Applied Business Ethics

What has ethics got to do with my job? How can I take on ethical responsibility and help to make my company more successful at the same time? Although 'ethical responsibility' has become something of a catchphrase these days, most people only have a vague idea what it means and how it can be demonstrated in actual practice.

Disasters like the Volkswagen's emission scandal, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the nuclear meltdown of Fukushima, the global financial crisis, and countless lesser-known cases of damage to human beings and the environment are the result of unethically irresponsible business practices. Efforts to maximize profits frequently lead to reckless behavior, as those in charge focus on short-term benefits and ignore social and environmental risks. Their actions have negative consequences, not only for the victims but, in many cases, for the perpetrators themselves too. Aggrieved interest groups or disadvantaged stakeholders may react with strikes, public protests, or boycotts, jeopardizing their reputation and profitability.

This textbook, Applied Business Ethics, is the result of many years of research work and lecturing, and is an attempt to present the most important principles and the latest approaches in business ethics to students, teachers, and business practitioners alike, and help them to make business decisions that everyone concerned will benefit from, rather than just a few fortunate stakeholders.

The author illustrates his theoretical subject matter with practical examples of real-life situations and provides numerous exercises to help the reader grasp complex issues, moral dilemmas, and business risks better. In clear, accessible, and easily understandable terms, he demonstrates how ways of finding satisfactory solutions can be found in a systematic way thanks to interdisciplinary research and philosophical reflection.
Contents: Responsibility in Companies:The Growing Need for Responsibility and EthicsA Holistic Model of Corporate ResponsibilityTraditional Ethics in Companies:Ethics:A Way of Regulating Social ProcessesUtility Ethics: How We Judge the Consequences of People's ActionsDuty Ethics: What We Need to RespectVirtue Ethics: What Makes Ethical Behaviour PossibleSynopsis: Traditional Ethics in PracticeApplication in Strategic Management and Use of the SCR ChecklistRecent Ethical Approaches to Business:Intergenerational Ethics: Considering Future GenerationsBiocentric Ethics: Reverence for LifeDeep Ethics: Getting Along with EvilOutlook: Conclusions About Responsible Leadership:The Essence of Responsible Leadership
Readership: Students, academics and practitioners in business ethics.Ethics;Business Ethics;Corporate Responsibility;Ethics of Utility;Duty Ethics;Virtue Ethics;Strategic Management;Intergenerational Ethics;Biocentric Ethics;Deep Ethics;Responsible Leadership0Key Features:Despite having a strong practical focus, this textbook also amply demonstrates the theoretical and philosophical reasoning that underlies ethics. Without theory, the actual cases it outlines would simply be arbitrary, and a work on theory that doesn't contain any practical applications of it would equally be of limited useThis textbook is the result of many years of research work and lecturing, and is a way of ensuring that the author's outstanding knowledge of teaching about and explaining ethical behavior in a business context remains accessible to a broad audience, linking new insights with established knowledge