Identification of Competition Ethics Components in Strategic Management Based on Selected Interpretations of the Holy Quran

Karimi, Mohamadmahdi; Shafizadeh, Ali; Mahdavi Hazaveh, Mohammadreza; Baniasad, Reza

Identification of Competition Ethics Components in Strategic Management Based on Selected Interpretations of the Holy Quran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Islamic Studies and Business Management, Imam Sadiq University

² Islamic Studies and Business Management. Imam Sadiq University

³ Department of Business, Faculty of Management, Imam Sadiq university, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

According to some management researchers, ethics is the most important and controversial topic in strategic management. Regarding ethics in competition, significant theories have been proposed by scholars and experts that consider issues such as justice, fairness, and integrity in ethical strategic decision-making. One of the main challenges in implementing strategic management in Iran is the lack of utilization of rich Islamic concepts such as competition ethics in organizations. The current research aims to address this issue by identifying the components of competition ethics in strategic management. Based on the thematic analysis methodology with an Attride-Sterling approach, initially, keywords related to competition ethics were identified, then these terms were subjected to 496 Quranic interpretations, and eventually, 563 codes were generated. From these codes, 28 basic themes were identified. The research results indicate that these themes, organized under four organizing themes titled "Contexts and Conditions of Competition Prohibition," "Superior Competition Contexts," "Attention to the Religious Front of Actors and Their Objectives," and "Characteristics of Perfected Competition," aligned with the Islamic perspective, will strengthen the overarching theme of "Competition Ethics".

Keywords