Toward Humanistic Business Ethics

Abstract

We theorize that, in the current development of business ethics, there is a fruitful evolution that dissolves the dichotomy between the normative and behavioral research approaches developed, respectively, by philosophers and social scientists; this approach avoids many of the limitations originated by such distinction by reconnecting their two separate narratives. We call this emerging research model Humanistic Business Ethics (HBE) as it emphasizes the centrality of the human dimension of business and the importance of adopting a richer concept of humanity in business ethics research. We argue that this specific research model in business ethics emerges when scholars combine a pragmatist philosophical approach with some key ideas coming from stakeholder theory, which we summarize and connect. By leveraging collaboration across ethics, economics, psychology, and entrepreneurship, HBE can help business and society scholars undertake fruitful inquiries into the way business works (and should work) at its best.

To do or not to do? A typology of ethical dilemmas in services (TEDS)

“…However, the normative approach has been criticized since it suggests that only certain management practices are ethical. Therefore, the normative model’s trinity of virtue/deontology/consequentialism ethics is not the only or best approach to business ethics (de Colle et al. , 2023).…”

“…Criticism of the behavioral paradigm stems from its emphasis on descriptive explanations over normative assessments. Dismissing the normative component of business ethics sometimes reduces it to post-hoc rationalization (de Colle et al. , 2023).…”

“…Business ethics has advanced with both approaches. Integrative views like the Integrative Social Contracts Theory (Donaldson and Dunfee, 1994) and the Humanistic Business Ethics Model (de Colle et al. , 2023) combine normative and behavioral perspectives.…”

“…However, the normative approach has been criticized since it suggests that only certain management practices are ethical. Therefore, the normative model's trinity of virtue/ deontology/consequentialism ethics is not the only or best approach to business ethics (de Colle et al, 2023). Behavioral business ethics considers cognitive biases and other psychological and contextual factors while making ethical decisions (Messick, 1996).…”

“…Thus, TEDS focuses on ethical dilemmas rather than other ethical situations, including and describing aspects not adequately represented in previous typologies (Authentic). To accomplish this goal, we synthesize and consolidate insights from ethics theories (Saw, 2022) and business/marketing ethics models (de Colle et al, 2023) to develop an integrated, comprehensive ethical dilemmas typology in services and to provide a pragmatic perspective crystallizing blurry boundary lines (Advancing). Furthermore, we illustrate the applicability of TEDS by proposing the DILEMMAS process.…”