Qualitative Methods in Business Ethics, Corporate Responsibility, and Sustainability Research

Reinecke, Juliane; Arnold, Denis; Palazzo, Guido

doi:10.1017/beq.2016.67

Cited by 49 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In-depth understanding of how consumers judge the morality of threat-based experiential campaigns is required to answer the question, how do consumers judge the morality of threat-based experiential marketing communication campaigns? Therefore, we take an interpretivist standpoint, as it affords depth of insight through participants' qualitative experiences, subjectively construed meanings (Spiggle 1994) and pluralistic perspectives (Reinecke et al 2016). An interpretivist standpoint enables interpretation of emotional and experiential responses (Zaltman 1997;Hart et al 2016).…”

Section: Methodology and Analytical Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Shock: A Consumer Ethical Judgement Perspective

2019

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Existing debates on business ethics under-represent consumers' perspectives. In order to progress understanding of ethical judgement in the marketplace, we unpack the interconnections between consumer ethical judgment, consent and context. We address the question of how consumers judge the morality of threat-based experiential marketing communications. Our interpretive qualitative research shows that consumers can feel positively about being shocked, judging threat appeals as more or less ethical by the nature of the negative emotions they experience. We also determine that the intersection between ethical judgement, consent and context lies where consumers' perceptions of fairness and consequences lend contextualised normative approval to marketing practice. Our research makes three original contributions to existing literature. First, it extends theory in the area of ethical judgement, by highlighting the importance of consent for eliciting positive moral responses. Second, it adds to embryonic research addressing the role of emotions in ethical judgement, by ascertaining that negative emotions can elicit positive consumer ethical judgement. Third, our research contributes an original concept to ethical judgement theorisation, namely consumer-experienced positive shock (CEPS). We define CEPS as a consensual shock value judged as ethical due to its ephemerality, commercial resonance, brand alignment, target-audience appropriateness and contextual acceptability. We also extrapolate the dimensions of CEPS into an ethical judgement typology, elucidating how consumers judge some threat-based communications as ethical, but not others. Consequently, our work dovetails with wider business ethics debates on ethical judgement, adding value by clarifying the conditions that generate positive consumer ethical judgement.

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Section: Methodology and Analytical Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Shock: A Consumer Ethical Judgement Perspective

2019

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“…Second-party audit trails then go beyond repeating and reporting a general formula, elaborating instead on the diversity and utility of each step of the research process in the context of a particular study. Furthermore, given that business ethics is a field which is often motivated by normative considerations, having a second-party audit trail also helps researchers to be reflexive and to exemplify how their own relationships with the field of inquiry and the participants shaped the research process (Reinecke et al 2016).…”

Section: Novelty and Contributions Of Second-party Auditingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The context of business ethics research is changing drastically with the fast-changing role of business in society. Ethical considerations of today's businesses are manifold: they range from observing human rights and maintaining the well-being of employees to addressing income inequality and safeguarding environmental sustainability (Reinecke et al 2016). Regardless of the topic, however, comprehending ethics in today's dynamic business world involves arriving at an understanding of the underlying judgments, assumptions, behaviors, and intentions of the people involved (Lehnert et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Doing qualitative research and making statements and recommendations about novel, 'morally interesting' phenomena therefore requires business ethics scholars to precisely describe their characterization of ethical conduct in a given situation, in addition to stating the rigor with which they conducted their study. The trustworthiness of their final report depends on such meticulousness (Reinecke et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lehnert et al (2016) counted only 121 qualitative articles for 2004-2014 in leading business ethics journals (Journal of Business Ethics, Business Ethics Quarterly, and Business Ethics: A European Review). Business ethics journals are trying to rectify this underrepresentation of qualitative research in their editorials and are making explicit calls for more qualitative papers (Reinecke et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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From ‘Whodunit’ to ‘How’: Detective Stories and Auditability in Qualitative Business Ethics Research

Nair

2020

J Bus Ethics

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Ethical considerations in today's businesses are manifold and range from human rights issues and the well-being of employees to income inequality and environmental sustainability. Regardless of the specific topic being investigated, an integral part of business ethics research consists of deeply comprehending the personal meanings, intentions, behaviors, judgements, and attitudes that people possess. To this end, researchers are often encouraged to use more qualitative methods to understand the dynamic and fuzzy field of business ethics, which involves collecting in-depth information in real time. Qualitative methods in business ethics research, however, raise the twofold responsibility of not only conducting such investigations fairly and appropriately, but also clearly communicating the research processes and outcomes to readers. Especially leading journals in the field such as Journal of Business Ethics have a responsibility to conduct their business (i.e., the business of high standard publishing) ethically, by making sure that their content represents clear and honest communications of research concerning a wide range of business systems. Unfortunately, the question of how to effectively facilitate transparent insight into the research process of qualitative business ethics studies is still unresolved. Both the lack of a clear communication of methods and results and the iterative nature of qualitative methods often make it difficult for the readers to properly assess a qualitative business ethics study and understand its results. We propose the use of narratives to remedy this situation. Specifically, we suggest a new classification of audits, named second-party audits, to facilitate a better understanding of research procedures ex-post for the readers. To illustrate this new narrative-based reconceptualization of audits, we use Agatha Christie's detective novel The Murder on the Links as a frame of reference.

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UK professional accounting bodies (PAB): Members’ unethical behaviors and exclusion

Adelopo

Meier

2022

J Corp Accounting Finance

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Although previous studies have explored the disciplinary procedures and sanctions by PABs, the focus of these studies has often been generalized to all forms of infringements. This has prevented specific attention on the most severe ethical breaches by PAB members, that is, offences leading to exclusion. Consequently, we do not know their prevalence, the features of these behaviors or the motivating factors for their perpetration by members of the UK's PABs. Clarity on these issues is in the public interest given the centrality of the role of the accounting profession to the efficient functioning of the financial system. We used the fraud triangle theory to shed light on these issues. Our analysis is based on the entire population of 141 serious cases that led to members’ exclusion. We developed an analytical framework that focused on the nature of the infringements, their prevalence amongst the PABs, and the variety of explanations provided by the culprits. Our analysis shows that criminal convictions and breach of ethical guidance are the two major causes of exclusion. Our findings have implications for the PABs in their attempts to ensure their members’ ethical behavior and the adequacy of their disciplinary process.

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Qualitative Methods in Business Ethics, Corporate Responsibility, and Sustainability Research

Cited by 49 publications

References 26 publications

Positive Shock: A Consumer Ethical Judgement Perspective

Positive Shock: A Consumer Ethical Judgement Perspective

From ‘Whodunit’ to ‘How’: Detective Stories and Auditability in Qualitative Business Ethics Research

UK professional accounting bodies (PAB): Members’ unethical behaviors and exclusion

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