Ethical banks: an Alternative in the Financial Crisis

This paper studies the differences between traditional financial intermediaries (commercial banks, saving banks and credit cooperatives) and ethical banks that focus on positive social and ethical values. The credit crisis calls into question the functionality and good performance of traditional banks. The full incorporation of ethical values and principles by traditional financial intermediaries might be a form to solve their misleading financial situation. We have analyzed four factors that theoretically mean ethical differences: information transparency, placement of assets, guarantees and participation. These four factors are grouped in an index called Radical Affinity Index (RAI). The paper is focused on the study of RAI using a sample of 119 European banks. The evidence shows, that transparency of information and placement of assets are factors that differentiate ethical banks and the rest of financial intermediaries. The guarantees and participation, which seemed to be useful factors to differentiate ethical aspects of banks, do not support clear evidence to the analysis. In sum, RAI is a functional and useful index to show the ethical policy of financial intermediaries

Giving credit where it’s due – but no more: an ethical analysis of trade credit

In spite of its commercial importance and signs of some concern by some commentators, trade credit has not been subjected to serious ethical analysis. This is especially important in the current financial crisis, given that credit from banks is in short supply, leading to increasing pressure on trade credit. In addition to identifying trade credit as a topic of ethical significance, this paper develops an analysis of the ethics of trade credit grounded in an understanding of its purpose. Making a distinction between “operating” trade credit and “financial” trade credit, it provides an account of the maximum period for which it is appropriate for one company to delay payment to another from which it has purchased goods or services. This has implications not only for companies that take credit but also for external commentators who seek to rate companies according to their speed of payment. The responsibility of suppliers not to extend excessive credit, and thus act as a quasi-bank, also follows from the analysis developed

Ontological Stakeholder View: An Innovative Proposition

This article describes a theoretical way of understanding business enterprise, for what it is used the stakeholder theory as a theory of the firm. Thus, the purpose of this article is to show an innovative perspective called ontological perspective of stakeholders that relies on a phenomenological model where the subjective perspective of agents is the key, from a purely monetarist model to an economic, social and emotional value creation model, and from a deductive model of stakeholder interests to an inductive model. The main contributions are: add a new perspective to the different classifications made of stakeholder theory, avoid monetarist reductionism under the concept of value in a way that the manager takes into account all interconnected interests of stakeholders, and finally prioritize interests map instead of roles map without accepting the assumption that the role involves joint and no conflicting interests

El crédito comercial y la crisis crediticia: un análisis descriptivo en Europa; Reino Unido y España

El uso de crédito comercial como forma de financiar el corto plazo ha aumentando en los últimos años, las grandes empresas utilizan más días del que necesitan para realizar los pagos a las pequeñas empresas, lo que provoca fatales consecuencias financieras para los proveedores. Estos problemas financieros no son nuevos, pero con la restricción pronunciada del crédito los problemas se agudizan debido a que el uso masivo del crédito comercial repercute negativamente en los proveedores cuya insolvencia y riesgo de quiebra aumentan. En este trabajo se revisan de forma descriptiva el uso del crédito comercial en la crisis crediticia. Las principales contribuciones de la ponencia son dos. En primer lugar, mostrar las consecuencias financieras por la utilización del crédito comercial y, concretamente, en la crisis crediticia, y cómo el gobierno de Reino Unido desarrolla políticas públicas de pago para reducir el efecto negativo de los impagados. En segundo lugar, estudiar y comparar la situación de los países europeos en términos de pago a los proveedores y, en particular, el caso de Reino Unido, pero también el caso Español.The use of trade credit as a short-term financing is increasing in the last years; large firms use more days to pay small firms than they need, which causes financial fatal consequences to suppliers. These financial problems are not new, but with the credit crunch they are coming up because the massive use of the trade credit impacts negatively on suppliers whose insolvency and bankruptcy risks increase. In this paper we review in a descriptive way the use of trade credit in the credit crunch. The main contributions of the paper are two. Firstly, we show the financial consequences of the use of trade credit, and specifically in credit crisis, and how UK government develop public payment policies to reduce the negative effect of delete payments. Secondly, we study and compare the situation of European countries in terms of payment to suppliers, and in particular the case of UK, but also Spanish case

ADAPTATION TO FLOODING EVENTS THROUGH VULNERABILITY MAPPING IN HISTORIC URBAN AREAS

Historic urban areas are complex and inter-reliant systems, vulnerable to natural hazards. Over the recent years, the increase frequency in extreme precipitation events and sea-level rise, have impacted on a large number of historic areas, growing concern over disaster mitigation related to climate change. Most of the changes in the climatological indicators may have adverse impacts on historic areas, leading to physical, social and cultural consequences and should be included in urban planning practice. The importance of addressing cultural heritage in disaster risk has also been included in The Sendai Framework, considering the dimensions of vulnerability, adaptive capacity and exposure through systematic evaluation. Urban planning decisions involve an understanding of complex interactions between different aspects of the city, in its constructive, social, economic, environmental and cultural system. The analysis of these interactions requires a systemic approach as the components operate on different spatial and temporal scales and generate a large amount of data. This information can be used to determine the vulnerability of historic areas by assessing it at the building level, through the creation of typologies representing the building stock, often characterized by similarities and common constructive elements. The comprehension of the information can be supported and homogenized by a multi-scale urban model, to facilitate the understanding of interactions and the link among the different disciplines involved. This paper describes the methodology proposed for vulnerability mapping in historic urban areas, by using a categorization method supported by an information strategy and a multi-scale urban model.Authors would like to acknowledge the funding provided by the Basque Government through the ADVICE project and the research group IT781-13 at the UPV/EHU

Single case research methodology: a tool for moral imagination in business ethics

Purpose: Although there are several often-used case research methods for teaching purposes, these cannot be used to conduct scientific research into business ethics, perhaps owing to criticism levelled against it. The precise aim of this work is to expound and argue for its use within the framework of scientific hypothetical-deductive methodology. Design/methodology/approach: The opportunities offered by this methodological approach, both from an inductive (Eisenhardt, 1989; Dyer and Wilkins, 1991) and a deductive perspective (Yin, 1993; Carson et al., 2000), have been wasted, creating a need for scientific contributions within this area; hence, this study. It was carried on a theoretical approach of the use of single case applied to corporate management based on religion and spirituality inclusion. Findings: The results obtained indicate that the single-case research method makes it possible to put forward alternative hypotheses to the dominant hypothesis, making contributions to the theory. Concretely, the scientific legitimacy of its use is justified by what it has been called “possibilistic hypothesis” for what it is not necessary to collect a large data or make an empiric research. Practical implications: In the field of business ethics, these hypotheses (possibilistics) make alternatives stand out that widen the moral responsibility of decision-makers. It implies an open mind for decision-makers and rigorous arguments using just a single case. Reinforce and make them easier based on moral imagination improvement. Originality/value: The decision process is complex, but in this rich method, the single-case study could permit establishing rigorous and robust decisions easily. The case study is not used widely for management, but this perspective could enrich and increase its use

Is the Delphi method valid for business ethics? A survey analysis

Although Delphi has come a long way in the development of the method itself, or even in business organisation, it has not been used at all in business ethics. To fill this gap, we have reviewed the literature on the use of Delphi in business, and particularly in the field of business ethics; we have also evidenced the method’s lack of use in this field, but noted its potential contribution to this research stream. An online survey has been administered to scholars in business ethics that have previously participated in a Delphi survey. The scholars come from nine different countries, and the survey has been held between January 2015 and March-June 2016. The findings show that in the experts’ opinion Delphi is as rigorous, appropriate and useful as any other research method in the field of business ethics, such as focus group, interviews, surveys (online) and case analysis. The Delphi method is assessed anonymously and economically by a group of experts dispersed around the world. Moreover, applying the Delphi method in business ethics could enrich the consensus on limiting the fuzzy area in which ethical business decisions (ethical decision-making) are argued and determined. It is a way of facilitating the search for a solution to the ethical dilemmas delimiting a problem, which is a further advantage of the Delphi technique

Eficiencia social en las cajas de ahorro españolas transformadas en bancos

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effect of the transformation from savings banks into commercial banks. The Spanish savings banks during the 2012-2014 period have been used as a “quasi-experiment” or as an example for other countries in which there are savings banks nowadays. The aim is to show if there are efficiency differences between banks and former savings banks. Then, at least in the first years after their transformation, savings banks are still achieving very positive results in social activities, and, besides, they are improving their economic results. These findings are useful for both potential transformations of savings banks in other European countries with this type of financial entities, and for future research with Latin America, Asia or Africa financial data.El objetivo de este documento es analizar el efecto de la transformación de cajas de ahorro en bancos comerciales. Las cajas de ahorro españolas durante el periodo de 2012 a 2014 se han utilizado como “cuasiexperimento” o como ejemplo para otros países en los que actualmente existe esta estructura. El objetivo es mostrar si hay diferencias de eficiencia entre los bancos y las antiguas cajas de ahorro. El resultado es que, al menos en los primeros años posteriores a su transformación, las cajas de ahorro siguen obteniendo resultados sociales positivos y, además, están mejorando sus resultados económicos. Estos hallazgos son útiles tanto para posibles transformaciones de cajas de ahorro de otros países europeos en los que existe este tipo de entidades financieras, como para futuras investigaciones con datos financieros en América Latina, Asia o África

Metodología para un buen gobierno corporativo. La participación en la empresa

La participación en la empresa es un tema de larga trayectoria, que preocupa desde la perspectiva ética y desde la perspectiva de recursos humanos; sin embargo, el interés sobre la participación en las empresas no suele venir acompañado de una reflexión sobre su fundamentación. En el presente trabajo, abordamos la participación tanto desde la perspectiva ética como desde la gobernanza. Las nuevas teorías, alternativas a las basadas en el derecho de propiedad, como la de Stakeholders o la Multifiduciaria, posibilitan una nueva forma de entender la participación de los diferentes agentes que componen la empresa. El trabajo, en un primer momento, analiza la fundamentación teórica de la participación, para centrarse a continuación en el modelo de gestión de los Stakeholders de Freeman, finalizando con un acercamiento al liderazgo ético; no sin antes hacer mención a problemas como el de ingobernanza o la paradoja de Goodpaster.The participation in the company is a longstanding issue, which concerned from the ethical perspective and from human resources perspective; however, the interest about the participation in companies is not usually reinforced with the fundamentation reflection. In this paper, we study the participation not only from the ethical perspective, but also from the governance perspective. New theories that are alternative theories to those based on Property Rights, such as the Stakeholder Theory or Multifiduciary Theory enable a new way of understanding the involvement of different actors that compose the company. The paper, at first, analyzes the theoretical basis of participation, and then is focus on Freeman’s Stakeholders’ management model, finishing with an approach to ethical leadership; but before to finish the nongobernance problems and the Goodpaster paradox are analyzed

The role of shapeholders as a link between a firm and non-stakeholders: the pursuit of an economy for the common good based on stakeholder theory

Stakeholder theory may be the Archimedes lever that allows defining a possible Economy for the Common Good; however, the theory’s current level of development does not enable it to escape the criticism that considers it nothing more than shared egotism. The expansion of the concept of stakeholder, including not only groups that collaborate in the creation of value or which are actively impacted by the organisation, but also incorporating those affected by omission –non-stakeholders- would lead to the reconciliation of stakeholder theory and the common good. Nevertheless, to set it within corporate practice, besides having selfish and altruist incentives, would be of interest for the conceptual development of shapeholders, understood as the link between non-stakeholders’ interests and needs, and firms