Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T05:00:04.125Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Guest Editors’ Introduction: Gender, Business Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility: Assessing and Refocusing a Conversation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2017

Kate Grosser
Affiliation:
RMIT University Melbourne
Jeremy Moon
Affiliation:
Copenhagen Business School
Julie A. Nelson
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts Boston

Abstract:

This article reviews a conversation between business ethicists and feminist scholars begun in the early 1990s and traces the development of that conversation in relation to feminist theory. A bibliographic analysis of the business ethics (BE) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literatures over a twenty-five-year period elucidates the degree to which gender has been a salient concern, the methodologies adopted, and the ways in which gender has been analyzed (by geography, issue type, and theoretical perspective). Identifying significant limitations to the incorporation of feminist theory in these literatures, we discuss how feminist scholarship relating to behavior (through psychology and related fields), organizations (through feminist organization studies), and economics (through feminist economics) could be integrated. We suggest that a better integration of feminist theory would strengthen BE/CSR research, and point to new research directions and agendas arising from our approach.

Type
Special Section
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

ABDC (Australian Business Deans Council). 2016. ABDC releases new journal quality list . September 6. http://www.abdc.edu.au/news.php/100/abdc-releases-new-journal-quality-list.Google Scholar
Acker, J. 1990. Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender and Society , 4(2): 139158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acker, J. 2004. Gender, capitalism and globalization. Critical Sociology , 30(1): 1741.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Appelbaum, E., & Batt, R. 2014. Private equity at work: When Wall Street manages main street . New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Arnold, D. G. 2016. Three models of impactful business ethics scholarship. Business Ethics Quarterly , 26(4): ix–xii.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrientos, S., Dolan, C., & Tallontire, A. 2003. A gendered value chain approach to codes of conduct in African horticulture. World Development , 31(9): 15111526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bear, S., Rahman, N., & Post, C. 2010. The impact of board diversity and gender composition on corporate social responsibility and firm reputation. Journal of Business Ethics , 97(2): 207221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borgerson, J. L. 2007. On the harmony of feminist ethics and business ethics. Business and Society Review , 112(4): 477509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowen, H. R. 1953. Social responsibilities of the businessman . New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Bowles, S. 2016. The moral economy: Why good incentives are no subsititute for good citizens . New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Bratton, W. W. 2011. At the conjunction of love and money: Comment on Julie A. Nelson, Does profit-seeking rule out love? Evidence (or not) from economics and law. Washington University Journal of Law and Policy , 35: 109115.Google Scholar
Burton, B., & Dunn, C. 1996. Feminist ethics as moral grounding for stakeholder theory. Business Ethics Quarterly , 6(2): 133148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, J. 2004. Undoing gender . London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CABS (Chartered Association of Business Schools). 2015. Academic journal guide 2015 . https://charteredabs.org/academic-journal-guide-2015/.Google Scholar
Calás, M. B., & Smircich, L. 1997. ¿Predicando la moral en calzoncillos? Feminist inquiries into business ethics. In Larson, A. & Freeman, R. E. (Eds.), Women’s studies and business ethics: Toward a new conversation : 5079. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Calás, M. B., & Smircich, L. 2006. From the ‘‘Woman’s Point of View’’ ten years later: Towards a feminist organization studies. In Clegg, S., Hardy, C., Nord, W., & Lawrence, T. (Eds.), Handbook of organization studies (2nd ed.): 284346. London: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, A. B. 1979. A three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance. Academy of Management Review , 4(4): 497505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collinson, D., & Hearn, J. 1994. Naming men as men: Implications for work, organization and management. Gender, Work and Organization , 1(1): 222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, K. 1960. Can business afford to ignore social responsibilities? California Management Review , 2(3): 7077.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, K. 1973. The case for and against business assumption of social responsibilities. Academy of Management Journal , 16(2): 312322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derry, R. 1996. Toward a feminist firm: Comments on John Dobson and Judith White. Business Ethics Quarterly , 6(1): 101109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dobson, J., & White, J. 1995. Toward the feminine firm: An extension to Thomas White. Business Ethics Quarterly , 5(3): 463478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolan, C., Johnstone-Louis, M., & Scott, L. 2012. Shampoo, saris and SIM cards: Seeking entrepreneurial futures at the bottom of the pyramid. Gender and Development , 20(1): 3347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. W. 1994. Toward a unified conception of business ethics: Integrative social contracts theory. Academy of Management Review , 19(2): 252284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. W. 1995. Integrative social contracts theory: A communitarian conception of economic ethics, Economics and Philosophy , 11(1): 85112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donaldson, T., & Preston, L. E. 1995. The stakeholder theory of the corporation: Concepts, evidence, and implications. Academy of Management Review , 20(1): 6591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunfee, T. W., & Werhane, P. 1997. Report on business ethics in North America. Journal of Business Ethics , 16(14): 15891595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fehr, E., & Falk, A. 2002. Psychological foundations of incentives. European Economic Review , 46(4-5): 687724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferber, M. A., & Nelson, J. A. (Eds.). 1993. Beyond economic man: Feminist theory and economics . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferber, M. A., & Nelson, J. A. (Eds.). 2003. Feminist economics today . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, K. E. 1997. Postmodernism, feminism, and organizational ethics: Letting difference be. In Larson, A. & Freeman, R. E. (Eds.), Women's studies and business ethics: Toward a new conversation : 8091. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fine, C. 2010. Delusions of gender: How our minds, society, and neurosexism create difference . New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Freeman, R. E., Wicks, A. C., & Parmar, B. 2004. Stakeholder theory and “The Corporate Objective Revisited.” Organization Science , 15(3): 364369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, M. 1970. The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. The New York Times Magazine : Sept 13.Google Scholar
Garriga, E., & Melé, D. 2004. Corporate social responsibility theories: Mapping the territory. Journal of Business Ethics , 53: 5171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gherardi, S. 2010. Feminist theory and organization theory: A dialogue on new bases. In Tsoukas, H. & Knudsen, C. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of organization theory . Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ghoshal, S. 2005. Bad management theories are destroying good management practices. Academy of Management Learning & Education , 4(1): 7591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson-Graham, J. K. 1996. The end of capitalism (as we knew it): A feminist critique of political economy . Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.Google Scholar
Gilligan, C. 1982. ln a different voice . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Grosser, K. 2009. Corporate social responsibility and gender equality: Women as stakeholders and the European Union sustainability strategy. Business Ethics: A European Review , 18(3): 290307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grosser, K. 2016. Corporate social responsibility and multi-stakeholder governance: Pluralism, feminist perspectives and women’s NGOs. Journal of Business Ethics , 137(1): 6581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grosser, K., & Moon, J. 2005. Gender mainstreaming and corporate social responsibility: Reporting workplace issues. Journal of Business Ethics , 62(4): 327340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grosser, K., & Moon, J. 2017. CSR and feminist organization studies: Towards an integrated theorization for the analysis of gender issues. Journal of Business Ethics . DOI: 10.1007/s10551-017-3510-x.Google Scholar
Harding, S. 1986. The science question in feminism . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Hyde, J. S. 2005. The gender similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist , 60(6): 581592.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jaffee, S., & Hyde, J. S. 2000. Gender differences in moral orientation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin , 126(5): 703726.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jagger, A. 1992. Feminist ethics. In Becker, L. & Becker, C. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of ethics : 363364. New York: Garland Press.Google Scholar
Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. 1976. The theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics , 3(4): 305360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnstone-Louis, M. 2017. Corporate social responsibility and women’s entrepreneurship: Towards a more adequate theory of “work.” Business Ethics Quarterly , 27: 569602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keenan, J., Kemp, D., & Ramsay, R. 2014. Company–community agreements, gender and development. Journal of Business Ethics , 135(4): 607615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelan, E. K. 2008. The discursive construction of gender in contemporary management literature. Journal of Business Ethics , 81: 427445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keller, E. F. 1985. Reflections on gender and science . New Haven, CT.: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Kim, C. H., & Moon, J. 2015. Dynamics of corporate social responsibility in Asia: Knowledge and norms. Asian Business & Management , 14(5): 349382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knudsen, J. S., & Moon, J. 2017. Visible hands: National government and international CSR . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhn, T. S. 1962. The structure of scientific revolutions . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Larrieta-Rubín de Celis, I., Velasco-Balmaseda, E., Fernández de Bobadilla, S., & del Mar Alonso-Almeida, M. 2015. Does having women managers lead to increased gender equality practices in corporate social responsibility? Business Ethics: A European Review , 24(1): 91110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, A., & Freeman, R. E. 1997. Introduction. In Larson, A. & Freeman, R. E. (Eds.), Women's studies and business ethics: Toward a new conversation : 38. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lauwo, S. 2016. Challenging masculinity in CSR disclosures: Silencing of women’s voices in Tanzania’s mining industry. Journal of Business Ethics . DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3047-4.Google Scholar
Liedtka, J. M. 1996. Feminist morality and competitive reality: A role for an ethic of care? Business Ethics Quarterly , 6(2): 179200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lockett, A., Moon, J., & Visser, W. 2006. Corporate social responsibility in management research: Focus, nature, salience and sources of influence. Journal of Management Studies , 43(1): 115136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, J., & Knopoff, K. 1997. The gendered implications of apparently gender-neutral theory: Rereading Max Weber. In Larson, A. & Freeman, R. E. (Eds.), Women's studies and business ethics: Toward a new conversation : 3049. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Matten, D., & Crane, A. 2005. Corporate citizenship: Toward an extended theoretical conceptualization. Academy of Management Review , 30(1): 166179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matten, D., & Moon, J. 2008. “Implicit” and “explicit” CSR: A conceptual framework for a comparative understanding of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review , 33(2): 404424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarthy, L. 2017. Empowering women through corporate social responsibility: A feminist Foucauldian critique. Business Ethics Quarterly , 27: 603631.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarthy, L., & Muthuri, J. N. 2016. Engaging fringe stakeholders in business and society research: Applying visual participatory research methods. Business & Society . DOI: 10.1177/0007650316675610.Google Scholar
McGuire, J. W. 1963. Business and Society . New York: McGraw- Hill.Google Scholar
McWilliams, A., & Siegel, D. 2001. Corporate social responsibility: A theory of the firm perspective. The Academy of Management Review , 26(1): 117127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moon, J. 2002. Business social responsibility and new governance. Government and Opposition , 37(3): 385408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moon, J., Murphy, L., & Gond, J-P. 2017. Historical perspectives on CSR. In Rasche, A., Morsing, M., & Moon, J. (Eds.), Corporate social responsibility: Strategy, communication and governance : 3162. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, J. A. 2003. Separative and soluble firms: Androcentric bias in business ethics. In Ferber, M. A. & Nelson, J. A. (Eds.), Feminist economics today: Beyond economic man : 8199. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Nelson, J. A. 2006. Economics for humans . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, J. A. 2011. Does profit-seeking rule out love? Evidence (or not) from economics and law. Washington University Journal of Law and Policy , 35(69): 69107.Google Scholar
Nelson, J. A. 2014. The power of stereotyping and confirmation bias to overwhelm accurate assessment: The case of economics, gender, and risk aversion. Journal of Economic Methodology , 21(3): 211231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, J. A. 2015. Are women really more risk-averse than men? A re-analysis of the literature using expanded methods. Journal of Economic Surveys , 29(3): 566585.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, R. 2007. Beyond women workers: Gendering CSR. Third World Quarterly , 28(4): 731749.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, M. 2014. Re-writing organizational environmentalism: Ecofeminism, corporeality and the language of feeling. Gender, Work & Organization , 21(5): 443458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preston, L., & Post, J. E. 1975. Private management and public policy: The principle of public responsibility . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Prieto-Carrón, M. 2008. Women workers, industrialization, global supply chains and corporate codes of conduct. Journal of Business Ethics , 83(1): 517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasche, A., Morsing, M., & Moon, J. 2017. The changing role of business in global society: CSR and beyond. In Rasche, A., Morsing, M., & Moon, J. (Eds.) Corporate social responsibility: Strategy, communication and governance : 128. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhodes, C., & Pullen, A. 2017. Critical busienss ethics: From corporate self-interest to the glorification of the sovereign pater. International Journal of Management Reviews . DOI: 10.1111/ijmr.12142.Google Scholar
Roberts, A. 2015. The political economy of “transnational business feminism.” International Feminist Journal of Politics , 17(2): 209231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scherer, A. G., & Palazzo, G. 2011. The new political role of business in a globalized world: A review of a new perspective on CSR and its implications for the firm, governance, and democracy. Journal of Management Studies , 48(4): 899931.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scherer, A. G., Rasche, A., Palazzo, G., & Spicer, A. 2016. Managing for political corporate social responsibility: New challenges and directions for PCSR 2.0. Journal of Management Studies , 53(3): 273298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, N. C., & Rönnegard, D. 2016. Shareholder primacy, corporate social responsibility, and the role of business schools. Journal of Business Ethics , 134(3): 463478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stout, L. 2012. The Shareholder value myth: How putting shareholders first harms investors, corporations, and the public . San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.Google Scholar
Terjesen, S., & Sealy, R. 2016. Board gender quotas: Exploring ethical tensions from a multi-theoretical perspective. Business Ethics Quarterly , 26(1): 2365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tong, R. 1993. Feminine and feminist ethics . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Google Scholar
Tornhill, S. 2016. The wins of corporate gender equality politics: Coca-Cola and female microentrepreneurship in South Africa. In Grosser, K., McCarthy, L., & Kilgour, M. A. (Eds.), Gender equality and responsible business: Expanding CSR horizons : 185 202. Saltaire, UK: Greenleaf.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walby, S. 2011. The future of feminism . Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
West, C., & Zimmerman, H. 1987. Doing gender. Gender & Society , 1(2): 125151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, T. 1992. Business, ethics, and Carol Gilligan’s “two voices.” Business Ethics Quarterly , 2(1): 5161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wicks, A. C. 1996. Reflections on the practical relevance of feminist thought to business. Business Ethics Quarterly , 6(4): 523531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wicks, A. C., Gilbert, D. R. Jr., & Freeman, R. E. 1994. A feminist reinterpretation of the stakeholder concept. Business Ethics Quarterly , 4(4): 475497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar