Evolving Business Ethics: Integrity, Experimental Method and Responsible Innovation in the Digital Age (Wirtschaftsethik in der globalisierten Welt)

Business ethics as a discipline has been evolving rapidly, and indeed needs to evolve constantly. This evolution is mandated more urgently than ever before as we plunge headlong, and with increasing velocity, into the era of automation, artificial intelligence and digitization. In a scenario where legal and policy guidelines are scarce or ambiguous, the role of business ethics in guiding academic and industrial research and innovation cannot be understated. Ethical codes and guidelines are needed for educators, scientists, industries, law and policy makers, as well as for the general public engaged with emerging technologies not only to ensure a smooth transition into the autonomous and digital age, but also to ensure that in the process, we do not unknowingly disengage from basic human rights, values and responsibilities. Traditional, time tested and universally accepted principles of (business) ethics, including principles of integrity, responsibility and sustainability must, therefore, not be abandoned, but rather permitted to evolve to address the unique issues that emerging technologies present to humankind. This evolution necessarily entails an evolution also in research methods (including methods that permit multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder engagement), entrepreneurship ethics and a multi-cultural understanding of human rights and responsibilities, as relevant to emerging technologies such as autonomous driving. The envisaged volume “Evolving Business Ethics: Integrity, Sustainability and Responsible Innovation in the Digital Age” accordingly brings together contributions in the field of business ethics from a diversity of perspectives and disciplines. Preface Contents The Peter Löscher Chair of Business Ethics—10 Years After 1 A Brief History of the Chair 2 Research Areas 2.1 Ethics of Digitization 2.2 Experimental Ethics 3 Key Publications 4 Teaching 5 Conferences and Other Events Organized by the Chair References Part I Integrity, Entrepreneurship, and Corporate Social Responsibility Individual and Corporate Integrity. Stretching the Concept 1 Introduction 2 Integrity in Corporations 3 The Concept of Integrity 4 Successfully Taking Your Life Seriously 5 The Challenge of the First Definition 6 Calhoun’s Integrity as a Social Virtue 7 Conclusion: Transferring the Conceptualisations to the Corporate World References Organizational Integrity: Discussion of an Approach to Business Ethics in the Age of Digitization 1 Introduction 2 How Digitization Influences Business Ethics 3 Integrity as Multicultural Concept for Business Ethics 4 Definition of Organizational Integrity and Its Properties 5 Why is Integrity an Important Ethics Concept 5.1 Integrity and Self-Interest 5.2 Integrity and Competition 5.3 Integrity and Discourse 6 Conclusion References Risk Taking and the Ethics of Entrepreneurship 1 Introduction 2 Definitions of Entrepreneurship 3 Risk Taking and Entrepreneurial Spirit 4 Competition and Entrepreneurial Spirit 5 Risk in Experimental Economics: A Cross-Cultural Perspective 6 Consequences for Ethics 7 Epilogue References Disentangling Gut Feeling: Assessing the Integrity of Social Entrepreneurs 1 Introduction 2 Social Entrepreneurs, Social Venture Capitalists, and the Importance of Integrity 2.1 Social Entrepreneurs 2.2 Social Venture Capitalists 2.3 Definition and Importance of Integrity 3 Attributes Affecting the Assessment of Integrity 3.1 Personal Experience of the Social Entrepreneur 3.2 Professional Background of the Social Entrepreneur 3.3 Voluntary Accountability Efforts of the Social Entrepreneur 3.4 External Judgments of the Social Entrepreneur 3.5 Reputation of the Social Entrepreneur 3.6 Awards/Fellowships Granted to the Social Entrepreneur 3.7 Influence of Experience on the Evaluation of Integrity 4 Method 4.1 Sample 4.2 Data Collection 4.3 Measures 4.4 Analysis 5 Results 5.1 Results of the Experts 5.2 Comparison to Results of Students 6 Discussion and Conclusion References Part II Order Ethics and Experimental Business Ethics Chances, Problems and Limits of Experimental Ethics 1 Experimental Philosophy 2 Experimental Ethics 3 Philosophical Precursors 3.1 Ethics on a Naturalistic Basis 3.2 Business Ethics with Economic Means 4 Chances: Why Experimental Ethics? 5 Problems: What Could be Key Research Problems of Experimental Ethics? 6 Practical Implications of Experimental Ethics? 7 Criticism to be Expected 8 Conclusion References Order Ethics: A Contemporary Ethics for the Digital Society 1 Introduction 2 The Challenge of Order Ethics 3 Appealing to Individual Virtues in the Market Society 4 The Level of Rules is the Systematic Place of Morality in the Digital Society 5 Conclusion References Order Ethics: The Turn Towards Polycentric Democracy 1 Introduction 2 Order Ethics: Political Philosophy 2.1 Basic Building Blocks 2.2 From Consent to Constitutional Democracy 3 The Minarcüst Critique 4 The Anarchist Critique 5 Answering the Critics 6 Polycentric Democracy 7 Summary References Part III Responsible Innovation in the Digital Age Responsible Artificial Intelligence. Challenges in Research, University, and Society 1 Challenges of AI-Research 2 Challenges of AI-Responsibility 2.1 Foundations and Certification of AI 2.2 Explainability and Responsibility 2.3 Ethics, Behavior, and Fair Decision-Making 2.4 Studying AI and Certification in the Field 3 Perspectives of Universities References The Ethics of Crashing: Defending the Order Ethics Approach 1 Introduction 2 Order Ethics & Ethics of Crashing 3 Some Clarifications References Motivating Employees in a Globalised Economy. The Moral Legitimacy of Applying Gamification in a Corporate Context 1 Introduction: Incentivising Human Resources 2 The Setting 3 Wellbeing, Fun and Games as Cure for Deteriorating Working Conditions 4 Challenges in the Application of Gamification 4.1 Elements of Gamification by General Electrics 4.2 Delta Airlines Adventure Travel Game 5 Gamification as Exploitation 6 Conclusion: The Legitimacy of Encouraging Work Enthusiasm References As ethical principles are applied to emerging technologies such as autonomous driving, that is, to new kinds of agency, the limitations of basic ethical principles believed to be universal become apparent. A major challenge for business ethics and for ethics of technology is therefore to anticipate future issues that will arise with emerging technologies. This development includes an evolution also in research methods such as experimental and multi-disciplinary approaches. These tasks and research methods have been and are being pursued at the Peter LöscherChair of Business Ethics.Ethical codes and guidelines are needed for educators, scientists, industries, law and policy makers, as well as for the general public engaged with emerging technologies not only to ensure a smooth transition into the autonomous and digital age, but also to ensure that in the process, we do not unknowingly disengage from basic human rights, values and responsibilities.The volume “Evolving Business Ethics: Responsible Innovation in the Digital Age” accordingly brings together contributions in the field of business ethics from a diversity of perspectives and disciplines. The contributions are divided into three thematic categories. The Part I concentrates on traditional business ethical issues of integrity, entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility. The Part II gathers articles on two topics of particular relevance for the Peter Löscher Chair of Business Ethics: Order Ethics and Experimental Ethics. The Part III takes up the most recent focus of the chair: responsible innovation in the digital age. "Business ethics as a discipline has been evolving rapidly, and indeed needs to evolve constantly. This evolution is mandated more urgently than ever before as we plunge headlong, and with increasing velocity, into the era of automation, artificial intelligence and digitization. Ethical codes and guidelines are needed for educators, scientists, industries, law and policy makers, as well as for the general public engaged with emerging technologies not only to ensure a smooth transition into the autonomous and digital age, but also to ensure that in the process, we do not unknowingly disengage from basic human rights, values and responsibilities. Traditional, time tested and universally accepted principles of (business) ethics, including principles of integrity, responsibility and sustainability must, therefore, not be abandoned, but rather permitted to evolve to address the unique issues that emerging technologies present to humankind. The envisaged volume brings together contributions in the field of business ethics from a diversity of perspectives and disciplines."--Cover page 4