The paper explores the ethical challenges linked to negative business practices in international business (IB). The main findings and conclusions can be summarized as follows:
Main Findings
I- Four Key Themes: the paper identifies four critical areas of concern regarding dark-side practices in IB:
- Ethical considerations: it examines issues like privacy concerns, big data misuse, AI bias, and the role of digital transformation in shaping these ethical dilemmas.
- Data processing issues: the challenges include managing vast amounts of data ethically, avoiding algorithmic biases, and the risks posed by inadequate data handling.
- Legal considerations: the study highlights the impact of different legal frameworks (e.g., GDPR, AI regulations) on managing data privacy and the need for international compliance.
- Managerial contingencies: it discusses the importance of transparency and accountability in managerial actions, especially when dealing with AI and big data in various markets.
II- Dark-Side Practices: the paper discusses examples of unethical business practices such as fraud, misleading AI, social media manipulation, and corporate scandals like Volkswagen’s Dieselgate. It emphasizes the role of information asymmetry and lack of transparency in these scenarios.
III- Technological Impact: the study highlights the risks associated with emerging technologies, like AI and big data analytics, in amplifying unethical practices due to issues like data bias, cybersecurity threats, and ethical dilemmas in automated decision-making.
IV- Need for Automated Content Analysis (ACA): it suggests using ACA methods to analyze large, unstructured datasets to gain deeper insights into unethical practices in IB and advocates for more sophisticated tools to understand patterns in digital content.
Conclusions
- The research calls for a multidisciplinary approach to address the dark side of business practices in IB, involving ethics, law, technology, and management strategies.
- There is a significant knowledge gap in understanding the underlying mechanisms of these unethical practices, especially in their international and cross-market contexts.
- The study proposes a research agenda focusing on enhancing transparency, AI ethics, legal compliance, and data processing standards to mitigate risks associated with unethical practices.
- It emphasizes the importance of developing ethical guidelines and policies to responsibly manage AI and data-driven business strategies, aiming to protect consumer privacy and ensure fair practices in global markets.
In this article, the core focus is on the ethical, legal, and technological implications of the dark side of business practices in the international context, along with its recommendations for future research directions.
| Click here to read the article | Business Ethics, The Environment & Reponsibility, 2024.
Authors : Nebojsa S.DAVCIK (EM Normandie Business School, METIS LAB, Oxford, UK) – Piyush SHARMA (Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia) – Stefan MARKOVIC (NÉOMA Business School, Reims, France)