When managers of a business or non-profit interact with a
societal norm by openly rejecting any obligation to act in accord with the
norm, the reaction from stakeholders can be utter disbelief. The refusal to act
in accordance with the norm as it impacts the organization can be beyond bad
management and even unethical conduct. The refusal to acknowledge a societal
norm even as its impact on the business and stakeholders has been arranged by
the business is beyond, though it can include, unethical conduct. Norms are not
in themselves ethical, for as David Hume wrote, you can’t get an ought from an is; rational justification by ethical principles must be added
before we can get to, “You ought to do X” from “X is the practice.” Yet ethical
principles can be in norms, in which case we can say, “You ought to act in
accordance with the norm because it is ethical.” In some cases, the
norm-business relationship (i.e., Business and Society) can be more salient
than an ethical principle in the norm itself. A managerial practice at
Goodwill, a non-profit retailer based on donations for the poor, serves as a
case in point.
The full essay is at "Goodwill Dismisses a Solid Societal Norm."
