An Ethical Turn In Governance

The recurring image throughout the developing world is one of the disintegration of civil order debilitating leaders into a crisis of governance. Not a day goes by without extensive media coverage of some form of corruption, perceived or real, concerning the lack of productivity and/or increasing incidences of fraud and unethical behavior. An Ethical Turn in Governance: The Call for a New Development Narrative posits that the intensification of this crisis is compatible with the root cause of capitalist modernization with its rapid and disorientating changes. To mitigate the accompanying effects, a call is made for [re]conceptualization of the search for a solution through incorporating and strengthening the value of an ethical consciousness in our thinking and policies of governance. The idea is an urgent possibility, perhaps even a controversial and ambitious proposal, for countriesto begin imagining how it might be brought about and what it would look like. The central aim and objective is to move toward a framework for continued theory development and empirical research, thereby offering a new narrative on governance and, by extension, development. Recognizing that the inclusion of an ethical turn in governance is fraught with difficulty because of the different opinions, the relativism of different value systems, and options identified often derived from the perspectives of various stakeholders, a call is made for an interactive discourse in the public sphere. The argument advanced is that a body politic with sensible social values germane to the policy process is the best way in which human conduct is ordered, guided, and appraised in order to live together in well-functioning societies critical for the success of any democracy.

The book is a welcome contribution to the literature on ethics as it provides a broader horizon of investigation than most familiar works in recent years. Jamil E. Jreisat, International Journal of Public Administration This book provides critical, up-to-date reviews on the field of ethics and integrity of governance, along with fresh future perspectives. Focusing on Europe and the US, it addresses the key dimensions of public service values, the integrity and rationality of governance, ethics management, and the ethics of governance politics. In each of these four areas, leading international scholars tackle the main issues and controversies facing the world today. The final chapter synthesizes these views and provides an ambitious and critical outline for future work in the field of ethics and integrity of governance. Emanating from the much heralded transatlantic dialogue , this study integrates both the European and American perspectives into a common voice for action. Ethics and Integrity of Governance will appeal to academics, researchers and practitioners in the areas of leadership and organisation, public policy and public administration, and public values and ethics.

This volume explores corporate governance from three perspectives: a traditional economic, a philosophical, and an integrated business ethics perspective. Corporate governance has enjoyed a long tradition in the English-speaking world of management sciences. Following its traditional understanding it is defined as leadership and control of a firm with the aim of securing the long-term survival and viability of that firm. But recent business scandals and financial crises continue to provide ample cause for concern and have all fuelled interest in the ethical aspects. As a result, corporate governance has been criticized by many social groups. Economic sciences have failed to provide a clear definition of the corporate governance concept. Complexity increases if we embed the economic approach of corporate governance in a philosophical context. This book seeks to define the concept by examining its economic, philosophical and business ethics foundations.

The more integrated technology becomes in our everyday lives and businesses, the more vital it grows that its applications are utilized in an ethical and appropriate way. Ethical Governance of Emerging Technologies Development combines multiple perspectives on ethical backgrounds, theories, and management approaches when implementing new technologies into an environment. Understanding the ethical implications associated with utilizing new advancements in technology is useful for professionals, researchers, and graduate students interested in this growing area of research.

The Ethics of Governance: Moral Limits of Policy Decisions offers a toolbox drawn from normative ethics which finds applications in public governance, primarily focusing on policy making and executive action. It includes ethical concepts and principles culled from different philosophical traditions, ranging from more familiar Western theories to non-Western ethical perspectives, thereby providing a truly global, decolonized and expanded normative lens on issues of governance. The book takes a unique and original approach; it demonstrates the use of the ethical toolbox in the context of actual examples of governance challenges. Taking three major case studies each representing an aspect of human-human and/or human-nature and/or human-animal relationship, the book attempts to show the significance of public practical reasoning in policy decisions with the aim of arriving at reasonable responses. Acknowledging the challenges that policy makers often face, the book highlights the fact that policy making is hardly an exercise yielding a black-or-white solution; rather it involves finding the most reasonable normative outcome (course of action) in a given situation, especially employing an expanded understanding of values including well-being, sustainability, interdependence and community. This effort that helps bridge the gap between ethical theorists and policy practitioners exemplifies the necessary role of ‘engaged philosophy’ in public governance. In the major case studies, Boxes offer facts and figures along with pertinent ethical questions that have been raised and discussed. Aiming to aid the engagement of a diverse audience including non-philosophy readers, each chapter also includes Boxes containing examples, shorter case studies, at-a-glance charts, and tables with comprehensive ethical tools for a quick recap.

In a world where the implications and consequences of corporate actions and decisions are potentially far-reaching and lasting, ethical standards − their observance and their breach − must be part of the language of business conduct, whether in the context of corporate transgressions, regulatory effectiveness, terms of engagement between business and their stakeholders, or the metrics used by investors in assessing performance and risk and understanding long-term value. This critically important book proposes a new paradigm for understanding, developing and maintaining standards of corporate governance. Its point of departure is not a position along the diverse paths of traditional corporate governance and regulatory theory, law and practice, nor specific questions of how to institute, implement and observe policies and practices that function as proxies for good governance. Instead, it starts with the idea of framing governance generally, and corporate governance specifically, as a matter of conduct that is guided by a set of fundamental ideals and principles. Evolutions in Corporate Governance attempts to answer the wider question of how to re-imagine a framework within which ‘good’ corporate governance − that takes account of and is responsible for the social, environmental, ethical as well as legal and economic dimensions of business conduct − is addressed alongside issues of profitability and competition, in the face of forces of globalization and business influence that are testing the limits of what can be accomplished by traditional law and regulation. Dempsey contends that meaningful change in behaviour will only come when there is a corporate governance framework that explicitly encompasses both law and ethics.

This book brings together research works, ideas, critical reviews and strategic proposals encompassing various ethical and corporate governance issues in workplaces and organizations around the globe. For the most part, organizations are managed by policies, guidelines and systems. Good ethics and solid corporate governance help to tie these three elements together so that an effective and successful organization is established. Alongside corporate governance, ethics play an integral role in ensuring the long term survival of businesses. Multidisciplinary in approach, this book provides a platform for scholars and researchers from various backgrounds and interdisciplinary expertise to showcase their research work, ideas, critical review and strategic proposals on the ethical aspects, governance and risk management issues in organizations. The book includes discussions of ethical issues in a variety of organizations around the globe including the non-profit and non-governmental sector and also provides readers with ideas, guidelines and strategic recommendations for handling such issues.

This book investigates the functioning and effects of moral rules and values as endogenous elements of governance structures when applied to economic and social transactions. The point of departure and framework of this book is Josef Wieland's theory of Ethics of Governance. Its focal point is the governance of the normative aspects of corporations. The Ethics of Governance is a comparative research project on business and economic ethics which started 15 years ago. Divided into five chapters, the book provides a comprehensive insight into the theoretical foundation and application-oriented results of the research project. It covers theoretical, conceptual and practical challenges in the global economy with regard to a sustainable economy, the social responsibility of corporations, and their transcultural and normative management. By offering comprehensive insight into the research results of the Ethics of Governance project, this book provides a unique scientific work on business and economic ethics.