Taking Sides volumes present current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Each issue is thoughtfully framed with an issue summary, an issue introduction, and a postscript or challenge questions. Taking Sides readers feature an annotated listing of selected World Wide Web sites. An online Instructor's Resource Guide with testing material is available for each volume. Using Taking Sides in the Classroom is also an excellent instructor resource. Visit www.mhhe.com/takingsides for more details.
| ISBN | 0073527351 | | Weight (grammes) | 421 | | ISBN13 | 9780073527352
(What's this?) | | Published in | London | | Publisher | McGraw-Hill Education - Europe | | Series title | Taking Sides | | Imprint | McGraw Hill Higher Education | | Previous ISBN | 9780073527314 | | Format | Paperback | | Height (mm) | 231 | | Publication date | 01 Oct 2011 | | Width (mm) | 152 | | DEWEY | 174.4 | | Spine width (mm) | 20 | | DEWEY edition | DC22 | | Academic level | Tertiary education | | Pages | 400 | |
|
|
|
<HTML> Table of Contents Clashing Views in Business Ethics and Society, Twelfth Edition <dt> Unit 1 Capitalism and the Corporation <dl> <dl> <dl> <dt>Issue 1. Can Capitalism Lead to Human Happiness? YES: Adam Smith, from An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, vols. 1 and 2b (1869) NO: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, from The Communist Manifesto (1848) If we will but leave self-interested people to seek their own advantage, Adam Smith (1723 1790) argues, the result, unintended by any one of them, will be the greater advantage of all. No government interference is necessary to protect the general welfare. Leave people to their own self-interested devices, Karl Marx (1818 1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820 1895) reply, and those who by luck and inheritance own the means of production will rapidly reduce everyone else to virtual slavery. The few may be fabulously happy, but all others will live in misery. <dt>Issue 2. Is Risk the Best Theory for Capitalism? YES: Simon Johnson and James Kwak, from The New World of Financial Risk, Financial Executive ( January/February 2009). NO: Barry Eichengreen, from The Last Temptation of Risk, The National Interest (May/June 2009), pp. 8 14 Johnson and Kwak argue that risk always has been and always will be a vital ingredient in the making of profits. They explain that when imprudent risks are taken whether in life or in business, the consequences can be harmful for many, not just the risk taker. The consequences of bad risks do not change their views on the value of risk in business. Eichengreen believes that economists have overrated risk as the essential feature for a successful business. He believes much of the economic collapse of 2008 was caused by inappropriate risks that perhaps economic theories sanctioned, but should have never been practiced. <dt>Issue 3. Is Increasing Profits the Only Social Responsibility of Business? YES: Milton Friedman, from The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase its Profits, New York Times Magazine (September 13, 1970). NO: Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer, from Creating Shared Value: How to Reinvent Capitalism and Unleash a Wave of Innovation and Growth, Harvard Business Review ( January/February 2011), pp. 63 70 Friedman argues that businesses have neither the right nor the ability to fool around with social responsibility as distinct from profit-making. They serve employees and customers best when they do their work with maximum efficiency. The only restrictions on the pursuit of profit that Friedman accepts are the requirements of law and the rules of the game ( open and free competition without deception or fraud ). Porter and Kramer ask that the purpose of the corporation be redefined as one of shared value, which brings the needs and interests of society and business together. By enhancing the needs of society, the supply and demands within business will stabilize for new generations. <dt>Issue 4. Can Individual Virtue Survive Corporate Pressure? YES: Robert C. Solomon, from Victims of Circumstances? A Defense of Virtue Ethics in Business, Business Ethics Quarterly ( January 2003) NO: Gilbert Harman, from No Character or Personality, Business Ethics Quarterly ( January 2003) Joining the long-standing debate on the possibility of free choice and moral agency in the business world, Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Business and Philosophy at the University of Texas in Austin Robert C. Solomon argues that whatever the structures, the individual s choice is free, and therefore his character or virtue is of the utmost importance in creating a good moral tone in the life of a business. Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University Gilbert Harman employs determinist arguments to conclude that no individual can of his own free choice make a difference in a group enterprise. <dt>Issue 5. Can Ethics Codes Build True Corporate Ethic
Enlarge
