Bauer Business Ethics
Student Resources - Readings
Glossary of Ethics Terms
Ethical Decision Making
- A Framework for Ethical Decision Making
- Approaching Ethics
- Calculating Consequences
- Can Ethics Be Taught?
- Common Good
- Conscience and Authority
- Consistency and Ethics
- Ethical Relativism
- Ethics and Virtue
- Everyday Ethics
- How Did I Live Today?
- Justice and Fairness
- Rights
- Thinking Ethically
- What is Ethics?
- Who Counts?
- A Stakeholder theory of the modern corporation
- Just because it’s legal is it Ethical?
- Obedience to authority- an experimental view
- The Ten Commandments
- Utilitarianism, Chapters II and V
- When and why did Business Ethicists go wrong? The case of Dow Corning Corporation
Corporate Governance
- Transparency is Essential to Risk Management
- Why Nonprofits Have a Board Problem
- Is Business Management a Profession?
- Executive Comp: Pay Without Performance
- Mapping Your Board's Performance
- How to fix corporate governance
Corporate Social Responsibility
- US Corporate Excess - Barons of Bankrupcty
- Corporate Responsibility
- Arguments For and Against Corporate Social Responsibility
- The Five Steps to Corporate Social Responsibility
- Shareholder Value Versus Corporate Responsibility
- Should I Pay the Bribe?
Leadership, Morality, Trust
- Truth and Trust: They Go Together
- The Moral Dilemma of Young Professionals
- Do the Right Thing
- When Morals and Profits Meet: The Corporate Value Shift
- What Leaders Need to Do To Restore Investor Confidence
- 'Good Work': When Ethics and Professionalism Meet
- Doing the Right Thing, The Hard Way
- Other Business Ethics articles and publications
- A jury of her peers
- Corporate Codes and Ethics Programs
- Doing well by doing good: Can business be ethical?
- Morality - the basic rules
- Profitable Ethical Programs
- Scandals shred investor’s faith
- Should ethics be taught in college
- The Good Samaritan
Ethics Articles by Discipline
Accounting
- Books and Articles on Accounting Ethics
- Improving Professional Ethics - Steps for Implementing Change
- AICPA Professional Ethics Executive Committee Fact Sheet 2004-2005
Decision and Information Sciences (DISC)
- Ethical Issues for IT Security Professionals
- Management and Statistics: Never ignore the power of statistics in business management
Management
Marketing
More ethics articles can be found at the following websites
Glossary of Ethics Terms
Ethics Updates Glossary
Lawrence H. Hinman
http://ethics.sandiego.edu/index.asp
Glossary of Philosophical Terms
Peter Landry
http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/BluePete/Phil.htm#Glossary
Ethical Decision Making
A Framework for Ethical Decision Making: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. MeyerDescription: "Ethics or morality poses questions about how we ought to act and how we should live. It asks, "According to what standards are these actions right or wrong?" It asks, "What character traits (like honesty, compassion, fairness) are necessary to live a truly human life?" It also asks, "What concerns or groups do we usually minimize or ignore? And why might that be?" Admitting our blindness is the beginning of vision." http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/framework.html
Approaching Ethics: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. MeyerDescription: "This article discusses different theories to analyzing ethical dilemmas - the Virtue, Utilitarian, Rights, Justice, and Common Good approaches to thinking about ethics." http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/approach.html
Calculating Consequences: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer Description: "This article discusses the Utilitarian approach to analyzing ethical dilemmas, including the problems with using the theory." http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/calculating.html
Can Ethics Be Taught?: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/canethicsbetaught.html
Common Good: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer Description: "Commenting on the many economic and social problems that American society now confronts, Newsweek columnist Robert J. Samuelson recently wrote: "We face a choice between a society where people accept modest sacrifices for a common good or a more contentious society where group selfishly protect their own benefits." Newsweek is not the only voice calling for a recognition of and commitment to the "common good." Daniel Callahan, an expert on bioethics, argues that solving the current crisis in our health care system--rapidly rising costs and dwindling access--requires replacing the current "ethic of individual rights" with an "ethic of the common good." http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/commongood.html
Conscience and Authority: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. MeyerDescription: "This article discusses the Milgram Experiment involving "mock shocks" and obedience to authority." http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/conscience.html
Consistency and Ethics: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. MeyerDescription: "This article discusses how consistency, sometimes called the hallmark of ethics, affects ethical decision making." http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/consistency.html
Ethical Relativism: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. MeyerDescription: "This article discusses the theory of "ethical relativism" (i.e., that morality is relative to one's culture) and describes the challenges of applying the theory." http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/ethicalrelativism.html
Ethics and Virtue: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. MeyerDescription: " This article describes the theory of "virtue ethics" (i.e., how there are certain ideals that we should strive for in order to fully develop as humans) and how people develop their virtues. " http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/ethicsandvirtue.html
Everyday Ethics: "Morality Requires Regular Reflection on the Day-to-Day Decisions That Confront Us." By Thomas Shanks, S.J. Description: "This article discusses items such as: how we should treat each other; what are the challenges to acting ethically; and how people need a systematic approach to living an ethical life. " http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v8n1/everydayethics.html
How Did I Live Today?: Thomas Shanks, S.J., Ph.D., Executive Director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Description: " The author ".recommends that everyone ask themselves.five questions at the end of the day." http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/today.html
Justice and Fairness: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. MeyerDescription: "This article discusses the concepts of justice and fairness with examples using real life examples. The articles describes the different kinds of justice, such as distributive justice (i.e., the extent to which society ensures that benefits and burdens are fairly distributed); corrective justice (i.e., the extent to which punishments are fairly administered); and compensatory justice (i.e., the extent to which individuals are fairly compensated for any injuries suffered. " http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/justice.html
Rights: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer Description: "This article discusses what constitutes a "right" and describes the different kinds of "rights" and the conflicts inherent in certain rights." http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/rights.html
Thinking Ethically: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meye rDescription: "This article describes various methods that can be used for making ethical decisions - the Utilitarian approach; the Rights approach; the Fairness or Justice approach; the Common-Good approach; and the Virtue approach. The article closes with a brief discussion about ethical problem solving." http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/thinking.html
What is Ethics?: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html
Who Counts?: Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. MeyerDescription: "For over eight years the three monkeys immobilized in harnesses have sat staring helplessly from their cages. Their paralyzed limbs dangling at their sides have been useless appendages since researchers eight years ago cut their nerves in experiments. According to the director of the National Institutes of Health, they now "give evidence of frequent, unrelievable pain." Experimenters plan next to surgically remove the tops of the monkey's skulls, insert electrodes to take brain measurements, and finally kill them, all as part of a research project on spinal cord injuries financed by the National Institutes of Health. Clearly, the experimenters would never have done to humans what they did to these monkeys..What is moral standing? "http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whocounts.html
A Stakeholder theory of the modern corporation: Author: R. Edward Freeman Reprinted in Perspectives in Business Ethics by Laura P. Hartman Publisher Boston : McGraw-Hill, c2002. Edition 2nd ed. Available through the UH library
Just because it’s legal is it Ethical?: Author: Seglin, Jeffrey L., 1956- Title: The good, the bad, and your business : choosing right when ethical dilemmas pull you apart ; Foreword by Norman R. AugustinePublisher :New York : John Wiley & Sons, c2000 ISBN 0471347795 (alk. paper) Available through the UH Library
Obedience to authority - an experimental view: Author: Stanley Milgram Reprinted in Perspectives in Business Ethics by Laura P. Hartman Publisher Boston : McGraw-Hill, c2002. Edition 2nd ed. Available through the UH library
The Ten Commandments: Source: Exodus 20:1-17, The Bible Reprinted in Perspectives in Business Ethics by Laura P. Hartman Publisher Boston : McGraw-Hill, c2002. Edition 2nd ed. Available through the UH library
Utilitarianism, Chapters II and V: Author: John Stuart MillReprinted in Perspectives in Business Ethics by Laura P. Hartman Publisher Boston : McGraw-Hill, c2002. Edition 2nd ed. Available through the UH library
When and why did Business Ethicists go wrong? The case of Dow Corning Corporation :Author: Daryl Koehn Reprinted in Perspectives in Business Ethics by Laura P. Hartman Publisher Boston : McGraw-Hill, c2002. Edition 2nd ed. Available through the UH library
Corporate Governance
Transparency is Essential to Risk Management: International Chamber of Commerce Description: "Article discusses why transparency is essential to risk assessment; and essential disclosures." http://www.iccwbo.org/corporate-governance/id3081/index.html
Why Nonprofits Have a Board Problem: Harvard Business School website, April 4, 2005Description: "Plenty of distinguished people serve on nonprofit boards, but for some reason these directors shrink from leadership, argues Harvard professor Richard Chait . In this Q & A, Chait discusses his new book on how boards can transform into powerful forces of leadership."
Is Business Management a Profession?: Harvard Business School website, February 21, 2005Description: "If management was a licensed profession on a par with law or medicine, there might be fewer opportunities for corporate bad guys, argue HBS professors Rakesh Khurana and Nitin Nohria , and research associate Daniel Penrice ." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4650&t=leadership
Executive Comp: Pay Without Performance: Harvard Business School website, December 6, 2004Description: "Out-of-control executive compensation schemes are "widespread, persistent, and systemic," and new reforms won't clean up the mess, argue law professors Lucian Bebchuk and Jesse Fried . Q & A and book excerpt." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4526&t=corporate_governance
Mapping Your Board's Performance: Harvard Business School website, August 30, 2004Description: "To be effective, board members must understand their company's strategy. Professor Robert S. Kaplan offers methods for using the Balanced Scorecard and strategy maps to increase board power. From Strategy & Innovation." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4341&t=corporate_governance
How to fix corporate governance: Author: John A. Byrne, with Louis Lavelle, Nanette Byrnes, and Marcia Vickers in New York and Amy Borrus in WashingtonSource:Business Week, May 6, 2002 http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_18/b3781701.htm
Corporate Social Responsibility
US Corporate Excess - Barons of Bankrupcty: "Article provides information about the most recent and publicized corporate bankruptcies, providing data on company assets, value lost, jobs lost, and individual gross earnings for the CEOs in charge of these companies." http://www.finfacts.ie/irelandeconomy/bankruptcy.htm
Corporate Responsibility: News Batch - an internet guide to understanding of policy issuesDescription: "Article provides detail about key corporate scandals such as Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Adelphia, Imclone, and others." http://www.newsbatch.com/corp.htm
Arguments For and Against Corporate Social Responsibility: Author: N. Craig Smith Reprinted in Perspectives in Business Ethics by Laura P. Hartman Publisher Boston : McGraw-Hill, c2002. Edition 2nd ed. Available through the UH library
The Five Steps to Corporate Social Responsibility : Harvard Business School website, January 17, 2005 Description: "Nike and Nestlé learned the hard way: As society changes, we must constantly rethink how we do business. Most corporations pass through five stages as they move toward social responsibility. A Harvard Business Review excerpt." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4573&t=nonprofit
Shareholder Value Versus Corporate Responsibility : Harvard Business School website, April 22, 2002Description: " It's a delicate balance: Can companies provide good returns to shareholders while being socially responsible? The "virtue matrix," developed by Rotman School of Management's Dean Roger L. Martin , lays out some guidelines in this excerpt from the Harvard Business Review." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=2891&t=moral_leadership
Should I Pay the Bribe? : Harvard Business School website, March 28, 2005Description: " How should you handle corruption in your markets? On the heels of a recent Harvard Business Review fictional case study on corruption, HBS professor Rafael Di Tella lays out the not-so-black-and-white issues in this Q & A. " http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4714&t=globalization
The Divine Right of Capital: Is Maximizing Returns to Shareholders a Legitimate Mandate?: Author :Kelly, Marjorie, 1953- Book Title :The divine right of capital : dethroning the corporate aristocracy Publisher: San Francisco, CA : Berrett-Koehler, c2001.Edition : 1st ed.ISBN : 1576751252 Available through UH Library
Wealth of nations Author: Smith, Adam, 1723-1790. Book Title :Wealth of nations [electronic resource] Publisher: Hoboken, N.J. : BiblioBytes ; Boulder, Colo. : NetLibrary, eBook ISBN: 058505 Available through UH library
How Business Can Be Good (and why being good is good for business) Author: Jeffrey L. Seglin Source: SOJOURNERS Magazine (January-February 2000) http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0001&article=000110
The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits Author: Milton Friedman Source: The New York Times Magazine, Sep 13, 1970 http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html
Unjust Rewards Author: Ken Silverstein Source: Mother Jones, May/June 2002 http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2002/05/unjust.html
Leadership, Morality, Trust
Truth and Trust: They Go Together Harvard Business School website, April 25, 2005Description: "Getting others to trust you and your abilities is easy, says Stever Robbins : Simply be trustworthy. If you lose trust, you'll never get it back." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4776&t=moral_leadership
The Moral Dilemma of Young Professionals Harvard Business Review website, July 5, 2004Description: "What influences the moral compasses of young professionals? Harvard Graduate School of Education researchers discuss their new book on ethical conflicts faced by generations at the start of their career ladder." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4239&t=moral_leadership
Do the Right Thing Harvard Business School website, September 29, 2003Description: "How does a commitment to "do the right thing" as it's applied to customers, employees, and other stakeholders affect an organization's daily decision making?" http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=3689&t=moral_leadership
When Morals and Profits Meet: The Corporate Value Shift Harvard Business School website, November 18, 2002Description: " Although recent headlines focus on business boondoggles, HBS professor Lynn S. Paine's research shows a rising standard of corporate performance that includes moral and financial dimensions. In an interview, she details this trend and her new book, Value Shift." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=3179&t=moral_leadership
What Leaders Need to Do To Restore Investor Confidence Harvard Business School website, October 7, 2002 Description: "Where corporate ethics are concerned, the buck stops with the CEO, says HBS professor Thomas R. Piper. In this interview from the Harvard Management Update , Piper explains how corporate malfeasance found a foothold and suggests ways that all companies can restore trust." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=3126&t=moral_leadership
'Good Work': When Ethics and Professionalism Meet Harvard Business School website, January 21, 2002Description: "In the ethical, moral, and legal quagmire surrounding the Enron collapse, the concept of "good work" rings true. Harvard psychology professor Howard Gardner discusses how businesspeople can be true to themselves, clients, and their employers. PLUS: Book excerpt." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=2719&t=moral_leadership
Doing the Right Thing, The Hard Way Harvard Business School website, April 25, 2000Description: "What does it take to be a leader in the E-Age? Guts, perseverance and an understanding of public ethics in a world of instant communication, according to Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, who spoke candidly to an audience of HBS MBA students in late March." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=1461&t=moral_leadership
Other Business Ethics articles and publications http://www.web-miner.com/busethics.htm#articles
A jury of her peers Author: Susan GlaspellSource:learner.org http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/story/fulltext.html
Corporate Codes and Ethics Programs Author: Michael C. DeckReprinted in Perspectives in Business Ethics by Laura P. Hartman Publisher Boston : McGraw-Hill, c2002. Edition 2nd ed. Available through the UH library
Doing well by doing good: Can business be ethical? Author: UnknownSource:The Economist April 22, 2000 http://www.economist.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=304119
Morality - the basic rules Author: Robert Solomon Reprinted in Perspectives in Business Ethics by Laura P. Hartman Publisher Boston : McGraw-Hill, c2002. Edition 2nd ed. Available through the UH library
Profitable Ethical Programs Author: Jason Lunday Reprinted in Perspectives in Business Ethics by Laura P. Hartman Publisher Boston : McGraw-Hill, c2002. Edition 2nd ed. Available through the UH library
Scandals shred investor’s faith Author: John Waggoner & Thomas A. Fogarty Source: USA Today, May 2, 2002 http://www.usatoday.com/money/general/2002/05/02/trust.htm
Should ethics be taught in college Author: David ThiesReprinted in Perspectives in Business Ethics by Laura P. Hartman Publisher Boston : McGraw-Hill, c2002. Edition 2nd ed .Available through the UH library
The Good Samaritan Source: Luke 10:30-37, The Bible Reprinted in Perspectives in Business Ethics by Laura P. Hartman Publisher Boston : McGraw-Hill, c2002. Edition 2nd ed. Available through the UH library
Ethics Articles by Discipline
Accounting
Books and Articles on Accounting Ethics Description: "This site provides a list of recommended books and articles on accounting ethics" http://www.questia.com/library/philosophy/branches-of-philosophy/ethics/accounting-ethics.jsp
Improving Professional Ethics - Steps for Implementing Change By Jane B. Romal and Arlene M. Hibschweiler (The CPA Journal)Description: "This article discusses the steps necessary for causing change within the accounting profession - topics include (1) how ethics is currently being handled, (2) steps for firms and employees, (3) assessing clients, (4) steps for accounting professionals and educators, and (5) restoring confidence in the accounting profession." http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2004/604/essentials/p58.htm
AICPA Professional Ethics Executive Committee Fact Sheet 2004-2005 http://www.aicpa.org/download/ethics/Ethics-Committee-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Decision and Information Sciences (DISC)
Ethical Issues for IT Security Professionals Description: Article discusses why ethical guidelines are necessary in the IT area; some common ethical issues; and provides some real-life ethical dilemmas http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Ethical-Issues-IT-Security-Professionals.html
Management and Statistics: Never ignore the power of statistics in business management Robert KellerDescription: "This article describes some of the ethical issues with using statistics in business management." http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/management/management-statistics.php
Management
Ethics and Emergence of World Trade http://ethics.sandiego.edu/Resources/PhilForum/Terrorism/Bottorff.htmlMarketing
Ways to Market Social Responsibility Harvard Business School website, March 28, 2005Description:"Chances are you have precious little money to spend on marketing if you operate a nonprofit. At the 2005 Conference on Social Enterprise, experts in low-cost marketing of social causes shared a few tricks of their trade." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4716&t=nonprofit
Rescuing Products with Stealth Positioning Harvard Business School website, June 13, 2005Description:"You may have a great product, but the category turns off potential customers. Think household robots. In this Harvard Business Review excerpt, professor Youngme Moon looks at how Sony and Apple broke consumer prejudice." http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4852&t=marketing
More ethics articles can be found at the following websites
The Ethics Resource Center http://www.ethics.org/
Harvard Business School http://hbswk.hbs.edu/index.jhtml
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/articles/articles.cfm?fam=BUSI