With cutting-edge insights from leading European and North American scholars, this authoritative book addresses the fundamental problems of business in an age of crisis whilst presenting radical, but practical, solutions. The contributors explore three main value shifts: from inequality to equality, from the technical-materialistic to the ecological-spiritual, and from compliance and enforcement to autonomy and responsibility. They address a number of striking issues including doctrine of self-interest, the purpose of business, the usefulness of codes of conduct, the nature and scope of personal responsibility, spiritual and existential perspectives on business ethics, an the development of ethical competence. This book will be an essential point of reference for academic researchers and postgraduate students in business ethics and corporate social responsibility, as well as practitioners interested in the relevance of business ethics to leadership, management, strategy and finance.
Contents: Introduction 1. Rethinking Business Ethics in an Age of Crisis Knut J. Ims and Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen PART I: FROM INEQUALITY TO EQUALITY 2. The Business of Inequality George Brenkert 3. The Profit Maximization Mantra and the Challenge of Regaining Trust, Humanity and Purpose in an Age of Crisis Wesley Cragg 4. Business and the Greater Good as a Combination of Private and Public Wealth Georges Enderle 5. The Tortoise and the Hare: Alternative Approaches to Capitalism Eleanor O'Higgins PART II: FROM THE TECHNICAL-MATERIALISTIC TO THE ECOLOGICAL-SPIRITUAL 6. Materialistic versus Non-materialistic Value-orientation in Management Laszlo Zsolnai 7. The Source of Ethical Competency: Eastern Perspectives Provided by a Westerner Peter Pruzan 8. Aesthetics, Human Rights and Economic Life Kevin Jackson 9. Ecological Economics: A New Paradigm Ahead Ove Jakobsen PART III: FROM COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT TO AUTONOMY AND RESPONSIBILITY 10. Personal Responsibility for the Greater Good Knut J. Ims and Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen 11. Globalization and Multinational Corporations: Creating Social Accountability through Voluntary Codes of Conduct S. Prakash Sethi and Donald H. Schepers 12. Socratic Dialogue - Designed in the Nelson-Heckmann Tradition: A Tool for Reducing the Theory- Practice Divide in Business Ethics Johannes Brinkmann EPILOGUE 13. The Future of Business Ethics: A Structured Dialogue between the Authors Index
