Ethics in Business

Ethical issues arise at a variety of stages in business and management research. This chapter is concerned with the concerns about ethics that might arise in the course of conducting research. The professional bodies concerned with the social sciences have been keen to spell out the ethical issues that can arise, and some of their statements will be reviewed in this chapter. Ethical issues cannot be ignored, in that they relate directly to the integrity of a piece of research and of the disciplines that are involved. This chapter explores: • some famous, even infamous, cases in which transgressions of ethical principles have occurred, though it is important not to take the view that ethical concerns arise only in relation to these extreme cases; • different stances that can be and have been taken on ethics in business research; • the signifi cance and operation of four areas in which ethical concerns particularly arise: whether or not harm comes to participants; informed consent; invasion of privacy; and deception; • some of the diffi culties associated with ethical decision-making