Preface
This book aspires to introduce the student to important ethical issues that arise in the world of business. As such, it fits into that branch of ethics referred to as Applied Professional Ethics. Business Ethics is the third book in the series Basic Ethics in Action. The series includes this book and two other anthologies on applied professional ethics: Environmental Ethics and Medical Ethics. The series (for which I am the general editor) also features other (generally single author) titles in Normative and Applied Ethics. These will include social and political philosophy, professional ethics, human rights, and legal ethics (among others in an expanding list). The series will also include focus books that are about half as long as the current one on particular moral issues, such as genetic engineering, international business, and informed consent. Basic Ethics in Action includes both types of book. The series aspires to the pattern set by Prentice Hall's influential Foundations of Philosophy series of the 1960s and 1970s.
The series is anchored by Basic Ethics, an essay on Normative Ethics and Metaethics. Instructors and students of ethics can use (1) Basic Ethics alone or with other primary texts in an ethics course, (2) Basic Ethics with one of the applied texts in the series in an ethics course that emphasizes an integration of theory and practice, or (3) one or more of the applied texts in courses concentrating on practice.
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THIS BOOK
This book includes an original interview with a prominent person who faces the practical challenges of ethical issues in business daily; a discussion of competition and a linking principle to decision making; an ethical methodology for linking theory to action; a discussion of gender issues as they relate to business, E-business, and the Internet; and a method for students to follow to write an essay using the information presented.
The book begins by introducing the student to my theory of worldview, or Weltanschauung. This concept is one of the unifying themes of Basic Ethics. I believe that acknowledging one's worldview and its relation to the common worldview (the worldview created by a particular community) is a crucial element in explaining and justifying what we value. This critical model, in turn, leads to what I call a linking principle to action. In the case of Business Ethics, I have constructed criteria that describe fair competition that I believe will allow students to move from theory to practice. A full exposition of this principle is found in my essay "The Principle of Fair Competition" in Chapter Four.
Chapter One also presents an interview with Mel Streeter, who runs the largest African American-owned architectural firm in the Pacific Northwest. This interview is presented to help students gain some perspective on the central themes in this book from the point of view of a successful practitioner in the field.
Chapter Two presents four ethical theories, which are not meant to be exhaustive. For readers who desire a more complete treatment of the major ethical theories, I suggest Basic Ethics or another source that explores some of the more prominent ethical theories.
Chapter Three addresses the nature of the corporation. Is a corporation a nameless piece of propertya shield behind which employees, stockholders, directors, and officers can hide from the responsibility for their actions? Certainly, that was part of the raison d'être of its creation. But should it be that way? Are there models by which to understand the corporationsuch as its being an individual or including various entities (stakeholders) that interact with the company in some meaningful way? This chapter examines several ways to view the corporation to understand ethical issues related to it.
Chapter Four discusses the issues of professional practice. Since I believe that understanding professional practice is essential to understanding and developing guidelines for fair competition, Chapter Four is a key chapter in the book. After a section on the concept in general, several articles examine one established profession, advertising. Next the chapter examines the amorphous, emerging area of information technology and the Internet. Advertising and information technology offer practical applications of the key linking principle in the book: the standards of professionalism within business.
Chapter Five extends this discussion to issues within the corporation, specifically working conditions, affirmative action, and gender issues. Each of these addresses situations affecting the status of the employee within the corporation and the way she or he is treated. Intracorporate ethical issues operate together to create what has been termed corporate culture.
Finally, Chapter Six examines the corporation in the national regulatory environment and the international environment. The reasons that regulation is needed and what groups should provide it are discussed. The second topic involves moral absolutism and how to compete adequately in markets that have morally corrupt practices.
Beginning with Chapter Three, each chapter ends with a section on how to respond to case studies that contain ethical issues. Each section presents one step in this process so that by the end of Chapter Six, the student should have developed the ability to write an essay responding to case studies involving ethical issues.
A part of these sections in the core chapters of the book presents case studies depicting situations related to topics discussed in the chapter's readings. These case studies are separated into two groups, macro cases and micro cases. The macro case takes the point of view of someone in a managerial or supervisory role who considers business ethics from a systemic perspective. The point of view in the micro cases is of salespeople, secretaries, and middle managers who must make decisions that have ethical implications. Through these case studies, the student has an opportunity to react to the readings and test his or her own attitudes by writing an essay.
Basic Ethics in Action has an argument-based style and tone and intends to challenge the reader to think about some of the various ethical implications involved in specific situations. I have found that discussion of the more controversial premises focuses debate in a way that is satisfactory for both instructor and student.
Many may wish to read Business Ethics along with an ethical theory text (such as Basic Ethics). Others will want to delve more deeply into issues of practice by finding topics that interest them and then doing their own interview of people in the field. I believe that getting a sense of what real life is like is important. It puts these cases and principles into a context that can be more easily integrated into the students' worldview. This is, after all, the purpose of a course on Business Ethics. It helps students refine their practical decision-making skills so that they might be better able to live following a worldview that is, above all else, good.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As in all projects of this sort, there are many to thank. First, I would like to thank the following reviewers: David Griffith, Ouachita Baptist University; Michael J. Olivette, Syracuse University; and David Redle, University of Akron (Ohio).
Next I would like to thank Ross Miller, my editor, for his support on this book and on the series Basic Ethics in Action. The series is already bearing the marks of his insightful judgment. I am also grateful to Katie Janssen, assistant editor, and to my able production editor, Linda B. Pawelchak.
I would also like to mention the help I have received both from Marymount University's research librarians, especially Margaret Norden and Marge Runge, and from Pat Milmoe McCarrick and the staff at the National Reference for Bioethics Literature (they also have a good collection on business ethics).
Finally, I would like to mention my family: Arianne, Seán, Éamon, and Rebecca. Their lives and the values they teach me are a constant source of strength and sustenance.
Michael Boylan