Humanism in Business

by Edited by Heiko Spitzeck , Michael Pirson , Wolfgang Amann , Shiban Khan , Ernst von Kimakowitz

• ISBN13: 9780521727624
• ISBN10: 0521727626
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-03-23
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

What is the purpose of our economic system? What would a more life-serving economy look like? There are many books about business and society, yet very few of them question the primacy of GDP growth, profit maximization and individual utility maximization. Even developments with a humanistic touch like stakeholder participation, corporate social responsibility or corporate philanthropy serve the same goal: to foster long-term growth and profitability. Humanism in Business questions these assumptions and investigates the possibility of creating a human-centered, value-oriented society based on humanistic principles. An international team of academics and practitioners present philosophical, spiritual, economic, psychological and organizational arguments that show how humanism can be used to understand, and possibly transform, business at three different levels: the systems level, the organizational level and the individual level. This groundbreaking book will be of interest to academics, practitioners and policymakers concerned with business ethics and the relationship between business and society.

Table of Contents

List of figures

List of tables

List of editors and contributors

Humanet: HUmanistic MAnagement Research NETwork: paving the way towards a life-serving economy

Introduction

Philosophic-Historical Grounding of Humanism

Philosophical grounds of Humanism in economics Julian Nida-Rnmelin

The Humanist tradition Matt Cherry

Humanism and culture: balancing particularity and universalism among the world's religions Greg Epstein

A requisite journey: from business ethics to economic philosophy Claus Dierksmeier

The global economy from a moral point of view

The implications of Humanism for business studies Omar

Current trends in Humanism and business DomTnec MelF

Towards an Integration of Humanism and Business on a Systems Level

Towards a civilized market economy: economic citizenship rights and responsibilities in service of a humane society Peter Ulrich

Development as freedom - individual freedom as a social commitment Amartya Sen

On corporate responsibility for human rights

The value shift: merging social and financial imperatives Lynn Sharp Paine

The ugly side of capitalism: what the young generation needs to combat Ulrich Steger

Humanistic Management

Democratizing the corporation

Social entrepreneurship - a blueprint for humane organizations?

Humanism at work: crucial organizational cultures and leadership principles Claudia Peus and Dieter Frey

Positive organizational scholarship: embodying a humanistic perspective of business

Corporate sustainability as an indicator for more humanism in business? A view beyond the usual hype in Europe Oliver Salzmann, Aileen Ionescu-Somers and Ulrich Steger

Changing direction - corporations as ambassadors of the environment? Oliver Rapf

The Individual as a Change Agent for a Humane Business Society

Ethical codes at work Adrian Henriques

The daunting challenges of globalization and the power of individuals in cross-stakeholder networks for a humanistic face of globalization Jean-Pierre Lehmann

The leader as responsible change agent: promoting Humanism in and beyond business Thomas Maak and Nicola Pless

Quiet leadership - a way to sustainable positive change Joe Badaracco

Everyone a changemaker: social entrepreneurship's ultimate goal William Drayton

Social business entrepreneurs are the solution Muhammad Yunus

Concluding observations Ernst von Kimakowitz

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.