This study provides a representation of the broad spectrum of theoretical work on topics related to business ethics, with a particular focus on corporate citizenship. It considers relations of business and society alongside social responsibility and moves on to examine the historical and systemic foundations of business ethics, focusing on the concepts of social and ethical responsibilities. The contributors explore established theories and concepts and their impact on moral behaviour. Together, the contributions offer varied philosophical theories in approaches to business ethics. The book will be a valuable resource for academics and researchers with an interest in the theoretical development of business ethics.

Contents: Introduction, Jesús Conill, Christoph Luetge and Tatjana Schönwälder-Kuntze; Part 1 Theorizing Corporate Citizenship: Corporate power and responsibility: a citizenship perspective, Jeremy Moon, Andy Crane and Dirk Matten; Governing the corporate citizen: reflections on the role of professionals, Christopher J. Cowton; 'Corporate citizenship' from a (systems)-theoretical point of view, Tatjana Schönwälder-Kuntze. Part 2 Founding Business Ethics and (Corporate) Social Responsibility: Corporate social responsibility and business ethics, Adela Cortina; Profit and morality in global responsibility, Karl Homann; Ordo-responsibility – conceptual reflections towards a semantic innovation, Markus Beckmann and Ingo Pies. Part 3 Reflecting the Impact of Ethical Theory: Contractarianism, Ethics and Economics: Civilising the barbarians? On the apparent necessity of moral surpluses, Christoph Luetge; Social dilemmas and the social contract, Sören Buttkereit and Ingo Pies; Ethical economy as the economy of ethics and as the ethics of the market economy, Peter Koslowski; Why the international market for pharmaceuticals fails and what to do about it: a comparison of 2 alternative approaches to global ethics, Ingo Pies and Stefan Hielscher; Indexes.

About the Editor: Professor, Dr. Jesus Conill is based in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Valencia, Spain, Christoph Luetge, Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany and Dr, Tatjana Schönwälder-Kuntze is based in the Institute of Philosophy and Economics at the University of Munich, Germany.

Reviews: 'The rapidly expanding business ethics field is often populated by thinly theorised work. This book is a welcome exception. It is also distinctive in that it embraces a clear macro perspective whereas much of the debate is rather stuck at the level of the individual or the organisation. As such the book has a distinctively European flavour and should be considered as an intellectually stimulating collection offering original perspectives on business ethics.'
Laura J. Spence, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

'This book makes an important contribution to our knowledge and understanding of corporations especially in the areas of corporate citizenship and responsibility as well as ethics and economic ethics. In addition the relationship of these areas with the social contract is well argued.'
Australian Journal of Corporate Law

Extracts from this title are available to view:

Full contents list

Introduction

Index