Ethics and business : an introduction / Kevin Gibson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gibson, Kevin, 1955- author.

Series:

Cambridge applied ethics.

Cambridge applied ethics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Business ethics.

Social responsibility of business.

Corporate profits--Moral and ethical aspects.

Corporate profits.

Business enterprises--Environmental aspects.

Business enterprises.

Globalization--Moral and ethical aspects.

Globalization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 291 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Summary:

This updated introduction to business ethics offers a clear and accessible framework for understanding the important and complex ethical issues facing business in the contemporary world. Kevin Gibson explains ethical concepts in plain language, showing how terms such as responsibility, autonomy, justice, equality, rights, and beneficence are central to the ways in which business is and should be conducted. He provides numerous examples and discusses cases including VW, Wells Fargo, the Boeing 737 Max, and the exploitation of rare earth minerals, and he pays special attention to recent and emerging issues such as the gig economy, internet commerce, racial and gender justice, and concerns about the impact of business on global climate change. His lively and comprehensive book will give readers the tools to identify and understand a range of problematic ethical issues that affect us all.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title page

Series page

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

1 An Overview of Business Ethics

The Bhopal Disaster

The Philosophical Contribution

Two Meanings of Business Ethics

Instrumental and Prudential Approaches

Rule-Based Approaches

Ethics and the Law

Principle-Based Approaches

Ethical Relativism

Egoism

Machiavelli and Hobbes

Game Theory

Morality and Strategy

Responses to Egoism

Summary

Issues for Reflection

Case: Vaping

Questions from the Case

2 Insights from Ethical Theory

Case: Gleaning at the Grocery

The Value of Theory

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism and the Voice of the Minority

Supererogation

Partiality

Preference Adaptation

Utility Is Not Always Fair

The Value of Life

Complications in the Calculus

Duty-Based Theories

Kantian Principles

Kantian Capitalism and Stakeholders

Virtue Theory

The Virtuous Corporation

Ethics of Care

The Female Voice

Case: EpiPens

3 Capitalism and Its Ethical Implications

Features of Capitalism

The Invisible Hand

Market Morality

Market Failures

Regulation of the Market

Globalization and Its Implications

Capital

Case: Terminator Seeds

4 Responsibility

Case: The Volkswagen Diesel

Meanings of Responsibility

Role Responsibility

Legal Liability and Moral Responsibility

Cause

Codes and Compliance

Corporations as Moral Agents

Inalienable Responsibility

Agency, Commission, and Omission

The Doctrine of Double Effect

Case: The Boeing 737 MAX

5 Autonomy

Case: Herbal Weight Loss.

Autonomous Agency

Autonomy Defined

Limits on Autonomy

Let the Buyer Beware

Advertising and Autonomy

Workplace Restrictions on Autonomy

Psychological Testing

Impure Data

Whistleblowing

Case: Wells Fargo

6 Justice and Equality

Types of Justice

Discrimination

Sex and Gender Discrimination

Discriminatory Biases

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Case: Insurance Data

7 Rights

Case: Shipbreaking

Rights in the Workplace

Positive and Negative Rights

Distinguishing Rights and Privileges

Recent Initiatives

The Niger Delta

Sweatshops

Rights and Accountability

Challenges to Rights Frameworks

Communitarianism

Insights from Non-Western Philosophy

Religious Perspectives

Nonhuman Rights

Questions for Reflection

Case: Privacy Worries

8 Beneficence

Case: Walmart

Corporate Beneficence

Motivations for Beneficence

Corporate Philanthropy

Corporate Social Intervention Overseas

Case: Sponsoring a Contentious Cause

9 Business and the World

Case: Rare Earth Minerals

The Environment and Pascal's Wager

Sustainability

Perspectives on the World

Environmental Values

Web of Being

Monetizing the Environment

Accounting Techniques

Monetization Applied

Beyond Cost/Benefit

Sustainability and the Triple Bottom Line

Case: Industrial Farming

Select Bibliography and Further Reading

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 03 Jan 2023).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781009103176

1009103172

9781009090735

1009090739

9781009099127

1009099124