Muel Kaptein - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Muel Kaptein

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SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

To be and to remain ethical requires struggle from organizations. Struggling is necessary due to ... more To be and to remain ethical requires struggle from organizations. Struggling is necessary due to the pressures and temptations management and employees encounter in and around organizations. As the relevance of struggle for business ethics has not yet been analyzed systematically in the scientific literature, this paper develops a theory of struggle that elaborates on the meaning and dimensions of struggle in organizations, why and when it is needed, and what its antecedents and consequences are. An important conclusion is that the greater the ethics gap and opposing forces, the greater the struggle required. Viewing business ethics as struggle has several implications for theory and practice.

Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics

Journal of Business Ethics

The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the temporal dynamics of ethical organisati... more The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the temporal dynamics of ethical organisational culture and how it associates with well-being at work when potential changes in ethical culture are measured over an extended period of 6 years. We used a person-centred study design, which allowed us to detect both typical and atypical patterns of ethical culture stability as well as change among a sample of leaders. Based on latent profile analysis and hierarchical linear modelling we found longitudinal, concurrent relations and cumulative gain and loss cycles between different ethical culture patterns and leaders’ well-being. Leaders in the strongest ethical culture pattern experienced the highest level of work engagement and a decreasing level of ethical dilemmas and stress. Leaders who gave the lowest ratings on ethical culture which also decreased over time reported the highest level of ethical dilemmas, stress, and burnout. They also showed a continuous increase in these nega...

Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society

Purpose This study aims to provide insight into the current incorporation of corporate culture in... more Purpose This study aims to provide insight into the current incorporation of corporate culture in national corporate governance codes. The authors identify three levels of incorporation for each of the following three dimensions: layers of corporate culture (the “what”), the alignment of corporate culture in the organization (the “for whom”) and the board’s roles regarding corporate culture (the “how”). Design/methodology/approach To assess the extent to which national codes have incorporated corporate culture, the authors used a sample of 88 national corporate governance codes. The authors performed a content analysis of these codes using a computer-aided text analysis program. The first step involved the identification of dimensions of corporate culture per national code. These dimensions were then assessed based on three levels of incorporation. Finally, the authors ranked national codes with similar levels of incorporation per dimension and aggregated the dimensions. Findings Th...

Journal of Business Ethics

Studies on the ethical culture of organizations have mainly focused on ethical culture at the org... more Studies on the ethical culture of organizations have mainly focused on ethical culture at the organizational level. This study explores ethical culture at the team level because this can add a more detailed understanding of the ethics of an organization, which is necessary for more customized and effective management interventions. To find out whether various teams within an organization can have different ethical cultures, we employ the differentiation perspective and conduct a survey of 180 teams from one organization. The results show that there are significant differences between the ethical cultures of teams. These differences are relevant given the different relationships that were established between high and low clusters of team ethical culture and two outcome variables (i.e., the frequency of unethical behavior and employee responses to unethical behavior). The results also show that the dimensions of ethical cultures among teams have different patterns, which indicates the...

Maandblad Voor Accountancy en Bedrijfseconomie

SAMENVATTING Vanwege de toenemende behoefte aan betrouwbare en relevante informatie over gedrag, ... more SAMENVATTING Vanwege de toenemende behoefte aan betrouwbare en relevante informatie over gedrag, verkent dit artikel het verstrekken van assurance hierover door accountants. Wij betogen dat de accountant op basis van een analyse van gedragingen, beoordeling van de oorzaken en werking van soft controls een mate van zekerheid over gedrag kan verschaffen. Deze assurance kan in lijn met het Stramien voor Assuranceopdrachten plaatsvinden. De accountant als onafhankelijke assurance provider heeft een goede uitgangspositie om in de behoefte aan dergelijke assurance te voorzien. Aldus is er een lonkend perspectief om aan deze opkomende behoefte in de markt te voorzien.

Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal

The more the distinction between professional and private life blurs, the more it becomes relevan... more The more the distinction between professional and private life blurs, the more it becomes relevant whether employers may prescribe how employees should behave outside work. By analyzing different moral approaches found in the literature, this article introduces and develops the Integrity Approach to answer this question. Using this approach, an ethical principle for prescribing outside-work behavior is proposed: employees should behave outside work in such a way that they do not disrespect the integrity of their work. This principle is operationalized into twelve guidelines for employers prescribing outside-work behavior for their employees. This article opens up opportunities for follow-up research on the underexamined topic of outside-work behavior from an ethics perspective. Keywords Ethics. Outside-work behavior. Integrity theory. Code of conduct. Principles On October 2017, 50-year-old Juli Briskman, an employee of a US technology solutions and products firm, was on her daily cycling routine. As she was contemplating the bad state of her country and feeling frustrated about its president, Mr. Donald J. Trump himself passed her in his motorcade. She gave him her middle finger as a sign of protest. A photographer captured this moment and the picture immediately went viral. When her friends tagged her on the photo, she informed her employer about it and was promptly fired (Hauser 2017). From a business ethics perspective this is an interesting real-life case. Briskman did not do anything illegal and was not at work when she made the gesture. Why then did her company take disciplinary action against her for behavior that took place outside work? Outside work is outside of work's scope, isn't it? However Briskman's boss justified her dismissal by claiming that she had violated the company's code of conduct that states, "Covered Social Media Activity that contains discriminatory, obscene, malicious or threatening content [...] or similar inappropriate or unlawful conduct will not be tolerated" (Hauser 2017). Briskman was totally

Academy of Management Review, 2007

Abstract This article presents a rebuttal response to an article which criticized the author&... more Abstract This article presents a rebuttal response to an article which criticized the author&#x27;s theory of internal morality of contracting. The author takes issue with criticism of the theory and asserts that the criticism is misplaced because of the critic&#x27;s misunderstanding of the author&#x27;s aims in discussing contractualist business ethics. The writer also takes issue with the criticism of the idea that fiduciary duty is an internal norm of contracting. The critic adopts a contractarian approach in which all that matters is the outcome of contracting between ...

Erim Report Series Research in Management Erasmus Research Institute of Management, 2008

The Corporate Ethical Virtues Model, which is a model for measuring the ethical culture of organi... more The Corporate Ethical Virtues Model, which is a model for measuring the ethical culture of organizations, has not been tested on its predictive validity. This study tests the relationship between this model and observed unethical behavior in work groups. The sample consists of 301 triads comprising a manager and two direct reports. The results show that six of the eight virtues are negatively related to observed unethical behavior. An important implication of this finding is that multiple corporate virtues are required to reduce unethical behavior in work groups.

Integrity is how you are perceived by others, not just how you perceive yourself 15. Integrity is... more Integrity is how you are perceived by others, not just how you perceive yourself 15. Integrity is about appearance, not just the facts 16. Integrity arrives on foot and leaves on horseback 17. Integrity is revealed by minor as well as major transgressions 18. Integrity in the past predicts present and future integrity 19. Integrity is judged by individual identity 20. Integrity today is judged by that of tomorrow Contents IV. Role models 21. Integrity requires role models, not exemplary behavior 22. Integrity demands the most exemplary behavior from those with the most power 23. Integrity issues are not limited to personal enrichment or unfair advantage 24. Integrity in free time is relevant to integrity on the job 25. Integrity is others expecting from you what you expect from them V. Ideals and standpoints 26. Integrity is mainly about having ideals 27. Integrity is the common thread of the job, career, and life itself 28. Integrity must fit the person 29. Integrity is expressing well-thought-out viewpoints VI. Risks from environment and power 30. Integrity is threatened by ambition: the greater the ambition the greater the threat 31. Integrity is threatened by multi-tasking: the more tasks the greater the threat 32. Integrity is revealed by relationships with others 33. Integrity is threatened by the environment 34. Integrity is nurtured by the environment 35. Integrity demands insight into the effects of power on integrity 36. Integrity sours with cynicism 37. Integrity shows more in good times than in bad VII. Faithfulness 38. Integrity is being faithful to a cause 39. Integrity comes down to the answer "I can't do that" 40. Integrity comes down to the price you are willing to pay 41. Integrity is impossible without power 42. Integrity is undermined by vulnerability to blackmail 43. Integrity requires self-control Contents VIII. Willingness to serve 44. Integrity requires humility 45. Integrity is preserving the dignity of the job 46. Integrity means subordination of personal interests but not servility 47. Integrity does not require impartiality or independence 48. Integrity requires intellectual as well as moral qualities 49. Integrity requires respect for the integrity of others IX. Responsibility and accountability 50. Integrity gains attention when you shape the collective conscience 51. Integrity means demanding responsibility 52. Integrity is the link between responsibility and accountability 53. Integrity demands truth, but not complete openness X. Between standards and practice 54. Integrity does not exist 55. Integrity does not reduce standards to practice 56. Integrity is not moralistic 57. Integrity is about what you aspire to, not how you are 58. Integrity is not like pregnancy XI. Dealing with dilemmas 59. Integrity is expressed in the battle over moral dilemmas 60. Integrity does not exclude compromise, but compromise compromises integrity 61. Integrity allows you to get your hands dirty, but only in special circumstances 62. Integrity is the good you achieve, not just the wrong you avoid 63. Integrity can be sacrificed for good reasons 64. Integrity resides in what you do not do, not just what you do 65. Integrity is only relevant if there are alternatives 66. Integrity is the midway between two evils Contents 67. Integrity benefits from the "not-unless" principle 68. Integrity benefits from moral intuition 69. Integrity is impossible without self-reflection and role distancing 70. Integrity benefits from moral luck XII. The importance of integrity 71. Integrity is more important than what becomes publicly known 72. Integrity on a slippery slope is difficult to stop 73. Integrity becomes more difficult to improve over time in office 74. Integrity is all 75. Integrity generates power 76. Integrity reveals beauty 77. Integrity is a deadly weapon 78. Integrity is a silent killer 79. Integrity can be calculated formally or informally, but the accounts are not always settled 80. Integrity becomes more important when transparency increases or decreases 81. Integrity must not cross over into integritism XIII. Dealing with wrongdoing 82. Integrity becomes more problematic if wrongdoing is hushed up, denied, or hidden 83. Integrity is investigating suspected wrongdoing 84. Integrity is like being a lady: if you have to tell people you have it, you do not 85. Integrity is not responding badly to accusations of wrongdoing 86. Integrity is responding well to accusations of wrongdoing 87. Integrity is revealed by the magnitude of punishment for wrongdoing Contents XIV. Before and after service 88. Integrity provides good reasons for resigning 89. Integrity does not stop when you stop 90. Integrity is put to the test during selection processes and elections XV. Other levels 91. Integrity is an important policy touchstone 92. Integrity of decision making is at the heart of integrity 93. Integrity is revealed in the design of an organization 94. Integrity is about the design of society XVI. Finally

Journal of Business Ethics, 2011

ABSTRACT A business code of ethics is widely regarded as an important instrument to curb unethica... more ABSTRACT A business code of ethics is widely regarded as an important instrument to curb unethical behavior in the workplace. However, little is empirically known about the factors that determine the impact of a code on unethical behavior. Besides the existence of a code, this article studies five determining factors: the content of the code, the frequency of communication activities surrounding the code, the quality of the communication activities, and the embedment of the code in the organization by senior management as well as local management. The full model explains 32% of observed unethical behavior while the explanatory value of a code alone is very modest. The study shows when codes are effective, and even when they become counter effective. Keywordsbusiness code of ethics–unethical behavior–communication–leadership–compliance

Journal of Business Ethics

This article uses a sample of 3076 employees working in the USA to examine the relationship betwe... more This article uses a sample of 3076 employees working in the USA to examine the relationship between the frequency of unethical behavior that employees observe in their organization and their intention to whistleblow. The results confirm the expected curvilinear relationship based on the Focus Theory of Normative Conduct. This relationship is a combination of a diminishing negative relationship between the frequency of observed unethical behavior and the intention to whistleblow internally and a linear positive relationship between the frequency of observed unethical behavior and the intention to whistleblow externally. The beliefs of employees about how supportive their management is when handling whistleblowing reports moderates the relationship between the frequency of unethical behavior employees observe and their intention to whistleblow.

Business Ethics: A European Review

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics

Journal of Business Ethics

Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society

Journal of Business Ethics

Maandblad Voor Accountancy en Bedrijfseconomie

Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal

Academy of Management Review, 2007

Erim Report Series Research in Management Erasmus Research Institute of Management, 2008

Journal of Business Ethics, 2011

Journal of Business Ethics

Business Ethics: A European Review

Instead of explaining the unethical behavior of employees in terms of their bad organization (the... more Instead of explaining the unethical behavior of employees in terms of their bad organization (the so-called bad barrel theory), this article examines how a good organization can explain employees’ unethical behavior. The basic premise is that the more ethical an organization becomes, the higher, in some respects, is the likelihood of unethical behavior. This is due to four threaten-ing forces that become stronger when an organization becomes more ethical. Each of the forces is illustrated with two effects and each effect is ex-plained by a specific theory. This tragedy of ethics, where goodness breeds badness, opens new research directions.

Much has been written about the general moral duty to love one's neighbors. In this article, I ex... more Much has been written about the general moral duty to love one's neighbors. In this article, I explore a specific application of this moral duty: i.e., in the context of work. I argue from a secular perspective that individuals have the moral duty to love their stakeholders. Loving one's stakeholders is an affective valuing of the stake-related values these stakeholders pursue and as such is the only real recognition of one's stake-holders as stakeholders and oneself as a stakeholder of one's stakeholders. This moral concept of stakeholder love has implications for stakeholder theory, leadership theories, and ethics theories in general and for business ethics theories in particular.

Maxims, 2019

Maxims are very useful for ethics at work because they tell us briefly what ethics is and what we... more Maxims are very useful for ethics at work because they tell us briefly what ethics is and what we should do at work. This book presents a collection of maxims about ethics at work. The maxims are sources of inspiration for reflection and application.

Ethicisms, 2018

An ethicism is a distinctive and fundamental view about ethics in the workplace. Ethicisms relate... more An ethicism is a distinctive and fundamental view about ethics in the workplace. Ethicisms relate to the moral theories, doctrines, and ideologies that we follow. This new book is a catalogue of 150 ethicisms. I present a short definition and a typical risk of each ethicism. The risk is reflected in a cartoon because cartoons are a powerful tool for reflection and research.

This book contains a collection of 250 maxims about work. Each maxim comes with a brief explanati... more This book contains a collection of 250 maxims about work. Each maxim comes with a brief explanation and a powerful picture. The maxims are sources of inspiration for reflection and application. The electronic version of the book can be downloaded here. The hardcopy version of the book is available in English and Dutch at Amazon Germany, UK, USA, France, Spain, Italy and Japan.