Abstract
The news reminds us almost daily that the “truth” is apparently not highly valued by many in business. This paper develops two prescriptive standards — the Expectation and Reputation guidelines — that may help businesspeople avoid violating clearly accepted truth standards. The guidelines also assist in determining whether truth is required in circumstances where honesty seems in conflict with the practical demands of business. A discussion of why, when and how these guidelines may be applied to facilitate truth-telling by business organizations follows, along with illustrative examples.
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J. Brooke Hamilton III, Assistant Professor of Management, University of Southwestern Louisiana. He was head of the Philosophy Department at Tuskegee Institute, worked 14 years in industry, and returned to academe after receiving his M.B.A. His work appears in theJournal of the Southeastern Academy of Legal Studies in Business and the Proceedings of the Southern and Southwestern Marketing Associations.
David Strutton is the Acadiana Bottling Professor of Marketing at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. Strutton's research has appeared in theJournal of Advertising Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, andPsychology & Marketing, among other outlets.
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Hamilton, J.B., Strutton, D. Two practical guidelines for resolving truth-telling problems. J Bus Ethics 13, 899–912 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00871703
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00871703