Processes and Consequences in Business EthicalDilemmas: The Oil Industry and Climate Change

We present a model of rational behavior by which we characterize business ethical dilemmas as trade-offs between processes and consequences. As an illustration, we formulate the oil industry's business ethical dilemma as a trade-off between a socially detrimental process (emitting greenhouse ga...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Authors: Le Menestrel, Marc (Author) ; de Bettignies, Henri-Claude (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Springer 2002
In: Journal of business ethics
Year: 2002, Volume: 41, Issue: 3, Pages: 251-266
Further subjects:B Ethics
B Climate Change
B Rationality
B Kyoto Protocol
B Consequence
B Process
B oil industry
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:We present a model of rational behavior by which we characterize business ethical dilemmas as trade-offs between processes and consequences. As an illustration, we formulate the oil industry's business ethical dilemma as a trade-off between a socially detrimental process (emitting greenhouse gases, hence inducing a risk of climate change) and a self-interested consequence (profits). The proposed framework allows us to specify two types of strategies, differing by whether priority is given to the consequences or to the processes. We analyze and illustrate these strategies at both the behavioral and the discursive levels. In particular, communication strategies raise questions about good faith in business argumentation, in the sense that business discourse may or may not be consistent with actual assumptions and/or actual behaviors. We conclude on possible drivers of more ethical business behavior.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1023/A:1021237629938