Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T17:22:48.990Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Towards Business Ethics as an Academic Discipline1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Georges Enderle
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Recalling several profound disagreements about business ethics as it is currently discussed in Western societies, I emphasize the need for business ethics as an academic discipline that constitutes the “backbone” for both teaching business ethics and improving business practice (section 1). Then I outline a conceptual framework of business ethics that promotes a “bottom-up” approach (section 2). This “problem-and action-oriented” conception appears to be fruitful in terms of both practical relevance and theoretical understanding. Finally, I argue for (section 3) the relevance of discussing goals at all levels of human action (i.e., individuals, organizations, systems) as well as the indispensability of human rights, and propose Amartya Sen's “goal-rights-system” approach as a normative-ethical framework for business ethics that integrates these two fundamental aspects.

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , January 1996 , pp. 43 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Becker, L. C. 1977. Property Rights: Philosophical Foundations. London/Boston: Routledge and K. Paul.Google Scholar
Becker, L. C., (ed.), Becker, C. B., (associate ed.). 1992. Encyclopedia of Ethics. New York/London: Garland Publishing.Google Scholar
Berenbeim, R.E. 1987. Corporate Ethics. A Research Report from The Conference Board. New York: The Conference Board.Google Scholar
Blickle, G. 1994. Book Review: A German Treatment of Business Ethics. Business Ethics — A European Review, 3, 239–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowen, E. F. 1991. The Role of Business in Three Levels of Literacy. In Freeman. 1991, 177–187.Google Scholar
Brown, M. T. 1996. The Process. A Strategy for Making Good Decisions. Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Ciulla, J.B. 1991. Business Ethics as Moral Imagination. In Freeman. 1991, 212–220.Google Scholar
Clark, J. B. 1987. Distribution, Ethics of. In: Eatwell, J., Milgate, M., Newman, P. (eds.). 1987. The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics. London, 867–869.Google Scholar
Council for a Parliament of World's Religions. 1993. Towards a Global Ethic (An Initial Declaration). Chicago.Google Scholar
De George, R. T. 1995. Business Ethics. Fourth edition. Englewood Cliffs, NY: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
De George, R. T. 1993. Competing with Integrity in International Business. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Donaldson, T. 1989. The Ethics of International Business. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Donaldson, T. 1991. The Language of International Corporate Ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly, 2, 271–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donnelly, J. 1989. Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice. Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Drucker, P.F. 1989. The New Realities—in Government and Politics /in Economics and Business / in Society and World View. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Encyclopédie Philosophique Universelle. 1989–1991. Publié sous la direction d'André Jacob. Paris: Presses universitaires de France.Google Scholar
Enderle, G. 1987. Sicherung des Existenzminimums im nationalen und internationalen Kontext — eine wirtschaftsethische Studie. Bern/Stuttgart/Wien: Haupt.Google Scholar
Enderle, G. 1988. Wirtschaftsethik im Werden. Ansätze und Problembereiche der Wirtschaftsethik. Stuttgart: Akademie der Diözese Rottenburg-Stuttgart.Google Scholar
Enderle, G. 1993. Handlungsorientierte Wirtschaftsethik. Grundlagen und Anwendungen. Bern/Stuttgart/Wien: Haupt.Google Scholar
Enderle, G. 1993a. What Is Business Ethics? In Dunfee, T., Nagayasu, Y. (eds.). 1993. Business Ethics: Japan and the Global Economy. Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer, 133–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enderle, G. 1996. A Comparison of Business Ethics in North America and Continental Europe. Business Ethics—A European Review, 5/1, 33–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enderle, G., Homann, K., Honecker, M., Kerber, W., Steinmann, H. (eds.). 1993. Lexikon der Wirtschaftsethik. Freiburg/Basel/Wien: Herder.Google Scholar
Freeman, R.E. (ed.). 1991. Business Ethics. The State of the Art. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gabele, E. 1990. Ziele in mittelständischen Unternehmen Europas — eine empirische Untersuchung. In Klemm, R., Hirsbrunner, D. (Hg.). 1990. Entwicklungspotential: Erkennen und Nutzen. Ein Lesebuch für die Praxis. Bern/Stuttgart/Wien: Haupt, 89–101.Google Scholar
Gewirth, A. 1978. Reason and Morality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gewirth, A. 1982. Human Rights. Essays on Justification and Applications. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gewirth, A. 1986. Why Rights are Indispensable? Mind, July, 329–344.Google Scholar
Gewirth, A. 1991. Can Any Final End Be Rational? Ethics, 101, 4, 66–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gewirth, A. 1992. Rights. In Becker et al. 1992, 1103–1109.Google Scholar
Goodpaster, K. E. 1992, Business Ethics. In: Becker et al. 1992, 111–115.Google Scholar
Goodpaster, K. E. 1994. Work, Spirituality and the Moral Point of View. International Journal of Value-Based Management, 7, 49–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hausman, D. M., McPherson, M. S. 1993. Taking Ethics Seriously: Economics and Contemporary Moral Philosophy. Journal of Economic Literature, 31, 671–731.Google Scholar
Hengsbach, F. 1991. Wirtschaftsethik. Aufbruch — Konflikte —Perspektiven. Freiburg: Herder.Google Scholar
Hennis, W. 1987. Max Webers Fragestellung. Tübingen: Mohr. [Translated into English: 1988. Max Weber: Essays in Reconstruction. London: Allen and Unwin.]Google Scholar
Homann, K. 1980. Die lnterdependenz von Zielen und Mitteln. Tübingen: Mohr.Google Scholar
Homann, K., Blome-Drees, F. 1992. Wirtschaft und Unternehmensethik. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht.Google Scholar
International Labour Office (ILO). 1992. World Labour Report. Geneva: ILO.Google Scholar
Keuth, H. 1989. Wissenschaft und Werturteil: Zu Werturteilsdiskussion und Positivismusstreit. Tübingen: Mohr.Google Scholar
Luhmann, N. 1988. Die Wirtschaft der Gesellschaft. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Luxemburg, R. 1980. Gesammelte Werke. Band 3, Berlin.Google Scholar
Matsushita, K. 1989. As I See It. Tokyo: PHP Institute, Inc.Google Scholar
Mahoney, J. 1990. Teaching Business Ethics in the UK, Europe and the USA. A Comparative Study. London: Athlone Press.Google Scholar
Mahoney, J. 1990a. The Basis of Human Rights. In Curran, C.E. (ed.). 1990. Moral Theology: Challenges for the Future. Essays in Honor of Richard A. McCormick. New York: Paulist Press, 313–333.Google Scholar
Meyer-Faje, A., Ulrich, P. 1991. Der andere Adam Smith. Bern/Stuttgart/Wien: Haupt.Google Scholar
Nichols, M. 1993. Third-World Families at Work: Child Labor or Child Care? Harvard Business Review, January-February, 12–23.Google Scholar
Nickel, J.W. 1987. Making Sense of Human Rights. Philosophical Reflections on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Nickel, J. W. 1992. Human Rights. In Becker et al. 1992, 561–565.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, M. C., Sen, A. (eds.). 1993. The Quality of Life. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nozick, R. 1974. Anarchy, State and Utopia. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Our Common Future. 1987. World Commission on Environment and Development. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Paul, E. F., Miller, F. D. Jr.,, Paul, J. (eds.). 1992. Economic Rights. Bowling Green, OH: Social Philosophy and Policy Foundation.Google Scholar
Rawls, J. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rawls, J. 1993. Political Liberalism. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rich, A. 1984/1990. Wirtschaftsethik. Band I/II. Gütersloh: Mohn.Google Scholar
Ricoeur, P. 1987. The Teleological and Deontological Structures of Action: Aristotle and/or Kant? Archivio di Filosofia, LV, N. 1-3, 205–217.Google Scholar
Rouner, L. S. (ed.). 1988. Human Rights and the World's Religions. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Scanion, T.M. 1977. Rights, Goals, and Fairness. Erkenntnis, 11, 81–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schäfers, M. 1991. “Rerum Novarum” — Ergebnis der christlichen Sozialbewegung “von unten.” Concilium. 27, 351–359.Google Scholar
Schulz, W. 1989. Grundprobleme der Ethik. Pfullingen: Neske.Google Scholar
Schwemmer, O. 1980. Ethik. In Mittelstrass, J. (Hg.). 1980. Enzyklopädie Philosophie und Wissenschaftstheorie. Band 1. Mannheim/Wien/Zürich: Bibliographisches Institut, 592–599.Google Scholar
Sen, A. 1981. Rights and Agency. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 11, 3–39.Google Scholar
Sen, A. 1982. Evaluator Relativity and Consequential Evaluation. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 12, 113–132.Google Scholar
Sen, A. 1985a. Rights as Goals. In Guest, S., Milne, A. (eds.). 1985. Equality and Discrimination: Essays in Freedom and Justice. Stuttgart: Steiner, 11–25.Google Scholar
Sen, A. 1987. On Ethics and Economics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Sen, A. 1992. Inequality Reexamined. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Shue, H. 1980. Basic Rights: Subsistence, Affluence, and U.S. Foreign Policy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Shute, S., Hurley, S. (eds.). 1993. On Human Rights: The Oxford Amnesty Lectures 1993. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Solomon, R.C. 1991. Business Ethics, Literacy, and the Education of the Emotions. In Freeman. 1991, 188–211.Google Scholar
Stark, A. 1993. What's the Matter with Business Ethics? Harvard Business Review, May-June, 38–48.Google Scholar
Turner, B. S. 1992. From History to Modernity. London/New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, C. 1992. Modernity and Politics in the Work of Max Weber. London/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ulrich, P. 1993. Transformation der ökonomischen Vernunft. Fortschrittsperspektiven der modernen Industriegesellschaft. 3. Auflage. Bern/Stuttgart/Wien: Haupt.Google Scholar
UNCED. 1992. Agenda 21: Programme of Action for Sustainable Development. Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Statement of Forest Principles. The final text of agreements negotiated by Governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), 3-14 June 1992, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Google Scholar
UNDP. 1990. Human Development Report 1990. Published for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). New York: Oxford University Press (annual publication since 1990).Google Scholar
van Luijk, H. 1994. Rights and Interests in a Participatory Market Society. Business Ethics Quarterly, 4, 79–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
von Nell-Breuning, O. 1986. (Review of:) Enderle, G. (Hg.). Ethik und Wirtschaftswissenschaft, Berlin: Duncker und Humblot 1985. Theologie und Philosophie, 459–460.Google Scholar
Wellman, C. 1982. Weifare Rights. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Allanheld.Google Scholar
Werhane, P. H. 1985. Persons, Rights, and Corporations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Werhane, P. H. 1991. Adam Smith and His Legacy for Modern Capitalism. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Westin, A. F., Salisbury, S. (eds.). 1980. Individual Rights in the Corporation: A Reader on Employee Rights. New York: Pantheon Books.Google Scholar