The Ethical Business Challenges and Controversies

by Mellahi, Kamel; Morrell, Kevin; Wood, Geoffrey

• ISBN13: 9780230546936
• ISBN10: 0230546935
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The second edition of The Ethical Business has been updated with new chapters focusing on the symbiotic relationship between business and the environment. New case studies have been developed to increase the practical application of ethical themes within the workplace. A critical analysis of contemporary issues in business ethics.

Author Biography

KAMEL MELLAHI is Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Sheffield Management School, UK.

KEVIN MORRELL is Senior Research Fellow at Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK.

GEOFFREY WOOD is Professor in HRM in the School of Management at the University of Sheffield, UK.

Table of Contents

List of tables, figures and cartoons	p. xi
Preface to the second edition	p. xii
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
Introduction	p. xiv
Theoretical foundations
Introducing business ethics	p. 3
Introduction	p. 3
Moral relatives and ethical absolutes	p. 6
What is ethical conduct?	p. 6
Why does business ethics matter?	p. 8
Practice and theory	p. 10
What is ethics practice?	p. 12
Different philosophical approaches to business ethics	p. 13
Key perspectives	p. 13
Deontology	p. 14
Utilitarianism	p. 15
Virtue ethics	p. 21
Rights-based approaches	p. 22
Postmodern ethics	p. 25
Summary	p. 27
The ethical business and the business of ethics	p. 31
Introduction	p. 31
The science of the good?	p. 34
Business ethics, and the business of ethics	p. 37
Theory-based and case-based approaches to business ethics	p. 39
A domain-based, situated approach to the business of ethics	p. 43
The case of Jean Charles de Menezes' death	p. 45
The problem of assigning responsibility	p. 47
The way forward	p. 49
Issues facing management
Corporate governance	p. 55
Introduction	p. 55
Corporate governance and business ethics	p. 56
What is corporate governance?	p. 56
Why corporate governance now?	p. 57
Corporate governance and boards of directors	p. 59
Monitoring role	p. 59
Advisory role	p. 60
Potential barriers to the involvement of the board of directors	p. 60
Lack of time	p. 61
Board atmosphere	p. 61
A framework for ethical corporate governance	p. 63
Corporate governance and different institutional frameworks	p. 65
Corporate governance and stakeholder theory	p. 67
The different perspectives of stakeholder theory	p. 69
The descriptive perspective	p. 69
The instrumental perspective	p. 71
The normative perspective	p. 72
Principles of stakeholder management	p. 72
Summary	p. 73
Social partnerships	p. 78
Introduction	p. 79
What is a social partnership?	p. 79
Social partnerships as an ethical principle	p. 81
Types of social partnership	p. 82
Community partnerships	p. 82
Social accords: neo-corporatism	p. 85
Workplace-based social partnerships	p. 86
Social partnerships and European integration	p. 87
Social partnerships and the philosophical tradition	p. 87
Summary	p. 88
Green issues	p. 98
Introduction	p. 102
What is environmental ethics?	p. 103
Why does the environment matter?	p. 103
Policy issues and pressures	p. 106
Environmental practices	p. 107
Philosophy and the environment	p. 108
The hard green perspective	p. 109
The deep ecology perspective	p. 110
The 'middle ground'	p. 112
Morality and greening	p. 113
Environmental issues and the lew	p. 113
Religion and the environment	p. 114
Global warming: the ultimate challenge	p. 114
Animals and ethics	p. 117
The rights-based perspective and animals	p. 119
Utilitarian alternatives	p. 120
Summary	p. 121
Ethics in a globalizing world	p. 126
Introduction	p. 127
Comprehending globalization	p. 128
The rise and impact of transnational corporations (TNCs)	p. 129
Global codes of ethics	p. 133
Cultural relativism and universals	p. 136
Thinking about global trade and relations	p. 137
Summary	p. 140
Ethical management in practice: ethics and key functional areas
Ethics, accounting and finance	p. 147
Introduction	p. 149
Ethics and financial management	p. 149
Are ethical violations common within the financial and accounting profession?	p. 152
Creative accounting and ethics	p. 153
Private equity, venture capital and ethics	p. 156
Summary	p. 157
Organizational behaviour and human resource management	p. 163
Introduction: different ways of interpreting the ethics school case	p. 164
A new way of managing people?	p. 166
What is HRM?	p. 171
Ethical implications of HRM	p. 174
HRM and ethical codes of conduct	p. 177
HRM as practice	p. 178
Ethics in selection	p. 178
HRM as strategy	p. 180
Conclusions: human beings - ends in themselves or resources - means to an end?	p. 181
A new way of managing people?	p. 182
Ethics and marketing	p. 192
Introduction	p. 194
Advertising and ethics	p. 194
The relationship between marketing manager and consumer	p. 195
Codes of ethics in marketing	p. 198
Ethical marketing strategies: cause-related marketing	p. 199
Ethical marketing strategies: green marketing	p. 201
Conclusion	p. 203
Ethics and supply chain management	p. 207
Introduction	p. 213
Understanding Ethical supply chain management	p. 215
Ethical challenges in supply chain management	p. 217
Suppliers: labour conditions issues	p. 217
Approaches to managing ethical issues at the suppliers' end	p. 222
Ethical issues in distribution and purchasing activities	p. 223
Purchasing and conflict of interest	p. 224
Greening the supply chain	p. 227
The case of Nike	p. 227
Conclusion	p. 228
Conclusion	p. 236
Relations with employees	p. 237
Relations with the community	p. 238
Environmetal issues	p. 238
Consequences of globalization	p. 239
Corporate social responsibility	p. 240
Doing the right thing: philosophy and practice	p. 240
Index	p. 246
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