Virtuous circles in the academy: insights from AIB’s ethical organizational culture

An organization’s culture summarizes “how we do things here” and its ethical organizational culture (EOC) “how we do things around here in relation to ethics”. An EOC consists of formal and informal ethical components, which must be aligned and nurtured over time for an organization to develop and maintain a strong ethical culture. In this article, I provide an autoethnographic case study of the formal and informal components of the EOC of the Academy of International Business (AIB). I argue that ethical cultures of academic associations such as AIB can be viewed as three interlocking “virtuous circles” (journals, leaders, and members), guided by the principles of academic integrity and the norms of ethical behavior. From the EOC case study, I draw research insights for IB scholars and practical policy insights for journal editors, leaders, and members of academic associations, in particular, those with worldwide members.