Religion-Based Decision Making in Indian Multinationals: A Multi-faith Study of Ethical Virtues and Mindsets

Abstract

The convergence of India's rich cultural and religious heritage with its rapidly transforming economy provides a unique opportunity to understand how senior executives navigate the demands of the business environment within the context of their religious convictions. Forty senior executives with varying religious backgrounds and global responsibilities within Indian multinational corporations participated in this study. Drawing from virtue ethics theory and using systematic content analysis, several themes emerged for ethical virtues (empathy, sympathy, humanity, justice, fairness, temperance, integrity, transparency, governance, conscientiousness, transcendence, wisdom, moral fortitude and determination). The analysis illustrates how these deeply seated ethical virtues helped to form and refine these executives' ethical mindsets via guiding principles such as an ethical culture, environment, molding, education, commitment and leadership. In turn, these ethical mindsets influenced the executives' ethical decision-making processes. We find that these executives' ethical virtues and mindsets are inspired by their religious backgrounds. In summary, a very complex mental tug-of-war appears to takes place as these executives rationalize and negotiate unethical circumstances while being cognizant of personal religious beliefs. We contend that in a pluralistic multi-faith society such as India, it is critical for corporations to align the virtues of its senior executives with those of the corporation so that virtues are applied consistently when dealing with various stakeholders. The findings present several theoretical and practical implications, which are discussed.

Why religiosity is not enough in workplace ethical decision-making

“…For instance, Cojoc and Stoian (2014) found that individuals would feel their dishonesty is justified when they do not benefit from their dishonest acts. In essence, research has shown that employees would also take into account the potential consequences of their actions to the organization (Chan & Ananthram, 2019;LaMontagne, 2012). The extent of harm and benefit forms the calculative part of an individual's cognitive ethical decision-making framework, where the magnitude of harm or benefits to affected individuals impacts the ethical decision-making of individuals (Jones, 1991).…”

“…For this reason, the study of the impact of religiosity and spirituality on organizational behaviour has gained traction over the past decade (Houghton et al, 2016). Specifically, in the field of ethical decision-making, Chan and Ananthram (2019) report that religiosity plays an important role in shaping employees' ethical virtues and mindsets that influence their ethical decision-making. Similarly, Kashif et al (2017) have found that religiosity has a positive effect on the ethical culture of a workplace.…”

Laudato si’ – A Macromarketing Manifesto for a Just and Sustainable Environment

“…In the context of the social sciences, religion is usually viewed as a socio-cultural phenomenon (e.g., Putnam and Campbell 2010). In the context of marketing practice, religion is seen to influence both consumption (LaBarbara 1987; Mathras et al 2016; Yurdakul and Atik 2016; Chowdhury 2018a, 2018b; Khan 2018; Razzaq et al 2018) and business practices (Cai, Li, and Tang 2020; Cai and Shi 2019; Chan and Ananthram 2019; Friedman 2001; Hu, Lian, and Zhou 2019; Klein, Laczniak, and Santos 2017; White and Samuel 2016) -- or not (Aydin and Alquayid 2017). The more normative perspective—i.e., how religion based values can shape ethical marketing decisions—has been underscored previously (e.g., Klein 1987; Dixon 2001, Klein and Laczniak 2009), including research specifically focused on environmental concerns (Leary, Minton, and Mittelstaedt 2016; Landrum, Tomaka, and McCarthy 2016; El Jurdi, Batat, and Jafari 2017).…”

A neo-institutional perspective on ethical decision-making

“…Two executives brought up the concept of Sanatana Dharma, which refers to the 'eternal religion,' or Hinduism. In addition to Hinduism, other religions (such as Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism) play important roles in the lives of numerous Indians and Indian society (Chan and Ananthram, 2017). This concept forms the ethos of Indian businesses and touches on what it means to live in a free society.…”