Abstract
Although Delphi has come a long way in the development of the method itself, or even in business organisation, it has not been used at all in business ethics. To fill this gap, we have reviewed the literature on the use of Delphi in business, and particularly in the field of business ethics; we have also evidenced the method’s lack of use in this field, but noted its potential contribution to this research stream. An online survey has been administered to scholars in business ethics that have previously participated in a Delphi survey. The scholars come from nine different countries, and the survey has been held between January 2015 and March-June 2016. The findings show that in the experts’ opinion Delphi is as rigorous, appropriate and useful as any other research method in the field of business ethics, such as focus group, interviews, surveys (online) and case analysis. The Delphi method is assessed anonymously and economically by a group of experts dispersed around the world. Moreover, applying the Delphi method in business ethics could enrich the consensus on limiting the fuzzy area in which ethical business decisions (ethical decision-making) are argued and determined. It is a way of facilitating the search for a solution to the ethical dilemmas delimiting a problem, which is a further advantage of the Delphi technique.
Highlights
Delphi has come a long way in the development of the method itself, or even in business organisation, it has not been used at all in business ethics
As we will argue in this paper, the Delphi method in business ethics could be used to establish the limits of ethical dilemmas, those that are generally accepted
Most retailers are still focusing on a small spectrum of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) possibilities, and not considering a broader perspective
Summary
Delphi has come a long way in the development of the method itself, or even in business organisation, it has not been used at all in business ethics. As we will argue in this paper, the Delphi method in business ethics could be used to establish the limits of ethical dilemmas, those that are generally accepted (the consensus will permit an overall result accepted by experts participating in the Delphi method) This delimitation is useful, the results would not be unique; the integrating or diverging positions in a Delphi process will in some way permit demarcating the problem. The lack of use of the Delphi method in business ethics is surprising [44, 63] because the Delphi method has several benefits and advantages, which have already been shown in the business area, both for an organisation itself and for forecasting purposes [41, 49, 55] To fill this gap, this paper seeks (1) to establish the validity and utility of the Delphi method as a research tool in ethical decision-making, determining the fuzzy area in which decisions are applied, and (2) to identify the behaviour of scholars in business ethics in order to assess the contribution this method makes. We have set out to answer the following research question: BIs the Delphi method valid for resolving business ethics problems?^ This research process, generally ignored by business ethics researchers, has a proven track record in forecasting significant developments in the future, establishing policies and strategic planning, and as a decision-making tool for evaluating business models or concrete business actions [32, 49]
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