The field of business ethics continues to expand intellectually and geographically. During the past five decades, scholars have developed and deepened their inquiries into the ethics of commercial and corporate conduct.
This Companion provides a novel overview of the discipline of business ethics, covering the major areas of the field as well as new and emerging topics. The eight thematic units range over an extraordinary set of subjects and include chapters on the history and pedagogy of business ethics, moral philosophy, the nature of business, responsibilities within the firm, economic institutions, the 2008 financial crisis, globalization, and business ethics in different regions of the world. Led by a well-respected editorial team, this unique volume gathers an international array of experts whose various critical approaches yield insights from areas such as public policy, economics, law, and history, in addition to business and philosophy.
With its fresh analyses, wide scope, and clarity of approach, this volume will be an essential addition to library collections in business, management, and applied ethics.
Introduction (Eugene Heath, Byron Kaldis, Alexei Marcoux) Part I. The Discipline of Business Ethics 1. The History of Business Ethics (Bernard Mees) 2. Theorists and Philosophers on Business Ethics (George Bragues) 3. Theory and Method in Business Ethics (Nicholas Capaldi) 4. Teaching Business Ethics: Current Practice and Future Directions (Darin Gates, Bradley R. Agle, Richard N. Williams) Part II. Moral Philosophy and Business: Foundational Theories 5. Consequentialism and Non-Consequentialism (Andrew Gustafson) 6. Social Contract Theories (Pedro Francés-Gómez) 7. Can Profit-Seekers Be Virtuous? (Michael C. Munger and Daniel C. Russell) 8. Feminist Ethics and Business Ethics: Redefining Landscapes of Learning (Ming Lim) 9. Business Ethics and Religious Belief (Kenneth J. Barnes) Part III. Business Ethics Theories 10. Social Responsibility (Florian Wettstein) 11. Stakeholder Thinking (Kenneth E. Goodpaster) 12. Integrative Economic Ethics: Concept and Critique (Alexander Lorch and Thomas Beschorner) Part IV. Conceptual Considerations 13. What is Business? (William Kline) 14. The Corporation: Genesis, Identity, Agency (Gordon G. Sollars) 15. Alternative Business Organizations and Social Enterprise (Dana Brakman Reiser) 16. The Ethics of Entrepreneurship (Christian Lautermann and Kim Oliver Tokarski) 17. The Contribution of Economics to Business Ethics (Joseph Heath) Part V. Economic Institutions: Operations and Effects 18. Property and Business (Bas van der Vossen) 19. Creativity, Innovation, and the Production of Wealth (Knut Sogner) 20. Money and Finance: Ethical Considerations (Antonio Argandoña) 21. Regulation, Rent-Seeking, and Business Ethics (Christel Koop and John Meadowcroft) 22. Business, Nature, and Environmental Sustainability (Joseph DesJardins) 23. The Economic Crisis: Causes and Considerations (Randall G. Holcombe) Part VI. Roles and Responsibilities within the Firm 24 Corporate Governance (Ann K. Buchholtz) 25. Leadership and Business Ethics: Are Leaders Wolves for Business Ethics? (Valérie Petit and Sarah E. Saint-Michel) 26. Theoretical Issues in Management Ethics (Joseph A. Petrick) 27. The Ethics of Managers and Employees (Linda Klebe Treviño) 28. Employee Ethics and Rights (Jeffrey Moriarty) 29. Exploitation and Labor (Benjamin Ferguson) 30. Ethical Issues in Marketing, Advertising, and Sales (Minette Drumwright) 31. The Accounting Profession, the Public Interest, and Human Rights (Ken McPhail) Part VII. Multinational Corporations and Globalization 32. The Globalization of Business Ethics (Kirk O. Hanson) 33. Cross-Cultural Management Ethics in Multinational Commerce (Terence Jackson) 34. Corruption, Bribery, and Moral Norms Across National Boundaries (Wesley Cragg) Part VIII. Business Ethics Across the Globe 35. Business Ethics in China (Yuqiao Xiang) 36. Business Ethics in South Asia: Gandhian Trusteeship and its Relevance for the Twenty-First Century (S. Ramakrishna Velamuri) 37. Business Ethics in Africa (Minka Woermann) 38. Business Ethics in Latin America (Álvaro E. Pezoa) 39. Business Ethics in Transition: Communism to Commerce in Central Europe and Russia (Rodica Milena Zaharia)
Eugene Heath is Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York, New Paltz. He has published on eighteenth-century moral philosophers (Bernard Mandeville, Adam Ferguson, and Adam Smith), and on business ethics. Byron Kaldis is Professor of Philosophy at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. He works in the philosophy of science and the social sciences, political philosophy, ethics, and ontology. Alexei Marcoux is Professor of Business Ethics and Society and Institute for Economic Inquiry Senior Scholar in Creighton University’s Heider College of Business, Nebraska. His academic research focuses on the moral foundations of commercial transactions and methodological issues in business ethics.
Reviews for The Routledge Companion to Business Ethics
The Routledge Companion to Business Ethics is outstanding in the range of its essays, the quality of its treatments of the issues, and the value of its many introductory and integrative subsections. Its range is international and includes historical and future-oriented discussions, chapters relating business ethics to developments in the social sciences, explorations of practical management issues, feminist perspectives, and much more. Robert Audi, John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Management, University of Notre Dameã This is a comprehensive volume that encompasses all major themes of business ethics. It provides excellent guidance for academics and practitioners. Christoph Lutge, Peter Loescher Chair of Business Ethics, Technical University of Munich, Germanyã The Routledge Companion to Business Ethics is a gem, with the scope of a truly essential 'companion.' Chapters cover issues of broad interest, as well as more specialized ones, providing useful historical perspective, as well as insight into a number of timely issues. Chris MacDonald, Chair, Department of Law & Business, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Canada
