BUSINESS ETHICS
BIOGRAPHIES
This, in turn, underlines the need to develop studies with a mixed methodology – qualitative and quantitative – in which the various stakeholders can share their thoughts. In 2024, meanwhile, we collaborated on the latest triennial international study, Ethics at Work led by the UK-based non- profit Institute of Business Ethics (IBE). This research has included Portugal since 2018 and Católica Porto Business School’s participation as a country partner ties in with the forum’s current work on the launch of an index on the ethical climate of organisations. The work and research activities of the forum are further promoted and extended by the Ethics Forum Collection, a series of releases from the university’s publishing house, UCP Editora. Another important outlet comes from UCP’s celebrations around the annual Global Ethics Day initiative established in 2014 by US think tank the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. For Global Ethics Day 2023, for example, the forum made its work on the theme of ethics and hybrid labour publicly available, encompassing a survey, book and documentary. Similarly, we shared the fruits of the forum’s study on ethics and generational diversity at work last year, including a report and webinar. In addition, we have used the IBE methodology as the basis for our own study into the ethics and conduct of companies listed on the Portuguese Stock Index. Our intention here was to offer a comparative analysis of FTSE firms and help guide companies towards fostering a culture of integrity, transparency and responsibility. The ensuing report represents the first of the forum’s Research Notes series and forms part of the school’s contribution to the continuous evolution of ethical practices in Portugal’s corporate sphere and the promotion of sustainable governance. The search for the good life Born as a simple safe space for leaders’ ethical reflection, the Ethics Forum at Católica Porto Business School has extended its potential substantially, creating and sharing knowledge and tools that allow any organisation to factor ethics into their thinking. We believe that reflecting on ethics will further the development of workplaces that contribute to a life with more human meaning. Indeed, while thinking about ethics enables us to consider matters from a more normative and procedural approach, thinking while using ethics facilitates the integration of different perspectives around the situations experienced by each of those involved in the same reflective space. Today, the forum’s multifaceted activities allow us to fulfil its overriding aim of promoting business ethics through the exchange of experiences and joint reflection, as well as via the creation and sharing of knowledge. Together, this aligns with the vision of ethics described by French philosopher Paul Ricoeur as “the search for the good life, with and for others, in just institutions”.
Helena Gonçalves is a lecturer, researcher and consultant in ethics and sustainability at Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, where she has co-ordinated the Ethics Forum since 2015. She holds a PhD in management from the University of Oporto Raquel Campos Franco is an assistant professor at Católica Porto Business School and recently founded de‑fora‑a-fora, a platform dedicated to knowledge‑sharing around societal challenges. She holds a PhD in management from the University of Bath
approaches to the situations being analysed. In addition to the topic in question, each session serves as a moment of informal continuous learning around the latest developments in organisational ethics, drawing on studies, magazine articles, books or even legislation. From 2018 onwards, reflections on each session were summarised in short articles in the interests of collective memory and to share some of the most relevant aspects of the research and topics covered with the community. Available on Católica Porto Business School’s website, these articles include the following: The succession of ethical leadership: the case of Ignatian leadership and Ethics and generational diversity at work: crossed views . In 2020, the school also added a ‘sponsoring member’ status to help reinforce, broaden and disseminate the work of the forum and assist in the realisation of its purpose. Moving beyond reflection with research The forum also produces and promotes national studies on different themes each year. In 2022, we covered ethics in relation to hybrid labour, while in 2023 we tackled issues around generational diversity at work. The design of these studies is carried out with forum members. Their views offer a window into the ethical experience of work and allow us to identify the most relevant ethical issues for the group at a given point in time. To add to the group’s perspective, others are invited to take part in collective reflection sessions and the collation of narratives. It is important to further our understanding of both the experience and perception of ethical challenges at work in a way that takes the diversity of organisational contexts into account.
38 Ambition • ISSUE 2 • 2025
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