Well it's been in gestation for a while, but we're pleased to announce that the 3rd edition of our business ethics textbook has been published today by Oxford University Press. Once more subtitled 'Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization' it's a continuation of our efforts to provide an integrated approach to the subject of business ethics and corporate responsibility ... and this time we've gone for a fully international perspective. Or as we nicknamed it during development, a "rest-of-the-world perspective" - i.e. one that offers a real alternative to a subject still dominated by parochial US textbooks.
This is the pre-publication proof of the front cover, showing an Angolan fruit seller supported by a microfinance scheme in Luanda. We thought it not only helped to highlight this global orientation but also worked well with a new case on microfinance we feature in the text titled "Targeting the poor with microfinance: hype or hope for poverty reduction?" It's a positive picture about an exciting development in business ethics ... but as you'd expect from Crane and Matten, the case itself eschews any easy answers.
Along with microfinance, we've got quite a bit of new content on social enterprise in general, and specifically on the ethical challenges of poverty reduction, affordable water access, and other development issues. Also new to the edition is extended analysis of the financial crisis, including new sections on the ethics of rating agencies and hedge fund ethics. No great surprises there we suppose, given the timing, but it was fun to put together a book that managed to include the intricacies of the ethics of finance along with content on ethcial sex shops, ethics in modelling, and the search for a treatment for "female sexual dysfunction" among others. As you might imagine we enjoyed researching some of these new parts.
There's also a whole lot of other new stuff in there, which you can read about on the publisher website and on the book's online resource centre which will be launched any day now. The biggest change in format though, apart from the extension of our international perspective, is a new feature called "Ethics online". This talks about some of the ways that digital technologies and new social media are reshaping business ethics practice, for example through CSR blogs, on-line diversity forums, ethical consumption sites, and web-based tools to assess your carbon footprint. This is something that nine years ago, when we started writing the first edition, we didn't even consider remarking on as a phenomenon in itself, but which now is pretty much a central part of the business ethics world.
Well anyway, that's probably enough from us talking about the new book (like all new parents, we can get a little over indulgent in praising our perfect little baby). But if you have any comments about it, good or bad, do let us know. Feedback of all kinds, is always welcome. And who knows, before we know it, we'll probably be worrying about all its little imperfections and planning a fourth edition. Roll on 2013!
Hi It is interesting to always read about your take on Ethics. But Ethics seems to be mainly focussed on companies. Have you ever given a though as to how ethical are CSR Consultancies or rating agencies? Do you have any parameters to do due diligence on them. As sometimes they can be worse than a sweat shop.
ReplyDeleteI recently came across one in Kuala Lumpur, which is a rating agency, who exploits the workforce, deprives them of their dues, whose hygiene conditions are pathetic but still rates other companies on GRI parameters.
This company while being a rating agency also does Sustainability Reports..ironic isn't it?.Now this company has also started teaching 'Responsible Management' !!!
Shouldn't they be teaching "Ir- responsible Maangement'?????
I have a question that I cannot seem to get my head around. Is Human Resources Management ethical when it relates human beings as a “resource”? I feel there are too many variable factors involved e.g. if the economy in question is a knowledge economy then a large emphasis is on innovation. Meaning the “resources” are crucial to the Organisation at hand. However there is a reality that humans are competing with other resources like technology for jobs. Any advice?
ReplyDeleteThe question of the ethicalness of treating people as human "resources" is something we write about in chapter 7 our business ethics textbook, Anonymous. As we say there, according to Kantian theory, we should treat people 'always as an end and never as a means only'. Sure they are an important resource, especially in knowledge intensive industries, but the key question is whether they are being treated as a means ONLY.
ReplyDeletehi Crane & Matten, Business Ethics: European Perspective is my all time favourite book since 2005, when I was in the UK. I'm currently ordering the 2010 edition from Amazon, and very eager to unboxing this.
ReplyDeletebtw, have you made any analyses on RSPO - Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. I'm currently working in this area, and most palm oil companies in Indonesia have difficulties to have peace with WWF who drive this initiative, thanks to Greenpeace' campaign
sorry, just read your short analysis on Greenpeace vs Sinar Mas pal oil.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words on the book Agam. As you've spotted, we're written only a a little on the palm oil controversy. Since you're working in the area of the RSPO we'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it
ReplyDeleteHei, very nice and informative book you've written. We use it for aour course in Business ethics. I was wondering if you guys have any thoughts regarding philosopher Ken Wilber's take on ethical issues like capital punishment, abortion etc. where he argues for the addition of what he terms "depth" in "valuing" the different options we have in an ethical dilemma. With this, for instance, he argues that in doing an evaluation of an ethical dilemma we should intuitively also include an evaluation of the level of consciousness of the subjects to be evaluated.. as an ex. he says, that under conditions of a fair judgment and judicial process, capital punishment can be a fair option if the benefits we get in the form of preventing loss of lives, outweighs any benefits that society as a whole may get from trying to rehabilitate the convicted murder. In this case he argues that the "depth" or level of consciousness of the murder- which of course is something evaluated intuitively- is of such a low range, that any investment in trying to get him rehabilitated would not yield as much as you could get out of for ex. using the same resources to rehabilatate other people under other conditions and with a higher level of consciousness. He also argues of course that theres a two ways of seeing this.. the absoloute point of view, where all people no matter what are worth exactly the same and shall be treated equally no matter what - and the relative point of view.. which is most often the one we have to relate to in practical life -- his arguments are related to the relative point of view. I'd appreciate your comments --pls. send copy to jonas.friman@gmail.com.. other people are also open to mail me with their opinions on the subject. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteJ*J, interesting comment. We don't know Wilbur's work too well, but our starting point is always the idea of basic moral minimums to protect and preserve human dignity. Getting into judgments of relative depth of consciousness appears to be very dangerous territory, especially given that those doing the judgement are typically the powerful actors and institutions in society.
ReplyDeleteGreat book!!! I was wondering what your take is on the financial crisis, as far as the normative theories on stakeholder affects and utiliatarian rule???? Is it far to say that strategy has better impact over ethical principles in the situation of the financial crisis?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Annonymous - sounds like a good assignment question to us! I guess that to answer this, you need to think about what exactly you mean by the "financial crisis". If you are talking causes, like the sale of mortages to people that couldn't really afford them, or the creation of complex derivatives, then you might use one set of tools - and ethical principles could be very useful. If you are talking cures, then maybe forms of regulation such as we discuss in chapter 11 would be the best place to start.
ReplyDeleteHello Crane and Matten, I recently ordered this book online and ended up with the "South Asia Edition". What are the differences? If the core text is different I will need to send it back as it is for a university course.
ReplyDeleteThanks in advance!
Harriet
Hi Harriet, we have a version of the book published by OUP India which is exactly the same, but of lower print quality, and retails at a considerably reduced price for the South Asian market. But the content should be exactly the same (assuming you haven't been sold a knock-off).
ReplyDelete