Ethical Issues in Business A Philosophical Approach

Ethical Issues in Businesswas first published more than two decades ago, in 19'79. Since then the field of business ethics has grown into an academic discipline bristling with research and practical implications for managers. Textbooks and research have multiplied. In 1979,Ethical Issues in Businesswas one of only three textbooks in the field. Now at least 50 are available. Along with the growth of course offerings and college teaching materials, an explosion of new articles, cases, and journals has occurred. Meanwhile, outside colleges and universities, hundreds of business firms have now created positions of "corporate ethics officer," and thousands more have instituted ethics training programs for managers and employees. The seventh edition reflects these dramatic changes that the field has undergone. Some theoretical perspectives preserve their importance over the decades. Indeed, many are foundational materials for the study of business ethics. The insights of Adam Smith and John Locke about markets and human rights, or the radical claims made by Karl Marx that capitalism affects the minds of its participants, are no less relevant today than they were in earlier centuries. You will find those perspectives included in this edition, just as in the earlier ones. Yet other issues are clearly timebound. When the last edition appeared, the hot issue of business conversation was the moral and legal obligations of U.S. tobacco companies, apparel companies' use of overseas "sweat shops," and a financial crisis in Asia. Since the publication of the sixth edition new events have posed new ethical challenges. Since then new technology has challenged traditional views of copyright law, resulting in lawsuits between Napster and the record companies. The dramatic stock price erosion of the U.S. "dot.com" companies has coincided with a-debate over privacy and marketing issues. Ford Motor Company and Bridgestone/Firestone find themselves in a legal and public relations dilemma as a result of hundreds of deaths allegedly due to product defects. Transnational corporations continue to face thorny ethical issues as they increasingly do business in countries with significantly different value systems. Further, in the increasingly competitive commercial environment of global business, corporate leaders have been faced with new challenges in employment, corporate restructuring, and training. Readings that focus on some of the ethical issues raised by these new kinds of challenges are included in this seventh edition. The present edition, like earlier ones, has not been simply the product of its editors, but owes greatly to those whose suggestions, criticism, and editorial assistance made it a better book. We are indebted to Prentice Hall reviewers John Mundy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Benjamin A. Petty, Southern Methodist University for their constructive comments, and we especially want to thank Nicholas Dew, Thomas Dunfee, Ronald Duska, R. Edward Freeman, Mary Hamilton, and Henry Tulloch for their helpful revision suggestions. Thanks also go to Karen Musselman and Erin Becker for their excellent organizational and editorial skills. T.D. P.H.W. M.C.Donaldson, Thomas is the author of 'Ethical Issues in Business A Philosophical Approach', published 2001 under ISBN 9780130923875 and ISBN 0130923877.