The aim of this research study is to explore what ethical issues emerge in the Indonesian mining industry? What shapes the emergence of these issues and how do organisations engage with them? Many research studies (e.g. Dierksmeier, 2013; Bowie, 2002; Cragg, 2002; and Moberg, 1997) emphasise the relevance of ethical theories in understanding ethical issues in business organisations. However, there remains a significant gap in the business ethics literature in understanding ethical issues in a context-sensitive manner. There is little awareness in most of these studies of the influence of the social structure of a multi-ethnic and multicultural society like Indonesia or of the specific industrial and organisational contexts which are being explored. There is therefore a challenge for researchers to provide a conceptual framework to study ethical issues which will fit the Indonesian mining companies’ situation. This research employed Critical Realism (CR) and a qualitative approach. Data was collected from forty-eight participant interviews with managers and employees of four mining companies in Indonesia. This made it possible to understand what ethical issues emerge in the mining industry and to examine what shapes their emergence, as well as how mining companies engage with the ethical issues. The findings revealed that the companies’ ethical concerns result from the particular characteristics of the industry and the Indonesian national culture. However, their ethical concerns typically reside in risk management and regulatory compliance. The findings showed that cultural mechanisms shape the emergence of ethical issues in the industry: family perspective and paternalism, religiosity, and multi-ethnicity. The study findings suggest that the mechanisms shaping the emergence of ethical issues at the organisations presented at times conflicting cases of instrumental or possibly unethical behaviour but also evidence of set rules and regulations as well as moral awareness, practices aimed at considering others and stakeholders’ interests. This research argues that to understand the ethical issues and how business organisations engage with them in a multi-ethnic and multicultural context, it is essential to ground the conceptual framework in both ethical theories and specific cultural sensitivities, as only then can the full story be grasped.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:725129 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Mulkhan, Unang |
| Contributors | Laaser, Knut ; Rozuel, Cecile ; Hurrell, Scott |
| Publisher | University of Stirling |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1893/25929 |
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