Ethical Orientation and Research Misconduct Among Business Researchers Under the Condition of Autonomy and Competition.
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| Title: | Ethical Orientation and Research Misconduct Among Business Researchers Under the Condition of Autonomy and Competition. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Fink, Matthias1,2 (AUTHOR), Gartner, Johannes3 (AUTHOR), Harms, Rainer4,5 (AUTHOR) r.harms@utwente.nl, Hatak, Isabella6 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of Business Ethics. Mar2023, Vol. 183 Issue 2, p619-636. 18p. 1 Diagram, 3 Charts, 1 Graph. |
| Subject Terms: | *Research personnel, *Autonomy (Psychology), Business research, Research ethics, Economic competition |
| Abstract: | The topics of ethical conduct and governance in academic research in the business field have attracted scientific and public attention. The concern is that research misconduct in organizations such as business schools and universities might result in practitioners, policymakers, and researchers grounding their decisions on biased research results. This study addresses ethical research misconduct by investigating whether the ethical orientation of business researchers is related to the likelihood of research misconduct, such as selective reporting of research findings. We distinguish between deontological and consequentialist ethical orientations and the competition between researchers and investigate the moderating role of their perceived autonomy. Based on global data collected from 1031 business scholars, we find that researchers with a strong deontological ethical orientation are less prone to misconduct. This effect is robust against different levels of perceived autonomy and competition. In contrast, researchers having a consequentialist ethical orientation is positively associated with misconduct in business research. High levels of competition in the research environment reinforce this effect. Our results reveal a potentially toxic combination comprising researchers with a strong consequentialist orientation who are embedded in highly competitive research environments. Our research calls for the development of ethical orientations grounded on maxims rather than anticipated consequences among researchers. We conclude that measures for ethical governance in business schools should consider the ethical orientation that underlies researchers' decision-making and the organizational and institutional environment in which business researchers are embedded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Business Ethics is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 162181291 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Ethical Orientation and Research Misconduct Among Business Researchers Under the Condition of Autonomy and Competition. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Fink%2C+Matthias%22">Fink, Matthias</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gartner%2C+Johannes%22">Gartner, Johannes</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Harms%2C+Rainer%22">Harms, Rainer</searchLink><relatesTo>4,5</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> r.harms@utwente.nl</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hatak%2C+Isabella%22">Hatak, Isabella</searchLink><relatesTo>6</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Business+Ethics%22">Journal of Business Ethics</searchLink>. Mar2023, Vol. 183 Issue 2, p619-636. 18p. 1 Diagram, 3 Charts, 1 Graph. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+personnel%22">Research personnel</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Autonomy+%28Psychology%29%22">Autonomy (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Business+research%22">Business research</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+ethics%22">Research ethics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Economic+competition%22">Economic competition</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The topics of ethical conduct and governance in academic research in the business field have attracted scientific and public attention. The concern is that research misconduct in organizations such as business schools and universities might result in practitioners, policymakers, and researchers grounding their decisions on biased research results. This study addresses ethical research misconduct by investigating whether the ethical orientation of business researchers is related to the likelihood of research misconduct, such as selective reporting of research findings. We distinguish between deontological and consequentialist ethical orientations and the competition between researchers and investigate the moderating role of their perceived autonomy. Based on global data collected from 1031 business scholars, we find that researchers with a strong deontological ethical orientation are less prone to misconduct. This effect is robust against different levels of perceived autonomy and competition. In contrast, researchers having a consequentialist ethical orientation is positively associated with misconduct in business research. High levels of competition in the research environment reinforce this effect. Our results reveal a potentially toxic combination comprising researchers with a strong consequentialist orientation who are embedded in highly competitive research environments. Our research calls for the development of ethical orientations grounded on maxims rather than anticipated consequences among researchers. We conclude that measures for ethical governance in business schools should consider the ethical orientation that underlies researchers' decision-making and the organizational and institutional environment in which business researchers are embedded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Business Ethics is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s10551-022-05043-y Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 18 StartPage: 619 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Research personnel Type: general – SubjectFull: Autonomy (Psychology) Type: general – SubjectFull: Business research Type: general – SubjectFull: Research ethics Type: general – SubjectFull: Economic competition Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Ethical Orientation and Research Misconduct Among Business Researchers Under the Condition of Autonomy and Competition. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Fink, Matthias – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Gartner, Johannes – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Harms, Rainer – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Hatak, Isabella IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 03 Text: Mar2023 Type: published Y: 2023 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 01674544 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 183 – Type: issue Value: 2 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Business Ethics Type: main |
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