Everyday ethical decisions in business – A structure and agency perspective

Citation

Fenech C, Anker TB & Keston-Siebert S (2026) Everyday ethical decisions in business – A structure and agency perspective. European Management Journal. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2026.04.003

Abstract
This study explores how everyday ethical decisions in business emerge through the interplay of individual agency and organisational structures. Drawing on structuration theory and descriptive ethics, we argue that ethical decision-making is neither solely a matter of personal cognition nor entirely determined by structural norms. Using qualitative data from interviews across diverse industries, we conceptualise ethical practice as a dynamic process situated within a field of possibility defined by two dimensions: ethical agency and structural influence. Our findings reveal four relational configurations of ethical agency and identify a spectrum, spanning free ethical agency to constrained ethical agency, where ethical engagement is most productive. We introduce the concept of a dynamic ethical equilibrium to explain how decision-makers sustain ethical awareness under structural pressures. This relational perspective advances theory by integrating micro-, meso-, and macro-level influences, offering a nuanced lens for understanding and fostering ethical behaviour in organisational contexts.

Keywords
Dynamic ethical equilibrium; Ethical decision-making; Organisational behaviour; Institutional theory; Structuration theory; Business ethics; Descriptive ethics

Journal
European Management Journal