Today’s advances in technology allow for collection of data, information and analysis of that information to depths and breadths like never before. As the technological world has changed, the business world has too. Business research and the ethical considerations in the collection, research and use of the results are now more important than ever. As the market calls for business to be conducted with more transparency and social responsibility, customers expect business research to be conducted ethically. This also means that if unethical research is used, technology makes it easier to discover and expose online which in turn diminishes social trust and may even decrease customer sales and retention for that business.

The world is now more connected than ever and even though a business may be in the United States, many customers or business partners may reside in countries all over the world. This increases the need to conduct ethical business research with this wider world connection in mind. Ethical research is one of the foundational components of business ethics to be aware of and to practice in order to create a competitive and sustainable business in today’s world.

Ethical Research Principles

As a manager, part of your responsibility to a company and its employees is to ensure ethical research principles are understood and used when conducting research. It’s important to know if those principles are clearly defined and stated within the company. If not, there are many resources to assist in defining ethical business research for you and your team.

Over time, various organizations have developed research principles as research guidelines for social, scientific, educational, and business research. Ethical research is important for fostering a trusting, relational connection between all parties connected with the research. So, what is the essence of these business research principles?

Ethical research principles include:

• Respect for Persons and Their Autonomy. A person’s rights and decisions are respected.
• Beneficence and Nonmaleficence. Everyone involved is safe, considered and research ethically conducted.
• Fidelity and Integrity. Research is well designed, planned, process, outcomes, clear to everyone.
• Justice. Making sure the research is fair and inclusive.

You still may be asking yourself why the need to conduct ethical business research? What is so important about following ethical standards? To answer those questions read through these next points and think through your own specific business scenario and how it benefits from conducting ethical business research. 

It’s important to follow ethical business research guidelines because they:

• Promote research to be truthful, inclusive, and minimize error or misrepresentation.
• Promote guiding standards of conduct for all people involved in the research.
• Promote accountability to businesses, customers, clients, and parties connected to the research.
• Promote public trust which can lead to public support of business.
• Promote compliance to laws, social responsibility, moral and ethical values, public health, etc.

What are ways to conduct ethical business research? Let’s look at an example.

But what potentially happens to a business if ethical methods aren’t used? Let’s look briefly at a different example.

Non-Ethical Research Consequences

What if a business fostered an environment where its research was not conducted with guiding ethical standards? Can you think of a few examples? Here are a few ways businesses use unethical activities with research:

• misrepresent research results;
• break respondent confidentiality;
• violate non-disclosure agreements;
• avoid legal liability;
• plagiarism;
• manipulate research data or participants for favorable outcomes.

Additional consequences for unethical business research mean faster exposure and customer reaction happen now because of the rise of the internet, citizen reporters, whistleblower laws, and informed customers, when shady research practices are discovered.

As the world and business becomes more transparent, customers, clients and business partners can more easily find out if research has not been conducted ethically and the business backlash can be expensive and even cripple a company’s revenue and public image. Yet one more reason it is important for a business to conduct its research ethically.

Setting up ethical business research practices from the beginning and creating a company which adheres to those practices not only help a company to avoid social backlash for unethical practices, but continually foster customer trust and in turn can lead to better relations between business, customers and society.

Sources

Bryman, Alan, and Emma Bell. “Ethics in Business Research.” In Business Research Methods, 3rd ed., 122–46. Oxford University Press, 2011.

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