About the Book
In a world in which daily reports of questionable business practices, from insider trading to environmental pollution, dominate the headlines, the need to understand the large issues of how business and ethics are, and ought to be, connected is of paramount concern. This unique collection of essays is the latest volume in the Ruffin Series in Business Ethics. The four lead essays--by Norman Bowie, Kenneth Goodpaster, Thomas Donaldson, and Ezra
Bowen--are examples of some of the best thinking about the role of ethics in business. With a combination of wisdom, humor, and insight, these essays examine such issues as the nature of scholarship and
knowledge in business ethics, how ethics is a central factor in managerial leadership, the complexities of ethics in multinational and multicultural settings, and the problems of ethical literacy and moral debate in a free society. Each lead essay develops several themes which are then explored by other prominent thinkers, including Robert Solomon, Richard DeGeorge, and Joanne Ciulla. The book offers the reader a clear and logical approach to an intensely debated and still evolving
discipline. Business Ethics: The State of the Art will be an invaluable resource for students of business at all levels, as well as business thinkers, philosophers, and practicing managers.
Table of Contents:
Contributors
Introduction
I. Business Ethics as an Academic Discipline
1: Norman E. Bowie: Business Ethics as a Discipline: The Search for Legitimacy,
2: Richard T. DeGeorge: Will Success Spoil Business Ethics?,
3: William C. Frederick: Commentary on Business Ethics as a Discipline: The Search for Legitimacy,
4: Jennifer Moore: Autonomy and the Legitimacy of the Liberal Arts,
5: Lynn Sharp Paine: Ethics as Character Development: Reflections on the Objective of Ethics Education,
II. CORPORATE LEADERSHIP
6: Kenneth E. Goodpaster: Ethical Imperatives and Corporate Leadership,
7: Daniel R. Gilbert, Jr.: Respect for Persons, Management Theory, and Business Ethics,
8: Robbin Derry: Institutionalizing Ethical Motivation: Reflections on Goodpaster's Agenda,
III. MULTINATIONAL CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
9: Thomas J. Donaldson: Rights in the Global Market,
10: Edwin M. Hartman: Donaldson on Rights and Corporate Obligations,
IV. WIDER RESPONSIBILITIES: BUSINESS AND LITERACY
11: Ezra F. Bowen: The Role of Business in Three Level of Literacy,
12: Robert C. Solomon: Business Ethics, Literacy, and the Education of the Emotions,
13: Joanne B. Ciulla: Business Ethics as Moral Imagination,
Index
Review :
"A thorough text, attractive for its currency--more discussion, narrative in approach than the worn formula of most textbooks in the field, which rely on the case study method."--William McDonald, Tennessee Wesleyan College
"A volume that teachers of business ethics should take a look at, for its focus is business ethics as a subject to teach, a field of study, and a discipline to practice."--Teaching Philosophy
"A useful resource to expand the student's thinking on some critical concepts in applied ethics."--Gerald E. Twaddell, Thomas More College
"An interesting collection of essays. I found the contributions by Bowie, Gilbert, and Solomon to really hit the mark."--Michael Prusch, Villanova University
"The article by Lynn Sharp Raine is worth the price; I will recommend the book and especially that article to my students."--John D. Bayres, Concordia College
"I have learned a great deal from this book....Deals with issues that are neglected in most business ethics texts."--David Detmer, Purdue University, Calumet
"Stands out both in its format and the range of topics covered....The contributor list (including Joanne B. Ciulla, Richard T. DeGeorge, Robbin Derry, William Frederick, R. Edward Freeman, Daniel R. Gilbert, Jr., Edwin M. Hartman, Jennifer Mills Moore, Lynn Sharp Paine and Robert C. Solomon) represents some of the best people in the field, and the reader has the opportunity to eavesdrop on their debate about issues. And that debate is what distinguishes this
series from other recent books on the topic of business ethics."--Journal of Management
"Will be an invaluable resource for both academics and practicing managers."--Choice