Business Ethics Books: A Bookshop Survey

This paper discusses the extent to which books about business ethics are purchased or read outside of tertiary institutions in Australia, whether the subject is commonly perceived as business, philosophy or both, what range of business ethics books is commonly offered for purchase, and what conclusions might be drawn from the above considerations. Investigation shows that the range and availability of business ethics books is quite limited outside of tertiary institutions, and that the general perception is that business ethics is something which pertains specifically to business rather than to moral philosophy. It is likely that this tends to isolate the subject from philosophy as broadly conceived in the minds of business practitioners.     

Business Ethics: A Compromise Between Politics and Virtue

This article examines and synthesizes two different approaches to determining the content of business ethics courses and the manner in which they ought to be taught. The first approach, from a political perspective, argues that the institutional framework within which business operates ought to be tested by theories of distributive justice. The second approach, from the perspective of virtue theory, argues that we ought to examine the character of individual employees and the responsibilities associated with the roles which these individuals play within organizations. I argue that Gadamer's interpretation of Aristotle's notion of phronesis shows an inseparable, bidirectional, conceptual link between the approaches of politics and virtue as well as providing insight into how business ethics might best be taught.     

从企业管理的角度读《中庸》

<正>《中庸》是儒家一篇极为重要的哲学著作。在《中庸章句》的开篇,朱熹就提到《中庸》"乃孔门传授心法","善读者玩索而有得焉,则终身用之,有不能尽者矣",可见,《中庸》在儒家的地位可以说是至高无上的,也是儒家弟子登堂入室的必修课程。可以说,儒家的思想从某种意义就是一个以人为中心的人学思想,而这又和现代管理中以人为本的管理思想有一定程度上的不谋而合,但这并不是说古代的这种思想对现代的企业管理就是包治百病的宝药仙丹,如果照搬古代的管理模式或沿袭这种思想,则会陷入了一个极端。封建社会以农为本,以商为末的时代,     

The Moral Floor: A Philosophical Examination of the Connection Between Ethics and Business

This paper examines the philosophical basis for the argument that there is a connection between ethical behavior and profitability. Both sides of this argument – that good ethics is good business and that bad ethics is bad business – are explored. The possibility of a moral floor above which ethical behavior is not rewarded is considered, and an economic experiment testing such a proposition is discussed. Johnson & Johnson suffers a potentially devastating blow when some cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules cause several deaths. Johnson & Johnson voluntarily pulls Tylenol off the shelf, to universal acclaim. When Tylenol is returned to the marketplace, its share of the over-the-counter painkiller market becomes greater than it was before the tragedy. Arthur Andersen, the venerable accounting firm, is caught in the web surrounding the downfall of Enron, Inc. As Enron’s various sins are discovered, it is found that Arthur Andersen auditors had signed off on flawed audits and had shredded documents to cover themselves. Andersen is prosecuted for, and convicted of, obstructing justice (although the conviction is later overturned). Today the firm barely exists and has no resemblance to the Big Five accounting giant of 1999. These stories seem to indicate that ethical (or unethical) behavior leads to positive (or negative) financial results. But the philosophical arguments underpinning such statements are seldom subjected to proper analysis. They are perhaps wishful thinking, or perhaps based on examples such as the above without considering other examples that may reinforce a contrary position. This paper will explore the philosophical arguments and empirical evidence regarding these statements and state some research questions for exploration in this area. In particular we will propose the possibility that a moral floor exists above which firms that engage in ethical activities will not reap rewards, but below which firms that engage in unethical activities will be punished by actors in the economic marketplace. We will discuss an economic experiment to determine if such actors indeed form a moral floor.     

打造具有商科特色的一站式服务阅览室——以安徽商贸职业技术学院为例

高职院校图书馆是对接高校、学生与企业的纽带与桥梁,如何更好地利用图书馆资源、推动高职院校图书馆管理改革、提高图书馆服务质量已经成为众多研究者关注的焦点.从安徽商贸职业技术学院的图书阅览室的改革背景与目标入手,对图书馆馆情进行了分析,并提出了具体推进图书馆服务的重要举措,如根据专业调整纸质文献典藏,以读者为导向合理调整图书馆经费配置与使用,提供凸显高职教育特色的服务等.     

Overview of Collaborative Entrepreneurship: An Integrated Approach Between Business Decisions and Negotiations

In recent years, the complex, turbulent and changing environment in which firms operate has greatly intensified. A new era of continuous innovation has emerged in which knowledge is the key asset, and whose exploitation determines success for many firms. In this context, it is generally accepted that effective knowledge management depends heavily on a company’s ability to collaborate, both inside (Collective Entrepreneurship) and outside (Collaborative Entrepreneurship) the organization. Collaboration enables a firm to be entrepreneurial and continuously innovative by exploring new markets. Continuous innovation and market exploration are the building blocks of collaboration. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to develop the concept of Collaborative Entrepreneurship, linking the most relevant issues with the concept of Collective Entrepreneurship, from a preliminary integrative approach. From this approach, three elementary dimensions are emphasized: strategy, structure and management philosophy. Strategy refers to the shared common project among collaboration partners; Structure concerns the flexibility of structures and adaptation to environmental changes; and Management Philosophy is about trust. Also, networks within the firm and among firms could form the basis of Collaborative Entrepreneurship in the context of negotiation and decision processes. A brief overview of the content of each of the articles included in this special issue on Collaborative entrepreneurship is presented following this article.     

上市公司多元化经营与绩效关系研究

多元化经营是国内外企业寻求快速发展的战略举措.本文选取沪深上市公司为研究对象,实证分析了企业多元化经营与绩效之间的相互关系.研究结果表明,多元化经营程度与企业绩效之间并非呈一种简单的、单向变动的线性关系,多元化经营存在一个"度"的问题,相关多元化优于其他多元化类型.     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Compliance as a Cost-Effective System of Interaction Between Business and Government

Journal of Business Ethics -     

Opening Constructive Dialogues Between Business Ethics Research and the Sociology of Morality: Introduction to the Thematic Symposium

Journal of Business Ethics - Over the last decade, scholars across the wide spectrum of the discipline of sociology have started to reengage with questions on morality and moral phenomena. The...     

The Embeddedness of Responsible Business Practice: Exploring the Interaction Between National-Institutional Environments and Corporate Social Responsibility

Academic literature recognizes that firms in different countries deal with corporate social responsibility (CSR) in different ways. Because of this, analysts presume that variations in national-institutional arrangements affect CSR practices. Literature, however, lacks specificity in determining, first, what parts of national political-economic configurations actually affect CSR practices; second, the precise aspects of CSR affected by national-institutional variables; third, how causal mechanisms between national-institutional framework variables and aspects of CSR practices work. Because of this the literature is not able to address to what extent CSR practices are affected by either global or national policies, discourses and economic pressures; and to what extent CSR evolves as either an alternative to or an extension of national-institutional arrangements. This article proposes an alternative approach that focuses on an exploration of links between disaggregated variables, which can then be the basis for imagining new national-institutional configurations affecting aspects of CSR. It illustrates this approach with an exploration of the importance of development aid policy for CSR practices in global supply chains.     

The Role of Language in the Communication Process Between Business and Government: Evidence from Russian Firms

Abstract

The paper investigates how language facilitates communication process between government and business. We use Russian context to show barriers and challenges of using language in official communication between governmental authorities and Russian companies. In our work, we demonstrate how language may produce employee’s misunderstanding and discuss typical sources of ineffective usage of language. The results indicate that problematic issues of both linguistic and non-linguistic nature can lead to serious implications for successful communication between government and business in Russia. We found that documentations’ complexity, which is perceived as such due to a complicated subject area they belong to (legal, tax, etc.) and language insufficiency applied are most likely to raise multiple problems related to government’s communication with business.     

The Relationship Between Psychic and Cultural Distance and Business Ethicality Attitudinal Values of Future Business Leaders

ABSTRACT

Psychic distance and cultural distance between countries are phenomena that can affect a company's entry strategy into foreign markets, as can differences in levels of business ethicality. The author examines the use of three measures of psychic and/or cultural distance (Brewer, 2007; Ellis, 2008; Fletcher & Bohn, 1998) and assesses the extent to which they are related to business ethicality values. A two-stage sampling design was used to survey undergraduate business students in 23 countries regarding their business-related ethics attitudes. This study had 13 countries in common with the Brewer (2007) and Fletcher and Bohn (1998) studies and 12 countries in common with Ellis (2008). Comparisons were made between the index values of the countries and their average scores on a scale of business ethicality by correlation analysis. Correlations were not statistically significant. The results suggest that none of the measures of distance examined is a good indicator of business ethicality and vice versa. Thus, one cannot assume a priori that a country that is culturally or psychically close to one's own country will have similar business ethicality values.     

越中典籍中的两国诗人交往

越南的汉文诗创作是汉文化圈内重要的文学现象。中越诗人的交流最常见的形式是诗人之间的唱和与题跋作序，最主要的渠道是使节的来往。两国诗人的交流十分频繁，对越南文学产生了很大的影响，在中国诗歌中也得到了一定程度的表现。在交往中产生的《道南斋初稿》等诗歌作品突出地表明了两国文人间的肾密联系。越南诗人同中国诗人之间的交流从特定角度反映出优势文化进入相对劣势文化的途径，和它对这一文化中统治阶级心态的具体影响。     

Perspectives in the Interplay Between Business and Information Systems Engineering and Computer Science

The relationship between business and information systems engineering (BISE) and its main reference disciplines business administration and informatics has changed several times during the last decades. Despite some frictions during the 1980 s and 1990 s, the interplay between informatics and BISE is becoming much more constructive and has proven extremely fruitful. Important examples of this co-evolution include data management and conceptual modeling, internet-based information and transaction systems, and the emergence of computational business sciences. The increasing integration of virtual and real world in the “Internet of Things” offers new scientific and organizational challenges for the cooperation between the BISE and informatics, which can only be formulated and solved jointly. This article is also available in German in print and via http://www.wirtschaftsinformatik.de: Jarke M (2008) Perspektiven der Wirtschaftsinformatik aus Sicht der Informatik. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK. doi: . Accepted after one revision by Prof. Dr. Buhl.