An Unexpected Means of Embedding Ethics in Organizations: Preliminary Findings from Values-Based Evaluations

Abstract

Ethical principles constitute a crucial area of debate and discussion in the global conversation around transitions to sustainability, and of particular relevance to the contribution of businesses and other organizations. Scholars in business ethics have recently identified several challenges in this area, such as problems of measurement, rigor, and meaningfulness to practitioners; corporate social responsibility; and institutionalization of ethics in businesses. In this paper, the impacts of a pragmatic values-based evaluation approach originally developed in another field-education for sustainable development-are shown to strongly contribute to many of these challenges. Impacts found across eight organizations include (i) deep values conceptualization; (ii) increased esteem (iii) building capacity for assessment of values-based achievements; (iv) values mainstreaming; and (v) effective external values communications. It seems that the in-situ development and use of values-based indicators helped to conceptualize locally shared values that underpin decisions, thus embedding the application of (local) ethics. Although this study is exploratory, it is clear that the values-based approach shows promise for meeting key challenges in business ethics and wider sustainability, and for new directions for future cross-disciplinary research.

Managing organizational ethics: How ethics becomes pervasive within organizations

“…Many companies are adopting culture management, including ethics, as a strategy for meeting social demands ( Treviño et al., 2014 ). But neither the traditional triple bottom line nor the culture underpinning decisions have fully encompassed ethics ( Burford et al., 2016 ). One of the main causes of the 2007–09 financial crisis was the lack of ethics in management.…”

“…Finally, symbolic and structural elements enabled coherency within the companies we examined. Structural elements such as measurement, assessment, reporting, and reward systems to operationalize declarative elements were cited by several companies as influencing awareness of and motivation to practice ethics ( Burford et al . , 2016 ; Griffiths et al., 2018 ) and also in creating an environment that inhibits deviant behavior.…”

Developing and Using a Toolkit for Cultivating Compassion in Healthcare: An Appreciative Inquiry Approach

“…We try to do this regularly and find this helps us to develop a relationship with them (Dewar, Pullin, and Tocheris 2011: 37). Burford et al (2016) found the use of values-based indicators enabled stakeholders to conceptualise values deeply held in their organisation; they helped to highlight and reinforce best practice, boost morale, and build shared understanding of values. Articulating values has also been found to support a stronger sense of self-worth through individuals gaining understanding of 'who they are' and what they care about (Atkins and Parker 2012).…”

Business Ethics as a Sustainability Challenge: Higher Education Implications

“…In this context of the relevance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability issues in business, ethical decision-making becomes crucial for sustainable accomplishment of (corporate and social level) triple bottom line goals [4,5]. As a part of this overall picture-whereby business ethics, CSR and sustainability concerns, concepts and frameworks overlap significantly-a specific issue that is receiving growing attention from academics' and practitioners' alike is the relevance of ethical practice in accounting [6], which-in line with our above arguments-should be indeed framed under a broader sustainability perspective.…”