Activist Business Ethics

Jacques Cory's second book Activist Business Ethics expands upon the theoretical concepts developed in his first book Business Ethics: The Ethical Revolution of Minority Shareholders published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in March 2001. Activist business ethics is needed in order to remedy the wrongdoing committed to stakeholders and minority shareholders. This will be achieved by cooperation between ethical businessmen, activist academics, stakeholders and minority shareholders. We should treat others as we would want others to treat us, not through interest, but by conviction. Yet this principle is not the guideline of many companies in the modern business world, despite the fact that most religions and philosophers have advocated it in the last 3,000 years. How can we convince or compel modern business to apply this principle? And is it essential to the success of economy? In order to answer these questions this book examines the evolution of activist business ethics in business, in democracies, in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, in philosophy and psychology. The book examines international aspects, the personification of stakeholders, the predominance of values and ethics for CEOs and the inefficient safeguards of the stakeholders' interests. The book presents new vehicles for the safeguard of those interests, such as the Internet, Transparency, Ethical Funds and Activist Associations, and future activist vehicles, such as the Supervision Board and the Institute of Ethics. Today everybody is a stakeholder and a minority shareholder of a company, directly or through our pension funds, or as a client, a supplier, a member of a community and a citizen. The principal premise of the book is, therefore, that ultimately the wrongdoers act against themselves. The book is woven with many references on ethics and business ethics from the professional and classic world literature, the Bible and other religious texts, poetry, maxims, and folk tales; showing that ethical problems are similar throughout the ages and cultures, but some of the solutions given in this book are new and original. Activist Business Ethics is primarily intended for the academic market and is particularly appropriate for academics in business administration, ethics and finance. It should also appeal strongly to the professional business/finance market, and to stakeholders and minority shareholders as well, who are aware of the wrongdoing committed to them and who want to remedy the situation by activist conduct.

Each chapter in this book by itself is a worthy contribution to the existing research on the TNC in a globalised world. In-spire, Journal of Law, Politics and Societies The argument of this book is so powerful and convincing because it focuses on global subpolitics: the corporate (ir)responsibility, the power of its critics, and the consuming citizen. This shift of perspectives and its sophistication makes Moralizing the Corporation a must-read for anyone interested in the dynamics of globalization. Ulrich Beck, University of Munich, Germany Moralizing the Corporation offers a multi-disciplinary analysis of the conflicts between transnational corporations and transnational advocacy groups. The book is theoretically sophisticated and full of interesting and nuanced empirical findings that generate new knowledge about the relationship between politics and markets. It views transnational corporations as quasi-public institutions and explains their vulnerability to the non-state authority of political consumers and protest groups. Holzer develops theory on transnational subpolitics and corporate reflexivity and should be read by scholars and activists alike. Michele Micheletti, University of Stockholm, Sweden This insightful book examines how transnational corporations respond to the challenges of anti-corporate activism and political consumerism. In prominent cases involving major corporations such as Nestlé, Nike and Royal Dutch/Shell, transnational activists have successfully mobilized public opinion and consumers against alleged corporate misdemeanours. Campaigns and boycott calls can harm a corporation s image but, as this book points out, public scrutiny also gives corporations the opportunity to present themselves as responsible and accountable corporate citizens who subscribe to the very norms and values propagated by the activists. Academics, scholars and postgraduate students in international business management, organization studies, social movement studies and political sociology will find this book invaluable.

"Morten: And what are we going to do, when you have made liberal-minded and high-minded men of us? Dr. Stockman: Then you shall drive all the wolves out of the country, my boys!" (Ibsen, An Enemy of the People, Act V) The theoretical and empirical research of this book describes how the traditional safeguards of the rights of minority shareholders have failed in their duty and how those shareholders have remained practically without any protection against the arbitrariness of the companies and majority shareholders. The law, the SEC, society, boards of directors, independent directors, auditors, analysts, underwriters and the press have remained in many cases worthless panaceas. Nevertheless, in the Ethics of 2000 new vehicles have been developed for the protection of minority shareholders, mainly the Internet, transparency, activist associations and ethical funds. Those vehicles give the shareholders at least the chance to understand the pattern and methods that are utilized to wrong them and give them a viable alternative for investment in ethical funds. The new vehicles will prevent minority shareholders from using the Armageddon weapon, by ceasing to invest in the stock exchange and causing the collapse of the system, that discriminates against them.

Businesses keep progressing every single day which is the reason why more and more attention goes to the ethical part of the business. Journalists and activists are involved every minute of their lives to disclose and take action against the wrongful practices done by various businesses to provide relief and aware the customers about the same. This is the reason why it becomes essentially important to follow business ethics to make sure that all the businesses are doing the right things morally. Moral values are one of the strongest basis to make sure that customers nowadays base their buying and choice of products and services. Business ethics are very necessary for any business and customer relationships to flourish and grow to the best of their abilities.

Many mechanical systems are actively controlled in order to improve their dynamic performance. Examples are elastic satellites, active vehicle suspension systems, robots, magnetic bearings, automatic machine tools. Problems that are typical for mechanical systems arise in the following areas: - Modeling the mechanical system in such a way that the model is suitable for control design - Designing multivariable controls to be robust with respect to parameter variations and uncertainties in system order of elastic structures - Fast real-time signal processing - Generating high dynamic control forces and providing the necessary control power - Reliability and safety concepts, taking into account the growing role of software within the system The objective of the Symposium has been to present methods that contribute to the solutions of such problems. Typical examples are demonstrating the state of the art It intends to evalua~ the limits of performance that can be achieved by controlling the dynamics, and it should point to gaps in present research and areas for future research. Mainly, it has brought together leading experts from quite different areas presenting their points of view. The International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (lUTAM) has initiated and sponsored, in cooperation with the International Federation of Automatic Control (IF AC), this Symposium on Dynamics of Controlled Mechanical Systems, held at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, May 3D-June 3, 1988.

This exciting new text engages with the issue of ethical dilemmas encountered in different organizations. Rather than exploring the definition of ethical conduct, this book focuses on the way in which the process of organization produces dilemmas of ethical behaviour. Using illustrative accounts from corporate settings as a basis, the book explores the conditions that lead to ethical dilemmas and the strategies organizations adopt to deal with these dilemmas or steer away from them. The book suggests that ethical dilemmas are often dealt with by directing attention away from the core problem, rather than engaging with and solving it. This is a fascinating text, which raises important questions and provides a deeper understanding of the dynamics of ethical processes. A company’s ethical behaviour is a major criterion by which the company, its products and services are judged and is therefore crucial to sound management in today’s organizations. Ethical Dilemmas in Management is essential reading for all students of business and management and ethics.

Formerly published by Chicago Business Press, now published by Sage Using an applied and practical approach, Managing Business Ethics: And Your Career focuses on the implications of business ethics on students’ careers and the organizations where they will work. Author Mel Fugate′s conversational tone makes his coverage of concise philosophical and historical foundations of ethics, influential research, and real-world examples approachable for classroom discussion.

Thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society, Second Edition explores current topics, such as mass social media, cookies, and cyber-attacks, as well as traditional issues including accounting, discrimination, environmental concerns, and management. The new edition also includes an in-depth examination of current and recent ethical affairs, such as the dangerous work environments of off-shore factories for Western retailers, the negligence resulting in the 2010 BP oil spill, the gender wage gap, the minimum wage debate and increasing income disparity, and the unparalleled level of debt in the U.S. and other countries with the challenges it presents to many societies and the considerable impact on the ethics of intergenerational wealth transfers. Key Features Include: Seven volumes, available in both electronic and print formats, contain more than 1,200 signed entries by significant figures in the field Cross-references and suggestions for further readings to guide students to in-depth resources Thematic Reader's Guide groups related entries by general topics Index allows for thorough browse-and-search capabilities in the electronic edition