The Battle for Business Ethics: A Struggle Theory
54 Pages Posted: 21 Apr 2015 Last revised: 22 Apr 2015
Date Written: April 20, 2015
Abstract
To be and to remain ethical requires struggle from organizations. Struggling is necessary due to the pressures and temptations management and employees encounter in and around organizations. As the relvance of struggle for business ethics has not yet been analysed systematically in the scientific literature, this paper develops a theory of struggle that elaborates on the meaning of struggle in organizations, why and when it is needed, and what its antecedents and consequences are. An important conclusion is that the greater the ethics gap and opposing forces, the greater the struggle required. Viewing business ethics as struggle has several implications for theory and practice.
Keywords: ethics, integrity, struggle, politics, compliance, morality, battle, fight, competition, dilemmas
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