Business Ethics

by Crane, Andrew; Matten, Dirk

• ISBN13: 9780199284993
• ISBN10: 0199284997
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-03-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The first edition was awarded the '2005 Textbook Award of the Association of University Professors of Management (Verband der Hochschullehrer fur Betriebswirtschaft e.V.)' and the '2006 Textbook Award' of the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft.

Author Biography

Dirk Matten holds the position of Hewlett-Packard Chair in Corporate Social Responsibility in the Schulich School of Business at York University in Canada.

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. xiv
List of boxes	p. xvi
Preface to the second edition	p. xviii
Acknowledgements	p. xxiv
Understanding business ethics
Introducing business ethics	p. 3
What is business ethics?	p. 4
Business ethics and the law	p. 5
Defining morality, ethics, and ethical theory	p. 8
Why is business ethics important?	p. 9
Globalization: a key context for business ethics?	p. 14
What is globalization?	p. 15
The relevance of globalization for business ethics	p. 18
Sustainability: a key goal for business ethics?	p. 20
The triple bottom line	p. 23
Environmental perspectives	p. 25
Economic perspectives	p. 26
Social perspectives	p. 27
Implications of sustainability for business ethics	p. 28
Europe: a key perspective for business ethics?	p. 28
What is Europe?	p. 29
European versus alternative approaches to business ethics	p. 30
Sources of difference between Europe and other regions	p. 32
Globalization and assimilation between Europe and other regions	p. 33
Summary	p. 34
Study Questions	p. 35
Research Exercise	p. 35
Key Readings	p. 36
McEurope: McDonald's Responds to Ethical Criticism in Europe	p. 36
Framing business ethics: Corporate Responsibility, Stakeholders, and Citizenship	p. 41
Towards a framework for business ethics	p. 42
What is a corporation?	p. 42
Key features of a corporation	p. 42
Can a corporation have social responsibilities?	p. 43
Can a corporation be morally responsible for its actions?	p. 44
Corporate social responsibility	p. 45
Why do corporations have social responsibilities?	p. 47
What is the nature of corporate social responsibilities?	p. 49
CSR in an international context	p. 51
CSR and strategy - corporate social responsiveness	p. 53
Outcomes of CSR: corporate social performance	p. 56
Stakeholder theory of the firm	p. 57
Why stakeholders matter	p. 61
A new role for management	p. 62
Stakeholder thinking in a European context	p. 62
Different forms of stakeholder theory	p. 63
Corporate accountability - the firm as a political actor	p. 64
Governmental failure: 'risk society' and the institutional failure of politics	p. 65
Why do governments fail?	p. 65
Corporate power on the rise	p. 66
The problem of democratic accountability	p. 67
Corporate citizenship	p. 70
Defining corporate citizenship: three perspectives	p. 71
Limited view of CC	p. 71
Equivalent view of CC	p. 73
An extended view of CC	p. 74
Assessing corporate citizenship as a framework for business ethics	p. 78
Summary	p. 79
Study Questions	p. 80
Research Exercise	p. 80
Key Readings	p. 80
The 'English Patient' and the Chinese Takeaway: Examining Social Responsibilities in the MG Rover Collapse	p. 81
Evaluating business ethics: Normative Ethical Theories	p. 85
Introduction	p. 86
The role of ethical theory	p. 86
Normative ethical theories	p. 88
Traditional ethical theories	p. 90
Consequentialist theories	p. 91
Non-consequentialist theories	p. 97
Limits of traditional theories	p. 107
Contemporary ethical theories	p. 110
Virtue ethics	p. 110
Feminist ethics	p. 111
Discourse ethics	p. 113
Postmodern perspectives on business ethics	p. 115
Summary: towards a pragmatic use of ethical theory	p. 119
Study Questions	p. 122
Research Exercise	p. 122
Key Readings	p. 123
British Petroleum and the BTC Pipeline: Turkish Delight or Russian Roulette?	p. 123
Making decisions in business ethics: Descriptive Ethical Theories	p. 127
Introduction	p. 128
What is an ethical decision?	p. 129
Models of ethical decision-making	p. 130
Stages in ethical decision-making	p. 130
Relationship with normative theory	p. 131
Influences on ethical decision-making	p. 132
Limitations of ethical decision-making models	p. 133
European perspective on ethical decision-making	p. 135
Individual influences on ethical decision-making	p. 136
Age and gender	p. 136
National and cultural characteristics	p. 138
Education and employment	p. 139
Psychological factors	p. 140
Personal values	p. 144
Personal integrity	p. 145
Moral imagination	p. 148
Situational influences on decision-making	p. 149
Issue-related factors	p. 149
Context-related factors	p. 155
Summary	p. 162
Study Questions	p. 163
Research Exercise	p. 163
Key Readings	p. 163
School for Scandal? Business Schools Turn Their Attention to Ethics Education	p. 164
Managing business ethics: Tools and Techniques of Business ethics Management	p. 169
Introduction	p. 170
What is business ethics management?	p. 170
Components of business ethics management	p. 171
Mission or values statements	p. 171
Evolution of business ethics management	p. 174
Setting standards of ethical behaviour: designing and implementing codes of ethics	p. 175
Prevalence of codes of ethics	p. 176
Content of codes of ethics	p. 177
Effectiveness of codes of ethics	p. 180
Global codes of ethics	p. 181
Managing stakeholder relations	p. 185
Assessing stakeholder importance: an instrumental perspective	p. 186
Types of stakeholder relationship	p. 187
Problems with stakeholder collaboration	p. 191
Assessing ethical performance	p. 194
Defining social accounting	p. 195
Why do organizations engage in social accounting?	p. 197
What makes for 'good' social accounting?	p. 198
Organizing for business ethics management	p. 202
Formal ethics programmes	p. 202
Informal ethics management: ethical culture and climate	p. 204
Business ethics and leadership	p. 205
Summary	p. 207
Study Questions	p. 208
Research Exercise	p. 208
Key Readings	p. 209
Shell Shocked: Is Shell a Case of 'Ethical Epiphany' or 'Lessons Not Learned'?	p. 209
Contextualizing business ethics: The corporate citizen and its stakeholders
Shareholders and business ethics	p. 217
Introduction: reassessing the importance of shareholders as stakeholders	p. 218
Shareholders as stakeholders: understanding corporate governance	p. 218
Corporate governance: a principal-agent relation	p. 220
Shareholders' relations with other stakeholders: different European frameworks of corporate governance	p. 222
Ethical issues in corporate governance	p. 225
Executive accountability and control	p. 228
Executive remuneration	p. 229
Ethical aspects of mergers and acquisitions	p. 230
The role of financial markets and insider trading	p. 232
The role of accountants	p. 237
Reforming governance	p. 239
Shareholders and globalization	p. 240
The Tobin Tax	p. 243
Combating global terrorism and money laundering	p. 244
Shareholders as citizens of the corporation	p. 246
Shareholder democracy	p. 246
Shareholder activism	p. 247
Ethical investment	p. 250
Shareholding for sustainability	p. 254
The Dow Jones Sustainability Group Index	p. 254
Rethinking sustainable corporate ownership: corporation or co-operation?	p. 256
Summary	p. 258
Study Questions	p. 259
Research Exercise	p. 259
Key Readings	p. 259
Corporate Governance of Professional Football Clubs: For Profit or for Glory?	p. 260
Employees and business ethics	p. 263
Introduction	p. 264
Employees as stakeholders	p. 265
Ethical issues in the firm-employee relation	p. 267
Management of human 'resources' - an ethical problem between rights and duties	p. 267
Discrimination	p. 271
Sexual and racial harassment	p. 275
Employee privacy	p. 279
Due process and lay-offs	p. 285
Employee participation and association	p. 287
Working conditions	p. 289
Fair wages	p. 291
Freedom of conscience and freedom of speech in the workplace	p. 293
The right to work	p. 294
Employing people worldwide: the ethical challenges of globalization	p. 296
National culture and moral values	p. 297
Absolutism versus relativism	p. 297
Some yardsticks for ethical decision-making	p. 298
The 'race to the bottom'	p. 298
The corporate citizen and employee relations in a varied European context	p. 299
Towards sustainable employment	p. 301
Re-humanized workplaces	p. 302
Wider employment	p. 302
Work-life balance	p. 303
Summary	p. 304
Study Questions	p. 305
Research Exercise	p. 305
Key Readings	p. 306
Making a Living or Working Yourself to Death? Exploring the Brave New World of Work	p. 306
Consumers and business ethics	p. 311
Introduction	p. 312
Consumers as stakeholders	p. 313
The limits of caveat emptor	p. 314
Ethical issues, marketing, and the consumer	p. 316
Ethical issues in marketing management	p. 316
Ethical issues in marketing strategy	p. 331
Globalization and consumers: the ethical challenges of the global marketplace	p. 335
Reproduction of consumerism	p. 336
Dislocation of production and consumption	p. 337
Cultural homogenization	p. 338
New forms of resistance	p. 338
Consumers and corporate citizenship: consumer sovereignty and the politics of purchasing	p. 339
Consumer sovereignty	p. 339
Ethical consumption	p. 341
Sustainable consumption	p. 346
What is sustainable consumption?	p. 347
The challenge of sustainable consumption	p. 347
Steps towards sustainable consumption	p. 348
Summary	p. 351
Study Questions	p. 352
Research Exercise	p. 353
Key Readings	p. 353
Boycotting the 'Baby Killers'? Nestle and the Ongoing Infant Formula Controversy	p. 353
Suppliers, competitors, and business ethics	p. 357
Introduction	p. 358
Suppliers and competitors as stakeholders	p. 359
Suppliers as stakeholders	p. 359
Competitors as stakeholders	p. 359
Ethical Issues and suppliers	p. 361
Misuse of power	p. 362
The question of loyalty	p. 364
Preferential treatment	p. 365
Conflicts of interest	p. 366
Gifts, bribes, and hospitality	p. 367
Ethics in negotiation	p. 371
Ethical issues and competitors	p. 372
Problems of overly aggressive competition	p. 373
'Dirty tricks'	p. 377
Problems of insufficient competition	p. 378
Globalization, suppliers, and competitors: the ethical challenges of global business networks	p. 379
Different ways of doing business	p. 380
Impacts on indigenous businesses	p. 383
Differing labour and environmental standards	p. 384
Extended chain of responsibility	p. 385
The corporate citizen in the business community: ethical sourcing and fair trade	p. 387
Ethical sourcing	p. 388
Ethical sourcing as business-business regulation	p. 388
Strategies of business-business regulation	p. 389
Fair trade	p. 390
Sustainability and business relationships: towards industrial ecosystems?	p. 393
From supply chains to supply loops	p. 394
Industrial ecosystems	p. 394
Summary	p. 396
Study Questions	p. 397
Research Exercise	p. 397
Key Readings	p. 398
Fair Enough? Big Business Embraces Fair Trade	p. 398
Civil society and business ethics	p. 403
Introduction: what is civil society?	p. 404
Civil society organizations as stakeholders	p. 407
Ethical issues and CSOs	p. 413
Recognizing CSO stakes	p. 413
CSO tactics	p. 415
Boycotts	p. 421
CSO accountability	p. 426
Globalization and civil society organizations	p. 428
Engagement with overseas CSOs	p. 429
Global issues and causes	p. 429
Globalization of CSOs	p. 433
Corporate citizenship and civil society: charity, collaboration, or regulation?	p. 434
Charity and community giving	p. 435
Business-CSO collaboration	p. 436
Civil regulation	p. 441
Civil society, business, and sustainability	p. 444
Balancing competing interests	p. 445
Towards participation and empowerment	p. 446
Summary	p. 447
Study Questions	p. 448
Research Exercise	p. 448
Key Readings	p. 448
From Conflict to Collaboration? Greenpeace's Greenfreeze Campaign	p. 449
Government, regulation, and business ethics	p. 455
Introduction	p. 456
Government as a stakeholder	p. 456
Defining government, laws, and regulation	p. 456
Basic roles of government as a stakeholder	p. 458
Government as an elected representative of citizens' interests	p. 459
Government as an actor (or group of actors) with interests of its own	p. 460
Ethical issues in the relation between business and government	p. 463
Identifying the basic problems and issues: legitimacy, accountability, and modes of influence	p. 463
Lobbying	p. 466
Party financing	p. 470
Overlap of posts between business and government: individual conflicts of interest	p. 471
State capture by business	p. 473
Ethical issues in the context of privatization and deregulation	p. 475
Globalization and business-government relations	p. 477
From the traditional to the global context	p. 477
Shifting roles for business and government in a global context	p. 481
Business as an actor within the traditional context (Westphalian setting)	p. 482
Business as an actor in the global context (post-Westphalian setting)	p. 483
Business-government relations in the European Union	p. 486
Corporate citizenship and regulation: business as key player in the regulatory game	p. 488
Governments as regulators (segment 1)	p. 490
Self-regulation by business (segment 2)	p. 492
Regulation involving business, governmental actors, and CSOs (segments 3, 4, and 5)	p. 493
Governments, business, and sustainability	p. 499
Global climate change legislation and business responses: support versus obstruction	p. 500
Public support versus private pressure: a middle ground?	p. 501
Achieving sustainability: a necessary role for government?	p. 503
Summary	p. 503
Study Questions	p. 504
Research Exercise	p. 504
Key Readings	p. 505
Dispensing 'the Less Orthodox Inducements' - Bae Systems and the Global Defence Industry	p. 505
Conclusions and future perspectives	p. 509
Introduction	p. 510
The nature and scope of business ethics?	p. 510
Globalization as a new context for business ethics	p. 511
Sustainability as a new goal for business ethics	p. 512
Business ethics in a European context	p. 512
Corporate citizenship as a new concept in business ethics	p. 514
The contribution of normative ethical theories to business ethics	p. 515
Influences on ethical decision-making	p. 516
The role of management tools in business ethics	p. 516
The role of different stakeholder constituencies in business ethics	p. 517
Tradeoffs and conflicts between different stakeholder groups	p. 518
Summary	p. 521
Study Questions	p. 521
Research Exercise	p. 522
Key Readings	p. 522
References	p. 523
Subject index	p. 548
Authors index	p. 555
Countries and regions index	p. 561
Companies, organizations, and brands index	p. 563
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.