86,825 research outputs found
Can corporate social responsibility help us understand the credit crisis?
No full textThe financial crisis which started in the United States in 2007 and which has spread throughout the world has many causes, one of which is the abundance of unethical behavior on the part of many of those who made the financial decisions, such as regulators, supervisors, managers and employees, and also on the part of a not insignificant number of their customers. In this paper, we will seek to shed light on the crisis's ethical content and show how the generalized practice of corporate social responsibility within financial institutions could have helped reduce the magnitude of the crisis, perhaps not systemically but definitely in some of the organizations that have been most affected by the crisis. For this to happen, however, a particular concept of social responsibility would have to have been applied, a responsibility with an ethical basis - or, more specifically, a voluntarily assumed ethics that was capable of giving rise to self-generated duties among financial decision-makers.Crisis; Ethics; Finance; Corporate Social Responsibility; Financial system;
Firm, market economy and social responsibility
No full textIn January 2005, The Economist published a survey on corporate social responsibility (CSR), joining a long-running debate on the meaning and need for CSR in a market economy. The British weekly's thesis, widely accepted among economists, was first stated years ago by Milton Friedman (1962): a firm that maximizes its profits while acting within the law and the ethical rules that are intrinsic to a market economy is fulfilling all of its social and moral responsibilities and need not abide by any other type of constraint or demand. However, this thesis is disputed by many other authors. This article seeks to answer the question of whether there is a role for CSR in the economic paradigm. Obviously, it does not pretend to give a final answer but simply to set forth the reasons that will enable each person to arrive at his or her own answer. The first part discusses the economic arguments about maximizing value for the owner and society and viewing the firm as a nexus of contracts. The second part discusses the different arguments about the possible role of CSR in the economic paradigm. The article ends with the conclusions.Contracts; Corporate social responsibility; Efficiency; Ethics; Value maximization;
Corruption and companies: The case of facilitating payments
No full textFacilitating payments are a very widespread form of corruption. They consist of small payments or gifts made to a person -a public official or an employee of a private company- to obtain a favor, such as expediting an administrative process, obtaining a permit, license or service, or avoiding an abuse of power. Unlike the worst forms of corruption, facilitating payments do not usually involve an outright injustice on the part of the payer, as she is entitled to what she requests. That may be why public opinion tends to condone them; often they are assumed to be unavoidable and are excused on the grounds of low wages and lack of professionalism among public officials and disorganization in government offices. Many companies that take the fight against "grand" corruption very seriously are inclined to overlook these "petty" transgressions, which are seen as the "grease" that makes the wheels of the bureaucratic machine turn more smoothly. And yet, facilitating payments have a pernicious effect on the working of public and private administrations; all too often they are the slippery slope to more serious forms of corruption; they impose additional costs on companies and citizens; and in the long run they sap the ethical foundations of organizations. This article focuses on facilitating payments from the point of view of the company that makes the payment, either as the active partner (when it is the company that takes the initiative) or as the passive partner (when the official or employee is the instigator).bribery; corruption; extortion; facilitating payments; gifts;
The United Nations convention against corruption and its impact on international companies
No full textCorruption is a serious economic, social, political and moral blight, especially in many emerging countries. It is a problem that affects companies in particular, especially in international commerce, finance and technology transfer. And it is becoming an international phenomenon in scope, substance and consequences. That is why, in recent years, there has been a proliferation of international efforts to tackle the problem of corruption. One such international cooperative initiative is the United Nations Convention against Corruption, signed in 2003, which came into force in December 2005. This is the first truly global instrument to prevent and combat corruption, built on a broad international consensus. The purpose of this article is to explain the origin and content of the Convention, what it adds to existing international instruments for combating corruption, and its strengths and weaknesses, mainly from the point of view of companies.Bribery; Convention against corruption; Corruption; Extortion; International business; United Nations;
Frugality
No full textFrugality is a little studied virtue, but one that is important to the lives of individuals and families, communities and broader societies. In this article we consider what we mean by frugality and discuss its role in the decision-making process, within action theory. This leads us to a normative explanation of why frugality is needed and what it signifies. (Also available in Spanish)Action theory; Frugality; Lifestyle; Prudence; Saving; Sobriety; Temperance; Virtue;
The management case for corporate social responsibility
No full textCan Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provide new arguments to "humanize" the theory of the firm and the management profession? Several arguments (the legal, ethical, social and business cases) have contributed to the discussion of why companies should be socially responsible. In this paper I discuss each of these arguments from the point of view of the manager who asks himself why he should be socially responsible. And I add a set of new reasons that make up the "management case" for CSR. In exploring why CSR is good management, this paper explains why ethics and CSR make the firm more human and humanize the task of the manager.Corporate social responsibility; Ethics; Management;
Anthropological and ethical foundations of organization theory
No full textThe ever more frequent and forceful criticisms of management sciences suggest that we need a new model. In fact, the number of proposed alternatives has multiplied, with some suggesting that the range of economic points of departure be extended, while others turn to other sciences (sociology, psychology, neuroeconomics, political sciences, philosophy) for their inspiration. This article suggests returning to the origins of economic science, action theory, with a broader approach that takes in the contributions of realist philosophy (Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas), with a view to laying the foundations for a richer organizational theory in which ethics plays a clearer role.action theory; ethics; management; moral virtues; organization theory;
Conflicts of interest: The ethical viewpoint
No full textConflicts of interest are a very widespread ethical problem which, precisely for that reason, deserves special attention, both from a legal viewpoint and from the point of view of ethics applied to organizations and professions. In this paper we use the conceptual framework of agency theory to explain what constitutes a conflict of interest. This enables us to identify what causes conflicts of interest and analyze the ethical criteria to be applied to them and the solutions commonly proposed. Because our processing of information, our judgments and our decision making are subject to significant unconscious and unintended biases, the emphasis in this paper is on the conditions that an agent's decision must satisfy in a conflict of interest situation in order to be ethically correct.agency theory; agent; conflict interest; corruption; ethics professions;
The common good of the company and the theory of organization
No full textThe concept of common good occupies a prominent place in political and social philosophy, yet it has had little impact on the theory of the firm. This is despite some recent attempts to resituate the theory of the firm on broader and therefore more fruitful anthropological and social foundations than those of traditional economic theory. The present study connects with other discussions of organization theory based on the ideas of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas and is an attempt to explain how the concept of common good may be used to broaden the foundations of organization theory.Catholic social teaching; Common good; Company; Goods; Organization; Organization theory;
Management and acting "beyond the call of duty"
No full textThis paper uses a real-life case taken from political history and recounted by Vaclav Havel, President of the Czech Republic. Three times in this country's history, its leaders opted for a "more realistic" solution (giving way when faced with a serious problem: invasion or insurrection) in preference to a "more ethical" solution (resisting, knowing the high cost in human lives this would entail). In this paper we analyze the relationship between heroism (adopting a "more ethical" solution), management, and leadership. Particular emphasis is placed on the morality of the "more ethical" decision, the obligation or lack of it to put that decision into practice, and the relationship between a "more ethical" form of conduct and leadership in the firm.Consequence; courage; decision; ethics; heroism
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