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The Downward Effect of Ethics in the Value Chain

<p>The media has responded toward unethical behavior in rainforests during the ‘80’s, triggering</p><p>the still upcoming trend of investigation of ethical considerations, as described by Macfarlane</p><p>(1995). Many researchers are constantly improving the ethical theories and showing</p><p>continued change in the perception of ethics (Svensson & Wood, 2007)</p><p>The purpose of this research is to identify the effect of ethics on the proactive or reactive</p><p>behavior of companies, with a downward tendency provided in the value chain.</p><p>The theoretical framework consists out of a set of theories supporting the goal of identifying</p><p>ethics within a company, applying a new business ethics model and measuring the pro-active</p><p>and re-active behavior of the stakeholder in the value chain. Finally, all the theories used, are</p><p>combined in an integrated theoretical model used to justify the collection of empirical data</p><p>and to give structure to the analysis.</p><p>The empirical data has been gathered through non structured and semi-structured interviews</p><p>with customers, employees within the case company, and a supplier to the case company.</p><p>These findings are complemented with secondary data gathered through websites, annual</p><p>reports, codes of conduct, media articles and others sources.</p><p>The findings of the study showed that the (in the theoretical framework) assumption of a</p><p>downward effect in perception and change in ethical considerations is not as obvious as</p><p>previously thought. Within this case study, the ethical influences come from the case</p><p>company, situated in the middle of the value chain, influencing both the consumer and the</p><p>supplier, in ethical considerations.</p>

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:hh-2539
Date January 2009
CreatorsBöke, Nicole, Mulder, Dewy F.
PublisherHalmstad University, School of Business and Engineering (SET), Halmstad University, School of Business and Engineering (SET), Högskolan i Halmstad/Sektionen för Ekonomi och Teknik (SET)
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, text

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