Is there “no such thing as business ethics”?

What are we to make of the claim that we often hear, that there is no such thing as business ethics? This essay first examines two arguments that might be in people's minds in making such a claim — that business is a “game,” and hence the ordinary constraints of morality do not apply, and that one cannot survive in business if one is too “ethical.” The critique of these arguments begins the process of making clear what business ethics is. The paper then proceeds in a more positive vein to define and explain for the sceptic what business ethics is. Everyone must confront the question, what should I do in my business relationships? Business ethics is defined, then, as the effort to develop Socratically one's answer to this question, that is, through the critical examination of alternatives. In the process of explaining this notion, several other senses in which someone might say that there is no such thing as business ethics are explored and the basic distinction between the moral point of view and ethical egoism is introduced.     

Art lessons for the global manager

Globalization has been seen as both a threat and an opportunity whenever it has occurred. Jamie Anderson, Martin Kupp and Jörg Reckhenrich give us an artists' perspective on managing in a global business world.     

Understanding creativity: The manager as artist

Think outside the box is the slogan of countless creativity experts who rightly connect creative thinking to corporate innovation. Jörg Reckhenrich, Martin Kupp and Jamie Anderson advocate, instead, that you think outside the canvas. A review of the thinking of the German artist, Joseph Beuys, shows how managers can unleash bold new ideas.     

外贸公司角色转换:当供货商的项目经理

广东省轻工业品进出口集团(以下简称省轻出)的总经理、董事长刘发书说,早在一两年前省轻出就提出要当供货商的项目经理,作为市场和生产间的组织者,充分发挥桥梁作用.……     

汽车产能过剩也许是件好事

今年以来，“库存”一直是牵动着汽车产业链最敏感的字眼。从最新的统计数据可以看到，1-9月乘用车库存达到124284辆，中国汽车出现了阶段性产能过剩已是不争的事实。产能过剩，其实并不全是坏事，我们不妨换个角度想想——     

有这样一位供销社的带头人

1987年6月,强世彬担当起河北省沧县供销社主任、党组书记的重任。十几年来,他凭着对供销社事业的热爱,靠改革求发展,狠抓经营机制转换,调整经营结构,创办农副产品批发交易市场,为沧县供销社事业的发展打下了坚实的基础。到2001年底,全系统固定资产总值由1987年的2000万元增值到1.9亿元,十几年翻了近十番,其中仅创办市场就将原副食品、土产杂品、物资回收三个公司不足千万元的固定资产总值增至1亿多元。十几年的艰苦奋斗,不仅保证了社有资产的保值增值,还为干部职工新建住楼面积达3万多平方米,农副产品批发交易市场运营十余年来为国家创税收1…     

Creating a global mindset

Why are some companies highly successful in spotting and exploiting global opportunities, while others mismanage them or miss them entirely? The answer could lie in the company's mindset, a topical subject currently doing the rounds at numerous executive education seminars. The term corporate mindset refers to how the company sees the world and how this affects its actions. For companies operating on a global scale, developing a global corporate mindset presents a formidable managerial challenge. The corporate mindset determines to what extent management encourages and values cultural diversity, while simultaneously maintaining a certain degree of strategic cohesion. Developing a global corporate mindset and a group of global managers as its main flag bearers has become a key prerequisite for successfully competing and growing in worldwide markets. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Strategic corporate social responsibility as global brand insurance

When the competitive strategies of multinationals rely on global brands, corporate social responsibility (CSR) offers insurance against management lapses. The practical need for CSR as brand insurance comes from changing social expectations, affluence, and globalization. Corporate actions that violate societal expectations damage, even destroy, brand image among networked stakeholders who are affluent enough to buy branded products and services. The premiums for CSR brand insurance are paid by leaders who create an organization-wide commitment to CSR as a means of redefining ‘profit maximization.’ By integrating a stakeholder perspective, management is best placed to optimize stockholder returns over the longer term.     

一位国有外贸企业老总的大实话

"叫众多外贸企业望眼欲穿的退税款啊,何时才能到位?广东省属外贸企业,除了之前滞压的不说,今年近7个多月的退税,连申请审核的资格都没有!而且,这部分未获审核资格的退税单证,由于不具备委托银行质押贷款的资格,即使政府有再好的政策,也是享受不到的……"     

四季度国内船板供应将维持高位

受美国金融动荡的影响,包括船板在内的中厚板出口有可能受阻：再加上一批新建中厚板项目将陆续投产——     

对新时期 "消费储值"等商业欺诈行为的分析

本文拟对去年以来出现的所谓“消费储值”、“消费计点”行为对比 80年代末期 90年代初期曾经风靡一时的“还本销售”等商业欺诈行为进行理论分析 ,讨论其发生、形成、演化的背景、原因、模式和机制。同时对某些似是而非的观点进行分析。最后 ,本文也提出了一定的对策建议。     

Competing successfully in a global economy

This commentary discusses the need for an internationalist approach in today's competitive global markets. Albert C. Bersticker, Chairman and CEO of Ferro Corporation, a US multinational in operation since 1919, draws upon his experience at the helm of a successful and growing manufacturing operation and gives several important lessons for strategic and competitive management of an international corporation. Bersticker elucidates the challenges facing today's global business manager, and puts the overall mission of any company doing business overseas into an appropriate context. Being aware of both the risks and benefits of competing in an ever-changing world is the key to success in the global economy according to the author. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Creating a global health care company

Global pharmaceutical mergers have spread the huge costs of research and enabled companies to sell their products in countries where they previously lacked a presence. Here's how the Beecham-SmithKline Beckman marriage was developed to propel the organization into a position as a worldwide player in the drug industry.     

Domestic value chains as stepping stones to global value chain integration

Identifying the determinants of global value chain (GVC) integration is essential to understand the past expansion and current slowdown in GVCs. In this paper, we study the role of domestic value chains (DVCs) for GVC integration. In the presence of industry‐specific fixed costs of fragmenting production and of switching across input suppliers, DVCs can either be stepping stones or stumbling blocks for subsequent GVC entry. Focusing on backward linkages, that is, the sourcing of intermediates, we provide robust empirical evidence in favour of the stepping‐stone hypothesis. In our benchmark specification, a one standard deviation increase in DVC integration raises subsequent GVC integration by about 0.4%. To identify the mechanisms at work, we exploit two dimensions of industry‐level heterogeneity: product differentiation (a proxy of fragmentation costs) and relationship specificity (a proxy of the costs of switching between suppliers). We find that DVC integration is less conducive to GVC integration in industries that are characterised by relatively high switching costs and relatively low fragmentation costs.