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Corporate Directors and Social Responsibility: Ethics versus Shareholder Value

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  • Jacob Rose

Abstract

This paper reports on the results of an experiment conducted with experienced corporate directors. The study findings indicate that directors employ prospective rationality cognition, and they sometimes make decisions that emphasize legal defensibility at the expense of personal ethics and social responsibility. Directors recognize the ethical and social implications of their decisions, but they believe that current corporate law requires them to pursue legal courses of action that maximize shareholder value. The results suggest that additional ethics education will have little influence on the decisions of many business leaders because their decisions are driven by corporate law, rather than personal ethics. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007

Suggested Citation

  • Jacob Rose, 2007. "Corporate Directors and Social Responsibility: Ethics versus Shareholder Value," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 319-331, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:73:y:2007:i:3:p:319-331
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-006-9209-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paula L. Rechner & Dan R. Dalton, 1991. "CEO duality and organizational performance: A longitudinal analysis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(2), pages 155-160, February.
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    1. Alfred Benedikt Brendel & Milad Mirbabaie & Tim-Benjamin Lembcke & Lennart Hofeditz, 2021. "Ethical Management of Artificial Intelligence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Martha Cristina Linares Rodríguez & Nicolás Gambetta & María Antonia García-Benau, 2023. "Carbon management strategy quality in Colombian companies: the influence of the national and regional public sector and company-inherent characteristics," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(8), pages 8367-8394, August.
    3. Ivan Bozhikin & Nikolay Dentchev, 2018. "Discovering a Wilderness of Regulatory Mechanisms for Corporate Social Responsibility: Literature Review," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 2, pages 145-174, June.
    4. Simone Pizzi & Francesco Rosati & Andrea Venturelli, 2021. "The determinants of business contribution to the 2030 Agenda: Introducing the SDG Reporting Score," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 404-421, January.
    5. Anselm Schneider & Andreas Scherer, 2015. "Corporate Governance in a Risk Society," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(2), pages 309-323, January.
    6. Heidi Weltzien Hoivik & Domènec Melé, 2009. "Can an SME Become a Global Corporate Citizen? Evidence from a Case Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 551-563, September.
    7. Richardson, Grant & Lanis, Roman & Taylor, Grantley, 2015. "Financial distress, outside directors and corporate tax aggressiveness spanning the global financial crisis: An empirical analysis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 112-129.
    8. N. Craig Smith & David Rönnegard, 2016. "Shareholder Primacy, Corporate Social Responsibility, and the Role of Business Schools," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 463-478, March.
    9. Manoj Anand & Jagandeep Singh, 2021. "Business students’ perception of corporate social responsibility: an exploratory study," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 48(3), pages 261-284, September.
    10. Dharwadkar, Ravi & Guo, Jun & Shi, Linna & Yang, Rong, 2021. "Corporate social irresponsibility and boards: The implications of legal expertise," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 143-154.
    11. Agarwalla, Sobhesh Kumar & Desai, Naman & Tripathy, Arindam, 2017. "The impact of self-deception and professional skepticism on perceptions of ethicality," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 85-93.
    12. Roman Lanis & Grant Richardson, 2015. "Is Corporate Social Responsibility Performance Associated with Tax Avoidance?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 439-457, March.
    13. Arjya B. Majumdar, 2019. "The Fiduciary Responsibility of Directors to Preserve Intergenerational Equity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 149-160, September.
    14. Roper, Stuart & Parker, Cathy, 2013. "Doing well by doing good: A quantitative investigation of the litter effect," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2262-2268.
    15. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2017_021 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Khaleed Omair Alotaibi & Khaled Hussainey, 2016. "Determinants of CSR disclosure quantity and quality: Evidence from non-financial listed firms in Saudi Arabia," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 13(4), pages 364-393, November.
    17. Iftekhar Hasan & Chun‐Keung (Stan) Hoi & Qiang Wu & Hao Zhang, 2017. "Does Social Capital Matter in Corporate Decisions? Evidence from Corporate Tax Avoidance," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 629-668, June.
    18. Kaibin Xu & Wenqing Li, 2013. "An Ethical Stakeholder Approach to Crisis Communication: A Case Study of Foxconn’s 2010 Employee Suicide Crisis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 371-386, October.
    19. Ji-Hee Kim & Ji-Hwan Lee, 2021. "How CEO Political Connections Induce Corporate Social Irresponsibility: An Empirical Study of Tax Avoidance in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-13, July.
    20. Katrin Riisla & Hein Wendt & Mayowa T. Babalola & Martin Euwema, 2021. "Building Cohesive Teams—The Role of Leaders’ Bottom-Line Mentality and Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-19, July.
    21. Chaoyuan She & Giovanna Michelon, 2023. "A governance approach to stakeholder engagement in sustainable enterprises—Evidence from B Corps," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5487-5505, December.
    22. Roman Lanis & Grant Richardson & Chelsea Liu & Ross McClure, 2019. "The Impact of Corporate Tax Avoidance on Board of Directors and CEO Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 463-498, December.
    23. Hasan, Iftekhar & Hoi, Chun-Keung (Stan) & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2017. "Does social capital matter in corporate decisions? Evidence from corporate tax avoidance," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 21/2017, Bank of Finland.
    24. Jose-Manuel Prado-Lorenzo & Isabel-Maria Garcia-Sanchez, 2010. "The Role of the Board of Directors in Disseminating Relevant Information on Greenhouse Gases," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(3), pages 391-424, December.

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