Despite the centrality of the topic for the debate on sustainability, future generations have largely been ignored by business ethics. This neglect is in part due to the enormous philosophical challenges posed by the concepts of future generations and intergenerational duties. This article reviews some of these difficulties and defends that much clarity would be gained from making a distinction between future generations and the next generations. It also argues that the concept of next generations offers a better starting point (...) for business ethics to incorporate the topic in its research agenda. We then suggest four potential pathways to explore this territory. The four approaches build on the notion of organizations as communities with memory and vision, on the narrative shape of organizational life, on the affinity of stakeholders with the next generation, and on systems of indirect reciprocity. These first two approaches are connected to communitarian approaches to business ethics, and the last two engage in a dialog with contractarian views and stakeholder theory. The article ends with some implications for theory and practice. (shrink)

Effective implementation and committed practice of sustainable procurement remain a significant challenge for many organisations across the globe. This paper sought to understand the extent to which employees’ perceptions influence the practice of sustainable procurement in the context of a developing country where sustainability awareness is low. Drawing on the Diffusion of Innovation theory, procurement officers’ perceptions of sustainable procurement were examined relative to the attributes of complexity, compatibility and relative advantage. Empirical data from 322 Ghanaian organisations were analysed using (...) descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling to determine the nature of procurement officers’ perceptions of sustainable procurement and the effects of the perceptions on relevant organisational practices. The findings indicate that whereas perceptions of relative advantage did not significantly influence the practice of sustainable procurement, perceptions of compatibility had a significant positive effect, and perceptions of complexity had a significant negative effect on sustainable procurement. This study offers insights into the link between employees’ perceptions and organisational sustainable procurement practice, thereby providing a conceptual basis for effective management of the pertinent relationships with implications for enhanced ethical practices in procurement and supply chain management. (shrink)

Kidfluencing, a social media business in which children serve as primary influencers of audience opinions or behavior, is a rapidly growing entrepreneurial phenomenon where parents build enterprises around the likability and antics of their children. Proponents argue that kidfluencing is simply monetizing the existing antics of kids, critics argue that it is child labor. We explore the ethical implications of kidfluencing through the abductive lens of four leading kidfluencer cases—Ryan’s World, Vlad and Nicki, Ninja Kidz, and The Bucket List Family—in (...) light of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Through a comparative case analysis of these four highly successful kidfluencing channels, we demonstrate both the ethical challenges as well as the trade-offs between rewards and rights risks within kidfluencing. We develop a model of five fundamental threats to the rights and freedoms of children involved in social media influencing, proposing a framework by which parents, platforms, and policy-makers can assess and regulate this industry. In so doing, we make contributions to the literatures of child labor and the ethics of care. (shrink)