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Understanding Business Ethics
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Understanding Business Ethics

Third Edition

Other Titles in:
Business Ethics

November 2015 | 600 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

Filled with real-world case studies and examples of ethical dilemmas, Understanding Business Ethics prepares you to make ethical decisions in today’s complex, global environment. Bestselling authors explain the fundamental importance of ethical leadership, decision making, and strategic planning while examining emerging trends in business ethics such as the developing world, human rights, environmental sustainability, and technology.

In addition to presenting information related to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the text’s 26 real-world cases profile a variety of industries, countries, and ethical issues in a way that is relevant and meaningful to your lives. Using an applied approach, this text helps you understand why and how business ethics really do matter!

NEW TO THIS EDITION:

  • New coverage of current and relevant topics such as corporate social responsibility, information technology, social media, big data, NGOs as stakeholders, and challenges to establishing an ethical organisation
  • New chapter-opening vignettes and real-life ethical dilemmas highlight contemporary examples such as “The Interview” movie and North Korea, Samsung and Child Labour, and the Hillsborough football disaster
  • New cases covering recent ethical situations such as Disney’s corporate social responsibility reputation and the General Motor’s ignition recall issue show you how to practically apply the concepts being learned to their everyday life
  • An extensive instructor’s manual covering all of the case studies and exercises in the book as well as links to additional material.        

The free, open-access Student Study site at study.sagepub.com/stanwick3e features web quizzes, web resources, video resources, and more. There is also a dedicated Instructor site providing additional teaching resources.

 
Chapter 1: The Foundation of Ethical Thought
Introduction

 
The Role of Morals

 
The Foundation of Ethical Theory

 
Teleological Frameworks

 
Deontological Frameworks

 
Seven Guiding Principles to Support Ethical Actions

 
The Seven Deadly Sins

 
The Trolley Problem

 
Global Business Standards Codex

 
 
Chapter 2: The Evolving Complexities of Business Ethics
The Global Complexity of Business Ethics

 
History of Business Ethics

 
The Role of Integrity

 
Specific Behaviors of High Integrity

 
Is Everyone Unethical?

 
The Cheating Culture

 
Grade Inflation and the Institutional Pressure to Cheat

 
The Role of Technology and Cheating

 
Generational Differences Pertaining to Ethics

 
The Role of Trust in Ethical Conduct

 
 
Chapter 3: Stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibility
What Is a Stakeholder?

 
Management’s Response to Stakeholders

 
The Ability to Build Trust with the Stakeholders

 
The Role of Stakeholder Communications

 
Triple Bottom Line Reporting

 
The Benefit Corporation

 
Suppliers as Stakeholders

 
Customers as Stakeholders

 
Government as a Stakeholder

 
NGOs as Stakeholders

 
Local Community and Society as Stakeholders

 
The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility

 
Alternative Firm Configurations to Address Stakeholder Issues

 
The Role of Corporate Reputation

 
The Role of Corporate Philanthropy

 
 
Part II: Internal Focus of Ethical Issues
 
Chapter 4: Ethics and Financial Reporting
Ethics and Financial Reporting

 
The Role of Creative Accounting

 
The History of Ponzi Schemes

 
The Role Of Insider Trading As An Ethical Issue

 
Ethical Philosophies and Accounting Issues

 
The Role of Financial Reporting

 
The Objectives of Financial Reporting

 
Where Were the Auditors?

 
Responsibilities of Management

 
The Use of Heuristics in Auditing

 
Responsibilities of Auditors

 
Responsibilities of Audit Committees

 
AICPA Code of Professional Conduct

 
Components of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

 
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board

 
Section 404—Internal Controls

 
A Comprehensive Model of Top Management Fraud

 
Accounting Shenanigans or Tricks of the Trade

 
 
Chapter 5: Ethical Leadership and Corporate Governance
Ethical Leadership

 
A Manager’s Ability to Develop Trust, Commitment, and Effort

 
The Responsibility of Managers

 
The Transformation From Moral Person to Ethical Leader

 
Ethics and Corporate Governance

 
Board of Directors

 
The Role of the Board of Directors

 
A Contingent Perspective of Corporate Governance

 
Ethics and the Structure of the Board of Directors

 
The Benefits of a Strong Board of Directors

 
CEO Compensation and Ethical Reputation

 
Ethical Viewpoints Explaining CEO Compensation

 
Corporate Governance and Stakeholders

 
 
Chapter 6: Strategic Planning, Corporate Culture, and Corporate Compliance
Ethics and Strategic Planning

 
The Ethical Cycle

 
Using Strategic Ethical Decisions to Build Character

 
Is There a Link Between Strategic Planning and an Ethical Culture?

 
How to Address Strategic Ethical Decision Making From a Global Perspective

 
How to Address Ethical Crisis and Disaster Recovery

 
Corporate Culture

 
Evaluation of Corporate Culture

 
Using Organizational Integrity to Link Corporate Culture to Corporate Compliance

 
Ethics and Corporate Compliance

 
The U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations

 
The Challenge of Compliance

 
Corporate Compliance Systems and Global Corruption

 
 
Chapter 7: Decision Making and Human Resource Issues
Ethical Decision Making: Kohlberg’s Six Stages of Moral Development

 
The Role of Emotion in Moral Decision Making

 
Rationalizing Unethical Behaviors

 
Ethical Decision Making and Moral Intensity

 
The Role of Power and Influence in Ethical Decisions

 
Human Resource Issues

 
The Role of Workplace Diversity

 
Ethical Climate and Organizational Misbehavior

 
Sexual Harassment and Sexual Discrimination

 
Office Bullying

 
Employee Monitoring

 
The Ethical Issues Related to Extreme Jobs

 
 
Part III: External Focus of Ethical Issues
 
Chapter 8: Ethics and the Environment
The Tragedy of the Commons

 
Natural Environment as a Stakeholder

 
Natural Environment as a Competitive Advantage

 
Voluntary Environmental Compliance

 
What Does It Mean to Be Green?

 
Employees as Environmental Stakeholders

 
NGOs as Environmental Stakeholders

 
Communicating the Firm’s Environmental Commitment to Its Stakeholders

 
United States Government Regulations

 
Environmental Accounting Issues

 
Environmental Justice

 
Environmental Sustainability

 
Ethics and Climate Change

 
Climate Change as a Strategic Option

 
The Effects of Climate Change on the Firm

 
A Firm’s Carbon Footprint

 
 
Chapter 9: Ethics and Information Technology
Why Are Information Technology Ethical Issues Important?

 
Management Issues and Policy Areas for Information Technology

 
The Next Step: Critical Analysis

 
Privacy of Employees

 
Types of Computer Monitoring

 
Telephone Monitoring

 
Privacy of Customers

 
The Challenge of Technology

 
The Role of Government Regulations

 
The Volunteer Censoring of Internet Search Information

 
Technology-Based Fraud

 
Internet Attacks

 
The USA PATRIOT Act

 
 
Chapter 10: Marketing and Advertising
Alternative Views of the Foundation of Marketing and Advertising

 
Green Marketing

 
Ethical Consumer Behavior

 
Relationship Marketing and Privacy

 
The Role of Consumer Boycotts

 
The Ethical Challenges of Product Recalls

 
The Reasons for Recalls

 
The Steps of a Recall

 
Financial Costs of a Recall

 
The Ethics of Fair Pricing

 
Ethics of Purchasing and Sales

 
False and Misleading Advertising

 
The Eventual Truth in Advertising

 
Advertising to Children

 
The Sydney Principles

 
The Magic of Disney

 
 
Chapter 11: Ethical Issues in the Developing World
The Bottom of the Pyramid

 
New Generation Business Strategies for the Bottom of the Pyramid

 
Social Entrepreneurship

 
Fair Trade

 
Human Rights

 
Poverty and Hunger

 
Food Versus Fuel

 
The UN Millennium Development Goals

 
 
Part IV: Developing and Evaluating a Strong Ethical Focus
 
Chapter 12: Establishing a Code of Ethics and Ethical Guidelines
Role of a Code of Ethics

 
Code of Ethics and Stakeholders

 
Benefits of a Code of Ethics

 
Content of a Code of Ethics

 
The Role of Total Responsibility Management and a Code of Ethics

 
Steps for an Effective Code of Ethics

 
Value of a Code of Ethics

 
How to Make a Code of Ethics More Effective

 
Examples of Codes of Ethics

 
Role of Government Regulations

 
Global Code of Ethics

 
 
Chapter 13: Evaluating Corporate Ethics
Why Firms Need Ethics Training Programs

 
Establishing an Ethics Training Program

 
Establishing a Global Ethics Training Program

 
Benefits of an Ethics Training Program

 
Enforcement and the Ethics Training Program

 
Sending the Right Message to the Employees

 
Corporate Ethics Officers

 
Ethical Auditing

 
Components of the Ethical Audit

 
Whistle-Blowing

 
Hotlines

 
Government Regulations and Whistle-Blowing

 
Evaluation of Ethics and Stakeholders

 
 
Part V: Cases
 
Case 1: Bernard Madoff: How “One Big Lie” Can Destroy Thousands of Lives
 
Case 2: Siemens: How the Greased Wheels Slid off the Ethical Track
 
Case 3: TOMS Shoes: Helping Soles All Over the World
 
Disney Citizenship: Lending a Mouse Ear to Hear How to Help Society
 
Case 4: World Food Programme: A Quarter a Day Keeps the Hunger Away
 
Case 5: Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation: All the News That’s Fit to Hack
 
Case 6: Enron: Were They the Crookedest Guys in the Room?
 
Case 7: Google: Don’t Be Evil Unless?.?.?.
 
Case 8: HealthSouth: The Rise and Fall of the Scrushy Empire
 
Case 9: De Beers and the Conflict Diamonds: A Monopoly Doesn’t Last Forever
 
Case 10: Interface: More Than Just a Carpet Company
 
Case 11: Facebook and Privacy: Big Brother “Likes” Us
 
Case 12: Outsourcing at Mattel: Elmo Sad?.?.?.?Elmo Covered in Lead Paint
 
Case 13: GM and the Ignition Switch: It Is Deja Vu All Over Again
 
Case 14: McWane: A Dangerous Business
 
Case 15: Merck’s Vioxx: How Would You Interpret the Data?
 
Case 16: Music Industry: Ethical Issues in a Digital Age
 
Case 17: Apple Outsourcing in China: iSweatshop?
 
Case 18: Patagonia: Don’t Buy Our Stuff
 
Case 19: Tokyo Electric Power and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Disaster: A Tsunami of Problems
 
Case 20: Tyco: I’m Sure That It’s a Really Nice Shower Curtain
 
Case 21: Olympus: A Corporate Governance Picture That Was Out of Focus
 
Case 22: Wal-Mart: But We Do Give Them a 10% Employee Discount
 
Case 23: WorldCom: Can You Hear the Lawsuits Now?
 
Case 24: BP and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster: “I Would Like My Life Back”
 
Case 25: Greyston Bakery: The Zen of Philanthropy

Supplements

Student Study Site

Use the Student Study Site to get the most out of your course!

Our Student Study Site at http://study.sagepub.com/stanwick3e is completely open-access and offers a wide range of additional features, including something no other publisher offers: SAGE Journal articles!

 The open-access Student Study Site includes the following:

  • Mobile-friendly web quizzes allow for independent assessment of progress made in learning course material.
  • Carefully selected, video links feature relevant interviews, lectures, personal stories, inquiries, and other content for use in independent or classroom-based explorations of key topics.
  • EXCLUSIVE! Access to certain full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully selected for each chapter. Each article supports and expands on the concepts presented in the chapter. 
  • Web resources are included for further research and insights. 
Instructor Resource Site

Calling all instructors!
It’s easy to log on to SAGE’s password-protected Instructor Teaching Site at http://study.sagepub.com/stanwick3e for complete and protected access to all text-specific Instructor Resources for Understanding Business Ethics, Third Edition. Simply provide your institutional information for verification and within 72 hours you’ll be able to use your login information for any SAGE title!

Password-protected Instructor Resources include the following:

  • A Microsoft® Word® test bank is available containing multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions for each chapter. The test bank provides you with a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity for editing any question and/or inserting your own personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding.
  • A Respondus electronic test bank is available and can be used on PCs. The test bank contains multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions for each chapter and provides you with a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity for editing any question and/or inserting your own personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding. Respondus is also compatible with many popular learning management systems so you can easily get your test questions into your online course.
  • Editable, chapter-specific Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides offer you complete flexibility in easily creating a multimedia presentation for your course.
  • An instructor guide includes sample answers to the discussion questions in the book.
  • Case notes include PowerPoint slides and a Word file of teaching notes for each case are designed for instructors to expand questions to students, or initiate class discussion.
  • EXCLUSIVE! Access to certain full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully selected for each chapter. Each article supports and expands on the concepts presented in the chapter. 
  • Sample course syllabi for semester and quarter courses provide suggested models for use when creating the syllabi for your courses.
  • Chapter-specific discussion questions help launch classroom interaction by prompting students to engage with the material and by reinforcing important content. 
  • Carefully selected, web-based video links feature relevant interviews, lectures, personal stories, inquiries, and other content for use in independent or classroom-based explorations of key topics.
  • Web resources are included for further research and insights. 

“Looking for a deeply reflected and applicable textbook for in-class use in business ethics? Here it is. The best textbook I’ve ever found is the Stanwicks’ masterpiece. Your students will love it.”

Volker Brecht
Southern University at New Orleans

“Great textbook, with relevant cases from the real world.”

Biruk Alemayehu
Southern University at New Orleans

“Excellent book with proper framing and interesting analyzes in various areas/fields, with special emphasis on practical cases.”

Alberto Costa
Universidade De Aveiro

Understanding Business Ethics has sound principles that is a good fit for an undergraduate ethics course. The companion materials also add breadth to my instruction.

Ms Tracy Brown Wright
Public Relations Dept, University Of Florida
July 28, 2022

This is an excellent book, well structured and clear content, whit a very practical approach on business and a lot of examples.

Dr Monica Acosta
Business Administration, Northern Arizona University
March 9, 2021

This text provides a comprehensive overview of Business Ethics with a firm grounding in the various ethical approaches.

Dr Robert Elkington
Business Administration , University of Ontario Institute of Technology
December 6, 2016

I did adopt this text for 2016 - 2017 but I am not finding it what I need. I had used Johnson, C. Managing Ethical Challenges of Leadership in the past and believe that was a better fit with my course. I just requested the text by Johnson on Organizational Ethics and hope to use that in 2017 - 2018.

Professor wanda foster
Business Administration , Concordia University
June 28, 2016

I am using this text this semester. It works well, but I still find that I need to supplement it with more "meaty" materials on financial, marketing, and human capital management. I have also found that the portion of Chapter 11 on global ethics was mainly geared toward social and environmental ethical issues. I needed more on corruption, bribery and negotiation with companies from different cultures.

Professor wanda foster
Business Administration , Concordia University
October 2, 2016

New chapters & case studies are good additions.

Professor Kelly King
Business, Tyler Junior College
April 4, 2016

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ISBN: 9781506303239
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