The ethical innovator: bridging the gap for integrating ethics into digital innovation practice

Digital technology has accelerated economic processes, and companies are trying to respond with faster innovation cycles. However, consideration of the (negative) impacts of digital technologies is often neglected, despite increasing public and regulatory demands for accountability and strategic benefits. While existing ethical frameworks offer valuable approaches to responsible innovation, their adoption in organizational settings remains limited. In this paper, we ask why such ethical frameworks are not adopted in digital innovation. We begin with empirical findings from semi-structured interviews with innovation and corporate social responsibility (CSR) leaders. They reveal barriers to adoption, such as individual limitations, organizational misalignment, and structural deficiencies. We discuss these findings in relation to the existing literature and propose recommendations for integrating ethics into practice from three perspectives: (1) the individual innovators, (2) their environment of organizational values, and (3) organizational structures. These recommendations address the epistemic, moral, and ethical requirements of the ethical innovator.