Jeanel F.

Camenero 2nd year BSBA Major in Financial Management

BACC 3 Pre-final Exam

Journal Critic

The Ethics of Online Retailing:A Scale Development and Validation from the Consumers’ Perspective

1. While e-commerce has grown significantly in recent years, so have consumers' concerns about the
ethical implications of online shopping. The vast majority of previous research in this area has been
conceptual in nature and has been limited in scope by focusing on consumer privacy issues. This study
develops a reliable and validscale to measure consumers’ perceptions regarding theethics of online
retailers (CPEOR). Findings indicate thatthe four factors of the scale – security, privacy, non-deception
and fulfillment/reliability – are strongly pre-dictive of online consumers’ satisfaction and trust.
Theresults offer important implications for e-retailers and arelikely to stimulate further research in the
area of e-ethicsfrom the consumers’ perspective.

In this study, the unit of analysis is the individual consumer who has purchased at least one item online
in the last four months. This condition will help consumers evaluate the online retailer's website. Early
data collection for item refinement was carried out with members of the community of a southeastern
university in Spain, following the procedure described by Milne and Culnan (2004). (the survey was
conducted by email). The e-mail message described the purpose of the research and invited each
recipient to participate in the survey by completing the attached e-questionnaire. They were asked to
respond to the questionnaire based on their most recent online purchase. Email surveys have numerous
advantages over traditional interview methods. Email surveys are a more efficient and convenient
method of collecting data (Best and Krueger, 2002).

A second study was conducted to assess the factor structure and reliability of the 19-item refined scale,
as well as to establish convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity using confirmatory factor
analyses. A minimum sample size of 200 was set in order to have a sufficient number of observations for
such analyses (Parasuramanet al., 2005). Following previous research (Freestone and Mitchell, 2004), a
convenience sample of respondents were emailed the questionnaire and asked to refer others from the
target population (consumers who had purchased an item online in the last 4 months) to complete the
e-questionnaire and return it to the main author. Respondents were encouraged to respond to the
questionnaire based on their most recent on-line purchase. The email campaign yielded a total of 209
complete and usable responses. As in the first study, questionnaires covered a wide range of product
categories (books, CDs, computer software and hardware, apparel, and flight tickets).

2. The primary goal of this study is to create and validate an instrument to assess consumers'
perceptions of online retailers' ethics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt in the
literature to specifically measure this construct. This effort is especially important because online
retailers must understand how consumers perceive and evaluate the ethics of their websites in the face
of fierce competition and ever-increasing consumer expectations. Prior research in traditional retail
settings has revealed that consumers' perceptions of a retailer's ethical practices are strongly related to
the formation of positive store attitudes and repeat purchasing behavior. As a result, the second goal of
this research is to examine the impact of CPEOR on consumer satisfaction and trust.

3. The authors tells that the internet exists as a separate realm to the physical world, and may have
developed an ethical culture of its own. E-commerce has increased remarkably over the last decade, yet
consumers’concerns regarding ethical issues surrounding e-commerce also continue to grow.This study
represents an initial step into the measurement of CPEOR, and the understanding of its effects on
consumer satisfaction and trust.The results offer important implications for e-retailers and are likely to
stimulate further research in the area of e-ethics from the consumers’ perspective.

E-commerce, Ethical Commerce

1. The internet and e-commerce have many businesses that conducted their business transactions via an
electronic network. Rapid advancements in communication technologies have resulted in rapid changes
in online business transactions. E-commerce networks are becoming increasingly important in online
business, and consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about ethical issues related to e-
commerce, such as security, privacy, and trust. The findings of the e-commerce ethical research will be
useful in current management practice, such as developing business policies and strategies and
disseminating information to managers and organizational leaders. This study contains some common
method bias. The possibility of the common method bias exists cannot be completely ruled out. Security
and privacy are two major factors that drive online businesses and lead to online consumers developing
trust in the digital environment.

Business ethics developed during the globalization era are now being eroded by technological
advancements that have provided more space. As a result, ethics can be defined as all general norms or
"rules" that must be followed in business and are a source of noble values and good deeds. The
advancement of telecommunications and informatics technology should be used as effectively as
possible to provide a positive economic impact. The trade in telecommunications and informatics
technology, commonly referred to as e-commerce, increases the likelihood of business people,
particularly in Indonesia, having the opportunity to spread their wings and penetrate larger businesses.
This must be backed up by government efforts to build consumer trust in e-commerce transactions.

2. This study examines the new boundary of e-commerce, the ethical challenges it faces, and discusses
some of the problems encountered as well as some of the emerging solutions. Concerns include the
effect on other businesses, investors, and consumers. Financial reporting, intellectual property, and
privacy issues are all addressed. The purpose of this journal is to investigate the various factors that
influence consumer trust and privacy on e-commerce systems, as well as to identify various ethical
factors that influence consumer perceptions of e-commerce adoption. Business values and ethics are
now almost expected to play a significant and long-term role in a company's identity. It is important that
businesses who want to align their ethics and commerce must do so sincerely, not just as a marketing
strategy. The businesses must also recognize that being ethical will necessitate a financial investment in
order to achieve their objectives over time.

3. According to the authors of this study, there has been a recognition that some of this issues must be
addressed. One manner of resolving problems is by enacting legislation. The problem with legislation is
that it is rigid and reactive, technologically obselete by the time it has been enacted, and often yields
unanticipated and unwanted results. Another type of solution is to allow disputants to battle it out in
courts. Litigation is slow, expensive and generates inconsistent and inconclusive results. In the global
economy of the web, jurisdictional inconsistencies are unworkable and cumbersome. Also, in this rapidly
changing arena, by the time a final decision is reached, the technology and the economy is probably so
change that this very expensive resolution may mo longer be relevant. A third approach is self-
regulation. Many professions and industries are in the process of developing solutions to these
dilemmas. As the entire business of e-commerce evolves, so does its sensitivity to ethical considerations.
It is increasingly apparent to those who do business on the web that there is an overwhelming need to
instill ethical values into this industry. By doing so, dot-coms will not only promote consumer and
investor confidence but ultimately will also benefit.

Small-Business Owner-Managers’ Perceptions of Business Ethics and CSR-Related Concepts

1. The journal is all about the recent academic articles which indicate that concepts related to business
ethics and corporate responsibility are becoming more ambiguous and overlapping. Furthermore, the
perception of these concepts in the small-business world may differ from the original academic
definitions. The cognition of small-business owner-managers is the focus of this article. Because of the
influence of small-business owners and managers on their businesses, corporate responsibility and
ethical issues can take a different path in SMEs. Small-business owners and managers have the ability to
shape corporate culture and enact values other than profit. We identified how the small-business
owner–manager makes sense of concepts related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and business
ethics using a cognitive perspective. The concept of sense making has recently been applied to CSR.
Using a cognitive perspective to explain specific phenomena found in small-business ownership may
help. The Repertory Grid Technique (RGT) is being used for this research, a method that has not
previously been widely used in the business and society field.

2. This study was invalidate the terminology confusion found in the academic literature. Small business
owners and managers differentiate between various concepts related to corporate responsibility and
business ethics pragmatically and rather clearly, but they also recognize the interrelationships and
interdependencies of these concepts. These findings contribute to a better understanding of how small-
business owners think about corporate responsibility and ethical issues when making decisions.

3. According to the authors of this study, Small-business owner–managers interviewed in our research
appeared to be less informed and unknowledgeable of the discussion on the vagueness and confusion of
terms that monopolises much of the recent research literature on CSR and business ethics. Instead, in a
pragmatic manner, practitioners form their own cognitive models, independent of academic research
and even without a thorough theoretical knowledge, based on their own perceptions. They receive
information through other channels, mainly from their professional organisations and simplified articles
in the business press. This repertory grid analysis of small-business owners’ cognitions has led to the
conclusion that sensemaking indeed occurs among small-business owner-managers. The study also
illustrated a certain disconnect between academics and practitioners. Some understanding of the real
managerial world should be required of scholars engaged in management research, especially in CSR
and ethics, as well as cognisance of the specific issues that concern small-business and entrepreneurship
(Das, 2003). The study confirmed the importance of social and cultural dimensions, such as values and
norms, in small family firms, where non-economic rationales are considered in a long-term approach. In
a pragmatic way, the small-business owner has recognised the complementarity between shareholder
value and CSR-related concepts.

This research has backed the academic literature view that there is a close link between CSR and
sustainability, but rejected the idea that the terms business ethics and CSR are interchangeable. The
study showed that corporate governance, CSR and business ethics are complementary. The study also
illustrated that small-business leaders give corporate governance a greater emphasis in the business and
society fields than most scholars find in their comparative studies on the hierarchy of concepts (Egels,
2005; Schwartz and Carroll, 2008). These findings contribute to a better understanding of how small-
business owner-managers think and integrate corporate responsibility and ethical issues into their
decision-making.

The small-business owner-managers we talked to embraced the distinctions between three basic
complementary concepts: corporate responsibility, corporate governance and business ethics. Within
this framework, stakeholder management seemed to fulfil the role of facilitator. The three concepts
correspond to the three dimensions of management, governance and values, while stakeholder
management represents the strategic dimension. These concepts are essentially interrelated and
interconnected. All of the major concepts relating to business and society complement and reinforce
each other.

Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategic Implications

1. Scholars and managers have paid more attention in recent years to the strategic implications of
corporate social responsibility (CSR). Researchers are looking beyond the definition and identification of
CSR activities to investigate the strategic role of CSR in organizations. Similarly, there is growing interest
among executives in the causes and consequences of CSR, particularly among executives at
multinational, multi-divisional corporations. These executives are aware that business norms and
standards, regulatory frameworks, and stakeholder demand for CSR can differ significantly across
nations, regions, and business lines. Furthermore, this topic cannot be examined through a single
disciplinary lens. As a result, it appears that CSR provides fertile ground for theory development and
empirical analysis, as seen in the Journal of Management Studies.The goal of this special issue is to
advance the CSR research agenda by bringing together diverse viewpoints. The papers presented at the
workshop were critiqued by reviewers and workshop participants, and then they were reviewed again
after the workshop. Following that, an outline of a research agenda for theoretical and empirical
research on the strategic implications of CSR will be presented. They end with a brief summary of each
study in the special issue and its significance to the proposed research agenda.

2. This journal was about using CSR to differentiate products; however, it is important to distinguish
between two types of product differentiation. The first type of vertical differentiation occurs when the
majority of consumers prefer one product over another. Other things being equal, most consumers
prefer a vehicle that uses less fuel. In the context of CSR, such a situation could arise when consumers
are convinced that the product with a CSR feature is superior to the product without such a feature. In
order to comprehend the motivation for providing social benefits, we must first comprehend how the
provision of these goods via strategic CSR affects society. When a company links the provision of a public
good to the sale of their private products, this is an example of strategic CSR.

3. The authors describe various perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR), which they use to
create a framework for considering CSR's strategic implications. They propose an agenda for additional
theoretical and empirical research on CSR based on this framework. The papers in this special issue are
then reviewed and compared to the proposed agenda.

In addition, the authors conclude that there is an inverse relationship between competition intensity
and CSR provision. That is, in more competitive markets, strategic CSR will provide less of the public
good. In less competitive markets, on the other hand, more of the public good will be provided. This is
understandable, because increased competition results in lower margins and, as a result, less ability to
provide additional (social) attributes or activity. Less competition, on the other hand, opens up the
possibility of higher margins and the ability to provide additional attributes or activities.

With this special issue, authors are hoping to advance this state of emergence. The papers presented
here exemplify the wide range of perspectives on CSR. They also demonstrate an increasing ability to
clearly define the construct of CSR and build strong theoretical arguments and high-quality empirical
studies that will provide an effective springboard for future research in CSR.