Business Ethics: What Everyone Needs to Know

J. S. Nelson, Lynn A. Stout

Oxford University Press, 2022 - Business & Economics - 513 pages

An authoritative and practical guide to business ethics, written in an accessible question and answer formatIn today's turbulent business climate, business ethics are more important than ever. Surveys of employees show that misconduct is on the rise. Cover stories reporting indictments, prosecutions, and penalties imposed for unethical business conduct appear almost daily. Legislatures pass requirementselevating the levels of punishment and their enforcement against corporations and individuals. Organizations face pressure to design and implement effective ethics and compliance programs. As a result, businesses and businesspeople are increasingly worried that their conduct might cross lines thatput their wealth and reputations at risk.Business Ethics: What Everyone Needs to Know RG explains what those lines are, how not to cross them, and what to do when they are crossed. Written for both businesspeople facing real-life dilemmas and students studying ethical questions, this succinct book uniquely surveys materials from moralphilosophy, behavioral science, and corporate law, and shares practical advice. Experts J.S. Nelson and Lynn A. Stout cover a wide array of essential topics including the legal status of corporations, major ethical traps in modern business, negotiations, whistleblowing and liability, and bestpractices. Written in a short question-and-answer style, this resource provides engaging and readable introductions to the basic principles of business ethics, and an invaluable guide for dealing with ethical dilemmas.

Contents

• 1 An Overview of Business Ethics: 1
• 2 The Benefits of Acting Ethically: 10
• 3 Moral Philosophical Bases for Business Ethics: 30
• 4 What Does Science Tell Us About Ethical Behavior?: 44
• 5 Legal Foundations of Business Ethics: 59
• 6 Understanding Corporations LLCs and Other Legal Persons: 87
• 7 The Corporation as an Ethical Person in Modern Society: 126
• 8 The Costs of Acting Unethically: 152
• 9 Major Ethical Traps in Modern Business: 165
• 10 Special Issues of Ethics in Leadership: 185
• 11 Negotiations: 203
• 12 Specific Liability Questions and Whistleblowing Options: 218
• 13 How to Institute Best Practices: 256
• 14 Designing an Ethical Culture: 291
• 15 How to Respond to Investigations and Protect Your Reputation: 322
• ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND PEOPLE YOU CAN REACH OUT TO: 347
• NOTES: 365
• INDEX: 477

About the author

J.S. Nelson is a professor of law and an expert legal advisor. She holds the first tenure-track appointment in a U.S. law school specifically to teach business ethics and develop law-school curricula around the subject. She teaches at Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law, has acourtesy appointment at Villanova's Business School, and is a senior fellow at the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. She has received numerous awards from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, and she publishes in top law-reviews andpeer-reviewed journals.Lynn A. Stout was an American corporate law scholar, and a Distinguished Professor of Corporate and Business Law at Cornell Law School. She researched and wrote about corporate law, securities and derivatives regulation, law and economics, business ethics, and prosocial behavior in relation to thelaw. Her other books include Cultivating Conscience: How Good Laws Make Good People (2011); The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Corporations First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public (2012); and Citizen Capitalism: How A Universal Fund Can Provide Influence and Income to All (publishedposthumously in 2019). She died in 2018, with this book in progress.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Business Ethics: What Everyone Needs to Know; What everyone needs to know
• Authors: J. S. Nelson, Lynn A. Stout
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2022
• ISBN: 0190610271, 9780190610272
• Length: 513 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Business Ethics; Business & Economics / Economics / General