Business and the Greater Good

'Bringing together business and the greater good is not a piece of cake. In Knut J. Ims' and Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen's book, internationally known scholars from both sides of the Atlantic develop deep reflections on the relationship between business and society. The authors show conflicts between business and the greater good and also demonstrate how business can be transformed, in order to align the goals of business and society. This is not only a book about the future of business ethics, it is a book about the future of business in general.' -- Thomas Beschorner, University of St.Gallen, Switzerland 'Business and the Greater Good does what it promises: rethinking business ethics in a competent, inspired and committed way. Its in depth analysis of the current failures of business and business ethics, while at the same time opening unexpected windows for the future, is its hallmark. . . Reading this book has convinced me that business ethics is entering a new phase of pioneering research and practice.' -- Luk Bouckaert, KU Leuven University, Belgium

Edited by Knut J. Ims, Professor and Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen, Associate Professor, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Norway

Contents: Introduction 1. Rethinking Business Ethics in an Age of Crisis Knut J. Ims and Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen PART I: FROM INEQUALITY TO EQUALITY 2. The Business of Inequality George Brenkert 3. The Profit Maximization Mantra and the Challenge of Regaining Trust, Humanity and Purpose in an Age of Crisis Wesley Cragg 4. Business and the Greater Good as a Combination of Private and Public Wealth Georges Enderle 5. The Tortoise and the Hare: Alternative Approaches to Capitalism Eleanor O'Higgins PART II: FROM THE TECHNICAL-MATERIALISTIC TO THE ECOLOGICAL-SPIRITUAL 6. Materialistic versus Non-materialistic Value-orientation in Management Laszlo Zsolnai 7. The Source of Ethical Competency: Eastern Perspectives Provided by a Westerner Peter Pruzan 8. Aesthetics, Human Rights and Economic Life: Temporal Perspectives Kevin T. Jackson 9. Ecological Economics: A New Paradigm Ahead Ove Jakobsen PART III: FROM COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT TO AUTONOMY AND RESPONSIBILITY 10. Personal Responsibility for the Greater Good Knut J. Ims and Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen 11. Developing a Framework for Critiquing Multi-stakeholder Codes of Conduct S. Prakash Sethi and Donald H. Schepers 12. Socratic Dialogue - Designed in the Nelson-Heckmann Tradition: A Tool for Reducing the Theory-Practice Divide in Business Ethics Johannes Brinkmann 13. The Future of Business Ethics: A Structured Dialogue between the Participants Knut J. Ims and Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen Index