Politics, Ethics and Social Responsibility of Business (For the B.Com. (Hons) Course of the University of Delhi)

233 Pages·2009·2.472 MB·English

by  K. V. Bhanu Murthy, Usha Krishna

Politics, Ethics and Social Responsibility of Business
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Politics, Ethics and
Social Responsibility of Business
K. V. Bhanu Murthy
Professor of Economics
Department of Commerce
Delhi School of Economics
University of Delhi
Usha Krishna
Associate Professor
Department of Commerce
Janki Devi Memorial College
New Delhi
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ISBN 9788131731475
eISBN 9789332506497
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Contents
About the Author xiii
Preface xv
Unit I Thinking Conceptually about Politics 1
Chapter 1 Liberty 3
1.1 Meaning and Nature of Liberty 3
1.2 Negative Liberty 4
1.3 Positive Liberty 5
1.4 Conclusion 6
Chapter 2 Equality 8
2.1 Meaning and Signif cance of Equality 8
2.2 Foundational Equality 9
2.3 Distributional Equality 10
2.4 Equality of Capability 11
2.5 Conclusion 12
Chapter 3 Justice 13
3.1 The Concept 13
3.2 Core Elements of Justice 13
3.3 Justice as an Ethical Principle 14
3.4 Rawls’ Theory of Justice as Fairness 16
3.5 Distributive Justice and Business 18
3.6 Conclusion 18
Chapter 4 Rights 20
4.1 Meaning and Nature of Rights 20
4.2 Basis Of Rights 22
4.3 Human Rights and the Corporate World 23
vi | CONTENTS
Chapter 5 Recognition 25
5.1 Introduction 25
5.2 Meaning of Recognition 25
5.3 Politics of Recognition 26
5.4 Forms of Recognition 26
5.5 Multiculturalism and Diversity 26
5.6 Misrecognition or Non-Recognition 27
5.7 Conclusion 27
Chapter 6 The Idea of a Good Society 29
6.1 A Good Society 29
6.2 Three Partners 29
6.3 Sustainability of a Good Society 30
6.4 Conclusion 31
Unit II Domain of Politics and Ethics 33
Chapter 7 Democracy 37
7.1 Introduction 37
7.2 Why Good Governance? 37
7.3 Democracy – Its Varieties and Processes 39
7.4 Democratic Process 40
7.5 A Corporation as a Democratic Body 41
7.6 Democracy – Beyond the State Level 42
7.7 Conclusion 43
Chapter 8 Welfare State 45
8.1 Interpretations of Welfare State 45
8.2 Origins 46
8.3 Arguments For and Against the Welfare State 46
8.4 Criticism 47
8.5 The Welfare State and Social Expenditure 48
8.6 Conclusion 48
Chapter 9 Markets and Globalisation 50
9.1 Introduction 50
9.2 Market Economy 50
9.3 What Is Market Failure? 51
CONTENTS | vii
9.4 Social Controls 52
9.5 The Decline of the Welfare State and Growth of Multinationals 53
9.6 Implication of Globalisation 54
9.7 Global Corporate Responsibility 55
9.8 Conclusion 56
Unit III Business Ethics and Moral Reasoning 59
Chapter 10 Business Ethics 61
10.1 Nature of The Study of Business Ethics 61
10.2 Levels of Business Ethics 63
10.3 Evolution of Business Ethics 63
10.4 Ethical Issues and Approaches 64
10.5 Business Ethics and Philosophy of Business 65
10.6 Business and Society 66
10.7 Paradigm Shift 67
10.8 Business Ethics and Corporate Responsibility 69
10.9 Conclusion 69
Chapter 11 Theories of Moral Reasoning 72
11.1 Introduction 72
11.2 Moral Theory 72
11.3 Moral Reasoning and Business Ethics 74
11.4 Conclusion 75
Chapter 12 Business Ethics Issues and New Developments 76
12.1 Overview of Business Ethics 76
12.2 Business Ethics and Society 77
12.3 Business Ethics in Management 77
12.4 New Developments in Ethical Theories 80
12.5 Conclusion 82
Chapter 13 Ethics in Management 83
13.1 Introduction 83
13.2 Institutionalising Ethical Climate 83
13.3 Ethical Models of Morality 84
13.4 Ethical Decision Making 85
13.5 Conclusion 86
viii | CONTENTS
Unit IV Politics and Ethics in Business 89
Chapter 14 Corporate Code of Ethics 91
14.1 Introduction 91
14.2 Types of Codes of Ethics 92
14.3 Nature of Codes of Ethics 92
14.4 CSR Principles, Processes and Code of Ethics 93
14.5 Steps for Institutionalising Ethical Norms and Behaviour 94
14.6 Social Code for Business by Confederation of Indian Industry
and United Nations Development Programme 95
14.7 Conclusions: Living Ethical Norms 96
Chapter 15 Responsibility and Accountability 98
15.1 Introduction 98
15.2 Basic Framework 98
15.3 Corporate Responsibility 103
15.4 Integrated Approach 104
Chapter 16 Environment 106
16.1 Introduction 106
16.2 Business and Environmental Problems 106
16.3 Environmental Degradation 107
16.4 Responsibility of Humans Towards Environmental Harms 108
16.5 Responsibilities to the Natural World 108
16.6 Business Ethics in the Age of Sustainable Economics 109
16.7 Operationalising Environmental Accountability 110
16.8 Corporate Environmental Accounting 110
16.9 Rationale for Environmental Accounting 111
16.10 Different Environmental Accounting Disciplines 111
16.11 Global Environmental Accounting 111
16.12 EMA 111
16.13 Environmental Financial Accounting 112
16.14 Environmental Audit 112
16.15 International Environmental Standards – ISO 14000 112
16.16 Corporate Sustainability Reporting 113
CONTENTS | ix
Chapter 17 Leadership 115
17.1 Meaning 115
17.2 Qualities and Attributes of Leaders 115
17.3 Leadership and Morality 116
17.4 Leadership and Responsibility 118
17.5 Conclusion – Leadership Challenges 119
Chapter 18 Workforce Diversity 120
18.1 Workforce Diversity 120
18.2 Forms of Diversity 120
18.3 Diversity and Competitive Advantages 121
18.4 Diversity and Competitive Disadvantages 122
18.5 Managing Diversity Through Training 122
18.6 Challenges 123
18.7 Conclusions 123
Unit V Corporate Social Responsibility: An Overview 125
Chapter 19 Corporate Philanthropy 127
19.1 Introduction 127
19.2 Meaning and Background 127
19.3 Key Developments 128
19.4 Philanthropy and Others 129
19.5 Corporate Philanthropy 129
19.6 Conclusion 131
Chapter 20 Corporate Social Responsibility 133
20.1 Introduction 133
20.2 Meaning 133
20.3 Basic Concepts 134
20.4 CSR—Interdisciplinary Subject 136
20.5 History 138
20.6 CSR Tools 139
20.7 Ten Principles of UN Global Compact 142
20.8 Conclusion – The Way Ahead 143