Loyalty

Loyalty is a prominent concept in business literature and practice. Discussions of loyalty most often center on employee loyalty to organizations but also include loyalty to particular persons and groups within organizations, customer loyalty to products and brands, and investor loyalty to corporations. Loyalty is generally understood as devotion to a person, group, cause, or ideal. Accounts differ, however, regarding which ethical framework best characterizes loyalty, who is (or should be) loyal to whom, and loyalty's relationship to [Page 1306]whistle-blowing, self-interest, and reciprocity. Also of critical concern are situations when one loyalty conflicts with another, and the impact that has on personal integrity.