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March 2017
Article

Creativity in Unethical Behavior Attenuates Condemnation and Breeds Social Contagion: When Transgressions Seem to Create Little Harm

By: Scott S. Wiltermuth, Lynne C. Vincent and F. Gino

Across six studies, people judged creative forms of unethical behavior to be less unethical than less creative forms of unethical behavior, particularly when the unethical behaviors imposed relatively little direct harm on victims. As a result of perceiving behaviors... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Perception; Creativity

14 Sep 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Google Engineer Deserved to be Fired by the CEO

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Credit: Steven Zimmerman/Wikipedia Commons Google software engineer James Damore’s ten-page manifesto excoriating his employer for its diversity initiatives incited a major controversy in August about affirmative action and free speech.... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

January 2018
Case

Merck CEO Ken Frazier Quits President Trump's Advisory Council

By: Andy Zelleke and Brian Tilley

In the first six months of Donald Trump’s presidency, Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier appeared alongside Trump at least three times at press events, one of which commemorated the first and only meeting of the president’s Manufacturing Job Initiative (better known at the... View Details

Keywords: CEO Role; Politics; Corporate Governance; Moral Sensibility; Managerial Roles; United States

2014
Discussion Paper

The Promise of Microfinance and Women's Empowerment: What Does the Evidence Say?

By: Dina D. Pomeranz

The microfinance revolution has transformed access to financial services for low-income populations worldwide. As a result, it has become one of the most talked-about innovations in global development in recent decades. However, its expansion has not been without... View Details

August 2020 (Revised November 2022)
Case

George Soros: The Stateless Statesman

By: Geoffrey Jones and Wendy Ying

This case traces the business career and philanthropic activities of George Soros. The Hungarian-born Soros made a fortune as a hedge fund investor after establishing Quantum Fund on the tax haven island of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles in 1973 where he was... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Fund; Philanthropy; Populism; Finance; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Political Elections; Personal Development and Career; Leadership Style; Financial Services Industry; Europe; Hungary; United Kingdom; North and Central America; United States

2022
Book

Complicit: How We Enable the Unethical and How to Stop

By: Max H. Bazerman

It is easy to condemn obvious wrongdoers such as Elizabeth Holmes, Adam Neumann, Harvey Weinstein, and the Sackler family. But we rarely think about the many people who supported their unethical or criminal behavior. In each case there was a supporting cast of... View Details

Keywords: Complicity; Enabling; Ethics; Behavior; Personal Characteristics; Society

2019
Working Paper

Collusive Investments in Technological Compatibility: Lessons from U.S. Railroads in the Late 19th Century

By: Daniel P. Gross

Collusion is widely condemned for its negative effects on consumer welfare and market efficiency. In this paper, I show that collusion may also in some cases facilitate the creation of unexpected new sources of value. I bring this possibility into focus through the... View Details

Keywords: Collusion; Compatibility; Railroads; Rail Transportation; Standards; Integration; Trade; History; United States

SSRN

01 Apr 2008
Working Paper Summaries

No Harm, No Foul: The Outcome Bias in Ethical Judgments

Keywords: by Francesca Gino, Don A. Moore & Max H. Bazerman

January 2024 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Equal Justice Initiative: Mercy, Truth and Dignity

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Gerald Chertavian and Brittany Logan

In 1989, the Equal Justice Initiative was established as a non-profit, public interest law firm by Harvard Law School graduate, Bryan Stevenson.

EJI provides legal assistance to condemned prisoners, people wrongly convicted or unfairly sentenced, children in... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Nonprofit Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Issues; Race

12 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 12, 2009

Working PapersDishonest Deed, Clear Conscience: Self-Preservation through Moral Disengagement and Motivated Forgetting (revised) Authors:Lisa Lixin Shu, Francesca Gino, and Max H. Bazerman Abstract People routinely engage in dishonest acts without feeling guilty... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2024
Working Paper

Moral Incoherence During Category Emergence: The Contentious Case of Connected Toys

By: Ryann Noe

Through a longitudinal study of the emergence of connected toys – physical toys that interact with digital devices – I build theory about moral incoherence: when competing views about the moral worth of a category persist over time. During the course of their... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Technology Adoption; Moral Sensibility; Market Entry and Exit; Consumer Behavior

January 2025
Case

A Tiger in the Tank: Exxon Sues Investors

By: Clayton S. Rose, Sarah Sasso and James Weber

In June 2024, investors were trying to make sense of ExxonMobil’s (Exxon) lawsuit against two impact investors, Arjuna Capital (Arjuna) and Follow This, that had just been dismissed by the U.S. District Court of Northern Texas. Exxon’s suit challenged the rights of two... View Details

2023
Working Paper

The Irredeemability of the Past: Determinants of Reconciliation and Revenge in Post-Conflict Settings

By: Kristen Kao, Kristin Fabbe and Michael Bang Petersen

In the aftermath of violent conflict, identifying former enemy collaborators versus innocent bystanders forced to flee violence is difficult. In post-conflict settings, internally displaced persons (IDPs) risk becoming stigmatized and face difficulties... View Details

Keywords: Conflict and Resolution; War; Refugees; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Public Opinion; Lawfulness; Iraq

2021
Working Paper

False Signaling and Personal Moral Failings: Two Distinct Pathways to Hypocrisy with Unequal Moral Weight

By: Jillian J. Jordan and Roseanna Sommers

Moral engagement is a key feature of human nature: we hold moral values, condemn those who violate those values, and attempt to adhere to them ourselves. Yet moral engagement can make us appear hypocritical if we fail to behave morally. When does moral engagement risk... View Details

Keywords: Moral Engagement; Hypocrite; Dishonesty; Moral Values; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Values and Beliefs

Article

Signaling When Nobody Is Watching: A Reputation Heuristics Account of Outrage and Punishment in One-shot Anonymous Interactions

By: Jillian J. Jordan and David G. Rand

Moralistic punishment can confer reputation benefits by signaling trustworthiness to observers. However, why do people punish even when nobody is watching? We argue that people often rely on the heuristic that reputation is typically at stake, such that reputation... View Details

Keywords: Signaling; Morality; Trustworthiness; Anger; Third-party Punishment; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Trust; Reputation