whistleblowing involves the unauthorised disclosure of organisational wrongdoing by an employee (or former employee) to those who are perceived to be in a position to act on this information. when considering whether to disclose such information, whistleblowers confront the conflicting demands of the morality of principle versus the morality of loyalty. The aim of this paper is to explore the dynamics involved in this moral dilemma. A typology reflecting the possible responses in managing such moral dilemmas is developed. Three dimensions related to wrongdoing, namely perceptions, extent of the wrongdoing and power relationships are also analysed. It is concluded that, although the conflicting demands of the morality of principle versus the morality of loyalty will always exist, there are measures that can be taken to limit the impact of these conflicts and in the long run even resolve them. In particular, if loyalty is reconceptualised as rational loyalty, the disclosure of perceived wrongdoing could more easily be interpreted as loyalty to the organisation as a whole.

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In this paper, we explore the role ethics plays in African SMEs. We looked specifically at the role that relationships between SMEs and their stakeholders play in enabling or foreclosing the possibility of ethical business practices. We argue that certain relationships, such as those between SMEs, suppliers, employees and local communities, can be described as enabling. Other relationships, such as those with corrupt governments, are contaminating. What seems to be needed is to expand on and strengthen certain constraining relationships, such as those that exist between peers within a certain industry, professional associations, and civil society.

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The extant literature on CSR and ethics suggests that there is a need for a greater understanding about SMEs. The role of SMEs in the economic growth and development of emerging countries like India is significant. Given the geographical diversity of India and its high reliance on agriculture, MSMEs (medium, small and micro enterprises) are the lifeline of economic development and growth in future. However, the current state of knowledge and practice in the field of CSR and ethics in SMEs in the Indian context is limited. This paper attempts to outline the state of the SME sector in India, Ethics and CSR practices in MSMEs, and identify the knowledge gaps in the field of CSR and ethics in SMEs in India.

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In this paper we outline the status quo of ethics and social responsibility in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union (EU). Social issues and SMEs is an established topic of research and subject of policy-making in Europe, and thus in this paper we are able to draw on existing activities to summarise what we know about the topic. We describe the important position given to SMEs and entrepreneurship as drivers of the economy through job creation, social inclusion and issues such as employee health and welfare. We note that the ethics/social responsibility practices and strategies of SMEs tend to be greater than expected, but are informal and local community-based rather than replicating large firm approaches. To demonstrate the variety within Europe, we provide some nation-specific perspectives on social responsibility and SMEs with a closer look at Denmark, Italy, the UK and central and eastern Europe and the Baltic States.

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Considering the lack of substantive scientific or theoretical studies about ethics in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America, this paper examines the context of an existent paradox, based upon the perspective of experts and academicians of Latin America and the Caribbean. These countries live different realities, due to their respective European cultural influences, as well as to racial and economic issues. Such facts impact the size and characteristics of their industries. On the other hand, the SMEs face more similarities in the region, so they will be treated as a group in the discussion of ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Latin American SMEs. As this topic has not been sufficiently investigated in this geographic area, the objective of this exploratory study is to offer a contribution for future research. It raises the main dilemmas and intends to explain how legislation and common practices enable and perhaps lead SMEs to choose unethical strategies to survive and compete in the market. These enterprises are growing in number and in job creation, but do not participate in the Gross National Product in the same proportion. Informality, tax evasion and corruption are gradually caused or erode morality in business, but can contribute to corporate social responsibility in the region. The paper tries to show positive and negative aspects of apparently unethical practices and discusses challenging ways to solve complex problems that are common in most Latin America.

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Scholars recognise that entrepreneurs may encounter different ethical issues and pressures than managers in larger corporations. This has fostered empirical research aimed at assessing ethics in entrepreneurial settings in the United States. Our emphasis on empirical research with little attention paid to purely conceptual papers allows us to highlight the narrow definition of entrepreneurship used in the US and how US researchers distinguish between entrepreneurship and other types of small businesses. This differs greatly from many other countries, especially those in which researchers equate entrepreneurship with the study of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Researchers in the US often distinguish ethics from corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate social performance (CSP), stakeholder theory and stakeholder management with different theoretical models proposed in each of these areas. After discussing these various definitional issues, we review the empirical research on ethics in entrepreneurial firms, discussing what the results tell us, identifying gaps in prior research and concluding with recommendations for future research that draws more heavily on theoretical frameworks in the field of ethics.

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In order to understand attitudes towards work­related ethics and the teaching of business ethics in management programmes at universities, a survey was conducted with management students at two universities, one in the Republic of Cyprus (hereafter referred to as Cyprus) and the other in the Republic of South Africa (hereafter referred to as South Africa). An attempt was also made to investigate whether such differences, if any, were linked to differences in national culture. The findings indicate that no significant differences between the two samples exist on four of the five dimensions of national culture (Hofstede, 1994) and, accordingly, differences in attitudes towards workplace ethical issues cannot be said to be linked to this variable. Significant differences were found between the two samples on certain questionnaire items that related to workplace practices with the Cypriot sample, more so than the South African sample, appearing to be willing to engage in certain workplace practices that would be deemed unethical in society. It is recommended that ethics education be integral to a business curriculum and that teaching methodologies explore ways in which to develop moral reasoning in students.

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Local authorities in South Africa face ethical, social and political dilemmas in dealing with the reality of the escalating outstanding debt payable to them. The culture of non-payment, and other reasons, have increased the outstanding debts of local authorities for services rendered by them to disturbing levels. However, the continued accounting recognition of further outstanding debt and revenue by local authorities is in reality in conflict with the relevant accounting principles. All stakeholders in the public sector will have to seriously consider whether the overstatement of outstanding debtors of local authorities does not constitute window dressing, unethical and negligent behaviour and in some instances even reckless conduct of affairs to such serious extent that it can no longer be tolerated.

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With a myriad of corporate scandals involving fraud and theft across the world, the auditing profession has been put under the spotlight with the prominence of promoting an ethical attitude within the profession and amongst its members. By way of an empirical study conducted with a group of students at a leading university in South Africa, it was found that the necessity for change and CPD are concepts not collectively agreed upon by all within the profession, even more so when it comes to a group of final-year undergraduate students at this university. This article provides a series of recommendations regarding the improvement of the current teaching and learning model in order to include a CPD approach when it comes to ethics.

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It is imperative for companies to do business ethically and to respect the rights of all the company's stakeholders, while still being accountable to the shareholders. This article examines evidence from a literature and empirical study conducted on the role of audit committees in strengthening business ethics and protecting stakeholders' interests. The study found that the majority of audit committee chairs believe their audit committees to be effective in discharging their responsibilities regarding business ethics. Of concern, however, are the findings that a large number of audit committees are not reviewing compliance with their companies' code of ethics, although most of them are reviewing or providing a channel for whistle-blowing. The inspection of the annual reports further indicated a lack of disclosure by the audit committees on their responsibilities regarding business ethics.

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The claim is often made that corporate governance is an attempt to balance corporate interests with individual and societal interests. Lord Adrian Cadbury, who chaired the Cadbury Commission that produced the Cadbury Report on Corporate Governance in the UK, claims that the objective of corporate governance "is to align as nearly as possible the interests of individuals, corporations and society". This paper will test whether this claim can be substantiated on the theoretical and practice level. To test this claim on the theoretical level the concept of corporate governance will be analysed in order to determine whether the said balance is implied by the concept of corporate governance. In order to determine whether the claim find support in corporate governance practices around the world, six continental or regional reports on the relationship between business ethics and corporate governance, representative of the various regions of the world (Africa, Asia-Pacific region, Europe, Japan, Latin America and North America), will be analysed critically. On the basis of this conceptual and corporate governance practice analysis an assessment will be made of whether corporate governance is about "align[ing] as nearly as possible the interests of individuals, corporations and society".

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The negative consequences which unethical behaviour holds for organizations necessitates a focus on ethical issues within the work context, as well as factors which may have an influence on ethical behaviour. Regarding individual factors, researchers indicate that the individual's ethical decision-making philosophy influences the manner in which ethical problems are managed and behavioural decisions are made. The aim of this article (which forms part of a research project consisting of four parts) is therefore to investigate, by means of a thorough literature review, the ethical issues that organizations mostly face, as well as the philosophical decision-making approaches that may influence ethical decision making in the work context, and to integrate these approaches within a holistic framework of ethical decision making. Six main philosophical approaches together with certain corresponding sub-approaches that may influence ethical decision making in the workplace were identified and integrated within a holistic framework of ethical decision making.

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There is a dearth of research on ethics and sustainability related to SMEs in New Zealand and Australia. This paper begins by giving a definition of SMEs in New Zealand and Australia, which both differ somewhat from international definitions. The role of SMEs in New Zealand and Australian society is discussed and a description of one study in each country covering SMEs and sustainability is presented. Both studies found that owner-managers undertake a number of triple bottom line activities, without overtly identifying these actions as sustainable practice. At the same time, both studies showed that an over-riding focus on the financial bottom-line may be a significant barrier to SMEs adopting further sustainability practices. The paper concludes with a call for additional research in the area of ethical and sustainable business practice in SMEs in Australia and New Zealand, identifying some promising areas of future investigation.

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The increase in corporate malfeasance has lead to a rising interest in Business Ethics in general and a particular focus on Business Ethics as an academic field, but the proliferation of Business Ethics as an academic field on a global scale is not yet as well known. This paper forms part of the global survey of Business Ethics that has been commissioned to gain a better understanding of the prevalence and scope of teaching, training and research in the field of Business Ethics. The paper provides a summary of the survey and research results regarding the current status of Business Ethics as an academic field in the East African region. The findings lead to a conclusion that Business Ethics has gained momentum and is having an increased presence in the region, but that it is far from well established as an academic field.

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This article introduces the Global Survey of Business Ethics as field of Teaching, Training and Research. For the purpose of the survey the world was divided into nine regions that cover all countries of the world. This special edition of the African Journal of Business Ethics only focuses on the findings of the Global Survey in one of the nine world regions, viz., Sub-Saharan Africa. This introductory article provides an overview of the Sub-Sahara African region and the four sub-regions in which the 44 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa were divided for the purpose of this survey. A brief overview of existing literature that reflects on training, teaching and research in the field of Business Ethics in the Sub-Sahara African region is given, after which the research process and methods that were used in the survey are introduced.

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Few studies have been done on Business Ethics as field of training, teaching and research in Southern Africa. This article details the methodology and findings of the survey of Business Ethics in Southern Africa. Findings, among others, indicate the preferred terminology used to refer to the field of Business Ethics. It also shows that most expertise in the field is found in South Africa, centered mainly at the meso-economic level, with most research being done on CSR, corporate governance and economic justice. Future challenges identified for the field of Business Ethics are mainly at the macro-level, especially related to the economic system and ecology where little research or expertise is currently focused.

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The purpose of this study was to ascertain South African Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) owners'/managers' perceptions regarding the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in this sector of the economy. Their views were gauged by means of a questionnaire based on Carroll's (1979, 1991) CSR hierarchy. Descriptive and inferential statistics, based on 262 questionnaires, show that SMME owners/managers viewed CSR as a very important business practice in South Africa. Given the critical role that SMMEs can play in addressing South Africa's socio-economic needs, it is recommended that more SMME owners/managers be educated as to what CSR entails and how it can be implemented.

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In this paper we explore the question of what are we trying to achieve in teaching business ethics at undergraduate university level. The dominant normative model of business ethics suggests that the aim of business ethics (including the teaching of business ethics) is to move businesspeople from an egotistic position to an altruistic position. According to the latter position, the greater good of society is served by unselfish, other-regarding action, instead of by the narrow, self-centred interests of individuals or corporations acting on their own behalf (i.e. egoism). In this paper, the dominant model is analysed and criticised by means of subjecting it to the question of whether it is at all possible to move people from one position to another through teaching business ethics. A second, related aim of this analysis and critique deals with the question of whether ethics (as taking up moral responsibility for one's actions) really entails a neat, linear model of change from position A to B. To arrive at a possible alternative model of teaching and "doing" business ethics, we explore some classic philosophical positions in which mixed signals are given regarding the status of egoism in ethics. This analysis will be applied to, and supported by, experience gained from teaching business ethics to accounting and management students at undergraduate level at the University of Stellenbosch.

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A key requirement for listing on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) index is the publication, by companies, of annual sustainability reports in line with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines that require stakeholders to be included in defining the content of such reports. Despite this requirement, stakeholders appear not to be integrally involved in the process. The primary objective of the study was to determine whether the contents of sustainability reports of the mining companies listed on the JSE SRI index are based on the outcome of robust stakeholder engagement processes undertaken specifically for the purpose of preparing these reports. Against a backdrop of the GRI requirements, a quantitative evaluation was undertaken of recent sustainability reports of 11 South African mining companies. These reports were also qualitatively assessed against the corporate social responsibility (CSR) Journey Model proposed by Mirvis and Googins (2006). The two assessment scores for each mining company were integrated and the companies were plotted according to a CSR journey that encompasses degrees of stakeholder involvement. The findings highlight that while the companies adhere to the quantitative GRI stakeholder engagement requirements, the contents of the sustainability reports have not been specifically informed by stakeholders. Companies also appear to be in the early stages of the CSR journey. Recommendations include advising mining companies to utilise existing stakeholder engagement platforms to advance stakeholder inclusion in sustainability reporting and for mining companies to engage in developing the business case for CSR, which could promote greater stakeholder involvement.

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A sample of 259 South African managers completed a survey originally administered by Nel (1992). The results of the current study indicated a favourable move on four of the 15 questionable actions used to assess each group's ethical predisposition. Furthermore, the grand means for the two temporal-based samples also provided anecdotal evidence of a positive transition. Virtually identical results were in evidence when the segment of 89 top managers was compared to the sample of its higher level peers from the earlier study by Nel. The results support the premise that today's South African managers have a more ethical predisposition than did their peers of some 20 years prior to them. However, the study concurrently documents the reality that there is ample room for further improvement.

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This article has been written within the framework of the Global Survey of Business Ethics 2010. It is seemingly the first attempt to investigate Business Ethics as academic field in Francophone Africa. After a discussion of methodological considerations, the article provides an overview of how Business Ethics is distributed in Francophone Africa. Even though, it is not well established in that part of Africa, some interesting data have been found in some countries like Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Rwanda and Senegal. Business Ethics has been investigated in three areas: teaching, training and research. In Francophone Africa, teaching Business Ethics does not seem to be a reality in traditional faculties of Economics, Management or Commerce. Training in Business Ethics, however, is a reality in Francophone Africa, notably with the non-governmental organizations that deal with political and economic governance, development, and women and gender issues. Research on Business Ethics can be found in journals, bulletins, consultancy reports, university term papers, seminars and colloquia as well as in books.

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This article provides a comparative summary of the findings of the survey of Business Ethics as field of Teaching, Training and Research across the four sub-regions in Sub-Saharan Africa (Western Africa, Southern Africa, Eastern Africa and Francophone Africa). The article commences with a discussion on the terminology that is used to refer to Business and Economic Ethics in Sub-Saharan Africa. It then provides an overview of the prevalence and distribution of Business Ethics as field of Teaching, Training and Research in Sub-Saharan Africa that demonstrates the substantial growth in the field of Business Ethics since 2000 when an earlier survey was conducted. The focus areas in the field of Business Ethics are identified as well as the major themes that were found with regard to Teaching, Training and Research in Business Ethics. Also the major challenges that are foreseen in the field of Business Ethics over the next five year are discussed. Finally a number of concluding remarks are made that highlight unique features and challenges in the current state of Business Ethics in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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In a world of increasing concern about corporate governance, universities should be at the forefront of role modelling sound governance and promoting the development of moral standards in society in accordance with one of their central mandates. This paper argues that compliance with relevant legislation and higher education policy of the country is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for sound and meaningful governance within universities. What is also required is the exposing and addressing of those 'less easy to articulate' and often subtle practices that render meaningless espoused values and that hamper full collegiality that can contribute to the achievement of university objectives. In addition, this omission has resulted in poor role modelling of governance standards to students who pass through universities on their way to becoming future leaders and decision-makers. These are the students who may translate their university experience into the way they influence, in some way, the moral standards of society. The paper concludes by posing three questions, as a start, to guide the interrogation of governance and to begin the process of developing moral responsibility at universities.

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