IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i2p670-d309603.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring Ethical Business in Central Europe: Leaders’ Values and Perspectives on Good Practices

Author

Listed:
  • Áron Perényi

    (Swinburne Business School, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne VIC 3122, Australia)

  • Christopher Selvarajah

    (Swinburne Business School, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne VIC 3122, Australia)

  • Janusz Tanas

    (Peter Faber Business School, Australian Catholic University, East Melbourne VIC 3002, Australia)

  • Zuzana Tučková

    (Faculty of Logistics and Crisis Management, Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Studentské nám., 1532 Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic)

  • Anna Odrowaz-Coates

    (Social Pedagogy Department, Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw, 02-353 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Brigitta Tóth-Bozó

    (Department of Economics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Magyar tudósok körútja 2., 1111 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Martina Minarova

    (Faculty of Economics, Matej Bel University, 974 01 Banská Bystrica, Slovakia)

Abstract

Weaknesses in the institutional environment of Central Europe challenge the sustainability of economic development. Institutional theory stipulates that institutions drive economic development, and institutions are configured by individual values and practices. The World Governance Indicators, the Corruption Perception Index, and the Doing Business Indicators indicate weaknesses in the institutional environments of the Visegrád countries. This paper explores the micro level perspective of institutions, focusing on values and practices, in terms of leadership and ethics. A survey of 868 private and public sector managers from Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia provides evidence that leadership practices and ethical values are congruent, suggesting a positive influence on the institutional environment. The results also provide evidence for the presence of the gap, spanning between the micro and the macro level factors affecting sustainable economic development. These results imply that a bottom-up view of sustainable economic development is more suitable to the Central European context, and promotion of sustainable economic development needs to focus on the micro level factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Áron Perényi & Christopher Selvarajah & Janusz Tanas & Zuzana Tučková & Anna Odrowaz-Coates & Brigitta Tóth-Bozó & Martina Minarova, 2020. "Exploring Ethical Business in Central Europe: Leaders’ Values and Perspectives on Good Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-30, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:2:p:670-:d:309603
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/2/670/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/2/670/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christopher Selvarajah & Denny Meyer & Dy Davuth, 2012. "The effect of cultural modelling on leadership profiling of the Cambodian manager," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 649-674, October.
    2. Lora Reed & Deborah Vidaver-Cohen & Scott Colwell, 2011. "Erratum to: A New Scale to Measure Executive Servant Leadership: Development, Analysis, and Implications for Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(3), pages 507-508, July.
    3. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Robinson, James A., 2005. "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 385-472, Elsevier.
    4. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    5. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
    6. Christian Voegtlin, 2011. "Development of a Scale Measuring Discursive Responsible Leadership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 57-73, January.
    7. Catherine Marsh, 2013. "Business Executives’ Perceptions of Ethical Leadership and Its Development," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 565-582, May.
    8. Douglass C. North, 2005. "Introduction to Understanding the Process of Economic Change," Introductory Chapters, in: Understanding the Process of Economic Change, Princeton University Press.
    9. Jack McCann & Roger Holt, 2009. "Ethical Leadership and Organizations: An Analysis of Leadership in the Manufacturing Industry Based on the Perceived Leadership Integrity Scale," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 211-220, June.
    10. Michael Levine & Jacqueline Boaks, 2014. "What Does Ethics Have to do with Leadership?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 225-242, October.
    11. André de Waal, 2011. "Characteristics of High Performance Organizations," Working Papers 2011/04, Maastricht School of Management.
    12. Ciulla, Joanne B., 1995. "Leadership Ethics: Mapping the Territory," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 5-28, January.
    13. Selvarajah, Christopher & Meyer, Denny, 2006. "Archetypes of the Malaysian manager: Exploring ethnicity dimensions that relate to leadership," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 251-269, November.
    14. Christopher Selvarajah & Denny Meyer & Jerome Donovan, 2013. "Cultural context and its influence on managerial leadership in Thailand," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 356-380, July.
    15. Christian Voegtlin & Moritz Patzer & Andreas Scherer, 2012. "Responsible Leadership in Global Business: A New Approach to Leadership and Its Multi-Level Outcomes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 105(1), pages 1-16, January.
    16. Daron Acemoglu & James Robinson, 2010. "The Role of Institutions in Growth and Development," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 1(2).
    17. Sea-Jin Chang & Arjen van Witteloostuijn & Lorraine Eden, 2010. "From the Editors: Common method variance in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(2), pages 178-184, February.
    18. Bharat Diwakar & Gilad Sorek, 2015. "Economic Development and Stage-Dependent IPR," Auburn Economics Working Paper Series auwp2015-16, Department of Economics, Auburn University.
    19. Christian Resick & Gillian Martin & Mary Keating & Marcus Dickson & Ho Kwan & Chunyan Peng, 2011. "What Ethical Leadership Means to Me: Asian, American, and European Perspectives," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(3), pages 435-457, July.
    20. Alexander, 2015. "Corruption, Economic Development, and Insecurity in Colombia," Serie de Documentos en Economía y Violencia 12428, Centro de Investigaciones en Violencia, Instituciones y Desarrollo Económico (VIDE).
    21. Adam Barsky, 2011. "Investigating the Effects of Moral Disengagement and Participation on Unethical Work Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(1), pages 59-75, November.
    22. Kets de Vries, Manfred & Shekshnia, Stanislav & Korotov, Konstantin & Florent-Treacy, Elizabeth, 2004. "The New Global Russian Business Leaders:: Lessons from a Decade of Transition," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 637-648, December.
    23. Rosalie L Tung & Alain Verbeke, 2010. "Beyond Hofstede and GLOBE: Improving the quality of cross-cultural research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(8), pages 1259-1274, October.
    24. Jamie Collins & Klaus Uhlenbruck & Peter Rodriguez, 2009. "Why Firms Engage in Corruption: A Top Management Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 89-108, June.
    25. Philippe Aghion, 2005. "Growth and Institutions," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 32(1), pages 3-18, March.
    26. Carl Harshman & Ellen Harshman, 2008. "The Gordian Knot of Ethics: Understanding Leadership Effectiveness and Ethical Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 78(1), pages 175-192, March.
    27. Christine Oliver, 1997. "Sustainable competitive advantage: combining institutional and resource‐based views," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(9), pages 697-713, October.
    28. Nhung Nguyen & Michael Biderman, 2008. "Studying Ethical Judgments and Behavioral Intentions Using Structural Equations: Evidence from the Multidimensional Ethics Scale," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(4), pages 627-640, December.
    29. Deborah Poff, 2010. "Ethical Leadership and Global Citizenship: Considerations for a Just and Sustainable Future," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 9-14, June.
    30. Norris, Pippa, 2001. "Making Democracies Work: Social Capital and Civic Engagement in 47 Societies," Working Paper Series rwp01-036, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    31. Lora Reed & Deborah Vidaver-Cohen & Scott Colwell, 2011. "A New Scale to Measure Executive Servant Leadership: Development, Analysis, and Implications for Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(3), pages 415-434, July.
    32. David Effelsberg & Marc Solga & Jochen Gurt, 2014. "Transformational Leadership and Follower’s Unethical Behavior for the Benefit of the Company: A Two-Study Investigation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 120(1), pages 81-93, March.
    33. S. Hansen & Bradley Alge & Michael Brown & Christine Jackson & Benjamin Dunford, 2013. "Ethical Leadership: Assessing the Value of a Multifoci Social Exchange Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 435-449, July.
    34. Pablo Ruiz & Carmen Ruiz & Ricardo Martínez, 2011. "Improving the “Leader–Follower” Relationship: Top Manager or Supervisor? The Ethical Leadership Trickle-Down Effect on Follower Job Response," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(4), pages 587-608, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Péter Faragó & Krisztina Gálos & Dávid Fekete, 2022. "Elements of Divergence in Urbanization between Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Core of the Continent," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-17, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vi Dung Ngo & Frank Janssen & Marine Falize, 2016. "An incentive-based model of international entrepreneurship in emerging and transition economies," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 52-74, March.
    2. Harris,Colin & Cai,Meina & Murtazashvili,Ilia & Murtazashvili,Jennifer Brick, 2020. "The Origins and Consequences of Property Rights," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108969055.
    3. Jacqueline C. Wisler, 2018. "U.S. CEOs of SBUs in Luxury Goods Organizations: A Mixed Methods Comparison of Ethical Decision-Making Profiles," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 443-518, May.
    4. Cheng, Ken & Wei, Feng & Lin, Yinghui, 2019. "The trickle-down effect of responsible leadership on unethical pro-organizational behavior: The moderating role of leader-follower value congruence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 34-43.
    5. Duarte N. Leite & Sandra T. Silva & Oscar Afonso, 2014. "Institutions, Economics And The Development Quest," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 491-515, July.
    6. Joanna Dzionek-Kozlowska & Rafal Matera, 2016. "Institutions Without Culture. A Critique of Acemoglu and Robinson's Theory of Economic Development," Lodz Economics Working Papers 9/2016, University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology.
    7. Peter Lloyd & Cassey Lee, 2016. "A Review of the Recent Literature on the Institutional Economics Analysis of the Long-Run Performance of Nations," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 2019, The University of Melbourne.
    8. Gani, Azmat & Scrimgeour, Frank, 2014. "Modeling governance and water pollution using the institutional ecological economic framework," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 363-372.
    9. Luis Alfonso Dau & Aya S. Chacar & Marjorie A. Lyles & Jiatao Li, 2022. "Informal institutions and international business: Toward an integrative research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(6), pages 985-1010, August.
    10. Rok Spruk & Mitja Kovac, 2018. "Inefficient Growth," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 9(2).
    11. Kryeziu Liridon & Coşkun Recai, 2018. "Political and Economic Institutions and Economic Performance: Evidence from Kosovo," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 13(2), pages 84-99, December.
    12. Becherair, Amrane, 2014. "Institutions and Economic Growth in the MENA Countries: An Empirical Investigation by Using Panel data model," MPRA Paper 57683, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 04 Aug 2014.
    13. Gilles, R.P. & Lazarova, E.A. & Ruys, P.H.M., 2006. "Stability, Specialization and Social Recognition," Other publications TiSEM 7fa36115-a85c-44d2-ad23-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    14. Tran, Hien Thu, 2019. "Institutional quality and market selection in the transition to market economy," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1-1.
    15. Ralph Chami & Connel Fullenkamp & Sunil Sharma, 2010. "A framework for financial market development," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 107-135.
    16. Zhang Wei & Li Ji, 2017. "Weak Law v. Strong Ties: An Empirical Study of Business Investment, Law and Political Connections in China," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 13(1), pages 1-45, March.
    17. Underhill, Geoffrey, 2010. "Theory and the Market after the Crisis: the Endogeneity of Financial Governance," CEPR Discussion Papers 8164, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Braunfels, Elias, 2016. "Further Unbundling Institutions," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 13/2016, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    19. Hall, Stephen G & Ahmad, Mahyudin, 2013. "Can Trust Explain Social Capital Effect on Property Rights and Growth?," MPRA Paper 48440, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Ferris, J. Stephen & Voia, Marcel C., 2015. "The effect of federal government size on private economic performance in Canada: 1870–2011," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 172-185.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:2:p:670-:d:309603. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.