IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v117y2013i3p525-539.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Introduction of Epistemology to Business Ethics: A Study of Marketing Middle-Managers

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammed Rawwas
  • Surendra Arjoon
  • Yusuf Sidani

Abstract

A vast majority of marketing theory and research has focused on relativism and idealism in order to understand ethical behavior. However, making ethical assessments that in turn influence behavior is much more complicated than it appears. One of the most important developments in contemporary philosophy has been the renewed interest in epistemic virtue. Epistemologists contend that belief is an ethical process that is susceptible to the intellectual virtue or vice of one’s own life and personal experiences. Open-mindedness, curiosity, careful thinking, creativity, and intellectual courage are the foundations of epistemic virtues. Closed-mindedness, intellectual overconfidence, unimaginativeness, intellectual conformity, and wishful thinking are among epistemic vices. The purpose of this investigation is to introduce epistemology to marketing ethics by linking it to personal moral philosophies (idealism and relativism) and optimism to explain various ethically challenging organizational behaviors. The items of epistemology were developed and pretested by the lead author of this study. Structural equations (LISREL) analyses found that epistemic virtues and vices are better predictors of ethical behavior than were personal moral philosophies (idealism and relativism), and their influence on mild and severe levels of unethical behaviors was enhanced by the moderator variable, optimism. Implications are designed to develop suggestions for improving ethical behavior in the workplace. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammed Rawwas & Surendra Arjoon & Yusuf Sidani, 2013. "An Introduction of Epistemology to Business Ethics: A Study of Marketing Middle-Managers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 525-539, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:117:y:2013:i:3:p:525-539
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1537-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-012-1537-6
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-012-1537-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. George Bragues, 2008. "The Ancients against the Moderns: Focusing on the Character of Corporate Leaders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 78(3), pages 373-387, March.
    2. Mary Curtis, 2006. "Are Audit-related Ethical Decisions Dependent upon Mood?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 68(2), pages 191-209, October.
    3. Gabriel Flynn, 2008. "The Virtuous Manager: A Vision for Leadership in Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 78(3), pages 359-372, March.
    4. Brenkert, George G., 2009. "Innovation, rule breaking and the ethics of entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 448-464, September.
    5. Treviño, Linda Klebe & Weaver, Gary R., 2001. "Organizational Justice and Ethics Program “Follow-Through†: Influences on Employees’ Harmful and Helpful Behavior," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 651-671, October.
    6. Marcia P. Miceli & Janet P. Near & Charles R. Schwenk, 1991. "Who Blows the Whistle and Why?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 45(1), pages 113-130, October.
    7. Mohammed Rawwas & Ziad Swaidan & Jamal Al-Khatib, 2006. "Does Religion Matter? A Comparison Study of the Ethical Beliefs of Marketing Students of Religious and Secular Universities in Japan," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 69-86, April.
    8. Theodora Issa & David Pick, 2010. "Ethical Mindsets: An Australian Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(4), pages 613-629, November.
    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. Samara da Silva Neiva & Ramaswamy Arun Prasath & Wellyngton Silva de Amorim & Mauricio de Andrade Lima & Samuel Borges Barbosa & João Marcelo Pereira Ribeiro & Flávio Ceci & Jonas Schneider & André Bo, 2021. "Sustainable urban development: Can the balanced scorecard contribute to the strategic management of sustainable cities?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 1155-1172, November.
    2. Christopher Baird & Thomas S. Calvard, 2019. "Epistemic Vices in Organizations: Knowledge, Truth, and Unethical Conduct," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 263-276, November.
    3. Muhammad Qasim & Muhammad Irshad & Mehwish Majeed & Syed Tahir Hussain Rizvi, 2022. "Examining Impact of Islamic Work Ethic on Task Performance: Mediating Effect of Psychological Capital and a Moderating Role of Ethical Leadership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 283-295, September.
    4. Mark Christensen & Geoffrey Lamberton, 2022. "Accounting for Animal Welfare: Addressing Epistemic Vices During Live Sheep Export Voyages," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 35-56, September.
    5. Fuan Li & Mike Chen-ho Chao & Nancy Yi-feng Chen & Sixue Zhang, 2018. "Moral judgment in a business setting: The role of managers’ moral foundation, ideology, and level of moral development," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 121-143, March.
    6. Gazley, Aaron & Sinha, Ashish & Rod, Michel, 2016. "Toward a theory of marketing law transgressions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 476-483.
    7. Kristian Alm & David S. A. Guttormsen, 2023. "Enabling the Voices of Marginalized Groups of People in Theoretical Business Ethics Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(2), pages 303-320, January.
    8. Gareth R. T. White & Anthony Samuel & Robert J. Thomas, 2023. "Exploring and Expanding Supererogatory Acts: Beyond Duty for a Sustainable Future," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(3), pages 665-688, July.
    9. Henrike Andersch & Jörg Lindenmeier & Florian Liberatore & Dieter K. Tscheulin, 2018. "Resistance against corporate misconduct: an analysis of ethical ideologies’ direct and moderating effects on different forms of active rebellion," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(6), pages 695-730, August.
    10. Marco Meyer & Chun Wei Choo, 2024. "Harming by Deceit: Epistemic Malevolence and Organizational Wrongdoing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(3), pages 439-452, January.
    11. Rajshekhar G. Javalgi & La Toya M. Russell, 2018. "International Marketing Ethics: A Literature Review and Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(4), pages 703-720, April.
    12. Erwan Lamy, 2023. "Epistemic Responsibility in Business: An Integrative Framework for an Epistemic Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 1-14, February.

    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. Nadia Smaili & Paulina Arroyo, 2019. "Categorization of Whistleblowers Using the Whistleblowing Triangle," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 95-117, June.
    2. Sebastian Goebel & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2017. "The Relationship Between Informal Controls, Ethical Work Climates, and Organizational Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 505-528, March.
    3. Lee, Gladys & Xiao, Xinning, 2018. "Whistleblowing on accounting-related misconduct: A synthesis of the literature," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 22-46.
    4. Dong-Hong Zhu & Ya-Ping Chang, 2013. "Negative Publicity Effect of the Business Founder’s Unethical Behavior on Corporate Image: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 111-121, September.
    5. Muel Kaptein, 2015. "The Effectiveness of Ethics Programs: The Role of Scope, Composition, and Sequence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 415-431, December.
    6. Elert, Niklas & Henrekson, Magnus, 2017. "Entrepreneurship and Institutions: A Bidirectional Relationship," Working Paper Series 1153, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 05 May 2017.
    7. repec:arp:tjssrr:2019:p:128-139 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Harris, Jared D. & Sapienza, Harry J. & Bowie, Norman E., 2009. "Ethics and entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 407-418, September.
    9. Mark G. Edwards, 2021. "The growth paradox, sustainable development, and business strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3079-3094, November.
    10. Hengky Latan & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour & Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour, 2019. "Ethical Awareness, Ethical Judgment and Whistleblowing: A Moderated Mediation Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 289-304, March.
    11. Drichoutis, Andreas & Nayga, Rodolfo & Klonaris, Stathis, 2010. "The Effects of Induced Mood on Preference Reversals and Bidding Behavior in Experimental Auction Valuation," MPRA Paper 25597, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Kathleen Rodenburg & Kelly MacDonald, 2021. "Enhancing Business Schools’ Pedagogy on Sustainable Business Practices and Ethical Decision-Making," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-26, May.
    13. Annisa Hakim Z. & Safira & Hadi Mahmudah, 2019. "Guilt Cognitions, Religiosity and Taxpayer Voluntary Disclosure," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 9(4), pages 160-168, October.
    14. Jingyu Gao & Robert Greenberg & Bernard Wong-On-Wing, 2015. "Whistleblowing Intentions of Lower-Level Employees: The Effect of Reporting Channel, Bystanders, and Wrongdoer Power Status," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 85-99, January.
    15. Anke Arnaud & Marshall Schminke, 2012. "The Ethical Climate and Context of Organizations: A Comprehensive Model," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(6), pages 1767-1780, December.
    16. Brennan, Niamh & Kelly, John, 2007. "A study of whistleblowing among trainee auditors," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 61-87.
    17. Kanika Bhal & Anubha Dadhich, 2011. "Impact of Ethical Leadership and Leader–Member Exchange on Whistle Blowing: The Moderating Impact of the Moral Intensity of the Issue," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 103(3), pages 485-496, October.
    18. Irina Cojuharenco & Garriy Shteynberg & Michele Gelfand & Marshall Schminke, 2012. "Self-Construal and Unethical Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(4), pages 447-461, September.
    19. Ulrike Reisach, 2016. "The creation of meaning and critical ethical reflection in operational research," EURO Journal on Decision Processes, Springer;EURO - The Association of European Operational Research Societies, vol. 4(1), pages 5-32, June.
    20. Drichoutis, Andreas C. & Nayga, Rodolfo M., 2013. "Eliciting risk and time preferences under induced mood states," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 18-27.
    21. Brian Whitaker & Lindsey Godwin, 2013. "The Antecedents of Moral Imagination in the Workplace: A Social Cognitive Theory Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 61-73, April.

    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:kap:jbuset:v:117:y:2013:i:3:p:525-539. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.