publications

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, a plethora of corporate scandals occurred. Due to these corporate debacles, corporate executives have been placed under fire. In response to such unethical conduct with regard to internal practices and financial reporting, legislation has been passed in order to ensure that corporations conduct their business in an ethical manner. The purpose of this paper is to assess the connection between the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOx), to determine whether SOx has influenced the FCPA’s investigative violation activities by examining the number of such investigations …

Ten Questions About Ethics, Peter Kreeft, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

These ten questions about ethics were suggested by Pollard for a presentation by Professor Peter Kreeft (Philosophy, Boston College) to be held at the Herman Miller Company in Holland, MI. The document includes Mr. Pollard's handwritten notes.

Ethical Judgments Of Sexual Appeals In Advertising Image - Based Products To Teens, Daniel Korn

Senior Honors Projects

The use of sexual appeals in advertising is increasingly prevalent in the United States. Perhaps the use is in response to the preponderance of advertisements in everyday life. The advertisements most often featuring such appeals are for image-based products. Actual images in ads can often convey emotions powerfully, which may explain the frequent use in marketing image-based products. These products include: candy, liquor, cigarettes, jewelry, fragrance, cosmetics and fashion goods. It is advertisements for products such as, but not limited to these, that often use sexual appeals. The use of such appeals is constantly scrutinized in terms of ethics, regardless …

Ethical Attitudes Of Business Information Systems Students: An Empirical Investigation, Leila Halawi, Silva Karkoulian

Publications

This paper discusses attitudes toward ethical issues in information systems. Approximately 150 subjects were drawn from two populations: full-time undergraduate business information systems students and full-time master’s students. The subjects read a subset of six ethical scenarios. Hypotheses were tested for significant differences between the undergraduate students’ beliefs and those of graduate students, and female and male students who responded to the same scenarios.

Information Technology Ethics: A Research Framework, Richard V. Mccarthy, Leila Halawi, Jay E. Aronson

Publications

Information technology has become so pervasive that opportunities for abuses abound. IT Ethics has taken on increasing importance as the size and complexity of IT issues continues to grow. This paper outlines a research framework to analyze: Do significant ethical differences exist amongst undergraduate and graduate MIS students?

Going Beyond Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance: Five Keys To Creating Value, Mark S. Beasley, Dana R. Hermanson

Faculty and Research Publications

Discusses the factors involved in implementing Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 for U.S. accounting firms. Appreciation of the goal behind the law; Comprehension of the accounting fraud; Aggressiveness in addressing ethical attitudes and rationalization.

Ethical Considerations In The Marketing Of E-Health Products, Ashish Chandra, Andrew Sikula Sr., David P. Paul Iii

Management Faculty Research

The internet is now recognised as a growing international phenomenon. All kinds of products and services are being marketed over the internet to consumers throughout the world because country borders no longer restrict conducting business in the international marketplace. Though there are several advantages of online commerce, this form of marketing does raise ethical dilemmas, particularly when it comes to marketing healthcare products and information to consumers internationally. This paper examines some of these potential ethical concerns and provides some strategies for consumers and online pharmaceutical marketers to handle these dilemmas more appropriately.