Business Ethics books

The weight of social responsibility in public relations (PR) has never been more pronounced. Ensure the professionalism and credibility of your business using the practical tips and guidance in this book, written by a leading academic in the field and recommended for PR students and practitioners alike.Ethical practice in any professional discipline is guided by age-old philosophical perspectives, but its modern parameters are continually evolving. Ongoing developments in technology, social media and social contexts mean that public relations and its practices are constantly changing, and so do the ethical questions faced by practitioners in the field. Face the ethical questions and dilemmas that are inherent to public relations and ensure you practice across the public relations spectrum in an ethical and socially responsible manner with this fully updated guide, packed with useful tools and insights to support those in PR and corporate communications. Engaging and accessible, Ethics in Public Relations offers a lively exploration of the key ethical concerns present in the public relations world today, written by an accredited academic with over 26 years' professional experience in the field. Fully updated, this third edition includes an entirely new chapter on the uses of ethics in social media, covering topical issues such as blogger engagement and the relationship between employee social media activity and organizational reputation.

The public downfall of giant companies and an increase in corporate scandals and corporate crimes worldwide has drawn the attention of many in the business world. Growing economic activities that focus on increasing profits at the expense of social and environmental matters have led to self-centred, narrow-focused business planning and decisions. At a time of increasing globalisation and inter-connected economic systems, such a phenomenon is a concern for business practitioners in every country in the world. Consequently, shareholders and other stakeholders have encouraged firms to place issues of accountability at the centre of their activities, recognising the vital importance of an ethical firm culture, transparent governance issues and the adoption of more socially responsible business practices. This book is comprised of academic work on key current issues pertaining to the areas of ethics, governance and corporate crimes. Showcasing some of the current effort being made in addressing these crucial issues, the book provides a platform for researchers to publish their work, articulate their concerns and offer critical perspectives on what they see happening around them.

Critical Studies on Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Sustainability examines the social, economic and environmental impacts of corporations, and the real effects of corporate governance, CSR and business sustainability on societies in different regions. It facilitates a better understanding of how value systems, cultures and traditions in different societies may affect the policies and practices of corporate responsibility, governance and sustainability. The latest volume in the series identifies the future development trends of corporate responsibility, governance and sustainability in contexts when examining and exploring those key issues.

As a response to ongoing economic, social and environmental crises, many private actors have enlarged their definition of 'value' to include environmental and social elements. Such practices, however, appear incompatible with the current epistemological structure of academic financial discourse. This paradox challenges us to reconsider the foundations of modern finance, particularly the dominant role of shareholders. The volume argues there is a need to turn the established order upside down. Studies in economics and finance have to be embedded in environmental and social welfare to answer the challenges we face, and there is a need for a radical break with the methodological individualism that dominates economics, management and (especially) finance. It is our responsibility to question social welfare when it is defined only as maximising shareholder value. Should we instead promote a substitute to the shareholder? How should we (re)define the concept of value? This volume serves as a stepping stone for rethinking academic finance, and attempts to carve out innovative paths for financial research in the 21st century.

Faced with dwindling resources and the challenge of climate change, companies are seeking to enhance production while consuming fewer resources. At the same time, consumers are altering their behaviors by seeking local production or bulk buying products. Retailers, as boundary spanners between consumers and producers, have a major role in initiating change and sustainable development.  Part one of this book analyzes the sustainable development practices of retailers within and between different European countries and presents case studies that consider best practices on this topic. Retailer include: Carrefour, Casino, Auchan, Leclerc, Intermarché and System U in France; Inditex, Cortefiel and MANGO in Spain; Edeka, Rewe, Schwarz-Group (with Lidl and Kaufland) and Aldi in Germany; and Tesco and Marks & Spencer in UK. International retailers in Poland are considered to better understand cross country activities.  Part two underlines the challenges faced by European retailers in the wake of societal and technological changes. The consumers’ role and their sustainable development practices are analyzed to understand the impact on retailing and the main risks for retailers.  This book will appeal to academics, students and professional educators alike, providing a crucial understanding of retailers’ practices in different countries and their impact on consumers.

Gender and Tourism: Challenges and Entrepreneurial Opportunities adopts a multi-disciplinary approach, building on a historically informed, future-focused research agenda that accounts for the needs and concerns of contemporary policy makers and practitioners in the tourism field. The collection is structured in two parts, with the first part collecting chapters that analyze the key factors of female entrepreneurship in the tourism sector, the participation of women at leading, decision making positions worldwide, the potential of female business development in both global and local terms and the main inhibitors for their under representation in top managerial key positions. The second part includes chapters that investigate, through significant case studies, which is the most appropriate governance and management model to be implemented in the context of gender and tourism. Gender and Tourism is the result of reflections on researches of different nationalities and provides a comprehensive collection of new insights for traditional paradigms, approaches and methods, as well as exploring more recent developments in research methodology in the context of gender and tourism studies.

Greenwashing is an emerging trend that seeks to overemphasize the sustainability practices by companies to their customers. In a comprehensive analysis of this widespread marketing and corporate communication practice, Agostino Vollero examines the understanding of greenwashing, provides a systematic review of available literature review, and reflects on theoretical approaches and research trends. Additionally explored are specific case studies that offer lessons in avoiding the greenwashing trap and a build a look to the future in this context. Greenwashing: Foundations and Emerging Research on Corporate Sustainability and Deceptive Communication showcases fascinating insights and new perspectives in this field, which will be of great interest to scholars of Management, Marketing Communications, Corporate Communication, Accounting and Business Ethics.

This volume of Advanced Series in Management traces the origins, development, and key themes of the business practices of Nigeria’s south-eastern Igbos including apprenticeships, entrepreneurial clusters, sales practices, conflict management, talent recruitment, indigenous financial practices, locally-generated venture capital, family businesses, and succession planning.   The Igbo Traditional Business School (I-TBS) is not a conventional academic institution as it operates outside the classroom. Though without a library, or even an address, its tradition of lifelong entrepreneurial learning is an important area to explore. At a time when there is increased interest in Africa-centric business models, it is valuable to consider sustainable business prototypes built on established cultural practices, norms, and values.   Academics will find the examination of innovative I-TBS business practices, a valuable contribution to sustainable development discourse in Africa and frontier markets. Practitioners and policymakers will gain insights into the unique practices of an indigenous entrepreneurship system in an African context, with implications for socioeconomic advancements.

The concepts of practice and institution are of longstanding importance across the social sciences. This double-volume builds directly on the scholarship of Theodore Schatzki and Roger Friedland, to map out new theoretical and empirical directions at the interface between the practice and institutional “logics” literatures in organizational sociology, bridging the two perspectives. Volume 71 of Research in the Sociology of Organizations highlights a multitude of empirical directions suggesting particularly intriguing focal points for the emergent research agenda. The enclosed chapters grapple with issues related to the relationship of the symbolic and material aspects of culture and draw on a variety of empirical contexts (e.g. Islamic banking, Chinese manufacturing, and social innovation) to suggest different ways in which we might study social change at the interface of practice and institution.

The traditional approach to business and public management assumes that management decisions and outcomes will remain the same, irrespective of the environment in which they are applied. However, the value systems operating within a society can also influence the principles that govern modern management within organizations. Principles and Fundamentals of Islamic Management examines the concept of business and public management from the viewpoint of Islam, with close reference to the Quran and other illuminating Islamic sources. Seyed Mohammad Moghimi provides key insights from an Islamic perspective across a comprehensive range of management topics, including planning, decision making and policy making, organizing, human resources management, directing and organizational control. The book concludes by analyzing the role of a company director within an Islamic context. Through this in-depth exploration of Islamic management principles and fundamentals, the author creates a modern and practical framework suitable for use by international business managers.  Providing a much-needed insight into the practicalities of management operations in an Islamic context, this book is essential reading for researchers, managers, and for students of Islamic management at both undergraduate and graduate levels.