Institutionalising Responsible Business: A Systems‐Based Ethics Framework for Corporate Sustainability

Responsible business is often framed as a managerial commitment, yet its durability depends on institutional conditions. This study develops a systems‐based ethics framework to examine how responsible outcomes stabilise as organisational governance and regulatory forces interact. Using fuzzy cognitive mapping, a method for modelling causal interdependencies through weighted concept networks, it specifies a 26‐concept architecture with 67 relationships. The causal weights draw on 97 complete responses from senior corporate executives and a small number of policy actors. Scenario simulations assess how alternative governance and ethical configurations alter system behaviour. Ethical orientation alone has limited system effects. Responsible production and social value outcomes strengthen when governance integrity and strategic transparency operate with coherent policy signals. Fragmented regulation and greenwashing destabilise performance and erode legitimacy. The study, therefore, reframes corporate responsibility as a configuration‐dependent institutional property rather than a voluntary programme.