TRANSPARENCY: A GUIDE TO PRACTICING GOOD BUSINESS ETHICS IN NIGERIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47941/jbsm.947Abstract
Purpose: This paper examines the relevance of transparency as a guide to practicing good business ethics in Nigerian business environment. It attempts to recognize and identify the role of transparency as a guide to ethics in contemporary business organizations in Nigeria. This is necessitated by the high level of corruption and relevance of business ethics to development in the country. It is, therefore, argued that if businesses are conducted ethically by genuinely embracing transparency, it would create value in the country’s corporate and business environment.
Methodology: The paper adopts an eclectic approach by integrating ideas from different perspectives and organizing them systematically in accordance with the foregoing objective while situating Nigeria as the context of the study. Theoretical and empirical reviews are explored to justify the thematic findings and conclusion of the paper.
Findings: The paper reveals that implementation of transparency would serve as the right guide for the practice of good business ethics. It was found as an informational mechanism necessary for trust, justice, and prudence. Transparency is also found as important to businesses because of its huge benefits such as capable of establishing trustand encouraging employees to be more engaged and committed to the vision of the organization, increasing productivity, and strengthening innovation.
Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Theoretically, paper indicates that if a culture of work transparency is adopted, it is most likely to motivate innovation accountability within a business organization. Practically, transparency will make it possible for company to collectively solve problems beforehand and initiate new ideas in order to have a competitive advantage in the business world. The paper suggests transparency as a priority for the practice of good business ethics in Nigeria and concludes with relevant recommendations.
Downloads
References
Abdul-Rahman, S., Hussin, N., Kamal, J.I.A., Noh, J.I.A., Abdullah, S.N.M., Amin, Z.M. (2020). The Challenges in Implementation of Ethics in. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(11), 1187-1194.
Akkermans, H., Bogerd, P. and van Doremalen, J. (2004). Travail, transparency and trust: A case study of computersupported collaborative supply chain planning in high-tech electronics. European Journal of OperationalResearch, 153: 445-456.
Albu, Q.B. and Flyverbom, M. (2016). Organizational Transparency: Conceptualizations, Conditions, and Consequences. Business & Society, 1–30.
Anekwe, R.I., Ndubusi-Okolo, P. and Uzoezie, C. (2019). Sustainability in the Nigerian Business Environment: Problems and Prospects. International Journal of Academic Management Science Research (IJAMSR), 3(3), 72-80.
Baker, M. and Hart, S. (2008). Product Strategy and Management. England: Pearson Education Limited.
Baumhart, R. (1968). Ethics in Business. Publisher: University of Michigan
Berggren, E. & Bernshteyn, R. (2007). Organizational transparency drives company performance. Journal of Management Development, 26(5), 411-417.
Berglund, T. (2014). Corporate governance and optimal transparency. In J. Forssbaeck & L. Oxelheim (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of economic and institutional transparency (pp. 359-371). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Blackburn, P. L. (2007). The code model of communication: A powerful metaphor in linguistic metatheory. Dallas, TX: SIL e-Books International.
Blazovich, M. and Smith MS (2010). The effectiveness of business codes: A critical examination of existing studies and the development of an integrated research model. Journal of Business Ethics, 77(6), 111-127.
Boatright, J. (2009). Ethics and the Conduct of Business. (6th ed), United States: Prentice Hall.
Boydell, V., Fox, J. and Shaw, S. (2017). Transparency and Accountability Strategies & Reproductive Health Delivery Systems. Learning Exchange Report, 1. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9sc4b7bk. Retrieved 12/11/2021.
Brown, M.E., Trevino, L.K., & Harrison, D.A. (2005). Ethical Leadership: A Social Learning Perspective for Construct Development and Testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97, 117-134.
Bushman, R., Piotroski, J. and Smith, A. (2004). What determines corporate transparency? Journal of Accounting Research, 42(2), 207-252.
Carter, B. (2014). Transparency and accountability (GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report 1067). Birmingham: GSDRC, University of Birmingham. http://www.gsdrc.org/docs/open/hdq1067.pdf. Retrieved 12/11/2021.
Christensen, L.T. and Cheney, G. (2015). Peering into transparency: challenging ideals, proxies, and organizational practices. Communication Theory, 25(1), 70–90.
Clegg, S., Kornberger, M. and Rhodes, C. (2007). Business Ethics as Practice. British Journal of Management, 8(2), 107–122.
Coombs, T.W. and Holladay, S.J. (2013). The pseudo-panopticon: The illusion created by CSR-related transparency and the Internet. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 18(1), 212-227.
Crane, A. and Matten, D. (2016). Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization. London: Oxford University Press.
Danker, M. (2013). Understanding stakeholder activism, managing transparency risk. In D. Crowther & G. Aras (Eds.), The governance of risk (pp. 33-72). Bradford, UK: Emerald Group.
Eijffinger, S.C.W. and Geraats, P.M. (2006). How transparent are central banks? European Journal of Political Economy, 22(1), 1-21.
Ezeanyim, E.E. and Ezeanolue, E.T. (2021). Business Ethics And Organizational Performance In Manufacturing Firms In South-East, Nigeria. International Journal of Business & Law Research, 9(3), 1-14.
Ferrell, O., Fraedrich, J. and Ferrell, L. (2004). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. (6th ed), Boston, USA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Freeman, R.E. (1984). Strategic management: a stakeholder approach. Massachusetts: Pitman.
Fuente, J.A., Garcia-Sanchez, I.M. and Lozano, M.B. (2017). The role of the board of directors in the adoption of GRI guidelines for the disclosure of CSR information. Journal of Cleaner Production, 141(10 January, 737-750.
Garrett, T.M. (1966). Business Ethics. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Gray, S.J. and Kang, H. (2014). Accounting transparency and international standard-setting. In J. Forssbaeck & L. Oxelheim (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of economic and institutional transparency (pp. 456-476). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Grigoropoulos, J.E. (2019).The Role of Ethics in 21st Century Organizations. International Journal of Progressive Education, 15(2), 167-175.
Hess, D. (2007). Social reporting and new governance regulation: The prospects of achieving corporate accountability through transparency. Business Ethics Quarterly, 17(3), 453-476.
Kaptein, M. (2008). Developing and testing a measure for the ethical culture of organizations: The corporate ethical virtues model. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29(7), 923-947.
Kim, S., and Lee, J. (2012). E-Participation, transparency, and trust in local government. Public Administration Review, 72(6), 819-828.
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2012). Principles of Marketing (14th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Inc
Kotler, P. and Keller, K.L. (2006). Marketing Management (12th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
Lluka, V. (2010). Business Ethics: Some Theoretical Issues. Available online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/26716/ MPRA Paper No. 26716. Retrieved 14/11/2021.
Ogunro, V.O. (2014). Nigeria’s Business Environment: Issues Challenges and Prospects. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 4(4), 132-138.
Pirson, M. and Malhotra, D. (2011). Foundations of organizational trust: What matters to different stakeholders?.Organization Science, 22(4), 1087-1104.
Potosky, D. (2008). A conceptual framework for the role of the administration medium in the personnel assessment process. Academy of Management Review, 33(3), 629-648.
Rasmussen, R.V. (1991). A communication model based on the conduit metaphor. Management Communication Quarterly, 4(3), 363-374.
Reynolds, G.W. (2019). Ethics in information technology (6th ed.). Boston: Cengage Learning, Inc.
Schipper, F. (2007). Transparency and integrity: Contrary concepts? In K. Homan, P. Koslowski, & C. Luetge (Eds.), Globalisation and business ethics (pp. 101-119). Farnham, UK: Ashgate.
Schnackenberg, A.K. and Tomlinson, E.C. (2016). Organizational transparency a new perspective on managing trust in organization-stakeholder relationships. Journal ofManagement, 42(7), 1784–1810.
Walumbwa, F.O., Luthans, F., Avey, J.B., and Oke, A. (2011). Authentically leading groups: The mediating role of collective psychological capital and trust. Journal of Organization Behavior, 32(1), 4-24.
Wehmeier, S. and Raaz, O. (2012). Transparency matters: The concept of organizational transparency in the academic discourse. Public Relations Inquiry, 1(3), 337-366.
Wise, V., Ali, M.M. and Wise, T.D. (2010). Ethical conduct in business: a case study analysis using Bangladesh experiences. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 8(4), 184-`92.
Zhu, K. (2004). Information transparency of business-to-business electronic markets: A game-theoretic analysis. Management Science, 50(5), 670-685.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.
