1st Edition
Cosmopolitan Business Ethics Towards a Global Ethos of Management
In Cosmopolitan Business Ethics: Towards a Global Ethos of Management, Jacob Dahl Rendtorff maps the concept of global business ethics, related to sustainability and corporate governance, via an examination of the major theories of business ethics and the philosophy of management.
The book is based on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and the European tradition, which is applied as the foundation for the analysis of the contemporary European and Anglo-American debate on business ethics in order to formulate an up-to-date theory of global business ethics. The book will compare the different schools of business ethics, corporate citizenship, and the philosophy of management and will address the modern-day issues of sustainability, business and human rights, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder management, and corporate governance, offering insights on how to deal with these international challenges of global economics, the development and protection of human rights, and the environment.
This book proposes a decision-making model for cosmopolitan business ethics as the foundation of management and leadership in dealing with the complexities of globalization. The case studies will address the efforts of businesses to work with global and cosmopolitan business ethics at the levels of maintaining corporate integrity. Both the theoretical argument and case studies presented in the book are based on exchanges with notable business ethicists, philosophers of management, business managers, and public policy-makers.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Themes for cosmopolitan business ethics
Cosmopolitan business ethics as future management science
CHAPTER 1. What is cosmopolitan business ethics?
Business ethics in private and public organizations
Cosmopolitan business ethics and creation of trust
Focus on global social responsibility
Social responsibility in Scandinavia: The inclusive labor market
Business ethics in practice
Business ethics in organization and management
Is business ethics profitable?
The purpose of the programs for ethics and values-driven leadership
CHAPTER 2. Business Ethics in the age of globalization
Ethics and globalization of the market economy
Neoliberalism, competition states, and globalization
Strengths and weaknesses of globalization
Social responsibility as risk management
Values and globalization
International codes of ethics and codes of conduct
International business ethics as a first dimension of cosmopolitan business ethics
Caux Round Table Principles: Guidelines for global ethics
CHAPTER 3. What are values?
Values in the late modern society
Business Ethics in experience society
Values in business organizations
Values-driven management as a strategic management communication
Values and values-driven management
Requirements for an ethical culture in the organization
Values-driven leadership, ethics, and organization theory
Code of conduct for leadership in the public sector
Organization, perceptions, values, and ethics
Different theoretical approaches to values-driven management
CHAPTER 4 Values-driven management in practice
V
Biography
Jacob Dahl Rendtorff is Senior Associate Professor of Responsibility, Ethics and Legitimacy of Corporations at the Department of Social Sciences and Business at Roskilde University, Denmark. Rendtorff is Member of the Executive Committee of EBEN (European Business Ethics Network), a Member of the Academy of Management, and European Editor of the Journal of Business Ethics Education. He has been a visiting professor at universities in Europe and the United States and has published several books.
'In an age of corporate scandals, tax evasion schemes and high-profile climate-change denial, Rendtorff reminds us that business activity is morally, politically and constitutionally justified if and only if it is socially responsible and globally conducive to the good life.' — Prof. Giorgio Baruchello, University of Akureyri
'Jacob Dahl proves that "business ethics" is not a standalone discipline and those who naturally practice "cosmopolitan corporate integrity" can readily produce win-win situations for all involved. Society needs this fascinating and insightful read to become a text book in every business school and a desk book for every executive.' — Julian Clarke, European Business Ethics Network Ireland
'What I found most valuable and most interesting was [Jacob Dahl Rendtorff's] description and discussion of business ethics in Germany. This is, as he points out, a tradition unknown in the English-speaking world but it is socially valuable. All in all, this book is a substantial contribution to business ethics in English.' — Guðmundur Heiðar Frímannsson, Nordicum-Mediterraneum, 2019
