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Principal Theory and Principle Theory: Ethical Governance from the Follower’s Perspective

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  • Cam Caldwell
  • Ranjan Karri
  • Pamela Vollmar

Abstract

Organizational governance has historically focused around the perspective of principals and managers and has traditionally pursued the goal of maximizing owner wealth. This paper suggests that organizational governance can profitably be viewed from the ethical perspective of organizational followers – employees of the organization to whom important ethical duties are also owed. We present two perspectives of organizational governance: Principal Theory that suggests that organizational owners and managers can often be ethically opportunistic and take advantage of employees who serve them and Principle Theory that focuses on guiding principles that are sometimes taken too far in organizations. In introducing these two new organizational governance perspectives, we offer insights into the value of rethinking ethical duties owed to organizational followers. Copyright Springer 2006

Suggested Citation

  • Cam Caldwell & Ranjan Karri & Pamela Vollmar, 2006. "Principal Theory and Principle Theory: Ethical Governance from the Follower’s Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 207-223, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:66:y:2006:i:2:p:207-223
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-005-5586-y
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Elizabeth-Anne Thomas, 2019. "How Useful Is the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Reporting Framework to Identify the Non-financial Value of Corporate Social Performance (CSP)?," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Nicholas Capaldi & Samuel O. Idowu & René Schmidpeter & Martin Brueckner (ed.), Responsible Business in Uncertain Times and for a Sustainable Future, pages 37-87, Springer.
    2. Constantin Blome & Antony Paulraj, 2013. "Ethical Climate and Purchasing Social Responsibility: A Benevolence Focus," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(3), pages 567-585, September.
    3. Bullock Graham, 2015. "Signaling the credibility of private actors as public agents: transparency, independence, and expertise in environmental evaluations of products and companies," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 177-219, August.
    4. Michael S. Aßländer & Julia Roloff & Dilek Zamantili Nayır, 2016. "Suppliers as Stewards? Managing Social Standards in First- and Second-Tier Suppliers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(4), pages 661-683, December.
    5. Cam Caldwell & Linda Hayes & Do Long, 2010. "Leadership, Trustworthiness, and Ethical Stewardship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(4), pages 497-512, November.
    6. Md. Mazharul Islam & Majed Alharthi, 2020. "Relationships among Ethical Commitment, Ethical Climate, Sustainable Procurement Practices, and SME Performance: An PLS-SEM Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-25, December.
    7. Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Boubaker, Sabri & Arunachalam, Murugesh & Mehmood, Asad, 2021. "How does CSR mediate the relationship between culture, religiosity and firm performance?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    8. Cam Caldwell & Do Truong & Pham Linh & Anh Tuan, 2011. "Strategic Human Resource Management as Ethical Stewardship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 171-182, January.
    9. José-Luis Godos-Díez & Roberto Fernández-Gago & Almudena Martínez-Campillo, 2011. "How Important Are CEOs to CSR Practices? An Analysis of the Mediating Effect of the Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(4), pages 531-548, February.

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