Ethical considerations of service organizations in the information age

Abstract

Few researchers sought to identify the most popular themes of study that promote ethical leadership in service organizations. This paper addresses this knowledge gap in the academic literature. Its research objectives are threefold: (i) Firstly, it identifies and extracts high impact articles on service ethics published in the last five years; (ii) Secondly, it presents the results from a thematic analysis, to shed light on research paradigms and areas of study focused on this topic; (iii) Thirdly, it advances theoretical and practical implications. In sum, this article raises awareness on ethical and social responsibilities of service organizations in an age where they are utilizing disruptive technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), big data and analytics, as well as with sharing economy platforms, among others. The findings indicate that they are expected to conduct sustainability accounting, reporting and assurance of their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, to prove their legitimacy with stakeholders, among other responsibilities.