The normative theories to business ethics have come to influence the development of ethics and compliance program in organizations. This program is highly effective for a person with ethical awareness, however, there are instances where a once conceived ethical action may actually be unethical while unbeknownst to the person. Concerning this point, behavioral business ethics clarifies the psychological processes of people who act unethically beyond their awareness. This paper introduces three research questions: (1) what might lead a person to act or behave ethically? (2) why do people act unethically beyond their awareness? and (3) who or what structures ethics and compliance program to prevent unethical acts and promote individual ethical conduct? In this case study, I examine XYZ Company to introduce a company-wide initiative called "Yoi-Shigoto" (good quality of work) and what measures should be implemented so that employees do not act unethically beyond their awareness.

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This paper verifies and reports on key developments within Japanese Business Ethics Practices. Famous for their dedication to business ethics practices, Company X was selected for a two-year cooperative survey. Three characteristics were extracted from this survey: 1) direct focus on improving human-to-human communications; 2) dynamic utilization of internal staff; 3) heavy emphasis on practical ethics training and proactive questionnaire participation. These combined characteristics suggest a new formulation of a business ethics model that is collectively focused on working together to increase ethical skills, namely a Workplace Environment Driven (WED) model for business ethics practices. This study finds that by applying the WED model at Company X we were able to describe the Japanese approach for preventing corporate scandals. Furthermore, we introduce the Self-Obligation Driven (SOD) model as a contrasting model for describing alternative approaches.

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In Japan, a company's Corporate Social Responsibility has been understood to mean contributing back part of the profit to the society through acts such as donation and patronage of arts and cultures. Socially Responsible Investment recognizes that the essence of CSR is assuring the quality of the profit. In addition, the Principle of Responsible Investment argues that E(Environment), S(Society) and G(Governance), which are the core elements of CSR, are important factors for corporate assessment. However, even though the importance of CSR is recognized, corporate assessment based on financial information is still the mainstream in stock markets. In order to change this, the CSR needs to be built into the measurement of corporate assessment in stock markets, where companies' values are formed. AICPA's Jenkins Report (1994) points out that relationship between CSR and financial performance is getting stronger. Going forward, social responsibility will be demanded to the investors.

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Just 3 months after the Fukushima accident, Germany decided to withdraw from nuclear energy by 2022. Their decision was based on the recommendations by "the Ethics Commission for a Safe Energy Supply" which would be the first case of a nation viewing nuclear energy as an ethical matter and leading it to formulate a new national energy policy. Japanese media's reaction to Germany's policy change have centered only on the withdrawal decision, as far as the writer knows, and no overall introduction of the report has yet been made. This paper does not intend to argue for or against nuclear energy, but to study the report, identify the underlying concepts, and illustrate why and how Germany has come to this decision, ethically, socially and economically. The writer believes that this report could, in many respects, shed light on the path Japan should take toward rehabilitation in the aftermath of the disasters.

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The purpose of research is to clarify about the influence which the evaluation from an indication and society of CSR activity information has to evaluation of the company which tackles the CSR activity by a stakeholder. In this paper, CSR activity information is the process information of CSR activity. Corporate evaluation is the integrated evaluation of CSR activity, and the spirit of innovation of CSR activity. The candidates for analysis are an employee and a stockholder. As a result of analyzing an employee and a stockholder, it became clear that disclosing the process information of CSR activity raises the evaluation and corporate evaluation from society. In the corporate evaluation about CSR activity, it became clear that the stockholder is more strongly subject to the influence from social evaluation as compared with an employee. A company needs to carry out information dissemination so that a stockholder can recognize that CSR activity is evaluated from society.

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Applying the criteria of Japan Management Quality Awards, which supply the movement of supporting the brand strategy of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibilities) to Keijinkai Hospital (a hospital group corporate with Secom), this essay discusses the following three points. 1, Gaining advantage by reflecting the CSR of the hospital to the brand and integrating the institution and strategy. 2, Spreading a constant message to the public in order to construct a brand identity of the hospital will result in brand value and improved CSR. 3, Offering service that puts patients as top priority will result in constructing the brand for the hospital and hence a better result with CSR and be expected.

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This paper examines the problem of male superiority over women in the past of Japanese society and proposes a promotion-framework aiming the realization of gender-equality society, based on the case example of Sumida-City in Tokyo, Japan. The paper then proposes a fuzzy conditional probability model of gender-equality promotion message, based on fuzzy theory. Finally, by applying a simple numerical example to the proposed model, the paper analyzes and reviews the role of social promotion message in paving the way of change from male-priority society to gender-equality society

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Japanese companies have been introducing American systems of business ethics to their organizations. However, due to difference of the Japan-U.S. corporate cultures, those systems have not really used in many cases. On the other hand, the trust from the world on Japanese companies is generally high. Therefore these two facts are inconsistent. Japanese companies often take actions based on the customary norms of Japanese society when they find a part of these American systems are not compatible with their cultural background. These customary business ethics take deep roots in the society for over 300 years, enabling today's Japanese companies to keep their high quality of products. The true solution to the problem, however, should be the establishment of a system to bridge the gap between American systems and Japanese corporate cultures, and should be the formation of check-and-balance function by the employees, which ensures the effectiveness of such structure.

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The purpose of this study is to clarify management philosophy of Akio Morita between 1980 and 1994. It was verified firstly that his Japanese oriented management philosophy creating fate sharing sense among all members in company never changed till he resigned from Sony's management in 1994. Secondly, it was verified that the basis of Morita's assertion made in 1982 that Japanese oriented management philosophy must have been superior to American management philosophy did not exist in his own policy but it was raised by the pressure that he had to justify Japanese corporate governance at Japanese subsidiary companies in the States increased in 1980s. Lastly, it was verified that Morita's assertion in 1992 that Japanese companies should have reconsider Japanese oriented management philosophy to be conformed to universal competition rule was not the real change of his management philosophy but it was a simple adjustment of his philosophical elements.

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This study aimed to grasp the future direction of the relationship between businesses and consumers based on consumer behavior analysis after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster. Our analysis of the number of subscribers to earthquake insurance and the contents of legal advice and consumer consultations showed signs that "self-help" consumers became risk averse. Consumer behavior theory suggests the house purchasing behavior of consumers is likely to reflect their values and awareness. We confirmed that the values and awareness of consumers when purchasing housing in 2011 changed to an emphasis on energy conservation and family ties, as well as safety, even if costs increased. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we clarified that there were four psychological factors involved in the energy-saving behavior of consumers, such as a sense of crisis, efficacy, social norms, and ethics, and both ethics and social norms had direct influences on such behavior.

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In Japan, companies have had a pronounced tendency to solve social problems with strategic CSR activities as premises for the use of the market mechanism recently. However, It's quite natural for companies to have harmful effects because they simply apply the management of economic activities to the strategic CSR activities without having a clear understanding of the difference between the strategic CSR activities and the economic activities. Therefore, the study is to clarify the range to which we would not be able to apply the management of economic activities and consider the unique management of the strategic CSR activities needed there. As a result, you will find that the strategic CSR activities will require four unique management methods. And you can understand that they will avoid the conflict with the benefit of the entire society, have a small risk and be active in a way that is easy to continue.

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This study aimed to presents a policy for promoting assuring work in the employment of persons with disabilities from the viewpoint of management quality and ISO 26000. Sustainable management, together with good-quality works, enhances the management quality of their employment by realizing reasonable accommodation. This corresponds to "employment creation and skills" and "social investment" in ISO 26000. Using organizations' resources by ordering work to those with more employees with disabilities is one of the ways of implementing social responsibility. Some cases in this study demonstrate inclusion through business and have connected people with and without disabilities. As a result, their business has improved and product development has resulted in high commercial value. Therefore, I suggest the subsidy system on the condition that the project plan based on ISO 26000 shows concrete ways for inclusion through business. Establishing third-party committees with a multi-stakeholder approach is also needed for check and balance. (150words)

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This paper examines the male-female wage differentials by decomposing them into endowments and discrimination components by using micro-data from the US, France, Korea and Japan. The result from the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition technique suggests that the wage gap is mainly attributable to a difference in the price-setting according to gender in respect of age and type of employment, and this tendency is the most obvious in Japan among 4 countries.

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This paper discusses how to arbitrate harassment problems in Japanese companies, and proposes a norm of "Ethic of Care" as an effective solution. Many companies recognize harassment in the workplace as a serious problem and are carrying out various countermeasures. While companies make public their measures to prevent harassment, they tend to avoid disclosing the fact that harassment exists in their workplace. When harassments happen and the problems are solved, companies tend to emphasize fairness or justice; however, this alone does not ensure adequate care for the victims of harassment. This paper explores the possibility of complementing fairness and justice for the human rights of all employees with a norm of "Ethic of Care", on the harassment issue.

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This paper surveys how 225 Japanese companies listed on the Nikkei Stock Average Index on behalf of all Japanese major companies have taken a social responsibility mainly in the field of social contribution to the communities damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake 2011, analyzing the documents such as press releases and related CSR report published after the earthquake. The result shows donations to the sufferers (90%) and aid supply (58%) were often addressed, followed by business service with no charge (43%) and charity campaign toward customers (29%). Additionally donation by employees (45%) and volunteers recruited among employees (31%) which led to corporate citizenship involving employees in their companies' aid activities should be highly regarded. In contrast, it is hard to say relatively enough efforts have been made to develop the companies' core business to restore the suffered communities through social business (3%) or employment support (3%).

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The March 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident raised numerous issues concerning the adequacy of Japan's national safety and national energy policies. In this paper, the author focuses on the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) to discuss problems related to the handling of the accident from the perspective of business ethics and risk management. While TEPCO's biggest shortcoming was in its lack of catastrophic accident contingencies, it also demonstrated insufficiencies in the areas of risk management and corporate governance. Based on lessons learned, the writer proposes the following four-point business ethics strategy: 1. Implementation of continuous "ethicality" validation practices 2. Thorough integration of "crisis response" with corporate governance 3. Management ethics dispensation system that emphasizes "sharing of values" and "work-place permeation." 4. Integration of business ethics dispensation and risk/crisis management

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On November 8^<th> 2011, OLYMPUS announced that they had been postponing registering deficits incurred from securities investments since the 1990s and covering the losses with money paid for acquiring venture companies and for M&A advisers. OLYMPUS had been listed in the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and was recognized as a company with well-established systems of governance including external Directors and Auditors. The company was also recognized for its management quality, business ethics, and active CSR programs. In reality, the Directors at OLYMPUS had illegally constructed various complex systems to conceal losses exceeding 100 billion yen with collaborators outside the company. In the course of doing so, OLYMPUS had used up its surplus funds and become financially unsound. This article will analyze the collapse of the control environment OLYMPUS with the intention of identifying the issues and lessons to be learned.

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The Asian Corporate Governance Association and global investment firms warned "poor C/G in Japan" to many business and government agencies by publishing three statements including Letters to the Legislative Advisory Council's Company Law Sub-Committee in Japan. I reviewed those warning opinions whether or not those are practical and fit for Japan. In those comments, the following three points are considered mainly. (1) Board of directors including one independent director at least up to more than half eventually should be stipulated in the text on Company Law newly. (2) The selection process of KANSAYAKU candidates in Company Law should be changed from the way of actual selection by CEO without advanced approval by auditors to the selection by the group of non-executive independent directors and KANSAYAKU. (3) The code of business conduct & ethics for members of directors and executive officers should be provided in each company referring to ISO26000, Global Compact in U/N, SOX Act TITLE IV Sec.406, etc.

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This paper considers the significance of Business Ethics, especially from the viewpoint of company information. Companies are required to disclose their business activities via financial statements based on accounting standards. As internationalization and information technology develop, market characteristics are changing. Particularly in the financial market, evaluation is moving from a historical basis to a market approach. This trend has an effect on accounting standards, and results in more accurate. However, it is still possible for companies and top management to intentionally provide false information. Therefore, Business Ethics will become more indispensable to cope with this issue.

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Today many corporations engage in various social action programs in addition to their primary businesses, and societal expectations regarding these philanthropic activities have risen. Many companies have established corporate museums in order to communicate with their customers regarding their corporate philosophy, activities, trends in related industries and so forth. As the influence of corporations in society has increased, opportunities to communicate with consumers are becoming highly significant. However, there have been few previous studies on corporate museums, and there is as yet no consistent definition of corporate museum. The purpose of this report is to understand the present state of corporate museums in Japan and to examine the role that they may play in the future.

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This study examines the role of organizational justice on employees' unethical behavior. Although both business ethics and organizational justice research have discussed similar issues such as ethical decision-making and behavior, two research disciplines have little overlapped until recently. Thus, this research discusses how organizational justice positions in an individual ethical decision-making model bridge the field of organizational justice and business ethics. The relationship between justice and employees' unethical behavior is then tested using data from Japanese machinery and food companies. The effect of an ethical environment, a representative organizational factor of ethical decision-making, and interaction effects between justice and ethical environments on employees' unethical behavior are also discussed and tested.

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The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 has turned out to be one of the world-largest earthquakes and tsunamis ever recorded with more than 18,000 dead or missing people and total or partial destruction of 394,000 houses. Total damages are estimated to amount to 16,900 billion to 25,000 billion yen including buildings, lifeline and infrastructure facilities, as well as damages in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. The paper describes how nonlife insurance companies have contributed to alleviating hardships suffered by the earthquake victims. Behind the total payment of 1,234,500 million yen earthquake insurance there has been something more than ordinary business conduct such as vastly simplifying claims procedure and providing special measures for insurance policies which have been lost in the disaster. Their conduct is interpreted as their manifestation of corporate social responsibility.

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