Business Ethics and Critical Consultant Jokes: New Research Methods to Study Ethical Transgressions

Description

This open access book offers four ways to enrich traditional research methods in business ethics. By looking at critical jokes and cartoons on management consultants, their business practice and their clients’ demands, many ethical transgressions in business get addressed. By illustrating and criticizing such transgression, jokes can serve as an example in a theoretical argument, as a prompt to reflect on in an open interview, as a statement to assess in an enquiry or as basis for qualitative content analysis. By adding jokes to the conversation on ethical transgressions in business much depth and honesty can be added, resulting in better research data. Jokes can help to surpass social desirability bias included in answers given in traditional interview settings or enquiries. This book is of interest to consultants, researchers, educators and students in business ethics and management. The book showcases what kind of practical and ethical wisdom is embedded in business jokes and how this knowledge can be made productive in the context of business ethics.   Preface Acknowledgements [Please insert PrerenderUnicode{} into preamble]C[Please insert PrerenderUnicode{} into preamble]o[Please insert PrerenderUnicode{} into preamble]n[Please insert PrerenderUnicode{} into preamble]t[Please insert PrerenderUnicode{} into preamble]e[Please insert PrerenderUnicode{} into preamble]n[Please insert PrerenderUnicode{} into preamble]t[Please insert PrerenderUnicode{} into preamble]s About the Author 1 Introduction of Jokes-Based Research Methods 1.1 Traditional Studies of Ethical Transgressions in Business 1.1.1 Journalists Reporting on Unethical Business Practices That Include Consultants 1.1.2 Academic Studies on Consultants’ Ethics and Their Methods 1.2 Unethical Business Practices and Public Jokes 1.2.1 Literature Studies and Ethics 1.2.2 Humour Theories and Joking About Unethical Practices 1.2.3 Jokes-Based Research Methods and Research Ethics 1.3 Outline and Contributions References 2 Jokes That Illustrate Unethical Business Behaviour 2.1 Introduction to a Jokes-Based Method of Illustration 2.2 The Issue—Code Violations as Food for Jokes 2.3 Application—Ten Business Ethical Transgressions Illustrated 2.3.1 Illustration Method: How to Search and Select Jokes Illustrating the Top Ten 2.3.2 Illustration Results: A Top Ten Ethical Transgressions in Business Jokes 2.3.3 Jokes-Based Illustrations and Their Contributions to Ethical Research Questions 2.4 Possibilities and Limitations of Jokes as Illustrations 2.4.1 Jokes Can Illustrate Common Unethical Business Behaviours 2.4.2 Method Limitations of Using Jokes as Illustration of Ethical Transgressions 2.4.3 Reviewer Perspectives on Jokes-Based Illustrations and Possible Responses 2.4.4 Practical Tips for Searching Critical Business Jokes References 3 Critical Jokes and Moral Reflection in Interviews 3.1 Introduction to a Jokes-Based Interview Method 3.2 The Issue—Experiencing Overly Pressuring Leadership 3.3 Application—Open Interviews and Jokes Based Reflections 3.3.1 Jokes-Based Interview Method: Start with Reflecting on Critical Business Jokes 3.3.2 Interview Results Show Recognition, Nuancing, and Going Beyond the Cartoon 3.3.3 Jokes-Based Interviews and Their Contribution to Ethical Research Questions 3.4 Possibilities and Limitations of Jokes-Based Interviews 3.4.1 Critical Cartoons Stimulate Reflections on Business Ethical Transgressions 3.4.2 Method Limitation of Jokes-Based Interviews 3.4.3 Reviewer Perspectives on Jokes-Based Interviews and Possible Responses References 4 Jokes-Based Survey Questions on Expert Virtues 4.1 Introduction to a Jokes-Based Survey Method 4.2 The Issue—Opinions on Consultants’ Lack of Expertise 4.3 Application—Using Expertise Cartoons to Study Opinions 4.3.1 Jokes-Based Survey Method: Rating Cartoons Next to Traditional Statements 4.3.2 Survey Results: Cartoon-Based and Statement-Based Responses 4.3.3 Jokes-Based Survey Method and Contributions to Ethical Research Questions 4.4 Possibilities and Limitations of a Jokes-Based Survey Method 4.4.1 How to Make Use of Cartoon-Based Rating Questions in a Survey 4.4.2 Method Limitations of Jokes-Based Rating Questions in a Survey 4.4.3 Reviewer Perspectives on Jokes-Based Surveys and Possible Responses References 5 Content Analysis of Critical Business Jokes 5.1 Introduction to a Jokes-Based Method of Content Analysis 5.2 The Issue—Using Consultant and Client Uncertainties 5.3 Application—Analysing a Sample of Critical Business Jokes 5.3.1 Method of Jokes-Based Content Analysis: Sampling and Open Coding 5.3.2 Results: Tactics Related to Client and Consultant Uncertainty 5.3.3 Jokes-Based Content Analysis and Contributions to Ethical Research Questions 5.4 Possibilities and Limitations of Jokes-Based Content Analysis 5.4.1 Larger Samples of Jokes Provide Richer Accounts of Ethical Norm Violation 5.4.2 Method Limitations of Jokes-Based Content Analysis 5.4.3 Reviewer Perspectives on Jokes-Based Content Analysis and Possible Responses References 6 Concluding Reflections on Jokes-Based Research Methods 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Scope and Benefits of Jokes-Based Research Methods 6.2.1 Use of Jokes as Illustration in Business Ethics Research 6.2.2 Use of Jokes-Based Interviews in Business Ethics Research 6.2.3 Use of Jokes-Based Surveys in Business Ethics Research 6.2.4 Use of Jokes-Based Content Analysis in Business Ethics Research 6.3 Validity of the Four Jokes-Based Research Methods 6.4 Wider Applications of Jokes-Based Research Methods 6.4.1 Using Jokes-Based Research Methods in Wider Contexts of Norm Violation 6.4.2 Jokes-Based Research in Course Assignments 6.4.3 Further Sources to Explore in Jokes-Based Research Methods 6.5 Analytic and Normative Value of Jokes in Business Ethics References