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80 Outstanding Business Ethics Research Paper Topics

A business ethics research paper has to be engaging and a solution to a particular economic challenge. We have a compilation of the best business ethics topics to help you achieve this task. Read on.

Social Media Business Ethics Paper Topics

Writing a research paper for a high grade is not an easy task for every student. Check social media business ethics topics to get some inspiration.

Is monitoring employee’s online behavior by companies ethical?
Should a company fire an employee if they find their information on social media detrimental to its image?
What is the role of social media in achieving responsible business
The impact of CSR initiatives on Facebook and Twitter
How do new product introductions perform on social media?
How do enterprises manage negative responses on Facebook?
How to increase positive responses without eroding business ethics
Is the notion of ‘controversial fit’ on social media ethical?

Business Ethics Research Topics on Privacy

Installation of surveillance cameras to supervise employees
To what extent can bosses watch over the actions of their staff?
Is intercepting and reading E-mail messages in an office ethical?
What ethical problem does the merging of databases containing personal information pose?
The emergence of hackers and crackers and the threat to privacy
Software for decoding digital information
Who decides the personal or private information to gather?
Do businesses adhere to the confidentiality of information policy?

Health and Safety Business Ethics Paper Topics

How does organizational ethical climate affect personal safety ethics?
The conflict between personal safety ethics and professional safety ethics
Is the office ergonomics a pressing concern?
The role of the Occupational Safety and Health Act
Facility design consistent with health and safety regulations
Hazard identification and correction by companies
Who is responsible for shutting down dangerous activities
Provision of medical surveillance in workplaces

List of Business Ethics Topics on Environmental Damage

Are businesses using energy-efficient lighting?
Proper thermostat control of heating and cooling systems
Do companies have computer equipment operating efficiently?
Use of wind power and solar panels by industries
Reducing the business’s environmental impact and carbon footprint.
Replacing plastic packaging with biodegradable materials
Examining the effects of the business practices on other species
Dealing with activities that involve clearing land and destroying animals’ habitats

Ethical Research Paper Topics on Internal Relationships

Job satisfaction and dedication levels of employees
Impact of bullying and discrimination on workers
Productivity levels fall of employees when companies do not care about them
How to sustain a healthy atmosphere among employees
Unfair treatment due to race, religion or gender
How effective is the anti-discrimination law?
Bias among employees
Eliminating unethical behaviors within an organization

Ethics Research Paper Topics on Business Leadership

What is the mark of an ethical leader?
Objectivity and transparency as leadership traits
Leaders with strong, virtuous values those with weak values
Maintaining your temper as a leader
Dealing with anger in business as a leader
Can leadership prevail in the use of strength and violence?
How a leader’s moral stance determines his ethics
Are women better business leaders than men?

Interesting Business Ethics Topics on Social Responsibility

Making ethical decision making in big corporations.
Understanding the concept of corporate responsibility.
An inspiration for social responsibility in the workplace
Investing in corporate social responsibility
How CSR trends are evolving over time
Striking a balance between profit and social responsibility
Achieving competitive advantage and CSR
How learning can contribute to CSR

Business Ethics Paper Topic Idea in Sports

Encouraging character development through sports
How unethical behavior affects ones moral and ethical standards outside the pitch
Are sports competitions alienated from real life?
How games serve as a primary outlet of our ethics
Is faking a foul or injury ethical?
How athletes attempt to get a head start in a race
Using performance-enhancing drugs
Intimidating or taunting opponents

Advertising Ethical Issues Topics for Papers

Should children appear in adverts?
Is it right for half-naked ladies to appear in adverts?
Is exaggerating ads ethical?
Talking about the side effects of products in ads
Alcohol ads on TV
Cigarettes and tobacco
Fooling customers through practical things
Ethics of advertising a sanitary napkin

Bonus Ethics Paper Topics

The roots of business ethics in psychology.
The relationship between business success and personal integrity
The place of moral leadership in a company
How to make the right decisions every day at work
Implications of leadership malfunctions and ethical failures
How far can an ethical mishap take a company?
Who should be the moral police in a corporate organization?
What are the kinds of ethical dilemmas that people face at work every day?

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After going through the comprehensive list of topics concerning papers on business ethics, nothing can stop you now. All you need to do is to select one and get going. Nonetheless, if you still find it difficult, we have guru writing help on how to write business ethics research papers and much more! Give your assignment a professional feel by using our top-rated assistance now! The process is as easy as pie. Just c ontact us with a “ do my custom research paper now” request and get an A+. Why try to work on a paper and risk failing when an expert is only a click away!

80 World’s Finest Business Ethics Topics For Research Paper

What is business ethics? MBA students in college or university need top business ethics research paper topics for their course. Any business cannot exist without ethics. It is a vital aspect that companies in numerous countries uphold to ensure their reliability and credibility.

Building a consensus between the moral aspects and the economic setting is what lecturers aim to see in students with such a paper. You will know how to write more topics on your own painstakingly with our top business ethics paper topic ideas in a moment.

Topics in Accounting: Business Ethics Research Paper

The perception of tax evasion ethics
Acceptable ethical behavior in the accounting workplace
The history of ethics in accounting
How governments handle accounting ethics
A case study of philosophers who contributed to the ethics of accounting
Cultural and political situations leading to accounting ethics
The concepts behind accounting ethics precepts and their applications
Different educational approaches in teaching accounting ethics

Corporate Culture Business Ethics Paper Topics

What role does corporate culture play in business ethics?
The place of organizational culture in improving performance
Business ethics in the management of mergers
Lessons from corporate scandals and organizational crises
Conducting a corporate cultural “audit.”
Factors determining the behavior of people in a corporate environment
How management impacts organizational culture
Methods used to incorporate ethics into the corporate culture.

Technology Business Ethics Research Topics

Encoding company values to stop destructive technologies
How to build a more robust data foundation to enhance security
Stakeholder privacy in the dissemination of information
Cultivating trust in destructive technologies
Demonstrating transparency using technology in business
Is data surveillance ethical?
Deploying the technology “power of all.”
Training business technologists to eliminate product bias
Advising employees on how technology may affect their jobs in the future

Business Ethics Paper Topics For Advertising

Is the use of misleading advertising unethical?
Why do companies use women in product advertising?
Is it ethical to use minors for business adverts?
Should alcohol companies advertise before the watershed period?
Is it ethical to advertise the sale of guns on TV?
What should happen to agencies with scam adverts?
Discuss why it is unethical for boxing companies to use provocatively dressed ladies
The impact of misleading headlines in advertisements
Is it ethical to use vague and obscene language in advertising?
Why should cigarette adverts have a warning for excessive use?
Compare and contrast men versus women adverts. Which ones sell?

Ethical Research Paper Topics in Business during Pandemics

Is it ethical to hike prices during pandemics
Should companies lay off their staff during the coronavirus period
Should small income businesses pay tax during adverse conditions
Why do enterprises hide commodities in times of crises
Is it ethical for real-estate agencies to continue charging rent?
Should governments supply subsidized products to stop competition?
Why pandemics may increase internal control risks
Is slashing more than 50% of salaries ethical?
Should employers grant their employees mandatory unpaid leaves?

Ethics Research Paper Topics for Managers

Why managers should have a Corporate Conscience
How good ethics translates to profit: A guide for managers
A critical approach to the integrity of managers
The social nature of morality in managerial positions
Is shrewd bargaining ethical for managers?
How can managers effectively resolve ethical problems
How unethical management can affect a company’s bottom line
Moral management is suitable for both the law and the market
Ethical managers save companies legal compulsion
How does good ethics result in excellence for managers?

Interesting Legal Business Ethics Topics

Why lawyers should not pursue their interests in the representation of a client
Are law schools teaching legal ethics effectively?
How should lawyers behave towards each other?
Should lawyers be compelled to honor their obligation?
How law and morality conflict
Can a promise be used in place of a contract?
How far should companies stand behind their products?
Is it ethical to use mentally insane people in adverts?
Claiming a product is better than others in ads.
Employment discrimination law ethics

Social Media Business Ethical Issues Topics for Papers

Should employers monitor employee behavior?
How social media leads to a breach of confidentiality
Social media and improper business practices and activities
Have blogs toned-down business ethics?
Use of social media by employees for their personal, non-company use
Discuss how employees use social media for the company’s business objectives
How to ethical answer questions on social media
Healthy employee social media policies
How applicable is the Kantian Ethics to the use of social media in business?
Proper ethical standards for social media use
Should companies turn off comments on social media?
Trust and brands management in social media
How to improve ethics using social media
Corporate social media policy for companies
Tips for posting on social media

The list of business ethics topics above should inspire you to get a paper and begin your essay or create more of them.

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Business Ethics Dissertation Topics

Published by Owen Ingram at December 29th, 2022 , Revised On October 10, 2023

Many students find it difficult to choose an appropriate topic for their business ethics dissertation paper because the field is complex and contains interesting and contentious issues. Furthermore, the current issues keep evolving as more and more people get involved in different enterprises.

What we know for certain is that a business cannot be conducted without ethics. In order to maintain their integrity and dependability, companies must follow an ethical code of conduct.

The purpose of a dissertation or a research paper is to assess the student’s understanding of the various issues of business ethics and propose appropriate solutions through research and writing.

Students should choose compelling and intriguing business ethics dissertation topics to ensure good grades. For those who do not know where to begin, here are some business ethics research topics to consider.

Important & Related Resource: Dissertation Topics Database , Dissertation Writing Services .

Is overly high pricing and levies imposed by businesses related to corporate social responsibility (CSR)?
How ethical behaviour among business managers contributes to a company’s success.
The effect of deceptive advertising techniques on consumer trust.
The impact of discrimination and gender bias on worker performance inside a business.
How higher education institutions use ethics in their hiring procedures.
Difficulties in implementing ethical business practices, which are necessary for the growth of sustainable tourism.
Should businesses that benefit from other people’s risk be permitted to continue operating? A case study of unhealthy items sold by cigarette and alcohol manufacturers on the American market.
Case study on business ethics; a quick analysis of Facebook’s privacy and surveillance violations.
Examine child labour as an unethical practice and a source of cheap labour.
Women face discrimination at work and are frequently seen as sex symbols.
Describe how you, as a business manager, could stop this.
Examine the concept of honesty in business ethics.
Examine privacy violations on social media as a breach of company ethics.
How does a company’s inadequate environmental management affects consumer loyalty and trust?
A study on the conflict between publication incentives and business research.
How does an organisation’s profit incentive affect the quality of its products?
The effects of worker exploitation on the industrial market
The usefulness of academic theories of business ethics in real-world corporate settings.
Approach to publishing industry ethics in author sponsorship deals.
Using ethics to guide decision-making in the context of internet commerce.
A comparison of how business ethics are taught in rich and developing countries higher education institutions.
Apply business ethics to determine how much a corporation must invest in health, maternity, and other benefits when moving to a foreign nation.
Is it morally acceptable for businesses to be completely upfront with their target market?
Is it moral for employers to use birth control to prevent workplace pregnancies?
A thorough analysis of the impact on society and the economy of illicit activities like corruption, bribery, nepotism, and overpricing of contracts.
An analysis of a case study including sexual harassment and other unethical behaviour in commercial companies.
The several moral conundrums that contemporary corporate firms must choose between.
Components of a shared ethical responsibility culture between a company and employees.
How do corporate ethics affect employees’ mental health?
Corporate crime and white-collar crime characteristics in modern business.
Teaching personnel from various ethnic origins a shared code of conduct.
Things that multinational corporations should take into account while creating their environmental policies in various nations.
The need for ethics in good corporate governance, item number.
Personal and professional conduct in connection to work ethics, moral conduct, and workplace crisis management.
The importance of ethics in the management and prevention of disputes in the workplace
Businesses in the industrial and production sectors have made major contributions to pollution and global warming.
Explain the many breaches and ethical violations such firms have committed from the business ethics perspective in the paragraph.
What does corporate social responsibility (CSR) entail? Describe the numerous ways that businesses can implement CSR.
The connection between pharmaceutical corporations’ gift-giving practices and corporate ethics.

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The field of business ethics entails establishing the moral rules that govern an organisation’s conduct or administration. Changing business practices are eroding ethical principles over time. Academics must study business ethics to determine its causes, benefits, and effects.

Our assistance in finding good thesis topics will require you to choose an original topic that deals with ethically contentious issues. Our dissertation writing experts can assist you in navigating the moral dilemmas of today in the form of a dissertation paper. We will provide appealing business ethics dissertation topics to help you achieve the highest possible grade.

Frequently Asked Questions

List down the 5 best business ethics dissertation topics.

Certainly! Here are 5 great Business Ethics Dissertation Topics: 1. Ethical Decision-Making in Corporate Governance 2. Sustainability and Social Responsibility in Business 3. Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence in Business 4. Whistleblowing and Ethical Accountability in Organizations 5. Corporate Social Responsibility in a Globalized World.

The effects of business ethics and corporate social responsibility on intellectual capital voluntary disclosure

Journal of Intellectual Capital

ISSN : 1469-1930

Article publication date: 9 March 2021

Issue publication date: 17 December 2021

This study aims to examine the potential effect that business ethics (BE) in general and corporate social responsibility (CSR) more specifically can exert on the voluntary disclosure (VD) of intellectual capital (IC) for the ethically most engaged firms in the world.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design is based on an inductive approach. As part of the global quantitative investigation, the authors have analyzed the impact of BE and CSR on the transparent communication of the IC. The data under analysis have been investigated using multiple linear regression.

Based on a sample of 83 enterprises emerging as the most ethical companies in the world, the results have revealed that the adoption of ethical and socially responsible approach is positively associated with the extent of VD about IC. This finding may help attenuating the asymmetry of information and the conflict of interest potentially arising with corporate partners. Hence, IC-VD may stand as an evidence of ethical and socially responsible behaviors.

Practical implications

Global and national regulators and policymakers can be involved by these results when setting social reporting standards because they suggest that institutional and/or cultural factors affect top management's social reporting behavior in the publication of the IC information.

Social implications

Direct and indirect stakeholders, if supported by ethical and socially responsible behaviors of the company, could assess more in detail the quality of the disclosed information concerning the IC.

Originality/value

Most of the studies that have been conducted in this field have examined the effect of BE and CSR on the firm's overall transparency, neglecting their potential effect on IC disclosure. This study is designed to fill in this gap through testing the impact of ethical and socially responsible approaches specifically on IC-VD.

Business ethics
Corporate social responsibility
Voluntary disclosure
Intellectual capital
Transparency

Rossi, M. , Festa, G. , Chouaibi, S. , Fait, M. and Papa, A. (2021), "The effects of business ethics and corporate social responsibility on intellectual capital voluntary disclosure", Journal of Intellectual Capital , Vol. 22 No. 7, pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-08-2020-0287

Emerald Publishing Limited

Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

1. Introduction

Over the last few decades, firms have been generating value not only from securities and financials but also from other intangible elements, such as skills of employees (human capital), novelty in technology (structural capital), relationships with customers (direct relational capital) and reputation on the market (indirect relational capital or social capital), all forms of potential intellectual capital (IC), whose contribution, however, is probably riskier than industrial assets ( Su, 2014 ; Cruz-González et al. , 2014 ). In fact, the impact of IC on the business results is uncertain, and in addition, it is often more difficult to identify and measure its characteristics ( Murray et al. , 2016 ).

The uncertainty about its representation and measurement still poses issues related to accounting, evaluation and governance ( Hussi, 2004 ; Guthrie et al. , 2006 ; Hamed and Omri, 2014 ). To limit these problems, managers may choose voluntary disclosure (VD) to reduce the asymmetry of the information ( Branco and Rodrigues, 2008 ).

IC is a driving factor and creator of lasting value ( Lin et al. , 2015 ; Vaz et al. , 2019 ), and disclosure by applying ethical and social principles improves the trust of information and reduces the conflict of interest ( Alves et al. , 2012 ; Chung et al. , 2015 ; Al Maskati and Hamdan, 2017 ). These behaviors may exert a positive effect on the global quality of the IC-VD ( Melloni, 2015 ), and in this study, more specifically, VD of nonfinancial information about IC are assumed to be positively influenced by ethical and socially responsible behaviors of the company's decision-makers ( Corvino et al. , 2019 ).

In this respect, interest in the development of business ethics (BE) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in accounting, evaluation and management has gained increasing attention in the academic literature ( Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998 ), and the last 20 years (or even more) of empirical research on these issues have generated vast literature ( Gray et al. , 1995 ; Chen and Gavious, 2015 ; Singh and Gaur, 2020 ). Accordingly, the quality of the information published by companies about their IC has received an ever more peculiar interest in managerial research ( Ousama and Fatima, 2012 ; Muttakin et al. , 2015 ; Devalle et al. , 2016 ; Bellucci et al. , 2020 ), with specific concerns about the effect of BE and CSR on the quality of the disclosed information on voluntary or mandatory basis, also considering several financial scandals that have added doubts about relevance and reliability of some company data ( Lehnert et al. , 2016 ).

Subsequently, a critical question is the following: is it adequate, opportune and reliable to take into consideration only the accounting information that mandatorily concern IC, especially considering that this entity is so difficult to identify and measure? This issue seems deserving huge attention particularly in the current context, constantly and continuously marked by the rise of BE and CSR, with consequent effect also on the relevance of the quality of the disclosed information.

For example, the legitimacy theory provides some contributions regarding environmental reputation, and the related effect of VD on reputational capital ( Alvino et al. , 2020 ). In this respect, the reputation of the company is a social construct stemming from the process of legitimization ( Bond et al. , 2016 ).

However, empirical studies investigating the effect of BE and CSR on VD have proved mixed results, mostly because of the different meaning about ethics and responsibility in each institutional and cultural context ( Ting et al. , 2020 ). The current study aims to combat this diversity and its consequences in terms of value creation, analyzing more specifically the potential effect of BE and CSR on the VD of IC ( Giacosa et al. , 2017 ).

The perimeter of the research regards the companies that are ranked by the Ethisphere Institute – most probably the global leader in the world for defining and advancing the standards of ethical and social practices that fuel corporate character, market trust and business success – as the most ethical companies in the world. More precisely, the contribution of the study is in checking whether the companies' behavior about IC disclosure is influenced by BE and CSR, aspect that has been often neglected in other studies.

In this respect, a research concerning companies displaying high level of ethical and socially responsible commitment has been conducted, with two main ambitions. First, results should enable to explicitly identify the characteristics that are more likely to influence the diffusion of information about IC in the annual reports through adoption of BE and CSR; second, it should help exploring the contribution of the several company characteristics as assessed in terms of ethics-based scoring.

The empirical evidence emerging from the research has demonstrated that the adoption of approaches that are based on BE and CSR noticeably help in enhancing the disclosure extent of the IC information as figuring in annual reports. Thus, this study should serve to provide further recommendations to the companies intending to adopt codes of ethics, or to put forward CSR practices, encouraging these behaviors also from the point of view of the IC disclosure (and consequent accounting, evaluation and management).

The structure of this paper is organized as follows; Section 2 presents the basic theoretical background and the hypotheses that have been developed: in this section, the relationship between the potential effect of BE and CSR on the VD of IC has been analyzed. Section 3 displays the methodology that has been adopted, while the empirical results are exposed and discussed in Section 4 ; finally, the discussions of the findings, the concluding remarks and their implications are provided in Section 5 .

2. Theoretical background and hypotheses development

As aforementioned, the following investigation is about the effect of BE and CSR on IC-VD, also for clarifying the distinct influences that may arise from concepts that sometimes are considered in ambiguous connection ( Fassin et al. , 2011 ). Therefore, the first step of the research is about a general analysis of the studies focusing on the association between ethical as well as socially responsible behaviors and IC-VD as core aspect of a more global knowledge management approach that cutting-edge enterprises should adopt to succeed ( Serenko and Bontis, 2013 ).

2.1 Theoretical background

To present main reasons and usefulness of the VD of information about IC, the theory of planned behavior has been adopted as fundamental approach. In fact, although extensive research has focused on the variables that externally and internally may influence the managers' decision about disclosing information on IC, few studies have examined in this respect the psychological factors and have used a theoretical decision-making framework ( Coluccia et al. , 2017 ; McPhail, 2009 ).

The theory of planned behavior, largely used to explain the process of individual decision-making behavior ( Ajzen, 1991 ), can emerge as a theoretical framework for investigating the psychosocial factors stimulating the managers' decision to disclose IC information in a mandatory and/or voluntary way. In addition, this model has demonstrated its superiority over other theoretical approaches in many contexts of VD, including IC ( Zhang et al. , 2019 ).

This theory assumes that when individuals, considering altogether internal attitudes and external considerations, perceive a manageable activity as capable of providing business benefits, such as those that may arise from IC-VD, they receive intention, support and encouragement in adopting that specific behavior, also making assumptions about their ability to perform the task ( Passaro et al. , 2018 ; Mura et al. , 2012 ).

For example, Armitage and Conner (2001) examined 185 empirical studies that were conducted prior to 1997, finding that about 39 and 27% of the variance of intention and behavior, respectively, was caused by the theory of planned behavior. In fact, this theory is a rational decision-making model, which is mainly used to predict the potential behavioral intentions of the managers (in this specific case, adopting VD of IC).

Three key independent variables are at the basis of this framework: (1) the attitudes toward a particular behavior; (2) the perceptions of others' approval or disapproval of a particular behavior (subjective norms) and (3) the perceived behavioral control about easiness or difficulty in performing a particular behavior ( Ajzen, 1991 ). This configuration is adopted as methodological basis for the theoretical model in which assessing the following hypotheses.

2.2 Hypotheses development (H1) : BE and VD of IC

Transparent and reliable communication is essential to reflect the true image of a company ( Bhimani, 2008 ): with this regard, financial transparency is a necessary condition for a firm that is involved in the BE process. In the specific context of disclosure, several authors have recognized that BE rooted in organizational culture has a tremendous influence on the development of IC-VD ( Branco and Rodrigues, 2008 ).

For example, Jo et al. (2008) have analyzed the development of ethical standards in the business to improve the quality of the disclosed information, finding that entrepreneurs and managers that consider the promotion of ethical behaviors are urged to ensure permanent disclosure of the company's IC. Later, Navid et al. (2015) have found that unethical behaviors are at the basis of corporate financial scandals, workplace frauds and harassment or misleading financial reporting: such issues have raised awareness about the positive benefits of ethical behavior, also in improving VD (and then, also about IC), to limit the problems of the agency theory.

Mouritsen (2004) has found a significant gap between the market value and the book value resulting from the failure of the companies' hidden value in their annual reports: consequently, BE oriented to IC-VD would limit the problem of the business undervaluation (more specifically, VD of information about IC is positively influenced by the ethical behavior of the company's decision-makers).

On the other hand, the complexity and uncertainty of strategic decision-making require different combinations of data, information and knowledge. In this respect, some research has been conducted to examine the factors influencing disclosure of IC: Ferreira et al. (2012) have found that ownership concentration and firm size have a positive influence on the disclosure of IC, and ethical behaviors also positively influence this disclosure.

Several studies suggest that there are many benefits to acting ethically, such as improving the financial and nonfinancial performances as well as creating a sustainable competitive advantage ( Goel and Ramanathan, 2014 ; Khondkar et al. , 2016 ). In addition, in highly risky and uncertain contexts, policymakers are forced to select powerful tools over VD.

BE behaviors have positive impact on the extent of the IC-VD.

2.3 Hypotheses development (H2) : CSR and VD of IC

The economic value of the company is expressed not only by its means of production but also by the global impact that fundamentally derives from its IC ( Campanella et al. , 2014 ), activating human, structural and relational resources to generate shared value ( Porter and Kramer, 2011 ) at business, social and environmental level ( Elkington, 1998 ). As result, a new path on IC reporting sustains that all companies are increasingly required to be socially responsible and to better manage their environmental impact ( Aslam et al. , 2018 ).

In this vein, organizations have developed accounting and management systems and improved their disclosure practices according to social and environmental principles ( Khondkar et al. , 2016 ). In part, this has been due also to the fact that companies may have incentives for adopting globally responsible approaches and operating socially responsible initiatives ( Gangi et al. , 2019 ); however, a study by Türkel et al. (2016) on the European Union has provided evidence that CSR is a mean that companies may voluntarily decide to adopt to contribute to better society and cleaner environment.

From one side, Sun et al. (2010) have found that companies that need to pursue a strategy of VD of IC are brought to value CSR, and this should be positively interpreted by the various stakeholders. On the other side, regarding the potential asymmetry of information and conflict of interest that may exist, CSR should constitute a behavioral method that would have positive effect on the corporate behaviors, as it promotes transparency, also with regard to the potential VD of IC ( Beretta et al. , 2019 ).

Coherently to the dynamic resource capability perspective of (Bamel and Bamel, 2018) , Luthan et al. (2016) found that in an uncertain world, the adoption of a CSR approach could help reducing uncertainty, especially if the company discloses information about its IC. Similarly, some researchers argue that CSR is a very broad domain, and VD of IC should be considered as a social responsibility action ( Chan et al. , 2014 ).

Polo and Vázquez (2008) have described the relationship between CSR and the VD of information, to ensure the sustainability of the business in general and its operational goals more specifically. In other words, CSR is an asset for the company and the various stakeholders ( Fukukawa et al. , 2007 ) because of its direct contribution to IC (indirect relational capital, for example), with consequent influence on the relevance of the information provided by the company about its IC and knowledge properties more in general ( Rechberg and Syed, 2013 ).

Moreover, as aforementioned, Khondkar et al. (2016) have studied the effect of CSR on the quality of the information disclosed in companies' annual reports. They have found a positive relationship between the level of disclosure and the intensity of CSR, concluding that greater disclosure is a form of socially responsible behavior, thus directly and/or indirectly impacting IC ( Vrontis et al. , 2020 ).

CSR behaviors have positive impact on the extent of the IC-VD.

3. Research design

3.1 sample construction and data collection.

Being the main purpose of this study to explore the effect of BE and CSR on IC-VD, a sample of firms already involved in the process has been selected. In other words, the selectable companies have been detected among those with evident commitment and involvement in ethical and social behaviors.

Several statistical institutes are responsible for making an appropriate classification in this specific field: however, since 2007, the Ethisphere Institute ( Ethisphere.com ) has been analyzing the global market to identify, sector by sector, the most committed companies in the field of ethical behaviors, drawing up a list of the most ethical companies in the world and gaining at international level high reputation in the field ( BusinessWire.com ).

Then, the following investigation has been grounded on the Ethisphere Institute database, which considers more than 100 criteria; the most important are social responsibility, good governance, environmental impact, implementation of code of good behavior, commitment of the direction to questions of ethics and CSR, setting up of internal monitoring indicators, citizen investment and so on (it also considers negative criteria, such as the existence of disputes or infringements to sector regulations). This database provides a global overview, and the list of elected representatives reveals a real geographical diversity with several companies located outside the United States, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden, Germany, India, Guatemala, Poland, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Portugal and Belgium.

The data under investigation have been obtained from the Global-100 KPI 2015 database published by the independent Ethics Expert Group of the Ethisphere Institute (secondary, which have been then summarized into composite indexes, and not empirical data have been used to avoid any potential bias deriving from individual interviews concerning BE and CSR, most of all in the context of the planned behavior theory). Considered as one of the most authoritative indexes in the world due to its methodology and reliability, the Corporate Knights Global 100 designates each year the top 100 companies (out of several thousands) that are the most responsible in terms of ethical behavior.

The year 2015 has been chosen so that the data under analysis could be taken as definitively reliable, considering the time that sometimes is necessary to validate all the accounting information, most of all from a social and environmental point of view. Thus, the 2015 database, to the best of the authors' ability, is the latest publicly available for which it has been possible to collect all the necessary information for implementing the current investigation, but evidently the methodology can be replicated for any other year, when all necessary data would be available (for example, searching for the adequate data starting from WorldsMostEthicalCompanies.com ).

The initial population consisted of 4,353 companies (candidates); in a second step, 4,253 companies that did not meet the classification criteria for the first 100 companies were excluded. From the 100 best ranked companies, for the specific scope of the current research firms that are part of the financial sector, considering the very peculiar rules that govern this industry, have been excluded (i.e. 17 companies); thus, the final sample has included 83 firms, with Table 1 summarizing the sampling selection criteria.

Tables 2 and 3 describe the distributional profiles by country and by sector, respectively: the sample includes 18 developed countries belonging to 35 industries, according to the 48 industry group affiliations as figuring in Fama and French (1997) , with most firms that are based in the USA, the UK and France (these three countries make up 54.28% of the total sample).

The companies from the USA are at the top of the list, with 25% of the sample (20 firms out of 83, 24.09%): French and British companies are entitled of the second position in this ranking, respectively, represented with 10 companies on an equal basis. Then, Canada ranks fourth, since it is represented with eight firms, corresponding to 10% of the total sample (hence, these four countries account for almost 60% of the total sample).

In Table 3 , the most represented sectors are Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels (eight firms), Pharmaceuticals (seven firms) and Chemicals (four firms), respectively. Concerning other sectors, the number of companies is more limited (three or less).

3.2 The regression model

DISC_SCO: composite index about IC-VD, calculated as combination of several elements (cf. Table 4 ).

ETH_SCO: composite index about BE, calculated as combination of several elements reflecting ethical principles.

CSR_INDEX: composite index about CSR, calculated as combination of 40 indicators reflecting principles of individual and collective social responsibility.

INVT: the degree of innovation intensity is the ratio between research and development (R&D) costs and the turnover (concerning 2015).

TAX_PAID: the effective tax rate is the ratio between tax expenses and earnings before interest and taxes.

ETH_COUNTRY: the scores about this variable range from 1 to 7, with 1 indicating a very low level of country ethics and 7 indicating a very high level of country ethics.

WOM_BOARD: this variable measures the proportion of women that are present in the boards of directors.

LEG_SYST: the legal system works as a binary variable, which numbers 1 if the company belongs to the Anglo-Saxon legal system (globally recognized as stricter), and 0 otherwise.

LEVE: the level of indebtedness is the ratio between long- and medium-term debts and total assets.

POL_SECTOR: the pollutant sector works as a binary variable, which numbers 1 if the company belongs to the polluting sectors (more regulated), and 0 otherwise.

3.3 Variables definition

To operationalize the hypotheses under test, all the variables that have been included in the empirical model are defined and commented as follows.

3.3.1 Dependent variable (“DISC_SCO”)

To measure this dimension, Li et al. (2008) have adopted a content analysis method, investigating the annual reports of selected companies to derive the qualitative, quantitative, financial as well as nonfinancial data relating to IC. In Table 4 the several components for human, structural and relational capital are reported.

In the current research, according to the measure used by Li et al. (2008) , cited also in Maaloul and Zeghal (2015) , the variable “DISC_SCO” has been adopted as a proxy of IC-VD, concerning published items about IC. Based on the examination of the annual reports, this dimension appraises the disclosed information on IC.

3.3.2 Independent variables

As aforementioned, several categories of explanatory variables have been selected to test their combined effects on the VD of IC. In the empirical model under analysis, to test H1 and H2 , two explanatory variables are naturally the most relevant, namely, BE and CSR.

3.3.2.1 BE (“ETH_SCO”)

The ethical measurement has been differently implemented in different contexts because this concept is highly complex and relates to several nonmeasurable dimensions. In addition, several studies have recently operationalized this measure by various means, originating from several international organizations.

In this research, the Ethisphere Quotient developed by the Ethisphere Institute has been adopted to measure the BE of the firms, as result of an investigation that consists of a series of multiple-choice questions that count the company's ethical performance. It is a composite index based on the combination of several items, reflecting each company's level of ethical principles.

3.3.2.2 CSR (“CSR_INDEX”)

In the current study, this measure has been derived from Dias et al. (2017) , who have constructed a list of indicators for measuring the CSR associated practices. The construct involves 40 CSR indicators categorized into three CSR dimensions (5 economic, 15 environmental and 20 social), as shown in Table 5 , thus providing a global view on the CSR of each firm.

The choice of the 40 indicators has been influenced by the most widely adopted standards on CSR disclosure (CSRD), i.e. the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines ( Bebbington et al. , 2008 ). Dias et al. (2017) have primarily focused on the GRI core indicators representing the well-established CSR indicators, and the selected items have been adapted to avoid penalizing companies that do not apply the GRI model.

CSR_INDEX = Level of CSR disclosure

e j = Attributed analysis (1 if the disclosure item is found, and 0 otherwise)

e = Maximum number of items a company can disclose (40).

3.3.3 The control variables: characteristics about the firm and the environment of the firm

BE and CSR are not the only factors that may influence the VD of IC. A control has been operated about other determinants of VD that have been documented in prior studies and that might explain the effects of financial and economic peculiarities of the firms on the scale and design of voluntary, and sometimes even mandatory, disclosure of IC ( Ribeiro Lucas and Costa Lourenço, 2014 ).

More specifically, control variables related to the characteristics of the firm are the following: the degree of innovation intensity (INVT), the effective tax rate (TAX_PAID), the percentage women on board of directors (WOM_BOARD), the leverage level (LEVE) and the pollutant sector (POL_SECTOR). Control variables related to the characteristics of the environment of the firm are the following: the level of country ethics (ETH_COUNTRY) and the legal system (LEG_SYST) because the sample includes several countries.

Generally, positive signs should be expected for INVT, WOM_BOARD, ETH_COUNTRY and LEG_SYST, whereas negative signs should be expected for LEVE, and POL_SECTOR, while no directional prediction is assumed for TAX_PAID. Finally, for an overall overview about the model variables composition, cf. Table 6 .

4. Empirical results and discussion

The current research, although engineered for testing specific hypotheses, has an explanatory purpose, aiming at identifying the potential determinants for the VD of the IC through ethical-and-social responsibility approach. As a result, a linear relationship could be established between the variable to be explained (IC-VD) and the potential explanatory variables (BE and CSR).

4.1 Descriptive analysis

Sections A and B, as figuring in Table 7 , provide the descriptive statistics characteristics concerning the continuous and dichotomous variables under investigation. Section A depicts mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum relevant to the continuous variables, whereas Section B provides the frequency of the dichotomous variables; globally speaking, the sample seems to be evenly distributed.

Starting with the analysis of Section A in Table 7 , the descriptive analysis provides evidence that the mean level of IC-VD (DISC_SCO) is 0.59; this score is high with respect to the Maaloul and Zeghal (2015) reached index (0.46), relevant to a sample of US companies in 2013. Moreover, the current sample encloses firms that should also tend to improve their informational capacity related to IC.

The BE score (ETH_SCO) has a mean value of 0.608. Most companies in the sample tend to be more involved in BE activities.

The CSR scores range from a minimum of 0.15 to a maximum of 0.95, with a mean of 0.698. A higher CSR score denotes that the company displays a better CSR performance ( Hassan and Guo, 2017 ).

As regards the control variables, the following considerations may arise. The intensity of innovation (INVT) displays an average of 0.068, with a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 0.745; whereas the mean level of debt (LEVE) scores 33.3 (that seems an appreciable level of indebtedness), and the effective tax rate (TAX_PAID) exhibits an average of 0.166.

Regarding women's percentage on directors' boards (WOM_BOARD), it has been discovered that, on average, 0.223 of board members are female, with a minimum and a maximum value of 0.10 and 0.429, respectively. Consequently, there is predominance of men in the boards of directors.

As concerns the measure of the level of the country ethics (ETH_COUNTRY), Finland (6.4), Denmark (6.2) and Japan (6) rank as the most ethical, while Spain (3.8), Canada (3.51) and South Korea (0) exhibit the lowest ethical values. This finding is very relevant, affecting the potential influence of the countries' ethical approach on the adoption of IC-VD policies on behalf of enterprises.

From the analysis of Section B in Table 7 , highlighting the binary variables related frequencies, as regards the legal system (LEG_SYST) most of the companies in the sample turn out to pertain to the Anglo-Saxon rules (55%). Additionally, concerning the pollutant sector variable (POL_SECTOR), 51% of the companies in the sample appears to belong to nonpolluting sectors.

4.2 Correlations analysis

The Pearson coefficients were computed to examine the associations between the independent variables. According to Gujarati (2004) , if the pair-wise comparison between two independent variables is over 0.8, serious multicollinearity exists.

The maximum pair-wise value in the current investigation is 0.2649 (cf. Table 8 ); thus, multicollinearity should not be a concern for the regression analysis. Nonetheless, the null hypothesis of autocorrelation can be accepted because the explanatory variables are weakly correlated with each other, indicating that autocorrelation is not a problem. Table 8 presents all the correlation coefficients between the various explanatory variables that have been adopted in the empirical model.

The intercorrelations for all the explanatory variables have been examined by applying the variance inflation factors (VIF) analysis, which revealed no sign of multicollinearity. In fact, the VIF values corresponding to all the independent variables ranged from 1.05 to 1.47, very far below the acceptable upper bound of 10 ( Hair et al. , 2006 ).

The VIF values have been reported for each regression to demonstrate the model stability. Finally, both tests suggest that the regression estimations are not degraded by the presence of multicollinearity.

4.3 Regression analysis

The empirical results reveal that 32.5% of the variation for the level of IC-VD is explained by BE, CSR and control-related variables (cf. Table 9 ). As per Fisher's ( F ) statistics, equal to 2.8, the model's reliability is confirmed at a significant threshold lower than 0.01, and consequently, we tend to reject the null hypothesis, and assume that regression has significant potential to exist.

As expected, the empirical findings, even though with not definitive statistical values, in accordance with the exploratory nature of the research, show some evidence about supporting the research hypotheses ( H1 and H2 ), as further analyzed in detail. Thus, it can be concluded that the model is statistically significant and somehow fruitful for exploring the phenomenon under investigation.

4.3.1 Empirical evidence on BE impacting IC-VD ( H1 )

This hypothesis has been assumed to verify whether the ethical behavior of the companies under analysis positively influences the level of VD of IC: examination of the statistical tests (beta coefficient, t -test and p -value) shows that this variable has a positive and significant effect on the VD of IC. Indeed, the study of causal relationships shows that the coefficient associated with the link between BE and IC-VD is positive (0.485) and statistically significant (the value of the associated t is 1.99 with p = 0.045), corroborating the hypothesis predictions ( H1 ).

It could be noted the existence of some similarity between these findings and those published by Wirth et al. (2016) . In addition, the results show that divergence of interests and information asymmetry are issues that hinder the success of the enterprise ( Rubinstein et al. , 2001 ); similarly, the rigidity of the corporate governance system could also prevent managers from disclosing information about IC.

The problems of moral hazard and adverse selection are obvious; nevertheless, the results found in this study show that the abovementioned risks are not constraints that prevent the company from disclosing information on IC. These results turn out to be in-line with those reported by Goel and Ramanathan (2014) .

As a further result, the company's commitment in the BE process is a trigger for improving VD of IC, corroborating the results found by Areal and Carvalho (2012) on a sample of the most ethical companies in the world, as these companies can have advantages over others because of three distinct effects, namely, culture, diversity and reputation. This attitude positively influences the level of IC-VD, suggesting for example that these companies may benefit from special protection in the event of a crisis.

4.3.2 Empirical evidence on CSR impacting IC-VD ( H2 )

This hypothesis has assumed that CSR has a positive influence on the level of VD of IC. The statistical tests analysis shows that this variable positively and statistically influences the VD of information.

The estimated coefficient of CSR_INDEX is positive and statistically significant (0.116, p < 0.01), meaning that CSR influences the VD of the IC. This corroborates the hypothesis predictions ( H2 ).

These results turn out to be in-line with those reported by Branco and Rodrigues (2008) and Dias et al. (2017) . In this respect, CSR is positively interpreted by the various stakeholders via its effect on the decisions made by the company's organs and on the cognitive and mental patterns of the managers as well as on the legitimacy of the decisions ( Fontana et al. , 2019 ).

Likewise, these results align perfectly with the conclusions about the legitimacy of the company's managers ( Bond et al. , 2016 ). Thus, in some cases, and more specifically those based on the postulates of the agency theory, the manager who engages in specific activities related to CSR seems to reduce asymmetric information adopting these actions.

Indeed, the current findings support the view suggesting that VD of information about IC is sustained by CSR, in a mutual influence. Nevertheless, the commitment of the company in the activities of social responsibility, also when impacting IC-VD, is an asset that improves the confidence of investors in the business in the long run ( Saeidi et al. , 2015 ).

These results show the potential existence of a link between CSR and socially responsible disclosure and therefore, the transparency of information. Indeed, as shown by Su (2014) , engagement in social responsibility is a form of commitment to sustainable development and integration into VD that is needed for the most innovative companies.

In addition, as indicated by Garcia-Sanchez et al. (2016) , the company's commitment to social responsibility activities may affect the level of VD and promote financial transparency. Therefore, engagement in social responsibility activities could be dominated by a strategy of transparency and reliability, which may have significant impact on IC-VD.

4.3.3 Complementary considerations

Regarding the control variables, not all the related coefficients show the expected signs. The degree of innovation intensity (INVT) is positively and significantly associated ( p < 0.1) with VD of IC: this finding suggests that the most innovative firms worldwide have adopted more VD practices about IC; in fact, innovative firms are often under greater pressure from the part of investors and financial analysts to disclose IC relating information.

In addition, the influence of pollutant sector (POL_SECTOR) turns out to be negatively and significantly correlated ( p < 0.1) with the IC-VD, as expected. Similar confirmation can be found also as concerns the ethical level of the country (ETH_COUNTRY), positively associated with IC-VD.

However, the legal system relevant to each country (LEG_SYST) seems to be involved in controlling the corporate transparency, but this variable appears to be negatively correlated and statistically significant ( p < 0.05) with IC-VD. Most probably, and differently from what expected, stricter legal system may stimulate in reinforcing potential conflicts of interest and information asymmetry.

Similarly, the percentage of women on boards of directors and the level of indebtedness present directions that are contrary to what expected. Globally speaking, these potential contradictions about the control variables estimations suggest caution and confirm the initial assumption about the exploratory nature of the research.

5. Theoretical and practical implications

The overall results of the research show some applicative potential. From a scientific point of view, essentially, the study helps highlighting the persistence of several connections associating corporate ethics and the extent of IC-VD, within a context characterized with a new tendency of the companies to be responsible in this respect. From a managerial point of view, furthermore, the current study can be useful to promote the implementation of BE and CSR-related strategies, enabling to protect majority or minority shareholders through an enhanced high-quality disclosure of IC.

Ethically, nevertheless, companies should allot greater engagement about the necessity and importance of transparent and reliable communication helping reflecting the firm's true image ( Mathuva et al. , 2017 ). In this respect, financial transparency constitutes a necessary condition for the effective promotion of a firm involved in ethical and socially responsible behaviors, and with this regard, several studies have acknowledged that global ethics, as engraved within the organizational culture, has a remarkable impact on the development of VD, and specifically on the various components of IC ( Luthan et al. , 2016 ).

For example, Rezaee et al. (2020) have stressed the promotion of ethical standards within the company to improve the quality of disclosed information. Indeed, it has been recently discovered that the companies envisaging to promote ethical behaviors are called upon to adopt a rather intensive disclosure policy regarding their IC characteristics: in other words, the quality of disclosed information about IC contributes to outline the social legitimacy ( Slack and Munz, 2016 ).

The quality of information disclosed about the company's IC as based on corporate ethics should necessarily help improving the confidence of the user of the information, while enhancing the firm's social legitimacy. In this context, Su (2014) has found that companies involved in stakeholders' ethical issues can gain a competitive advantage and higher performance attracting excellent employees, as concerns human capital, and enhancing the brand image, as concerns relational/social capital ( Pedrini, 2007 ).

The VD program is an organized process that abides by specific rules conforming to the company's social approach and the executive's behavior. In this respect, the agency theory helps only partially reflecting the reality of the company, as it outlooks other aspects of the business value, especially within the new context of the knowledge-based economy ( Long Kweh et al. , 2014 ).

More particularly, managers are representative agents that rationally respond to the firm's economic stakeholders and the control mechanisms/contractual motivations ( Bamber et al. , 2010 ). Yet, the enterprises' decision-makers are not interchangeable, and companies' actions are a reflection of the values, skills and cognitive competences of the human capital ( Rodriguez Perez and de Pablos, 2003 ); thus, as an organizational option, VD is rather potentially dependent on other considerations than on just the firm's environmental characteristics.

Moreover, the process of communication is complex, as it involves judgments and arbitrations that account for the various constraints relating to the environment of the company, and managers act on the basis of their personal interpretations of the strategic situations they encounter. These interpretations are therefore based also on the individual and organizational values that the manager enjoys ( López-González, 2019 ).

To this end, the theory of planned behavior has been considered as means whereby the disclosure decision about IC could be influenced by several attitudes about BE and CSR. Indeed, it helps understanding a certain behavior in individual's psychological processes, as subjected to various influences, particularly to ethical and social factors.

Like any other behavior, information disclosure about IC also rests on perceived opportunities as well as probable outcomes, as entirely based on managers' values and proper knowledge. Moreover, the generated and disseminated information highly depends on the capacity of the company's information systems not only in terms of quantity but also in terms of growth and ability to account for the needs issued by parties that are external to the company, along with other organisms' requests, ever more with respect to IC.

At even more practical level, the reached findings appear to provide effects for global regulators and policymakers intending to install social reporting standards. They may provide ground that institutional and/or cultural factors affect top management's social reporting behavior or ethical/social values more in general, influencing the quality of published information about IC.

6. Research limitations and future avenues

The study shows several constraints, and two seem quite relevant. First, the research sample corresponds to firms without homogeneous characteristics, especially with regard to their pertinence to two different legal systems (the selected sample encloses several countries with two distinct legal system assumptions), probably affecting the companies' behaviors in terms of VD (mandatorily for sure); for this reason, it seems very desirable to control more thoroughly the legal system's effect, for example, subdividing further research samples into subsamples on the basis of the legal system pertinence. Furthermore, it could be useful to implement a comparison of the investigated model between companies pertaining to civil law or common law, since the legal system directly influences the accounting system, and then, the quality of the financial information.

Second, this finding appears to demonstrate that VD depends highly on corporate culture rather than the respective countries' accounting culture: this should also highlight that IC-VD stands as a form of socially responsible behavior, or an outcome of ethical behavior regarding the entirety of partners, more than mere legal constraint. Thus, further research on cross-cultural management influence could be useful, along with longitudinal analyses that could support major reliability of the global research.

7. Conclusion

This study has explored the impact of BE and CSR on the process of IC-VD, concerning a sample including 83 of the most ethical companies in 2015 in the world. Among the research motivations, it is to highlight that very few empirical studies appear to demonstrate the persistence of a relationship between ethical and social approaches and IC-VD: attempting to fill such a noticeable gap, the current study has been conducted to investigate, empirically, the relationship binding both variables.

Findings support arguments that companies with ethical behaviors and socially responsible practices appear to be highly committed to VD about their IC. It could follow, therefore, that IC-VD can also be considered as a form of ethical and socially responsible behavior.

The results achieved in this research afford empirical evidence as to the extent of external disclosure practices in the global context, also considering ever more frequent interfirm networks, providing useful means for investors seeking profitable investment opportunities and for financial report users, acting as operative orientations of knowledge management and IC strategy ( Del Giudice and Maggioni, 2014 ). In this respect, an ethical behavior (structural capital), influenced by personal values (human capital), affects IC-VD and then, practically, also the relational/social capital of the organization.

Sample selection process

Note(s) : *, ** and *** represent significance at 0.1, 0.05 and 0.01, respectively

Source(s) : Authors' calculation

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Acknowledgements

The article is based on the study funded by the Basic Research Program of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) and by the Russian Academic Excellence Project “5-100”.

Corresponding author

About the authors.

Matteo Rossi is an Associate Professor of Corporate Finance at the University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy, where he received the PhD degree in Management. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Advanced Corporate Finance at LUISS, Rome, Italy. Dr Rossi is the Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting and for the International Journal of Behavioral Accounting and Finance.

Giuseppe Festa is an Associate Professor of Management at the Department of Economics and Statistics of the University of Salerno, Italy, EU. He holds a PhD in Economics and Management of Public Organizations from the University of Salerno, where he is the Scientific Director of the Postgraduate course in Wine Business and the Vice-Director of the Second Level Master's in Management of Healthcare Organizations – Daosan. He is also the Chairman of the Euromed Research Interest Committee on Wine Business. His research interests focus mainly on wine business, information systems and healthcare management.

Salim Chouaibi is a PhD Student in Accounting at the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management of the University of Sfax (Tunisia).

Monica Fait is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Department of Management Economics Mathematics and Statistics of the University of Salento, Lecce (Italy), where she teaches Business Economics and Management. Her research looks at the effects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on company behavior, knowledge sharing and sustainability. She is the author of several scientific publications and papers on the Web 2.0 marketing strategies, and her studies have been published on international journals like Technological Forecasting and Social Change , Journal of Knowledge Management and British Food Journal . She also serves as reviewer for several international journals and is a speaker at national and international conferences and industry forums.

Armando Papa is an Associate Professor of Management at the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the University of Teramo (Italy) and at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) of Moscow (Russian Federation). He received the postgraduate master's degree in corporate finance from IPE (Naples, Italy) and the PhD degree in management from the “Federico II” University of Naples. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Knowledge Economy (Springer) and an Editorial Assistant for the Journal of Knowledge Management (Emerald).

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177 Interesting Ethics Paper Topics For Your Thesis

Ethics is a branch of study in philosophy that studies the concept of morality—what is good or bad, what is acceptable or unacceptable. It’s a philosophical theory that looks into moral rules and codes, principles, value systems, and other related concepts.

In academia, an ethical theory is used as one of the analytical tools in drawing analysis on several socio-cultural topics. Ethics can be applied to any particular subject matter in human society. And, on this, so many compelling, controversial or interesting ethical topics for academic essays and research papers have continued to spring up.

For students writing either an essay or a research paper on ethics, there are some relevant things to note about a good essay/research topic and writing a dissertation. They include:

Brainstorm on different topics Always go for a topic you are familiar with Choose a topic that has enough “flesh”. This is important as interesting topics will help you develop your essay/research Define your subject of interest. It makes the writing easier Properly researching for topics that serve contemporary social relevance Outlining is important for your research topic

What following some of these processes does for your essay/research/thesis is that it enriches your work and affords you the ability to communicate ideas clearly to readers. Here are some topics in ethics you can use for your essay/research.

Interesting Top Level Ethics Paper Topics for All Students

Writing a paper on ethics makes for an interesting writing experience because they usually require that the writer make a case for a particular subject based on whether the subject is right or wrong. There are so many ethical topics for papers. As a student, there are several ethical questions to debate, and you can choose to model your topic using some of these samples:

Discuss what should be done concerning the rise in the ban on safe abortion
Is the right to safe abortion practice unethical?
Should abortion practice be promoted or championed for women in society?
Are humans truly the root source for the issues of climate change and global warming the world is currently experiencing?
Is it right to discriminate against the sexes?
Is there a defining difference between sexes and gender?
Is the practice of gender-based violence ethical?
Should safe sexual practices be promoted?
Sex: A Study of the growing practice of sexual relationships outside marriage
Domestic Violence and how it can be combated
Marijuana: The distinction to its health roles and health challenges it poses on individuals
Is it unethical to promote capitalism and capitalist concepts?
A Study of Racism and measures to ensure its decline
Is it ethical to be a millionaire while there are so many less privileged people?
A study of the ethical challenges that come with being in the academia
Is war an ethical practice?
Why LGBTQ+ people should not be discriminated against
What are the ways workplace ethics can address issues of homophobia and internalized sexism?
Is sexism in the workplace an ethical practice?
The issue of microaggression and how it can be addressed
A study of why workplaces need ethical conduct that monitors issues of workplace harassment
Should salaries be uneven?
How unethical are uneven salary payment structures?
Should start-up tech companies hire more men for starters?
How people can prioritize online privacy
Is bridging online privacy unethical?
Is the right to privacy unethical?

Engaging Ethical Dilemma Topics

As ethics deals with the debate on morals, one of the ways topics on ethics manifests is in the subject of dilemma. Topics like this focus on trying to find a suitable justification for one idea over another. There are several ethics topics to write about on this subject. Some of them include:

Should students be allowed to bring their phones to school?
Should parents police every social activity of their children?
Should teachers use the cane on students as a disciplinary measure?
Is flogging a good correctional practice?
Should you leave your partner if they are of opposing political views?
Should opposing religious beliefs be a deal-breaker in relationships?
Should capitalism be abolished completely?
Should a teacher maintain some level of friendship with their students?
Is there any lingering importance of capitalism to society?
Is revenge a viable option in a relationship if your partner cheats on you?
Is sharing your experiences online the same as showing off a lifestyle?
Should people from different religious beliefs and backgrounds partner?
Is checking the DNA of your children important or necessary?
Should parents enforce their children on behaviors to take up?
Can discipline properly correct the attitudes of a child?
Should eating junk foods be avoided completely?
Should Halloween Trick or Treat and Costume be prioritized over Thanksgiving Dinners?
Should children hold different religious beliefs from their parents while still young?
Does strict parenting serve as the best way to raise a child?
Is it important to reveal a secret to a friend or to keep one’s peace?
Should cooking at home be prioritized over eating out?
Is socialism a more suitable social practice than capitalism?
Is accepting financial assistance from your parents acceptable after a certain age?
Should school authorities seize phones brought to school?
Is sending a child to a mixed school better than same-sex schools?
Can afforestation alone save the world from global warming and the general climate change condition?
Does being educated equate with being intelligent?

Ethical Issues to Write about in Your College Essay

One important thing to note about ethical topics is that they touch across so many different subjects. As a college student preparing to write an essay on ethics, rest assured as there are so many ethics ideas to write about. Here are some ethical topics to write about:

Does Hiring female employees cover a company’s sexist motives?
Should Actors be paid more than teachers?
Taking medical decisions for a patient without their consent
How ethical is the interference of the judiciary by the legislative arm of government?
Is it ethical to fire someone due to their dress code?
Is it unethical to wear colored hair to work?
Is censorship ethical?
Where does media censorship draw the line?
Is it ethical for religious figureheads to meddle in state politics?
Should gender be the reason why a person is restricted access to certain social privileges?
Should sexuality be a discriminatory factor in society?
Should companies and places of work provide counseling and therapy services for their employees?
Can Children wear makeup on special occasions?
Is it unethical to make medical decisions for a patient without any recognizable relatives?
Does dress code need to affect how you are addressed?
Should implementing ethics in sports be recommended?
Is police brutality an ethical practice?
The impacts of the excessive consumption of media content?
Is the excessive use of social media healthy?
How can companies ensure paid maternal and paternal leave?
How can the inclusion of non-binary people in company policies promote growth?
Is exclusion on the grounds of sexuality ethical?
Is exclusion due to political beliefs unethical?
How to promote ethical work culture?
How can a company ensure that ethical practices are promoted in their companies?

Ethical Argument Topics to Write About

The best part about writing an ethical essay is that it is about anything that is of interest. An important aspect of the ethical argument topic is that it is supported with evidence. There are so many ethical topics to write about that fall within this category, and they include:

Is the having of ethical codes and conducts important in an organization?
Should people only implement progressive ideas to meet societal needs?
Why LGBTQ+ should not be discriminated against
Is it unethical to come to work late?
Is government-sanctioned execution an ethical practice?
Is the American incarceration system an effective corrective system?
Is corrective rape an ethical practice?
Should the issue of internalized homophobia be addressed?
Internalized patriarchy and internalized homophobia, which one births one
Should smoking weed be made legal?
Why do the less privileged need free healthcare services
A study of the effects of colonialism and internalized slavery
Must aspiring journalists only focus on journalism courses?
Addressing what it means to be of ethical behavior
Should students be given a take-home assignment?
Is there any academic relevance to assignments?
Is access to free healthcare important?
Does following the ethics code have abt social relevance?
What role should developed countries play for developing countries?
Is analysis writing an important aspect of literature?
What role does ethics play in schools
Should the address of global warming be continuous?
Is there room for possible positive developments in global warming?
Is the practice of ethics the same as moral teaching
Should schools create sex education into their education curriculum

Comprehensive Ethics Debate Topics for Anyone

Just like the argumentative ethics topic, a debate topic on ethics centers majorly on choosing a part to argue for or against. This argument also is wrapped with evidence to support it. Your ethic topics can be on any subject. You can choose moral topics or any other topic with relevance. Here are some lists of ethical debate topics anyone can write on:

Should the use of Contraceptives be promoted?
Does legalizing weed make it any healthier?
Should school children bring phones into school settings?
The health impact of excessive engagement on social media
Social relevance and importance of having ethical conducts
Do companies with ethical conduct grow ahead
Does ethics make a workplace safer?
Are there importance on why sex education should be added to student’s
Why safe abortion rights should be legalized
Why the discrimination based on sexuality is harmful
Why the practice of hedonism is important
Sexual pleasure: Is it morally good?
Is happiness dependent on an external factor?
Why Institutionalized racism is the root cause of racism and racist beliefs
Should the use of drugs be legalized?
Is there any progressive importance to having a conservative view on things?
Should social media apps allow explicit sexual content?
Should social app builders have access to individual account
Can homeschool match formal school training?
Should the government ensure censorship measures?
Is voting during elections the only form of patriotism?
Is voting a patriotic display
Are families allowed to have contradicting religious beliefs?
Should state governments have any interference with the federal government?
Should teenagers have access to contraceptives?

Good Ethical Research Papers for your Thesis or Dissertation

Writing either a thesis or a dissertation is a necessary part of academia. As a university student, you can’t graduate from only writing essays withiut writing your graduating thesis. There are so many areas your research paper about ethics can focus on. Here is a list of ethical topics:

The contemporary relevance of applied ethics
The psychological impacts of the proliferation of technology
A Case Study of the legality of weed
A multi-dimensional approach to the subject of marriage
An ethical approach to the killing of animals
A case study of the critical ethical debates on the use of contraception
An analytical study of the relevance of ethical conduct in the workplace
An investigation into the social relevance and importance of the beauty pageantry culture
A critical study of normative ethics
The role of applied ethics in the building of a healthy work culture
An overview of the barriers associated with good leadership practice
A Study of the importance of ethical practice in the healthcare system
The study of ethics in business social responsibility
An Overview on how Ethics promotes a saner working culture
A look into how ethics promotes healthy social relationships
The ethical relevance for Doctor and Patient Confidentiality
Malpractice and Negligence an ethically challenging issue within the healthcare system
The social and health relevance to access to free healthcare insurance
A Study of the social relevance of ethics
Violence: violence against animals is still abuse
A look into strategic approaches to managing cyber crimes
Ethic reasons for the separation of the church from politics
Ethical Conduct: How Organizations with practicable ethics produces a toxic work environment
A look into how Social media negatively impacts the IQ of a student
The role of self-awareness and professional responsibility impacts social ethics in the workplace

Good Ethical Questions for Discussion

Primarily, ethics asks and answers the question of wrong or good. There are so many social issues that will make for good ethical questions for discussion. Here is a list of ethical questions for students to form insights from:

How does ethics help to promote healthy workplace awareness?
Does the practice of abortion negate morality?
Is it right for a rape victim to be denied access to safe and free abortion?
How do homophobia, racism, misogyny, and ableist practices hinder social growth?
Should there be free access to condoms and contraceptive pills?
Is free access to contraceptives better than the provision of menstrual materials
How can racism be dismantled in an organization without consideration to institutionalized racism?
How does the continuous promotion of capitalist concepts hinder societal progress?
Does capitalism truly hinder social growth?
Why should there be free access to contraceptive materials especially for women?
What are the possible feasible solutions to the issue of climate change?
Is it unethical not to share the wealth?
Is engaging in warfare the right way to bring solutions?
Does the use of makeup contradict the concept of beauty?
Why are LGBTQ+ rights human rights?
Is the legalization of cannabis ethical?
Does the way you dress need to be the reason you are addressed a certain way?
Are there moral problems that come with job automation?
What can be done to combat the use of harmful substances
Why should companies stop discriminating based on sex?
What is the social relevance of providing workplace access?
Why should parents and teachers stop flogging students?
What is the distinction between discipline and strictness?
Should religious beliefs be a dealbreaker in any relationship?

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Ethics in the Business Research Research Paper

This paper is bout business research ethics. Generally, when undertaking a business research, the researcher needs to understand that the exercise involves dealing with many other societal issues that can directly affect the final outcome of the research.

This paper explores in detail various aspects of research ethics in business. Even though personal values are an important consideration in ethical decision making, they are regarded by some scholars as just one of the components that guide the decisions, actions, and policies of organizations (Carrigan, 2005).

It has been noted that the burden of ethical behavior relates to an organization’s values and traditions, not just to the individuals who make the decisions and execute them.

Various business research ethical issues and how they affect the world of business research are discussed. In some cases, suggestions are made on how to ensure that researchers emerge victorious despite the challenging social environment that they have to operate in.

Introduction

Ethics, be it in management practice, or in research, requires very strong leadership. To a large degree, ethical behavior within an organization is controlled by existing values and the culture.

However, it is important to note that values and culture in an organization are just some of the components that affect the decision making process. Other components are existing competition and the operating environment, whether political or technological.

As noted by John Maxwell, the level of a person’s effectiveness is, to a large extent, determined by his or her ability to lead others (Maxwell, 2007). This is an important characteristic in research and researchers must work hard to improve their leadership qualities in order to achieve a high level of effectiveness. A researcher with strong leadership skills exhibits a high level of influence and this leads to a greater impact.

The ability to prioritize issues is a critical quality of any leader, manager, or researcher. According to Maxwell’s law of priorities, the fact that a researcher may be busy carrying on with his or her research does not necessarily imply that he or she is realizing the original objectives of the research.

It is, therefore, extremely essential for the researcher to assess the weight of every research issue in order to determine how best to approach the whole research process without causing harm to any one (Maxwell, 2007).

The Nature of Business and Management Research

A misconception within the business world is that research, regardless of what it is about, is simply an academic activity meant to help the research receive his or her academic qualification. This, however, is not true. These circles also believe that researchers are not familiar with the managerial environment and the type of issues faced by managers in the business world (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2009).

This situation is further exacerbated by the fact that most managers do not know how to use research findings and as such, they can not utilize the results and conclusions of research. However, there are similarities that cut across research for academic qualification and that for solving business related problems. The nature of the research is what will guide the planning process.

Typically, business research plays two critical roles for businesses. First, it is part of the business intelligence feedback process. It, therefore, provides decision makers with data on the effectiveness of the current business strategies and provides insights for essential changes.

These may be strategies for marketing, production, quality assurance, and distribution (Carrigan, 2005). Secondly, business research is the principal instrument for exploring and pinpointing new opportunities in the market place such as identifying potential customers, forecasting the number of customers, and learning as much as possible their life styles, ages, genders, incomes, and professions.

Research contributes to management activities through three distinct functional roles. Firstly, research has a descriptive function, which deals with the collection and presentation of data. Secondly, research has a diagnostic function which is about trying to explain the data with a view to finding specific solutions to particular business issues.

For example, determining the impact on sales when the sales strategy changes. Thirdly, research has a predictive function. In a continuously changing global business environment, the concern is how businesses can forecast future developments in order to take advantage of opportunities as they arise (Ferrell et al., 2009).

Among other things, research facilitates effective management. In the business world, undertaking a research is a way clearing any doubts about the business operations. Based on research findings, an organization’s decision making process may be greatly enhanced and any decision arrived at will be backed by existing facts rather than assumptions.

Ethical Issues in Business Research

Generally, ethics is about how people relate with one another based on what is morally acceptable. It is different from law in that while under law, there is always punishment for wrong doing, this is not the case where issues are dealt with ethically. To a large extent, having a code of ethics in place is meant to protect all parties involved in a research project (Herbst & Coldwell, 2004).

Despite the fact that ethical considerations are philosophical in nature, there is no common agreement among philosophers regarding such beliefs.

However, there is a common trend among different societies seeking to determine their own norms in order to control how individuals behave towards one another. Generally, these norms are about suggesting what a member of a group should do under certain conditions (Herbst & Coldwell, 2004).

According to Bryman, Bell and Bryman (2007), the subject of ethics in business research spins around a number of issues that occur quite frequently in the process of carrying out a research project. First, there is need to determine whether any harm was caused to participants.

Secondly, it is important to find out whether participants consented to working closely with the researcher in whichever way. Another critical thing for the researcher to concern himself or herself with is privacy. Intruding a participants’ private space is another thing that is ethically not acceptable by researchers. Finally, it is vital to check if there is any form of deception.

These four principles, nevertheless, overlap somewhat (Ferrell et al., 2009). As an example, one can not easily figure out how the concept of informed consent can be embedded into a research activity where a researcher conceals so much information from the participants in order to fool them into taking part in the research.

Human Rights and Onuses of Parties

There are three groups of people in any research process. These include the researcher, the user of the research results, and the respondent. Ordinarily, a number of ethical issues arise when members of these distinct groups interact with one another.

Rights and Obligations of the Researcher

Ordinarily, any business research should concern itself with providing scientific proof for any business phenomena being examined. The rights and obligations of the researcher include the following:

Harm to Participants

Any research that will eventually harm participants is dangerous and must be rejected by all means. According to Bryman et al. (2007), harm may happen in a number of ways. In some cases, the participants may suffer physical harm while in some the harm caused may ruin a respondent’s reputation or his or her self esteem.

It is also possible that harm may affect one’s career development, ruining his or her opportunities to work in other places. Sadly, this may be accompanied with disgraceful acts. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to identify cases where harm may be caused to participants.

However, a researcher must take all necessary precautions to ensure that the research being undertaken will not cause harm to the participants (Carrigan, 2005).

The aim of the researcher should be to maintain high moral standards by ensuring that research data is objective and factual. Furthermore, it is completely unethical for a researcher to take a stand because of a desire to see the research turn out in a certain way.

Distortion of Research Findings

Ensuring that a research is carried out in an honest manner is the responsibility of all parties involved in the research. Obviously, it is wrong for any one to interfere with the results of a research whether for personal or other reasons. In addition, it is ethically wrong for any researcher to blow up the outcome of a research by altering results.

In other words, it is up to the research professional to ensure that clients as well as participants get results that are genuine and reliable. For example, a researcher must do everything within his or her powers to get questionnaires filled by participants rather than collecting only a few responses and completing the rest.

The researcher should also be willing to explain any unexpected events that may have happened in the process of conducting the research. There is no doubt that the concealment of errors and variations from specific required procedures will lead to a misinterpretation of the results.

Confidentiality

Where it is the wish of participants to remain unidentified, the researcher must do everything within his or her powers to make sure that this agreement is not broken. Vital information such as name and address of the respondent must be kept a secret and should never be made available to any one without the express authority of the respondent.

Any private information gathered from a participant must never be left in the hands of any other person. Researchers must also ensure that the results of the result are true and not compromised to present a falsified outcome.

This is part of what the user of the research results is entitled to and this right must never be interfered with. It is, therefore, in order for users of the research results to find out if issues of confidentiality were fully addressed by the researcher (Ferrell et al., 2009).

Where a researcher fails to carefully address the participants’ concern of confidentiality, participants eventually develop a negative attitude about taking part in any research. Clearly, this will poses a serious problem for any future research to be undertaken. The researcher’s reputation goes down and unfortunately, this behavior ends up affecting other innocent researchers (Bryman et al., 2007).

Disclosure of Defective Information and/or Erroneous Conclusions

Despite the fact that this does not amount to ethical dilemma, it is, nevertheless, a requirement that the researcher undertakes the research based on acceptable scientific standards. The problem arises when the final outcome of the research is not well aligned with the research data collected.

The researcher must also not use his or her understanding of research methods and techniques to manipulate the results of the research or, to deliberately blind his or her audience (Herbst & Coldwell, 2004).

Stealing Ideas from other Research Proposals

This may happen where a researcher submits his or her research proposal but this is later maliciously used by a client for other reasons and without the knowledge of the research professional. The end result of this is that someone else becomes the beneficiary and illegally uses the proposal to accomplish his or her agenda.

Lack of Informed Consent

Before a research can proceed, it is vital for the researcher to fully address the concern resulting from lack of informed consent. The bulk of the discussion tends to focus on what is commonly called disguised or covert observation. Under covert observation, a researcher secretly observes participants secretly (Bryman et al., 2007).

In spite of the fact that covert research is unethical, it is also advantageous and may be used in some cases to evade serious problems. It is highly likely that participants in a research may fake their actions when being observed.

Fear among respondents may also cause them to avoid researchers. Clearly, covert methods are not acceptable given that they violate the confidentiality of participants. This certainly goes against the desire to protect the privacy of research participants (Bryman et al., 2007).

Rights and Obligations of the User

Similar to the researcher, the user of the research results takes responsibility for certain aspects of the research. Among the rights and obligations of the user are the following:

Ethics between Buyer and Seller

In some cases, a firm may act unfairly by buying a business research proposal and then proceeding to ask for competitive bidding from eligible firms in order to make the public believe that the selection process was duly followed. Unsuspecting bidders fall into this trap and innocently submit their bids.

Asking for research proposals that will not be used like in this situation is totally against research ethics and must be condemned with the strongest terms possible.

Relationship with Research Companies

Considering that each research is a completely different task, research companies must take time to understand the requirements of the research at hand. Among other things, this is meant to ensure that proper results are realized from every single research project. Certainly, each research will have its own unique problem statement, objectives, and research questions among others.

An Open Relationship with Interested Parties

All interested parties are expected to make use of the research outcomes in the correct way. It is wrong for any user to interpret the results in a manner that presents falsified results. Drawing conclusions that are not in line with what the research is expected to achieve is unethical and must not be encourage. Usually, this is done for selfish interests or for political reasons.

Rights and Obligations of the Respondents

Much like the other parties, respondents in a research also have a right to know what the research is all about. Reasons for carrying out the research must be made very clear to the respondents and nothing should be concealed. In addition, participants have a right to know how the issue of confidentiality and privacy will be handled during the research.

The Obligation to be Honest

Given that respondents play a big role in any research, it is essential for the researcher to encourage honesty. Both the researcher and the respondents must be honest with each other. While the researcher must ensure that nothing but the truth is exposed to the respondents, the respondents equally have a responsibility to remain honest and respond truthfully.

Privacy is a major concern especially for respondents. While some respondents decide on remaining anonymous, others will choose to disclose personal details such as names and addresses among others.

Very important is the fact that the researcher must make a covenant with the respondents not to disclose any confidential details to third parties. Any confidential information must be stored securely and only accessed by authorized personnel.

Among other things, this principle is meant to encourage participants to freely participate in the research and cooperate fully. Where respondents feel cheated and disrespected their level of participation will definitely be affected and the researcher may end up on the losing end.

Concealment

Researchers must be aware of the fact that hiding the truth from respondents in quite unethical. Concealing the truth is a clear indicator of the fact that the researcher is not being honest. It is common for researchers to hide the truth when the type of research being done is a sensitive one that could be scary for the respondent.

Some people have, however, defended this behavior claiming that no harm is caused by concealing information from the participants. Regardless of the reason for the concealment, the practice is unethical and must not be encouraged for whatever reason. Closely related to this is the respondent’s right to be informed of everything about the research.

Opponents of this notion always wonder whether a small deception leads to any substantial increment to the value of the research. According to (Herbst & Coldwell, 2004), however, some degree of concealment is necessary in some research. An example is where undertaking a research carries some risk and the researcher has no option but to conduct the research covertly.

According to Bryman et al. (2007), deception is used by some researchers to try and model the desired results. Apparently, deception may be allowed in some cases so as to ensure that the originality of the data is not lost. For those opposed to the idea of deception in research, there are two things to bear in mind. First and foremost, it is completely wrong to encourage deception in research.

Despite the fact that scholars are fully aware of the existence of deception in research, the practice is totally unethical and the problem must be seriously dealt with in order to guarantee the usefulness of a research. Secondly, vested interest in research by professional researchers is also a major concern.

The idea of researchers behaving like spies can really work against them and make participants treat them with so much suspicion. Obviously, this will work against future research undertakings (Bryman et al., 2007). It is, however, important to note that when discussion this aspect of ethics, the biggest challenge has to do with the fact that deception is so rampant in business related research.

In most instances, researchers will rarely provide research participants with the complete details about a research. To some scholars, researchers have to condone with this practice and seemingly, there is no way they can avoid it. To such researchers, therefore, the practice of deception is justifiable. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to know when to act covertly and when not to.

Considering the negative impact of deception on research, it is critical for researchers to do every thing possible to minimize or even get rid of deception in research. No researcher should seek to glorify himself at the expense of fellow human beings. However, where a research may not succeed without deception, the onus is on the researcher to explain everything clearly to the respondents.

Researchers and their assistants must understand that it all depends on them to use inquiry methods that appreciate and respect the social side of business research. Anything else done contrary to this is in bad light and must not be encouraged.

Other Ethical Considerations

Besides the ethical principles that have been discussed above, there are other vital ethical considerations that must be carefully examined when planning to carry out a business research (Dunfee & Nagayasu, 1993). One of these concerns relates to the gathering, storing, and using electronic data.

Questions often arise regarding the extent to which data previously collected for a research may be used in a current research with similar characteristics.

However, considering that data privacy is well guarded by law, research professional have no choice but to comply with the requirements of the law. Legal advice may, therefore, be sought in order to determine how confidential data previously gathered from research participants may be used and to what degree.

Another area of concern touches on being open and honest when presenting research outcomes to interested individuals or even organizations. To some extent, this is also closely linked to the ethical issues of informed consent as well as deception discussed earlier. It is important for the researchers to ensure that there is mutual benefit from research for the researcher and the participants (Dunfee & Nagayasu, 1993).

In a way this leads to reciprocity where the research ends up benefiting the researcher as well as his or her participants. Clearly, this is in line with the principle of giving back to the society which is a very important consideration especially because research work is here to stay if participants are not well taken care of, involving them in future research projects may prove to be very challenging (Bryman et al., 2007).

Others issues are related to affiliation and conflict of interest. Obviously, where a research has been sponsored by a funding organization, it is highly likely that the organization will influence the research results given that it has a vested interest in the research outcome. Clearly, the integrity of such a research is highly questionable and doubts associated with it may render the research outcomes unreliable.

However, this problem may be lessened or fully addressed by involving an independent party in the verification of the research findings. The independent verifier may even be involved right from the planning stage of the research.

As discussed in this paper, there is so much that goes into planning for a business research activity. Clearly, a good understanding of ethical principles is necessary to ensure that research is done in a way that does not disrespect the wishes of all parties involved.

It is, however, quite difficulty to distinguish between ethical and unethical research practices. Despite this difficulty, an honest research professional and one who is determined to do what is right can easily tell the difference between these two.

Where rules have to be bent slightly, it is imperative to do so with so much caution so as not to harm anyone involved in the research. As explained earlier, there are instances this may apply such when a researcher has to carry out his or her research covertly.

Although it may be challenging to guarantee honesty on the part of the respondents, researchers must everything possible to make sure that this happens. Apparently, enough literature exists to offer guidance to the researcher in this regard.

With the advancement in technology and the increased use of the increased use of the Internet, numerous approaches may be used to gather data for research purposes. Unfortunately this presents a serious ethical concern.

Most data is available through online databases and can be accessed by any one with or without permission. Luckily, such challenges resulting from the increased use of technology are negligible considering that computer experts who can effectively deal with issues of security and data privacy are today available almost everywhere.

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A Citation Analysis of Business Ethics Research: A Global Perspective

Published: 07 January 2015
Volume 136 , pages 557–573, ( 2016 )

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Kam C. Chan 1 ,
Anna Fung 2 ,
Hung-Gay Fung 3 &
Jot Yau 4

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This study provides a global perspective on citations of articles published in ten business ethics journals between 1999 and 2012 and establishes three findings. First, the results indicate that Journal of Business Ethics and Business and Society are the two top business ethics journals based on the distribution of normalized citations received. Second, although North America, particularly the US, remains the top producer of business ethics research, it has been surpassed by Europe in terms of weighted normalized research citations received in 2012, implying a potential diminishing global role of US influence in business ethics research over time. Third, the top-ranked US institutions have reduced their business ethics research impact in recent years, while the European institutions have sharply increased theirs.

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Framing evolution and knowledge domain visualization of business ethics research (1975–2019): a large-scale scientometric analysis

Bibliometric analysis of corporate governance research in German-speaking countries: applying bibliometrics to business research using a custom-made database

Ethical sourcing: an analysis of the literature and implications for future research.

We gratefully acknowledge this suggestion made by a reviewer.

Hirsch ( 2005 ) proposes the h-index, which measures the impact of a journal that has at least h citations from its h number of articles in a given year. Harzing and van der Wal ( 2008 ) suggest the h-index is a more accurate citation impact measure than the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) journal impact factor. Egghe ( 2006 ) suggests the g-index as a modification of the h-index to consider both the over-cited works and overall citation consistency. Specifically, the g-index is derived from all articles of a journal which are “ranked in decreasing order of the number of citations that they received: the g-index is the (unique) largest number such that the top g articles received (together) a total at least g 2 citations” [Egghe ( 2006 ), p. 131]. Sidiropoulos et al. ( 2007 ) propose the hc-index to account for the age of articles that appear in a journal. It places more weight on recently published articles. H-index, g-index, and hc-index approaches examine research quality at the journal level.

The Journal of Accounting, Ethics, and Public Policy included in Serenko and Bonis ( 2009 ) ceased publication and the Business and Professional Ethics Journal is not included in this study.

We argue that the coercive citation practice among business ethics journals should not be a problem. Unlike other disciplines with a large number of journals, business ethics has only a small number of journals in which citations tend to concentrate within a few journals. Naturally, authors cite these few business ethics journals more frequently. Editors do not need to specifically require submitting authors to cite their journals as a prerequisite for publication acceptance.

The results using citations that exclude journal self-citations (EJNCs) are not reported here but are available upon request.

We thank a reviewer for pointing out that no business ethics journal appears in the University of Texas-Dallas 24 journals ranking list. Both lists are the important source of information for remuneration, tenure, and promotion at some schools.

Weighted number of articles (WA) is the count of total number of articles using the number of authors as the weights. For instance, Authors A and B publish an article together. Author A is affiliated with Institutions X and Y, while Author B is affiliated with Institution Z. Then, Institutions X, Y, and Z are credited with 0.25, 0.25, and 0.5 WA, respectively.

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We acknowledge the helpful comments from two anonymous reviewers. The usual caveats apply.

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Kam C. Chan

Department of Management and Organization Behavior, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

College of Business Administration, University of Missouri-St. Louis, One University Blvd, St. Louis, MO, 63121, USA

Hung-Gay Fung

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Chan, K.C., Fung, A., Fung, HG. et al. A Citation Analysis of Business Ethics Research: A Global Perspective. J Bus Ethics 136 , 557–573 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2533-9

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The effects of business ethics and corporate social responsibility on intellectual capital voluntary disclosure

Design/methodology/approach

Practical implications

Social implications

Originality/value

1. Introduction

2. Theoretical background and hypotheses development

2.1 Theoretical background

2.2 Hypotheses development (H1) : BE and VD of IC

2.3 Hypotheses development (H2) : CSR and VD of IC

3. Research design

3.2 The regression model

3.3 Variables definition

3.3.1 Dependent variable (“DISC_SCO”)

3.3.2 Independent variables

3.3.2.1 BE (“ETH_SCO”)

3.3.2.2 CSR (“CSR_INDEX”)

3.3.3 The control variables: characteristics about the firm and the environment of the firm

4. Empirical results and discussion

4.1 Descriptive analysis

4.2 Correlations analysis

4.3 Regression analysis

4.3.1 Empirical evidence on BE impacting IC-VD ( H1 )

4.3.2 Empirical evidence on CSR impacting IC-VD ( H2 )

4.3.3 Complementary considerations

5. Theoretical and practical implications

6. Research limitations and future avenues

7. Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Corresponding author

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Ethics in the Business Research Research Paper

Introduction

The Nature of Business and Management Research

Ethical Issues in Business Research

Human Rights and Onuses of Parties

Rights and Obligations of the Researcher

Harm to Participants

Distortion of Research Findings

Confidentiality

Disclosure of Defective Information and/or Erroneous Conclusions