Call for Papers: Special Issue/Forum

Abstract

actors is proving to be an appealing and reliable conceptual tool for the analysis of problems in management and economics, as evidenced by developments in social network analysis (e.g., Borgatti and Molina, 2003) and social capital studies (e.g., Leana and VanBuren, 1999; Maak, 2007; Spence et al., 2003). The use of the new conceptual lenses offered by the idea and theory of networks points to the possibility of new understandings in the fields of business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Normative and descriptive theories in business ethics and corporate social responsibility are founded on the concept of social network as embodied in stakeholder theory, based on the assumption that a company has the duty to be answerable to all the individuals, groups, and organizations that affect or are affected by its activities (e.g., Post et al., 2002). In addition, network ethics has been touched upon by scholars concerned with topics such as corruption (e.g., Gordon and Miyake, 2001; Logsdon and Wood, 2005; Nielsen, 2003; Steidlmeier, 1999), accounting, and auditing (e.g., Dillard and Yuthas, 2001), information technology usage (e.g., Kavathatzopoulos, 2003; Queiroz and Wood, 2008; Vaccaro and Madsen, 2009; Vaccaro et al., 2008) intra-organizational networks and ethical conduct (e.g., Miller and Thomas, 2005), and multi-sector social problem-solving alliances (e.g., Argandofia, 1999; Gray and Wood, 1991; Wood and Gray, 1991). Looking from all these standpoints, business ethics discourse should focus on the analysis of the consequences of companies and individuals "being interconnected" or "being networked." Any person/ group/organization is affected and affects others because of the effects of social and economic networks. Concepts such as justice, fairness, and responsibility become attributes of a given network whose extension can vary from the dyad to the whole of humanity. A network standpoint becomes particularly important if we reflect on the impact that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has on interand intra-firm interactions in developed countries, or on its importance to organizational climate (e.g. Denison, 1996; Grojean et al., 2004). In both cases, what matters is that each person acknowledges the effects of "being networked" with others on his/her life and behavior.