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Pledging Integrity: Oaths as Forms of Business Ethics Management

Author

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  • Boudewijn Bruin

    (University of Groningen
    University of Groningen)

Abstract

The global financial crisis has led to a surprising interest in professional oaths in business. Examples are the MBA Oath (Harvard Business School), the Economist’s Oath (George DeMartino) and the Dutch Banker’s Oath, which senior executives in the financial services industry in the Netherlands have been obliged to swear since 2010. This paper is among the first to consider oaths from the perspective of business ethics. A framework is presented for analysing oaths in terms of their form, their content and the specific contribution they make to business ethics management: oaths may foster professionalism, facilitate moral deliberation and enhance compliance. This framework is used to analyse and evaluate the MBA Oath, the Economist’s Oath and the Banker’s Oath as well as various other similar initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Boudewijn Bruin, 2016. "Pledging Integrity: Oaths as Forms of Business Ethics Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 23-42, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:136:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-014-2504-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2504-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. George DeMartino, 2013. "Epistemic Aspects of Economic Practice and the Need for Professional Economic Ethics," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 71(2), pages 166-186, June.
    2. Jacquemet, Nicolas & Joule, Robert-Vincent & Luchini, Stéphane & Shogren, Jason F., 2013. "Preference elicitation under oath," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 110-132.
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    9. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00731244 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Jacquemet, Nicolas & Luchini, Stéphane & Shogren, Jason F. & Zylbersztejn, Adam, 2024. "Commitment to the truth creates trust in market exchange: Experimental evidence," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 279-295.
    2. Nicolas Jacquemet & Stéphane Luchini & J Rosaz & J F Shogren, 2021. "Can we commit future managers to honesty?," Post-Print halshs-03277342, HAL.
    3. Sorravich Kingsuwankul & Chloe Tergiman & Marie Claire Villeval, 2023. "Why do oaths work? Image concerns and credibility in promise keeping," Working Papers hal-04209489, HAL.
    4. Josep M. Lozano, 2022. "From Business Ethics to Business Education: Peter-Hans Kolvenbach’s Contribution," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 135-156, April.
    5. Kai D. Bussmann & Anja Niemeczek, 2019. "Compliance Through Company Culture and Values: An International Study Based on the Example of Corruption Prevention," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 797-811, July.
    6. Janis Zickfeld & Karolina Scigala & Christian Elbaek & John Michael & Mathilde Tønning Tønnesen & Gabriel Levy & Shahar Ayal & Isabel Thielmann & Laila Nockur & Eyal Peer & Valerio Capraro & Rachel Ba, 2024. "I Solemnly Swear I'm Up To Good: A Megastudy Investigating the Effectiveness of Honesty Oaths on Curbing Dishonesty," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-04555561, HAL.
    7. Silvia Gherardi & Oliver Laasch, 2022. "Responsible Management-as-Practice: Mobilizing a Posthumanist Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(2), pages 269-281, November.
    8. Tobias Beck & Christoph Bühren & Björn Frank & Elina Khachatryan, 2020. "Can Honesty Oaths, Peer Interaction, or Monitoring Mitigate Lying?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 467-484, May.
    9. Beck, Tobias, 2021. "How the honesty oath works: Quick, intuitive truth telling under oath," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 94(C).

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