Business Ethics

The second edition of Business Ethics introduces readers to key ethical issues that arise within the world of business, providing a strong theoretical foundation to the intersection of economics and business interests to social responsibility. This new edition has been greatly revised and updated, and over half of the selections are new to this volume, including two new sections on the Financial Services Industry and Globalization. The volume is now introduced with a new discussion on ethical decision making. This accessible volume addresses a broad range of important ethical issues, all of which have been designed to present the reader with cutting–edge research in the area; these include the definition of a corporation and whether it can have a conscience, current information technology issues, working conditions, advertising ethics, race and gender issues, whistle blower questions, the financial services industry, and globalization. Pedagogical features include case studies depicting situations related to topics discussed in the chapter′s readings and instructions on how to work–up cases into argumentative essays. Many of the cases have been updated to reflect current problems, ensuring students are introduced to the very latest developments.

Notes on Contributors x Preface to the Second Edition xiii Source Credits xv 1 Ethical Reasoning 1 Michael Boylan 2 Theories of Economic Justice 12 Marxian Liberalism 13 Jeffrey Reiman Reframing the Commonwealth: Commercial or Civic 32 Marvin T. Brown Evaluating a Case Study: Developing a Practical Ethical Viewpoint 45 3 What Is a Corporation? 51 A. The Corporation as an Individual 55 Can a Corporation Have a Conscience? 55 Kenneth E. Goodpaster and John B. Matthews Jr. The Corporation as a Moral Person 63 Peter A. French Personalizing Corporate Ontology: The French Way 72 Thomas Donaldson Citizens United v. FTC (U.S. Supreme Court Case, 2010) 81 B. The Corporation as a Community: Stakeholder Theory 87 Corporations as Communities 87 Amitai Etzioni Business Ethics and Stakeholder Analysis 95 Kenneth E. Goodpaster Stakeholders and Consent 108 Stephen Cohen A Fiduciary Argument against Stakeholder Theory 114 Alexei M. Marcoux Evaluating a Case Study: Finding the Conflicts 136 4 What Are Proper Business Practices? 142 A. Competition and the Practice of Business 145 The Janus Faces of Competition 145 Michael Boylan The Principle of Fair Competition 155 Michael Boylan B. Advertising 163 The Advertising of Happiness and the Branding of Values 163 Edward H. Spence A Model to Explore the Ethics of Erotic Stimuli in Print Advertising 176 Tony L. Henthorne and Michael S. LaTour C. Information Technology 187 The Importance of Information in Business Ethics 187 Mariarosaria Taddeo Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance: The Problem of Trust 197 John Weckert Evaluating a Case Study: Assessing Embedded Levels 214 5 Ethical Issues within the Corporation 223 A. Working Conditions 228 Of Acceptable Risk 228 William W. Lowrance Working Conditions in Home Care: Negotiating Race and Class Boundaries in Gendered Work 235 Sheila M. Neysmith and Jane Aronson Sneakers and Sweatshops: Holding Corporations Accountable 247 David M. Schilling B. Affirmative Action 252 Preferential Hiring 252 Judith Jarvis Thomson Preferential Hiring: A Reply to Judith Jarvis Thomson 257 Robert Simon The Future of Affirmative Action 259 Michael Boylan C. Gender Issues 266 In Shouts and Whispers: Paradoxes Facing Women of Colour in Organizations 266 Rekha Karambayya Compensation Inequality 275 Jane Uebelhoer D. Whistle–Blowing 288 Whistle–Blowing 288 Terrance McConnell Mad as Hell or Scared Stiff ? The Effects of Value Conflict and Emotions on Potential Whistle–Blowers 300 Erika Henik Evaluating a Case Study: Applying Ethical Issues 311 6 The Context of Business: Nationally and Internationally 321 A. The Financial Services Industry 325 Ethics in Financial Services: Systems and Individuals 325 Ronald Duska Derivatives and the Financial Crisis: Ethics, Stewardship, and Cultural Politics 339 David E. McClean Madoff and Kreuger: Fraud Theories, Red Flags, and Due Diligence in the Auditing Process 356 Behnaz Z. Quigley and Mary Jane Eichorn B. Global Business: Bribing 370 Bribery 370 Michael Philips Bribery and Implicit Agreements: A Reply to Philips 384 Thomas L. Carson What’s Wrong with Bribery? 387 Scott Turow C. Globalization 390 Economic Globalization: An Empirical Presentation and a Moral Judgment 390 Farhad Rassekh Multinational Enterprises and Incomplete Institutions: The Demandingness of Minimum Moral Standards 409 Nien–hê Hsieh Evaluating a Case Study: Structuring the Essay 423 Further Reading 430

Michael Boylan is Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Marymount University. He is the author and editor of 26 books, including his manifesto on social/political philosophy A Just Society (2004), and on cosmopolitanism Morality and Global Justice: Justifications and Applications (2011). Boylan was himself the focus of an edited volume, Morality and Justice: Reading Boylan’s A Just Society (2009). He has served on professional and governmental policy committees and was a fellow at the Center for American Progress and a program presenter at The Brookings Institution. He has been an invited speaker in nine countries around the world, including talks in Oxford, Cambridge, Cologne, Oslo, Dublin, Sydney, and the Sorbonne.