ABSTRACT
Because networking is often informal and unstructured, it can escape the forms of scrutiny which bring checks and balances into business processes. This puts the onus on networkers to ensure the ethical probity of their actions. While networking, like any other form of human interaction and exchange, raises a number of ethical issues, the ethics of networking is a relatively underexplored area in the research literature. This chapter takes account of some of the key published studies as well as our own empirical research to discuss some of the dilemmas presented by networking, and point to their resolution in practice.
In particular, we examine:
Network as a form of friendship
Respect for self and others in networking, including respecting privacy
Inclusion and exclusion
Power and unconscious bias
We argue throughout that taking a consciously ethical approach to networking is more likely to produce sustainable mutual value than simply ‘muddling through’ without questioning assumptions that might otherwise be taken for granted.
