The future of the free market depends on fair, honest business practices.
Business Ethics: Contemporary Issues and Cases aims to deepen students’ knowledge of ethical principles, corporate social responsibility, and decision-making in all aspects of business. The text presents an innovative approach to ethical reasoning grounded in moral philosophy. Focusing on corporate purpose—creating economic value, complying with laws and regulations, and observing ethical standards—a decision-making framework is presented based upon Duties-Rights-Justice. Over 40 real-world case studies allow students to grapple with a wide range of moral issues related to personal integrity, corporate values, and global capitalism. Richard A. Spinello delves into the most pressing issues confronting businesses today including sexual harassment in the workplace, cybersecurity, privacy, and environmental justice.
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Cuprins
List of Case Studies
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Ethical Decision-Making Framework
PART I. THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES
Chapter 1. Why Capitalism?
What Is Capitalism?
Archetypes of Capitalism
Capitalism and Its Critics
Government Institutions and Market Failures
Moral Culture and Modern Managers
Conclusion
Key Terms
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Chapter 2. Corporate Moral Agency, Purpose, and Responsibilities
The Corporation and the Triumph of Corporate Rights
Corporate Moral Agency
Corporate Purpose
Corporate Accountability and Economic Mission
Conclusion
Key Terms
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Chapter 3. Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
Plato, Aristotle, and Virtue Ethics
Consequences and Utilitarianism
Ethics as Duty
Natural Rights
Synthesis and Application
Scope of Corporate Social Responsibility
Conclusion
Key Terms
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
PART II. PERSONAL INTEGRITY IN THE WORKPLACE
Chapter 4. The Person and the Corporation
An Overview of the Cases
CASE STUDY 4.1: Trouble in the Recruiting Office
CASE STUDY 4.2: Conscience and the Workplace
CASE STUDY 4.3: Karen Preston’s New Boss
CASE STUDY 4.4: Confessions of an Appliance Salesman
CASE STUDY 4.5: The “Perfect” Job Offer
CASE STUDY 4.6: The Product Manager
CASE STUDY 4.7: Telling the Truth about the Probable Sale of a Division
CASE STUDY 4.8: Should an Engineer Inform the FAA about a Defective Fuselage Design?
CASE STUDY 4.9: Who’s Responsible?
Conclusion
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Appendix: How to Analyze a Case
PART III. CORPORATE VALUES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Chapter 5. The Rights of the Modern Corporation
An Overview of the Cases
CASE STUDY 5.1: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
CASE STUDY 5.2: The Hobby Lobby Case
Conclusion
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Chapter 6. Ethics in the Investment and Financial Services Industries
An Overview of the Cases
Briefing on Insider Trading
CASE STUDY 6.1: Texas Gulf Sulphur
CASE STUDY 6.2: All in the Family: The Stewart Insider Trading Case
CASE STUDY 6.3: Manipulating the LIBOR
CASE STUDY 6.4: Fraud or Shrewd Business? The Case of Goldman Sachs
CASE STUDY 6.5: The Wells Fargo Sales Scam
Conclusion
Key Terms
Review Question
Discussion Questions
Chapter 7. Patients, Patents, and the Pharmaceutical Industry
An Overview of the Cases
A Note on Patents and Intellectual Property Rights
Briefing on Big Pharma and Industry Regulations
CASE STUDY 7.1: The New Economics of Drug Pricing: Valeant Pharmaceuticals International
CASE STUDY 7.2: Big Pharma Confronts AIDS
CASE STUDY 7.3: Myriad Genetics: Patenting the Genome
Conclusion
Key Terms
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Chapter 8. Protecting the Consumer: Product Safety and Marketing
An Overview of the Cases
Briefing: Spotlight on the Tobacco Industry
CASE STUDY 8.1: Plain Packaging and the Ongoing Trials of Big Tobacco
Briefing on Safety and the U.S. Automotive Industry
CASE STUDY 8.2: The Chevy Cobalt Ignition Switch Crisis
CASE STUDY 8.3: Takata’s Airbag: Unsafe in Any Car?
CASE STUDY 8.4: The Samsung Recall: A Galaxy of Troubles
Conclusion
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
PART IV. GLOBAL CAPITALISM, CULTURE, AND JUSTICE
Chapter 9. Business and the Environment
An Overview of the Cases
CASE STUDY 9.1: Poisoned Land: The Tragic History of Love Canal
CASE STUDY 9.2: Deepwater Horizon: BP on the Edge
CASE STUDY 9.3: Volkswagen’s Dieselgate
CASE STUDY 9.4: Chevron in the Amazon: Anatomy of Environmental Degradation and Its Aftermath
Conclusion
Key Terms
Review Question
Discussion Questions
Chapter 10. Informational Privacy and Cybersecurity
An Overview of the Cases
Briefing on Privacy Rights and Security
CASE STUDY 10.1: Data Breaches at Yahoo
CASE STUDY 10.2: Going Dark: Apple versus the FBI
Conclusion
Key Terms
Review Question
Discussion Questions
Chapter 11. Fair Competition in the Era of Informational Capitalism
An Overview of the Cases
CASE STUDY 11.1: Microsoft Accused: The Browser Wars and the Antitrust Case
CASE STUDY 11.2: Challenging the Google Monopoly
Conclusion
Key Terms
Review Question
Discussion Questions
Chapter 12. Employee Rights and Sexual Harassment
An Overview of the Cases
Briefing on Duties to Employees
CASE STUDY 12.1: Sexual Harassment or Imprudence?
CASE STUDY 12.2: Voluntary Redundancies at PSA Group
CASE STUDY 12.3: GPS Monitoring and Employee Privacy Rights: Excerpts from Cunningham v. New York State Department of Labor
Conclusion
Key Terms
Review Question
Discussion Questions
PART V. GLOBALIZATION AND CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
Chapter 13. Global Politics and Disinvestment Strategies
An Overview of the Cases
Briefing on the History and Challenges of Globalization
CASE STUDY 13.1: ITT in Chile: Corporate Executives and Marxist Presidents
CASE STUDY 13.2: Rubber at Any Price: Firestone and the African Strongman
Conclusion
Key Terms
Review Question
Discussion Questions
Chapter 14. Bribery and Corruption in Foreign Markets
An Overview of the Cases
Briefing on Bribery and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
CASE STUDY 14.1: Glaxo Smith Kline in China
CASE STUDY 14.2: Seeds of Scandal at Monsanto
CASE STUDY 14.3: The Resource Curse and Equatorial Guinea
Conclusion
Key Terms
Review Question
Discussion Questions
Chapter 15. Responsible Outsourcing: Fair Wages and Worker Safety
An Overview of the Cases
CASE STUDY 15.1: Worker Abuses in the Supply Chain: The Disturbing Case of Apple in China
CASE STUDY 15.2: Sweatshops and Deathtraps: The Garment Industry in Bangladesh
Conclusion
Review Question
Discussion Questions
Glossary
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
Despre autor
Dr. Richard A. Spinello is Professor of Management Practice at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, where he teaches courses on ethics, leadership, and globalization. He is the author of numerous articles and books on business and business ethics including Global Capitalism, Culture, and Ethics.