Business Ethics as Practice
Ethics as the Everyday Business of Business

An analysis and critique of the role of ethics management programs within modern organizations.

Mollie Painter-Morland (Author)

9780521174565, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 3 March 2011

322 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.47 kg

'This book by Mollie Painter-Morland points clearly in a very exhaustive manner at what have been some of the fundamental problems that have plagued the field of business ethics since its beginnings … It is an excellent source for academics interested [in] the actual deployment of ethical theories into business practice and their links with other relevant fields of business studies. It is well written and suitable for a course both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels which could be easily integrated with other management and business areas of study. At the same time, this book is an excellent source for practitioners aiming at understanding different perspectives in business ethics and theoretical frameworks in a cohesive manner and going beyond the classic paradigms of ethics as abstract sets of rules or as mere compliance checklist systems.' Stefano Cavagnetto, History of Economic Thought and Policy

In recent years, a succession of corporate scandals has rocked the international business community. As a result, many companies have invested considerable time, money and effort on the development of ethics management programs. However, in many cases, such programs are nothing more than insurance policies against corporate liability, designed merely to limit the fallout of scandals should they occur. In Business Ethics as Practice, Mollie Painter-Morland urges us to take business ethics seriously by reconsidering the role of ethics management within organizations. She redefines the typical seven-step ethics management program from within – challenging the reader to reconsider what is possible within each aspect of this process. In doing so, she draws on the insights of Aristotle, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault and numerous contemporary organizational theorists and sociologists to create the space for the emergence of a morally responsive corporate ethos.

List of tables
Preface
1. The dissociation of ethics with practice
2. Reconsidering approaches to moral reasoning
3. Moral agency reconsidered
4. Reconsidering values
5. Leadership and accountability
6. Reconsidering ethics 'management'
Index.

Subject Areas: Business & management [KJ]