Normative Ethical Frameworks Research Articles

Love and Organizing in the Context of the Base of the Pyramid: An Integrative Justice Perspective

This paper provides an overview of the Integrative Justice Model (IJM) for impoverished populations that was introduced in the marketing literature in the year 2009. The IJM was developed as a normative ethical framework to guide the growing corporate interest in the base of the pyramid (BoP) market to be fair and just to all parties but particularly the impoverished customer. In an impersonal marketplace that often exploits the less advantaged participant, the IJM provides five characteristics of “just” market situations. These are an authentic non-exploitative engagement, value co-creation, investment in future consumption, stakeholder interest representation and long-term profit management. At the heart of the IJM is love that flows from a recognition of the inherent dignity of those at the BoP and the need to respect and uphold that dignity in the marketplace. The hope is that as companies embrace the IJM in their functioning it will result in a marketplace that is fair, just, humanistic and loving.

Crafting Climate Solutions for Nature-Dependent Subsistence Communities: A Dignity-Centric View

Globally, more than 1.2 billion people depend directly on nature for their basic needs. These nature-dependent subsistence communities (NDSCs) bear the brunt of environmental disruptions caused by climate change. Prevailing climate solutions crafted by external “experts” often pursue narrow technocratic objectives that erode the dignity of NDSCs. In this paper, we conduct ethnographic research in a subsistence fishing community to develop a dignity-centric framework for crafting climate solutions for subsistence communities. We center the voices of community members in deriving our framework, which is a departure from prior approaches rooted in normative ethical frameworks. A unique feature of our framework is the dual focus on deontological (process-based) and teleological (outcome-based) dignity considerations. Furthermore, taking a dialectical approach to dignity outcomes, our framework reveals that climate solutions must account for three important dialectical tensions playing out within communities: cultural continuity versus cultural adaptation, place rootedness versus spatial mobility, and consumption adequacy versus aspirational consumption.

Conceptualizing "positive attributes" across psychological perspectives.

The growth of positive psychology has birthed debate on the nature of what "positive" really means. Conceptualizations of positive attributes vary across psychological perspectives, and it appears these definitional differences stem from standards for "positive" espoused by three normative ethical frameworks: consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics. When definitions of "positive" do not align with one of these ethical schools, it appears researchers rely on preference to distinguish positive attributes. In either case, issues arise when researchers do not make their theoretical alignment explicit, leading to value-laden, often subjective criteria being smuggled into science as a description of what is positive. To foster a deeper critical understanding of the different approaches, we examine how these conceptual definitions of positive attributes (mis)align with their ethical traditions or fail to align with an ethical school. We review several positive attribute theories across psychological disciplines that serve as examples of the ethical and non-ethical sources of "positivity." Through this, we assess the conceptual criteria for what each approach considers "positive," note the degree of alignment between definition and ethical school, and draw attention to potential issues. We advance the conceptual assessment of positive attributes by considering the implications of failing to explicitly address the theoretical foundation from which a construct is defined.

Societal Impacts of Higher Education Research: From ‘Publish or Perish’ to ‘Publish and Prosper’ in Business School Scholarship

This paper introduces a transformative systems-level framework for understanding the interplay of institutional, cultural, and systemic dynamics influencing the societal impacts of academic research. We introduce and apply the Societal Impacts of Research Institutional Ecosystem (SIRIE) framework to business school scholarship and academic research in higher education. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) serve as SIRIE’s normative ethical framework to benchmark: institutional mission; accreditation bodies’ compliance requirements; faculty tenure and promotion research expectations; the influence of rankings and ratings; and journal quality metrics. Our framework acknowledges the role the Anthropocene Epoch plays in contributing to contemporary social and environmental problems. We argue that recalcitrant institutional forces in academia neutralize the promise of academic scholarship to galvanize meaningful societal impacts. We assert that the contemporary state of higher education research is unfortunately dominated by a “publish or perish” mentality. This narrative produces academic research that is decontextualized from today’s exigent “grand challenges” related to poverty, climate, equity, health, peace, environment, etc., as well as transformative solutions for a sustainable future. By exploring an alternative paradigm for academic research through SIRIE and the SDGs—“publish and prosper”—we detail how academic research can meaningfully contribute to change the world for the better.

Relational care and epistemic injustice.

The philosophical underpinnings of primary care have been examined from several perspectives in recent years. In two previous articles, we have argued that a relational view of autonomy is better matched to the primary care setting than others, and that view is mainly formed from the descriptors of its practice. Here we develop that analysis further, linking it to other relevant theory: the experience of human suffering and epistemic injustice. We argue that relational care is fundamental to ameliorating epistemic injustice and that relationships are integral to ethical practice, rather than being distinct. We propose that personalised care as described in the NHS Long Term Plan is not possible without addressing epistemic injustice and therefore without reconsidering our existing normative ethical frameworks.

Abortion policies at the bedside: incorporating an ethical framework in the analysis and development of abortion legislation

About 6% of women in the world live in countries that ban all abortions, and 34% in countries that only allow abortion to preserve maternal life or health. In the...

Independent or embedded

This article explores different viewpoints about the question of journalistic independencein the current South African dispensation by taking the Presidential Press Corps (PPC)as an example. It is argued that when seen from a libertarian point of view, the PPCpresents some problems with regard to the normative ethical framework that sees mediaindependence as a position that brings the media and the government in opposition.The views of journalists and editors are canvassed to illustrate some of the concernsabout the PPC. The article concludes by suggesting different ways to view the relationshipbetween the government and the media that would not present the same ethicaldifficulties as when this relationship is viewed from an orthodox libertarian perspective.

Ethics of Nuclear Energy in Times of Climate Change: Escaping the Collective Action Problem

In recent years, there has been an intense public debate about whether and, if so, to what extent investments in nuclear energy should be part of strategies to mitigate climate change. Here, we address this question from an ethical perspective, evaluating different strategies of energy system development in terms of three ethical criteria, which will differentially appeal to proponents of different normative ethical frameworks. Starting from a standard analysis of climate change as arising from an intergenerational collective action problem, we evaluate whether contributions from nuclear energy will, on expectation, increase the likelihood of successfully phasing out fossil fuels in time to avert dangerous global warming. For many socio-economic and geographic contexts, our review of the energy system modeling literature suggests the answer to this question is “yes.” We conclude that, from the point of view of climate change mitigation, investments in nuclear energy as part of a broader energy portfolio will be ethically required to minimize the risks of decarbonization failure, and thus the tail risks of catastrophic global warming. Finally, using a sensitivity analysis, we consider which other aspects of nuclear energy deployment, apart from climate change, have the potential to overturn the ultimate ethical verdict on investments in nuclear energy. Out of several potential considerations (e.g., nuclear waste, accidents, safety), we suggest that its potential interplay — whether beneficial or adverse — with the proliferation of nuclear weapons is the most plausible candidate.

How Should We Respond to the Global Pandemic: The Need for Cultural Change

The Covid pandemic has had a terrible effect on the world and government responses have been described as “Catastrophic Moral Failure”. The approach of bioethics of developing “normative ethics” has provided frameworks on how to act but despite the fact that we knew what to do to prevent the pandemic, we did not do it. In this paper I argue that ethics is culture bound: it is the stories that “we” live by. I illustrate this with examples of cultures with differing values that were developed as a result of the particular circumstances of those cultures. I then argue that after World War 2 in response to the risks of further large wars and atrocities, work was done to further establish a “global culture” and a detailed normative ethical framework was developed by negotiation through the United Nations for that “culture”. Whilst this approach has been necessary, it has not been sufficient. I argue that we need to reframe the approach as one of achieving cultural change rather than complying with ethical norms. Some societies that were unable to adapt to changed circumstances failed to survive, others failed to thrive. A similar fate awaits the whole planet if we cannot change the stories we live by.

A Care Ethical Theory of Right Action

Abstract One of the most striking and underexplored points of difference between care ethics and other normative theories is its reluctance to offer a theory of right action. Unlike other normative ethical frameworks, care ethicists typically either neglect right action or explicitly refuse to provide a theory thereof. This paper disputes that stance. It begins with an examination of right action in care ethics, offering reasons for care ethicists not to oppose the development of a care ethical theory thereof. It then considers some potential formulations of a first premise of a theory of right action, both demonstrating the diversity of possible first premises and arguing for a monistic subset of these. It subsequently presents some potential second premises, arguing that a care ethical theory of right action ought to adopt a eudaimonistic approach to care. The paper thereby makes several inroads into a care ethical account of moral evaluation.

Ethical Reasoning and Moral Distress in Social Care Among Long-Term Care Staff

There are studies on the normative ethical frameworks used by long-term care staff and studies proposing how staff should reason, but few studies explore how staff actually reason. This study reports on the ethical reasoning process and experiences of moral distress of long-term care staff in the provision of social care. Seven interdisciplinary focus groups were conducted with twenty front-line staff. Staff typically did not have difficulty determining the ethical decision and/or action; however, they frequently experience moral distress. To manage these experiences of moral distress in making ethical decisions, staff 1) comply with being told what to do out of fear of consequences, 2) defer decisions to family, 3) "have a meeting," 4) socialization into and acceptance of workplace culture. Findings suggest that to better understand how and why staff make ethical decisions and improve quality and ethical care, we must explore the interaction between front-line practice and organizational and public policy.

Confinement for conservation: An ethical overview of zoos

This work describes the workings of modern zoos and considers the core ethical challenges which face those who choose to hold and display animals in zoos, aquariums or sanctuaries. Using a number of normative ethical frameworks this thesis explores impacts of modern zoos. The impact of zoos include the costs to animals in terms of animal welfare, the loss of liberty and even impact on the value of animal life. On the positive side of the argument are the welfare and health outcomes for many of the animals held in zoos, increased attention and protection for their species in the wild and the enjoyment and education for the people who visit zoos. This paper concludes that zoos and aquariums are ethically defensible when they align conservation outcomes with the interests of individual animals and the interests of zoo operations. The impending extinction crisis requires large scale interventions which address human values and facilitate consideration of wildlife in decision making. Considering the long term relationship zoos have with animals, their extensive reach within communities and their reliance on animals to deliver positive experiences for people, it is appropriate that zoos pay back some of humanity’s debt to wildlife by making a meaningful contribution to wildlife conservation.

Social fairness and social marketing

Purpose Social marketers set out to undertake interventions that benefit society. However, at times, there can be inadvertent, unintended consequences of these interventions that can be seen as unethical. Such ethical issues can arise from the context, process, method and outcomes of interventions and often bring to the fore the “social fairness” of social marketing. Given that social marketing is aimed at societal benefit, the authors believe that the issue of social fairness is an important one in the context of ethical social marketing. With that in mind, the purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion of the application of a normative ethical framework, labelled the integrative justice model (IJM) (Santos and Laczniak, 2009), to social marketing. This amounts to a macro-social marketing ethical framework. Design/methodology/approach Conceptual broadening of a normative ethical framework. Findings The authors hold that the IJM provides several helpful normative guidelines for improving the “social fairness” of social marketing. As such, the presented normative framework of macro-social marketing ethics provides useful guidelines for future development of social marketing codes of ethics. Practical implications The macro-social marketing ethics framework provides practical guidelines for social marketers to assess ethical issues in social marketing. Originality/value The macro-social marketing ethics framework answers the call of Carter, Mayes, Eagle and Dahl (2017) for development of ethical frameworks for social marketers. It provides a reconciliation of multiple normative frameworks to give a set of guidelines for social marketers that are clear and non-contradictory.

Everyday ethics in professional life: social work as ethics work

ABSTRACTThis article outlines and develops the concept of ‘ethics work’ in social work practice. It takes as its starting point a situated account of ethics as embedded in everyday practice: ‘everyday ethics’. This is contrasted with ‘textbook ethics’, which focuses on outlining general ethical principles, presenting ethical dilemmas and offering normative ethical frameworks (including decision-making models). ‘Ethics work’ is a more descriptive account of ethics that refers to the effort people put into seeing ethically salient aspects of situations, developing themselves as good practitioners, working out the right course of action and justifying who they are and what they have done. After identifying seven features of ethics work, including work on framing, roles, emotion, identity, reason, relationships and performance, each element is illustrated with reference to two case examples from social work practice. It is argued that the concept of ethics work, with its focus on the practitioners as moral agents in context, is an important antidote to the rules-based managerialism of much contemporary practice.

Medical Doctors’ Strike: An Ethical Overview with Reference to the Indian Context

Background: Medical doctors’ strikes are a common global phenomenon. In the recent past, a number of strikes have been reported in various developing countries including India. The objective of this ethical overview is (a) to study and describe reasons, modalities and impacts of the doctors’ strikes in India, (b) to develop an ethical reflection on doctors’ strike and (c) to evaluate the doctors’ strikes in India using this ethical reflection. Discussion: In this literature based study, we discuss Indian doctors’ strike and its various ethical reflections and assessment. This paper is arranged in three sections in accordance with the objectives of the study. In the first section, we analyse the Indian situation with doctors’ strikes in terms of its reasons, modalities and its impacts. In second section, we elaborate a general ethical reflection on doctors’ strike explored using normative ethical framework. General ethical reflection developed based on the Hippocratic Oath and other codes, biomedical principles like beneficence, non-maleficence and autonomy, as well as ethical approaches like deontological and utilitarian reasoning, and traditional Indian philosophy. The third section focuses on the assessment and evaluation of doctors’ strikes based on ethical reflection developed in previous section. Summary: Indian doctors’ strikes are morally not acceptable and ethically not allowable based on deontological reasoning, Hippocratic tradition, different biomedical principles and ancient Indian philosophy. However, considering utilitarian reasoning, doctors’ strikes for fair wage, better hospital infrastructure and working conditions are justifiable if it causes less harm to present patients and gives more good to the future patients.

How did They Say That? Ethics Statements and Normative Frameworks at Best Companies to Work For

This empirical study explores aspects of how companies that are positively recognized by their workforce as “Best Companies to Work For” convey the underlying principles of their “trustworthy” culture. The study examines the normative ethical frameworks (deontological, teleological, and ethic of care) and affective language utilized in the ethics statements. Although multiple studies have considered normative ethical frameworks in individual ethical decision making, few have considered normative ethical frameworks in organization ethics statements. In addition, this study expands the analysis to include the ethic of care. Of the “Best Companies to Work for” in this study, 93 had accessible online ethics statements. Findings indicated 70 % (65 of 93) of the ethics statements utilized combinations of three types of normative ethics studied, while 30 % (28 of 93) used a single framework. In statements with combined frameworks, the deontological framework had the highest frequency (40 %), while the ethic of care was present in 33 % of statements and the teleological framework had the lowest frequency (27 %). In ethics statements with a singular framework, the framework rankings were consistent with findings for combined frameworks. Using the Dictionary of Affect in Language, there were statistically significant differences on pleasantness between statements that mentioned ethic of care and those that did not. This study sheds light on how these trustworthy companies communicate (1) by publishing their ethics statements and (2) by using a multidimensional approach in their ethics statements that has greater pleasantness when an ethic of care is utilized.

Fostering fair and sustainable marketing for social entrepreneurs in the context of subsistence marketplaces

In recent years, in-depth, on-the-ground research has generated many insights into the nature and functioning of subsistence marketplaces and the people who operate in them. Such knowledge is bound to be useful to various companies and organisations, as they seek to engage such marketplaces, particularly for marketing managers, who quite likely have not had education or experience in marketing in such impoverished settings. This paper complements these practical insights with a normative ethical framework, presented in the marketing literature and labelled the integrative justice model (IJM) for impoverished markets, so as to synthesise a new framework for fair and sustainable marketing for social entrepreneurs in the context of subsistence marketplaces.

Marketing to the Base of the Pyramid: A Corporate Responsibility Approach with Case Inspired Strategies

The economic and political outcomes of market globalization continue to be complex. As international corporations engage developing markets, they increasingly find consumers who lack market sophistication, meaningful purchasing options and economic leverage. Such conditions are ripe for the exploitation of these market segments but also can be mitigated by enlightened managers willing to thoughtfully consider their ethical and professional obligations to vulnerable consumers. This paper builds on a normative ethical framework, labeled the integrative justice model (IJM) for impoverished markets that was introduced in the marketing and public policy literature. Specifically, the paper will extend the normative ethics of the IJM by proposing logically reasoned decision principles for managers, particularly in MNC subsidiaries, that might better shape ethical business strategy when targeting impoverished segments. Additionally, numerous case examples are given to illustrate how a number of these decision principles are already being applied by companies around the world. Such an approach can serve as a counterweight to the difficulty of crafting global regulations for market development.

Moral Distress: Inability to Act or Discomfort with Moral Subjectivity?

Amidst the wealth of literature on the topic of moral distress in nursing, a single citation is ubiquitous, Andrew Jameton's 1984 book Nursing practice. The definition Jameton formulated reads '... moral distress arises when one knows the right thing to do, but institutional constraints make it nearly impossible to pursue the right course of action'. Unfortunately, it appears that, despite the frequent use of Jameton's definition of moral distress, the definition itself remains uncritically examined. It seems as if the context of how moral distress arises (i.e. anger, frustration etc.) has been co-opted as its definition. This current work suggests that the current definition is not moral distress as defined by Jameton, but rather, in large part, nursing's discomfort with moral subjectivity in end-of-life decision making. A critical examination of how the Catholic tradition's normative ethical framework accounts for moral subjectivity in end-of-life decision making serves to aid nursing's discomfort and as a starting point to recontextualize moral distress.

A normative ethical framework in climate change

The article spells out four domains of international distributive justice and the consequent criteria of equity, the purpose being to identify a pluralistic normative ethical framework for climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. Justice and equity should play a major role in favouring collective action against climate change, because the more the various dimensions of such action are just, the more any international climate initiative is feasible in principle. As far as mitigation is concerned, the definition of a just initial allocation of endowments focuses on the criterion of differentiated equality, taking account of undeserved inequalities as suggested by Rawls' theory of justice as fairness. With regard to the subsequent exchange of endowments, the Pareto principle, supplemented by the envy-freeness one, is a viable option. Possibly a sound reference for the just financing of adaptation activities is the criterion of differentiated historical responsibility, backed by Rawls' theory of justice as fairness. As regards the allocation of adaptation resources, the criterion of lack of human security, as substantiated in Sen's capability approach, seems promising.