A note on government policy and the new ‘intrapreneurship’ in Bulgaria

Conclusion I have attempted in this paper to highlight the recent emergence and rapid growth of a particular type of intrapreneurship in the Bulgarian economy. This intrapreneurship involves the creation of new smaller establishments within existing large-scale industrial firms. These semi-autonomous auxiliary plants are exempt from part of the bureaucracy which constrains the larger addition, they have provided a higher rate of technological advance, a better supply of consumer goods, a greater utilization of labor resources, and a higher return to human capital.Only through the continued development of a small-firm sector can the Bulgarian economy meet the challenge currently posed by its western counterparts. Whether the next step from intrapreneurship to entrepreneurship is taken may hold the key for industrial development in Bulgaria.     

A Qualitative Exploration into Voters' Ethical Perceptions of Political Advertising: Discourse, Disinformation, and Moral Boundaries

Political campaign advertising continues to be a controversial policy topic in advertising and marketing research. It is also a prime subject for investigating the ethical evaluations of consumers (or voters). The following study draws from postmodern communication theory and employs a qualitative research methodology in order to explore voters' intimate and subjective views about politics, candidates, and political advertising. The findings include emergent themes relating to significant media rituals in voters' lives, the cynical perspective of politics as a game, and the widespread disapproval and suspicion with which voters regard negative political advertising. Additionally, the a priori theme of political information as disinformation was proposed and expanded upon. Findings are discussed in light of a greater understanding of the appropriateness of the traditional versus the postmodern perspective of political communication, informants' construction of moral boundaries which help them determine right from wrong, acceptable vs. unacceptable political behaviours in this particular context.     

The indefensibility of insider trading

The article, Inside Trading Revisited, has taken the stance that insider trading is neither unethical nor economically inefficient. Attacking my arguments to the contrary developed in an earlier article, The Ethics of Inside Trading (Journal of Business Ethics, 1989) this article constructs careful arguments and even appeals to Adam Smith to justify its conclusions. In my response to this article I shall clarify my position as well as that of Smith to support my counter-contention that insider trading is both unethical and inefficient. Patricia H. Werhane is the Henry J. Wirtenberger Professor of Business Ethics at Loyola University, Chicago. She is the author or editor of seven books including Ethical Issues in Business,edited with Tom Donaldson, in its third edition, Persons, Rights, and Corporations, Profits and Responsibility,and Philosophical Issues in Human Rights,edited with David Ozar and A. R. Gini. She is past president of the Society for Value Inquiry, founding member, past president and Executive Director of the Society of Business Ethics, and Chairperson of the Ethics Advisory Council of Arthur Andersen & Co. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Business Ethics,the Journal of Value-Based Management, and Public Affairs Quarterly,and is Editor-in-Chief of Business Ethics Quarterly.Her book, Adam Smith and his Legacy for Modern Capitalismis forthcoming with Oxford University Press.     

Mill's proof that happiness is the criterion of morality

This paper considers the converse of the principle that ought implies can, namely, the principle that must implies ought. It argues that this principle is the central premiss for Mill's argument that happiness is desirable (worthy of desire), and it examines the sense of must that is relevant and the implications it has for Mill's moral philosophy.     

The foundations of corporate responsibility

The thesis of this paper is that corporate activity can best be understood on analogy with the acitivity of persons. The ground for this analogy lies in the nature of activity itself which is common to both and to find a ground therein an analysis of the features of activity is presented based upon a comparison of activity and process by Alburey Castell. Activity is said to be bi-polar with one pole the purpose or goal to be handled in utilitarean fashion and the other pole concerned with the maintenance of the presuppositions of activity.While any goal chosen will have hypothetical oughts as its conditions, it is argued that the presuppositions of activity are categorical oughts in that they cannot be denied without asserting them. And since one of these presuppositions is freedom of choice, thus giving activity the power to destroy its own possibility, these presuppositions function in the context of practice as categorical norms and are universal in their applicability as preserving the possibility of responsible activity for everyone else as well as myself. All activity whether it be other-regarding or self-regarding (self-interest in the business world) is subject to the norms of its own possibility, its enabling conditions, and this constitutes the moral ground for personal, managerial and a basis for inquiry into corporate responsibility.All of these ideas are put forth within the wider context of the problem of corporate legitimacy and constitute a prolegomena to it.     

Business borrowing and control: A theory of entrepreneurial types

A formal model of the bank borrowing decision by the small firm is provided to explain why some entrepreneurs borrow and others do not, and why some businesses grow and others remain stationary over long periods.Loan capital is productive and increases the firm's revenue but brings the business under the control of the bank. Profits generated by borrowing are a good increasing owner utility whereas control is a bad, reducing it. The consequent tradeoff between borrowing and control implies that the business' optimum will involve borrowing less than the amount that maximises profits. If owner control-aversion is strong enough equilibrium may involve a corner solution with the business being entirely self-funding. The above result holds under conditions of symmetric information and zero credit rationing.Dynamic analysis distinguishes one group of entrepreneurs (Movers) whose preferences towards control evolve through time and their control-aversion diminishes, from another group (Stayers) whose preferences remain stationary. For the Movers borrowing increases over time up to a profit-maximising optimum whereas for the Stayers independence of control is maintained but at the expense of non-growth.     

Saturday Review's annual advertising awards

Saturday Review's long, commendable effort to identify corporations willing to promote the general good through their advertising was damaged in 1977 because of procedural changes in the awards. Prior to 1977 the named judges made the important distinction between public-service (non-image) and public-relations (corporate image) advertising. But in 1977 the judges were not named and the public service/public relations distinction was eliminated, replaced by the single category of public spirited ads. Most of these ads, however, were not public spirited, but were public relations ads. But in 1978 this deception was ended by the empaneling of a new kind of jury, one drawn from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. James Richard Bennett is Professor of English at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He is the editor of Style, a Journal of Stylistics. He won the Fulbright Teaching Award in Yugoslavia in 1968–69. His most important publication is: Prose Style: A Historical Approach Through Studies, 1971.I wish to thank Professor Leonard White of the Department of Economics at the University of Arkansas for his advice concerning several of the ads discussed herein.     

Ethics Training and Businesspersons’ Perceptions of Organizational Ethics

Ethics training is commonly cited as a primary method for increasing employees ethical decision making and conduct. However, little is known about how the presence of ethics training can enhance other components of an organization's ethical environment such as employees perception of company ethical values. Using a national sample of 313 business professionals employed in the United States, the relationship between ethics training and perceived organizational ethics was explored. The results of the analysis provide significant statistical support for the notion that businesspersons employed in organizations that have formalized ethics training programs have more positive perceptions of their companies ethical context than do individuals employed in organizations that do not. The analysis also indicated that job satisfaction was related to employees attitudes about their ethical context. The managerial implications of the results are outlined, along with the limitations of the study and recommendations for future research.     

Management-think

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the philosophical foundations of business management. The need for such a review is established. Emphasis is placed upon the role of management ethos in such a philosophy. Philosophical concepts (such as the concept of an intention) which are widely applied in management, but not explored in the management literature, are examined. While the emphasis is on philosophical concepts, the material presented is applicable in the practice of management. Mark Pastin is Director of the Center for Private and Public Sector Ethics and Professor of Management at the Arizona State University. He received the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, and was a Research Fellow of the Center for Metropolitan Research of John Hopkins University. His most important publications are Strategic Planning for Science The Research System in the 1980s, ed. by John Logsdon (Franklin Institute Press, 1982), Ethics and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Business Horizons (December 1980), The Multi-Perspectival Theory of Knowledge, Midwest Studies in Philosophy: Volume V (University of Minnesota Press, 1980), and Meaning and Perception, Journal of Philosophy (October 1976).     

Teaching Business Ethics,or the Challenge of a Socratic-Nietzschean Self-Transcendence for Teachers

Business ethics courses often focus on the path toethical behaviour. This paper discusses why teachersask to themselves how to modify major aspects of thepersonality (values, virtues, moral principles) oftheir students. There are two basic motives behindsuch an obsession of results: (1) the claim that wecan modify the personal value systems of our students;(2) the desire and anxiety to be, as teachers,counter-cultural agents. We will use a philosophicalframework, and will define self-transcendence forteachers (as well as for students) as including botha Socratic radical doubt about reality and knowledge(the awareness of our illusory understanding ofreality, and the ability to question our mostcherished beliefs and values) and the Nietzschean``Overman (the ability to assess things, people andevents in focusing on their ``worth for life, ingetting rid of our will to believe and our will totruth).     

Is there any ethics in business ethics

It is argued, against Richard T. De George, that while clarification of concepts, implications, and presuppositions in business ethics largely relies on a neutral territory of reason, determination of what moral intuitions are correct depends on non-neutral ethical theories. The latter posit ethics in business to varying degrees. Thus while the Kantian and utilitarian ethical theories are, for De George, proper (philosophical) approaches to business ethics, they are as reliant on affirming and encouraging moral sentiments outside parameters of pure reason as theological approaches. And hence if theological approaches can make no unique contribution by virtue of relying on more than reason or experience alone, then philosophical approaches can make no distinctive contribution either. Either both are viable or neither are. Oscillation between the mutually dependent notions of business ethics and ethics in business obfuscates what the field of business ethics is and renders De George's position inadequate.Robert Trundle, Jr., received his Ph.D. at the University of Colorado, and is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Northern Kentucky University where he teaches Business Ethics. He has worked at such companies as Stearns-Roger and Rogerson-Hiller Corporation where he was a member of the Hazardous Materials Safety Committee.     

Creative Accounting: Some Ethical Issues of Macro- and Micro-Manipulation

Preparers of financial statements are in a position to manipulate the view of economic reality presented in those statements to interested parties. This paper examines two principal categories of manipulative behaviour. The term macro-manipulation is used to describe the lobbying of regulators to persuade them to produce regulation that is more favourable to the interests of preparers. Micro-manipulation describes the management of accounting figures to produce a biased view at the entity level. Both categories of manipulation can be viewed as attempts at creativity by financial statement preparers. The paper analyses two cases of manipulation. First, it describes a recent case of significant and successful lobbying against the accounting regulator in the USA. The second case examines some recent Spanish earnings manipulation to demonstrate the effects of biased reporting at the entity level. Both types of creativity are considered in an ethical context. The paper concludes that the manipulations described in it can be regarded as morally reprehensible. They are not fair to users, they involve an unjust exercise of power, and they tend to weaken the authority of accounting regulators.     

Mergers,takeovers, and a property ethic

The recent takeover and merger trend cries out for ethical evaluation. This essay proposes a model for evaluating them in terms of their impact on a firm's immediate stakeholders: investors, owners, management and employees. Since mergers and takeovers are Transfers of Ownership of Firms (TOFs) they entail a property ethic of ownership, control, securing stakeholder interests, and defining which stakeholders should exercise these rights. I use the model to evaluate two fictional cases, a friendly merger and a hostile takeover. The results show that neither TOF serves all interests equitably. Since the control structure of the private firm is legitimized by its interest structure, I reason that both should be reformed. Both rest on a broader economic rationale; but it is controverted. Accordingly, the economic and ethical evaluation of TOFs, I conclude, both entail the democratic reform of the control structure of the firm.A corporation represents far more than its current stock price; it embodies obligations to employees, customers, suppliers and communities.Robert S. Saul, Peers Merchant BankVincent di Norcia is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sudbury. He is the author of Ethics in Management and Beyond the Red Tory.     

Professionalism: Foundation for business ethics

Professionalism includes the essential contents of other key notions within the field of business ethics. As a term involving the notion of vocation it may be understood as containing a religious content, since vocation refers to a man's most intimate personal decisions, destiny and providence. Professionalism also connotes respect for law and so includes a reference to commercial law as a guide to right conduct. Professionalsim thus lifts the requirements of law to the level of personal commitment.Like an honest act, professionalism may not be easy to define, but you will know it when you see it. As for professionalism's practitioners, like the practitioners of honesty, their art is learned not by seeking definitions of what they do, but by practicing professionalism. Only if this practice becomes an obsession with the Business Aristocracy can we expect professionalism to seize the soul of lesser businessmen and suffuse the entire business community. Thomas E. Schaefer, Ph. D., is Professor of Business Administration at the University of Texas, Permian Basin. He was formerly Head of the Department of Business Administration, University of Alaska, and Dean of Business Administration, Sacred Heart University, Puerto Rico. He has received a Private Sector Award of Pres. Reagan for Extraordinary Contributions to Small Business. His most important publications are: The Process of Management: What Supervisors Do (O.C. Press, 1982); Leadership Through Followership, Business Horizons (September/October, 1982) and many others.Paper presented at the 16th Conference on Value Inquiry, entitled: Ethics and the Market Place: An Exercise in Bridge-Building or On the Slopes of the Inteface.     

Leaders,Values, and Organizational Climate: Examining Leadership Strategies for Establishing an Organizational Climate Regarding Ethics

This paper examines the critical role that organizational leaders play in establishing a values based climate. We discuss seven mechanisms by which leaders convey the importance of ethical values to members, and establish the expectations regarding ethical conduct that become engrained in the organizations climate. We also suggest that leaders at different organizational levels rely on different mechanisms to transmit values and expectations. These mechanisms then influence members practices and expectations, further increase the salience of ethical values and result in the shared perceptions that form the organizations climate. The paper is organized in three parts. Part onebegins with a brief discussion of climates regarding ethics and the critical role of values. Part two provides discussion on the mechanisms by which leaders and members transmit values and create climates related to ethics. Part three provides a discussion of these concepts with implications for theory, research, and practice.     

Business and the Environment: Is There More to the Story?

Actions taken to improve the environment are frequently good for profits, but many executives, including economists, are not fully aware of just how good businesss environmental record is. As a result, they often have difficulty responding to critics. This article will present three major points: 1) the environment of the United States is much improved over the past several decades, and businesss pursuit of profits has been an important factor; 2) the publics information about business and the environment is poor; and 3) this faulty information fosters the impression that business is evading its responsibilities.JEL Classification Q50     

Norman Bowie and Richard Rorty on multinationals: Does business ethics need ‘metaphysical comfort?’

Norman Bowie wrote an article on the moral obligations of multinational corporations in 1987. This paper is a response to Bowie, but more importantly, it is designed to articulate the force and substance of the pragmatist philosophy developed by Richard Rorty. In his article, Bowie suggested that moral universalism (which he endorses) is the only credible method of doing business ethics across cultures and that cultural relativism and ethnocentrism are not. Bowie, in a manner surprisingly common among contemporary philosophers, lumps Rorty into a bad guy category without careful analysis of his philosophy and ascribes to him views which clearly do not fit. I attempt to provide both a more careful articulation of Rorty's views, and to use his pragmatism to illustrate an approach to business ethics which is more fruitful than Bowie's. This brand of philosophy follows the Enlightenment spirit of toleration and attempts to set aside questions of Truth, whether religious or philosophical, and have ethics centered around what James called that which is good in the way of belief. Rather than looking for metaphysical foundations or some type of external justification, ethicists perform their craft from within the cultural traditions, narratives and practices of their society.Andrew C. Wicks, M.A. in Religious Ethics. Currently a fourth year Doctoral Candidate in the Religious Studies Department at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.     

What is business in America?

This paper, presented at the Conference on Value Issues in Business at Millsaps College, is divided into three parts. The first sketches the logic of the evolution of U.S. business and suggests reasons for its remarkable success. The second assesses the power of U.S. business in modern society, both from an economic and political perspective. The third attempts to formulate the underlying philosophy of U.S. business using ideals such as the work ethic, entrepreneurism, democracy, and equality. Some of these ideals, the paper suggests, are irreconcilable. Thomas J. Donaldson is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University of Chicago. His publications in the area of business ethics include numerous articles and two books, Ethical Issues in Business co-edited with Patricia Werhane, and Corporations and Morality.     

Women,unions, and social policy

We contend in this paper that the trade union role in social policy is expanding due to the debate on women's issues. The Centrale de l'enseignement du Québec is seen as a forerunner of this trend, with its policy positions on questions previously seen as personal. The method of promotion of these interests is also new, with caucusing and networking. The significance of these changes goes beyond unionized women workers and affects all women. Dr. Margaret Beattie is Professor adjoint at the Département de Service Social, Université de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Her most important publication is: Women and Factional Politics in a Teacher's Union, Atlantis: A Women's Studies Journal (Fall 1982).