Addressing low-profile misconduct in management academia through theoretical triangulation and transformative ethics education

Abstract

This article discusses low-profile misconducts, which are the difficult-to-identify research misdemeanors, in management research. Due to their inconspicuous nature, low-profile misconduct could cause more damage to management scholarship than high-profile misconducts such as plagiarism, fabrication, or falsification. Prior literature on misconduct predominantly functions under a rational choice theory perspective. However, without acknowledging the intricate interactions between the individual traits of the researchers, their organizational contexts, external environments, and the specificities of the concerned situations, understanding low-profile misconduct is improbable. Therefore, we deliberate upon the causes of low-profile misconduct by combining the lenses of five criminological and sociological theories – i.e. rational choice, differential association, general strain, self-control, and anomie theories. By taking a multidisciplinary stance and by triangulating, we propose a conceptual model that highlights the complex dynamics behind low-profile misconduct which is unmapped in prior literature. We then discuss how management academia can address low-profile misconduct through transformative research ethics education at the organizational level. Our theoretical triangulation and the resultant plan of action can serve as foundations for future research and ethics education.