Ethics, Sustainability, and Culture: A Review and Directions for Research

Rising fuel prices, concerns over global warming, and increased consumer demands for more ethical business operations have prompted scholars to look into ethics and sustainability issues from a research angle. Thousands of articles have been published on the subject since the 1960s. However, despite the global nature and importance of ethics and sustainability issues, less attention has been paid to such issues within the international business domain. In addition, while a number of reviews were conducted in this area, these are too generic in focus to provide in-depth assessments of particular thematic areas of importance. Our work focuses on a specific international business area, namely the intersection between ethics and sustainability with culture. It identifies, reviews, and synthesizes previously published work in this area. The study uncovers inconsistencies, reveals critical knowledge gaps, and presents fruitful opportunities for researchers investigating the role of culture within the ethics and sustainability domains.