book

Business Ethics, 6th Edition

by Joseph W. Weiss

July 2014

Intermediate to advanced

552 pages

22h 30m

English

Berrett-Koehler Publishers

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1.1 Business Ethics and the Changing EnvironmentSeeing the “Big Picture”Point/CounterPointEnvironmental Forces and StakeholdersStakeholder Management Approach1.2 What Is Business Ethics? Why Does It Matter?What Is Ethics and What Are the Areas of Ethical Theory?Unethical Business Practices and EmployeesEthics and Compliance ProgramsWhy Does Ethics Matter in Business?Working for the Best Companies1.3 Levels of Business EthicsAsking Key QuestionsEthical Insight 1.11.4 Five Myths about Business EthicsMyth 1: Ethics Is a Personal, Individual Affair, Not a Public or Debatable MatterMyth 2: Business and Ethics Do Not MixMyth 3: Ethics in Business Is RelativeMyth 4: Good Business Means Good EthicsMyth 5: Information and Computing Are Amoral1.5 Why Use Ethical Reasoning in Business?1.6 Can Business Ethics Be Taught and Trained?1.7 Plan of the BookChapter SummaryQuestionsExercisesReal-Time Ethical DilemmaCases1. Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC: Wall Street Trading Firm2. Cyberbullying: Who’s to Blame and What Can Be Done?Notes
2.1 Ethical Reasoning and Moral Decision MakingThree Criteria in Ethical ReasoningMoral Responsibility Criteria2.2 Ethical Principles and Decision MakingEthical Insight 2.1Utilitarianism: A Consequentialist (Results-Based) ApproachUniversalism: A Deontological (Duty-Based) ApproachRights: A Moral and Legal Entitlement-Based ApproachJustice: Procedures, Compensation, and RetributionVirtue Ethics: Character-Based VirtuesThe Common GoodEthical Relativism: A Self-Interest ApproachImmoral, Amoral, and Moral Management2.3 Four Social Responsibility Roles2.4 Levels of Ethical Reasoning and Moral Decision MakingPersonal LevelOrganizational LevelIndustry LevelSocietal, International, and Global Levels2.5 Identifying and Addressing Ethical DilemmasEthical Insight 2.2Moral CreativityEthical Dilemma Problem Solving12 Questions to Get Started2.6 Individual Ethical Decision-Making StylesCommunicating and Negotiating across Ethical Styles2.7 Quick Ethical Tests2.8 Concluding CommentsBack to Louise Simms . . .Chapter SummaryQuestionsExercisesReal-Time Ethical DilemmaCases3. Ford’s Pinto Fires: The Retrospective View of Ford’s Field Recall Coordinator4. Jerome Kerviel: Rogue Trader or Misguided Employee? What Really Happened at the Société Générale?5. Samuel Waksal at ImCloneNotes
3.1 Stakeholder Theory and the Stakeholder Management Approach DefinedStakeholdersStakes3.2 Why Use a Stakeholder Management Approach for Business Ethics?Stakeholder Theory: Criticisms and Responses3.3 How to Execute a Stakeholder AnalysisTaking a Third-Party Objective Observer PerspectiveRole of the CEO in Stakeholder AnalysisSummary of Stakeholder Analysis3.4 Negotiation Methods: Resolving Stakeholder DisputesStakeholder Dispute Resolution Methods3.5 Stakeholder Management Approach: Using Ethical Principles and Reasoning3.6 Moral Responsibilities of Cross-Functional Area ProfessionalsMarketing and Sales Professionals and Managers as StakeholdersR&D, Engineering Professionals, and Managers as StakeholdersAccounting and Finance Professionals and Managers as StakeholdersPublic Relations Managers as StakeholdersHuman Resource Managers as StakeholdersSummary of Managerial Moral Responsibilities3.7 Issues Management, Integrating a Stakeholder FrameworkWhat Is an Issue?Ethical Insight 3.1Other Types of IssuesStakeholder and Issues Management: “Connecting the Dots”Moral Dimensions of Stakeholder and Issues ManagementTypes of Issues Management Frameworks3.8 Managing CrisesHow Executives Have Responded to CrisesCrisis Management RecommendationsChapter SummaryQuestionsExercisesReal-Time Ethical DilemmaCases6. The BP Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill: Crisis and Aftermath7. Mattel Toy Recalls8. Genetic DiscriminationNotes

4.1 Managing Corporate Social Responsibility in the MarketplaceEthical Insight 4.1Free-Market Theory and Corporate Social ResponsibilityProblems with the Free-Market TheoryIntermediaries: Bridging the Disclosure GapPoint/CounterPoint4.2 Managing Corporate Responsibility with External StakeholdersThe Corporation as Social and Economic StakeholderThe Social Contract: Dead or Desperately Needed?Balance between Ethical Motivation and ComplianceCovenantal EthicThe Moral Basis and Social Power of Corporations as StakeholdersCorporate PhilanthropyManaging Stakeholders Profitably and Responsibly: Reputation CountsEthical Insight 4.24.3 Managing and Balancing Corporate Governance, Compliance, and RegulationEthical Insight 4.3Best Corporate Board Governance PracticesSarbanes-Oxley ActPros and Cons of Implementing the Sarbanes-Oxley ActThe Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations: Compliance Incentive4.4 The Role of Law and Regulatory Agencies and Corporate ComplianceWhy Regulation?Laws and U.S. Regulatory AgenciesLaws Protecting ConsumersLaws Protecting the Environment4.5 Managing External Issues and Crises: Lessons from the Past (Back to the Future?)Chapter SummaryQuestionsExercisesReal-Time Ethical DilemmaCases9. Conscious Capitalism: What Is It? Why Do We Need It? Does It Work?10. Goldman Sachs: Hedging a Bet and Defrauding Investors11. Google BooksNotes
5.1 Corporate Responsibility toward Consumer StakeholdersCorporate Responsibilities and Consumer RightsConsumer Protection Agencies and Law5.2 Corporate Responsibility in AdvertisingEthics and AdvertisingThe Federal Trade Commission and AdvertisingPros and Cons of AdvertisingEthical Insight 5.1Advertising and Free SpeechPaternalism, Manipulation, or Free Choice?5.3 Controversial Issues in Advertising: The Internet, Children, Tobacco, and AlcoholAdvertising and the InternetThe Thin Line between Deceptive Advertising, Spyware, and SpamAdvertising to ChildrenProtecting ChildrenTobacco AdvertisingThe Tobacco Controversy ContinuesAlcohol AdvertisingEthical Insight 5.25.4 Managing Product Safety and Liability ResponsiblyHow Safe Is Safe? The Ethics of Product SafetyEthical Insight 5.3Product Liability DoctrinesLegal and Moral Limits of Product LiabilityProduct Safety and the Road Ahead5.5 Corporate Responsibility and the EnvironmentThe Most Significant Environmental ProblemsCauses of Environmental PollutionEnforcement of Environmental LawsThe Ethics of EcologyGreen Marketing, Environmental Justice, and Industrial EcologyRights of Future Generations and Right to a Livable EnvironmentRecommendations to ManagersChapter SummaryQuestionsExercisesReal-Time Ethical DilemmaCases12. For-Profit Universities: Opportunities, Issues, and Promises13. Fracking: Drilling for Disaster?14. Neuromarketing15. Wal-Mart: Challenges with Gender Discrimination16. Vioxx, Dodge Ball: Did Merck Try to Avoid the Truth?Notes
6.1 Leadership and Stakeholder ManagementDefining Purpose, Mission, and ValuesEthical Insight 6.1Leadership Stakeholder CompetenciesExample of Companies Using Stakeholder Relationship ManagementEthical Insight 6.2Spiritual Values, Practices, and Moral Courage in LeadingFailure of Ethical LeadershipEthical Dimensions of Leadership StylesHow Should CEOs as Leaders Be Evaluated and Rewarded?6.2 Organizational Culture, Compliance, and Stakeholder ManagementOrganizational Culture DefinedHigh-Ethics CompaniesWeak Cultures6.3 Leading and Managing Strategy and StructureOrganizational Structure and EthicsBoundaryless and Networked Organizations6.4 Leading Internal Stakeholder Values in the Organization6.5 Corporate Self-Regulation and Ethics Programs: Challenges and IssuesEthical Insight 6.3Organizations and Leaders as Moral AgentsEthics CodesCodes of ConductProblems with Ethics and Conduct CodesOmbuds and Peer-Review ProgramsIs the Organization Ready to Implement a Values-Based Stakeholder Approach? A Readiness ChecklistChapter SummaryQuestionsExercisesReal-Time Ethical DilemmasCases17. Kaiser Permanente: A Crisis of Communication, Values, and Systems Failure18. Social Networking and Social ResponsibilityNotes
7.1 Employee Stakeholders in the Changing WorkforceThe Aging WorkforceGenerational Differences in the WorkplaceSteps for Integrating a Multigenerational WorkforceEthical Insight 7.1Women in the WorkforceSame-Sex Marriages, Civil Unions, Domestic Partnerships, and Workforce RightsThe Increasing Cultural Mix: Minorities Are Becoming the MajorityEducational Weaknesses and GapsPoint/CounterPointMainstreaming Disabled WorkersBalancing Work and Life in Families7.2 The Changing Social Contract between Corporations and EmployeesGood Faith Principle ExceptionPublic Policy Principle ExceptionImplied Contract Exception7.3 Employee and Employer Rights and ResponsibilitiesMoral Foundation of Employee RightsThe Principle of Balance in the Employee and Employer Social Contract and the Reality of Competitive ChangeRights from Government LegislationEmployer Responsibilities to EmployeesEmployee Rights and Responsibilities to EmployersEmployee Rights in the WorkplaceOther Employee Rights and Obligations to EmployersEthical Insight 7.27.4 Discrimination, Equal Employment Opportunity, and Affirmative ActionDiscriminationEqual Employment Opportunity and the Civil Rights ActAge and Discrimination in the WorkplaceComparable Worth and Equal PayAffirmative ActionEthics and Affirmative ActionReverse Discrimination: Arguments against Affirmative ActionEthical Insight 7.37.5 Sexual Harassment in the WorkplaceWhat Is Sexual Harassment?Who Is Liable?Tangible Employment Action and Vicarious LiabilitySexual Harassment and Foreign Firms in the United States7.6 Whistle-Blowing versus Organizational LoyaltyWhen Whistle-Blowers Should Not Be ProtectedFactors to Consider before Blowing the WhistleManagerial Steps to Prevent External Whistle-BlowingChapter SummaryQuestionsExercisesReal-Time Ethical DilemmaCases19. Preemployment Screening and Facebook: Ethical Considerations20. Women on Wall Street: Fighting for Equality in a Male-Dominated IndustryNotes
8.1 The Connected Global Economy and GlobalizationEthical Insight 8.1Globalization and the Forces of Change8.2 Managing and Working in a “Flat World”: Professional Competencies and Ethical IssuesShared Leadership in Teams’ CompetencyEthical Insight 8.2Global Ethical Values and PrinciplesKnow Your Own Cultural and Core Values, Your Organization’s, and Those with Whom You Are WorkingCross-Cultural Business Ethical Issues Professionals May Experience8.3 Societal Issues and Globalization: The Dark SideInternational Crime and CorruptionEconomic Poverty and Child Slave LaborThe Global Digital DivideWesternization (Americanization) of CulturesLoss of Nation-State Sovereignty8.4 Multinational Enterprises as StakeholdersPower of MNEs8.5 Triple Bottom Line, Social Entrepreneurship, and MicrofinancingThe Triple Bottom LineSocial Entrepreneurs and Social EnterprisesMicrofinancing8.6 MNEs: Stakeholder Values, Guidelines, and Codes for Managing EthicallyEmployment Practices and PoliciesConsumer ProtectionEnvironmental ProtectionPolitical Payments and InvolvementBasic Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms8.7 Cross-Cultural Ethical Decision Making and Negotiation MethodsExternal Corporate Monitoring GroupsIndividual Stakeholder Methods for Ethical Decision MakingFour Typical Styles of International Ethical Decision MakingHypernorms, Local Norms, and Creative Ethical NavigationChapter SummaryQuestionsExercisesReal-Time Ethical DilemmasCases21. Google in China: Still “Doing No Evil”?22. Sweatshops: Not Only a Global Issue23. The U.S. Industrial Food SystemNotes

Content preview from Business Ethics, 6th Edition

Acknowledgments

This book continues the practice that has endured over the last several years that I have been teaching business ethics to MBA students and executives. My consulting work also informs this edition in numerous ways. I would like to thank all my students for their questions, challenges, and class contributions, which have stimulated the research and presentations in this text. I also thank all the professional staff at Berrett-Koehler who helped make this edition possible and the faculty and staff at Bentley University who contributed resources and motivation for this edition. I am grateful to Michael Hoffman and his staff at Bentley University’s Center for Business Ethics, whose shared resources and friendship also helped with ...