Organizational Ethics in Action: The Use of Contemplation Questions as Decision Aids in Large Companies

Baiba Renerte, Malte Baader, Carmen Tanner, Alexander F. Wagner and Nicole Witt
Additional contact information
Baiba Renerte: University of Zurich - Department of Finance
Malte Baader: University of Zurich - Department Finance
Carmen Tanner: University of Zurich - Department of Finance; Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen
Alexander F. Wagner: University of Zurich - Department of Finance; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Swiss Finance Institute
Nicole Witt: Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen

No 25-103, Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series from Swiss Finance Institute

Abstract: Organizations are investing increasing effort and resources into supporting ethical decisionmaking among employees. One common approach involves the use of "contemplation questions" (CQs) - simple, reflective prompts designed to encourage thoughtful consideration of ethical challenges. In this study, we compile a unique dataset on CQ usage among the world's largest companies and find that at least 35% of Fortune Global 200 companies and 59% of S&P 200 companies employ CQs. An analysis of 727 CQs reveals significant variation across regions and industries. Based on an employee survey, we propose a classification of CQs according to the normative references they invoke, resulting in five categories: Law and Reputation, Company Policies and Culture, Universal Principles, Self, and Peers. We find that companies favor CQs focused on legal and organizational norms, whereas employees rate questions appealing to universal principles and personal values as more useful - indicating a potential mismatch between corporate practices and employee preferences and motivating future research on behavioral effectiveness.

Keywords: Ethical Decision-Making; Behavioral Ethics; Business Ethics; Decision Aids; Contemplation Questions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2025-11
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5680982 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp25103

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series from Swiss Finance Institute Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ridima Mittal ().