Moral Degradation, Business Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Transitional Economy
This article theoretically proposes and empirically verifies an understudied issue in the business ethics (BE) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature—how moral degradation (MD) in a society influences the relationship between BE or CSR and firm performance (i.e., corporate legitimacy a...
| Main Author: | |
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| Contributors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2014
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| In: |
Journal of business ethics
Year: 2014, Volume: 120, Issue: 3, Pages: 405-421 |
| Further subjects: | B
CSR
B Business Ethics B Transitional economy B Moral degradation |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article theoretically proposes and empirically verifies an understudied issue in the business ethics (BE) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature—how moral degradation (MD) in a society influences the relationship between BE or CSR and firm performance (i.e., corporate legitimacy and competitive advantage). Building on strategic choice theory, we propose that both BE and CSR become more important in enhancing business success when the perceived MD is heightened. Our analysis of 300 firms operating in China statistically confirms our hypotheses: first, under high MD, firms’ engagement in CSR results in higher corporate legitimacy and competitive advantage, and second, their adherence to ethical business codes leads to higher corporate legitimacy. We conclude the article by outlining the implications for both theory and practice. |
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| ISSN: | 1573-0697 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1668-4 |