Wendt Character Initiative Library Collection: Business

Now in its fourth edition, the popular Ads, Fads, and consumer Culture is an engaging cultural studies critique of contemporary advertising and its impacts on American society. Arthur Asa Berger looks at marketing strategies, sex and advertising, consumer culture, political advertising, and communication theory and process to give an accessible overview of advertising in America. This new edition features up-to-date examples and new theoretical material, including expanded discussions of a number of topics, such as WeberÆs study of religion and its role in consumption, the role of the unconscious and emotion in shaping consumer behavior, the way brands shape the behavior of ômall girls,ö sexuality and advertising, and MaslowÆs theory of needs. The book also comes complete with updated ads and BergerÆs signature drawings. Whether they are new to BergerÆs lively style of teaching and writing or loyal adopters, advertising and media professors will want to check out the latest edition of this text. Book jacket.

This book takes a look at how and why individuals display unethical behavior. It emphasizes the actual behavior of individuals rather than the specific business practices. It draws from work on psychology which is the scientific study of human behavior and thought processes. As Max Bazerman said, "efforts to improve ethical decision making are better aimed at understanding our psychological tendencies."

The relationship between business and human rights has emerged in the last two decades as one of the most pressing issues in the field of business ethics. Do corporations have human rights responsibilities? If so, what is that nature of those responsibilities and do they differ in any significant way from those of governments? Is it reasonable or realistic to expect corporations to respect human rights in environments where governments, particularly in the developing and underdeveloped world, need economic development and have a limited capacity and/or interest in enforcing human rights standards and laws? The contributors to this groundbreaking volume take up these questions, examining them from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Topics discussed include the debates leading to the creation of the ISO 26000 standard and the United Nations human rights framework for business entities, as well as the nature and limits of the human rights responsibilities of business, the roles and responsibilities of international trade bodies like the World Trade Organization in protecting human rights, and the implications of the current debate for international trade agreements and trade with China. The contributors also explore the effectiveness of voluntary human rights standards in the textile and clothing trade, mining, advertising and the pharmaceutical industry. Scholars and students in management, philosophy, political science, sociology and law will find this volume a great resource, as will activists, managers and policy makers.

An important guide for senior management on structuring an organization to promote ethical behavior and enhance performance Designed for senior leaders of organizations–boards of directors; C-level executives; trustees; managing partners; government officials; and anyone tasked with a duty–Business Ethics: A Case Study Approach provides readers with an understanding of the human elements that drive ethical and unethical behavior and how to recognize indicators–both bad and good–of an organization's ethical make-up. Topics featured include: what drives individual decision making; how groups and environments influence decision making; the role of leadership; and much more. Stephen K. Henn, Esq. (Westborough, MA), is President of SmartPros Legal & Ethics, Ltd. He is an experienced consultant, executive, and attorney with over 15 years as a pioneer and leader in legal and ethics training for lawyers and executives.

What do corporations look like when they have integrity, and how can we move more companies in that direction? Corporate Integrity offers a timely, comprehensive framework- and practical business lessons - bringing together questions of organizational design, communication practices, working relationships, and leadership styles to answer this question. Marvin T. Brown explores the five key challenges facing modern businesses as they try to respond ethically to cultural, interpersonal, organizational, civic and environmental challenges. He demonstrates that if corporations are to meet the needs of civil society, they must facilitate inclusive communication patterns based on mutual recognition and civic cooperation. Corporate Integrity is essential reading for professionals in organizational ethics, business leaders, and graduate students looking for practical and reflective insights into doing business with integrity and purpose.

This book provides an introduction to the relationship between economics and ethics, explaining why ethics enters economics, how ethics affects individual economic behavior and the interactions of individuals, and how ethics is important in evaluating the performance of economies and of economic policies.

The focus of this textbook is on the link between ethics and economic policy analysis. Basic philosophical concepts are systematically described, followed by conventional welfare economic theory and policy, and applications to some topical economic problems such as income distribution and sustainable development. 

Ethical questions and dilemmas are inherent to public relations, and ensuring that practitioners operate ethically is fundamental to the professionalism and credibility of the field.  This updated edition ofEthics in Public Relationsgives readers the tools and knowledge to enable them to make defensible decisions and outlines the important ethical concerns in public relations and corporate communications.   Written in a practical and approachable style, this book provides clear insights into the personal and professional issues that affect public relations practitioners.  It examines how an individual's sense of morality has an impact on decision-making and ethical business behavior.  This new edition includes new material on virtue ethics, personal ethics, ethics in social media, ghost writing and deception in PR, and moral responsibilities of organizations.

How can you effectively stand up for your values when pressured by your boss, customers, or shareholders to do the opposite? Drawing on actual business experiences as well as social science research, educator and consultant Mary C. Gentile gives business leaders, managers, and students the tools not just to recognize what is right, but also to ensure that the right things happen.

It has been said that scammers and swindlers often display characteristics commonly attributed to good leadership. These include setting a vision, communicating it clearly, and motivating others to follow their lead. But when these skills are used by unconscionable people to satisfy greed, how can the average person recognize that foul play is afoot? Providing a unique account of frauds throughout modern history, Handbook of Frauds, Scams, and Swindles: Failures of Ethics in Leadershipcompiles narratives from around the world, including a number of highly-publicized cases. Leading financial and investigative experts have authored the individual chapters, yet the book maintains a reader-friendly style.  The result is a text that is highly engaging and most importantly, provides regulators and investigators with an understanding of the motivations and behavior common to the individuals behind these life-damaging crimes. The book includes a wealth of stories, including famous cases such as Ponzi, ZZZZ Best, Enron, Parmalat, and Vivendi, along with lesser-known scandals involving both corporations and individuals. There is also a section on frauds perpetrated for motives other than financial rewards, including instances when the government performed experiments on humans without their knowledge or consent, as well as stories on frauds involving science and religion. A section detailing the Arthur Anderson debacle discusses the compounding of a fraud when the supposed watchdogplays a complicit role. And recognizing that not every issue is black or white, the book also explores whether a hoax perpetrated in the name of a noble cause can ever be justified. By reviewing the tactics used by swindlers and the motivations that turned good people crooked, investigators and others will come to recognize the red flags that accompany unscrupulous behavior. In doing so, they may well learn how to head off potential disaster.

This book introduces the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant—in particular, the concepts of autonomy, dignity, and character—to economic theory, explaining the importance of integrating these two streams of intellectual thought. Mainstream economics is rooted in classical utilitarianism, recommending that decision makers choose the options that are expected to generate the largest net benefits. For individuals, the standard economic model fails to incorporate the role of principles in decision-making, and also denies the possibility of true choice, which can be independent of preferences and principles altogether. For policymakers, standard decision-making frameworks recommend tradeoffs that are beneficial in terms of material goods or wealth, but may be morally questionable from a more person-centered perspective. Integrating Kantian ethics affects economics in three important ways. This integration allows for a more complete understanding of human choice, incorporating not just preferences and constraints, but also principles and strength of will or character. It demonstrates the broader impact of welfare economics, which generates policies that affect not only persons' well-being, but also their dignity and autonomy. Finally, it reconciles the traditional, individualist stance in economic models of choice with the social responsibility emphasized by many systems of philosophical ethics and heterodox schools of economics.

As we emerge from the recession, a generation is searching for practical answers about how to succeed and make positive change in the world. With real-life success stories and practical advice and exercises,Making Goodoutlines how to find opportunities to effect change and make money. These opportunities are not just for entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies:Making Goodshows step-bystep how any person can achieve financial autonomy, capitalize on global changes to infrastructure, and learn from everyday success stories—providing the skills and insights this generation needs to succeed and build careers and lives of consequence.   Charismatic, young, and passionate, Billy Parish and Dev Aujla have been recognized in media outlets likeVanity Fair,Salon, andRolling Stoneas the voices of their generation. They are at the vanguard of figuring out how the next generation will rethink, reimagine, and rebuild the world around us.Making Goodculls the knowledge that has allowed Billy and Dev to build thriving, meaningful careers into a book that will beWhat Color Is Your Parachute?for the Facebook generation.

This book combines management theory with ethical theory on a chapter by chapter, topic by topic basis. The volume bridges the theoretical, empirical and practical gap between management and ethics. It will be of interest to a cross disciplinary group of students, researchers and managers in business, management, organizational behavior, IO psychology and business ethics.

Like nature itself, modern economic life is driven by relentless competition and unbridled selfishness. Or is it? Drawing on converging evidence from neuroscience, social science, biology, law, and philosophy,Moral Marketsmakes the case that modern market exchange works only because most people, most of the time, act virtuously. Competition and greed are certainly part of economics, butMoral Marketsshows how the rules of market exchange have evolved to promote moral behavior and how exchange itself may make us more virtuous. Examining the biological basis of economic morality, tracing the connections between morality and markets, and exploring the profound implications of both,Moral Marketsprovides a surprising and fundamentally new view of economics--one that also reconnects the field to Adam Smith's position that morality has a biological basis.Moral Markets, the result of an extensive collaboration between leading social and natural scientists, includes contributions by neuroeconomist Paul Zak; economists Robert H. Frank, Herbert Gintis, Vernon Smith (winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics), and Bart Wilson; law professors Oliver Goodenough, Erin O'Hara, and Lynn Stout; philosophers William Casebeer and Robert Solomon; primatologists Sarah Brosnan and Frans de Waal; biologists Carl Bergstrom, Ben Kerr, and Peter Richerson; anthropologists Robert Boyd and Michael Lachmann; political scientists Elinor Ostrom and David Schwab; management professor Rakesh Khurana; computational science and informatics doctoral candidate Erik Kimbrough; and business writer Charles Handy.

Marketing ethics is the systematic study of how moral standards are applied to marketing decisions, behaviors, and institutions. This guide to marketing ethics provides all the key terms and concepts in a short, easy-to-use format, with each entry written by a scholar from the field of business or marketing ethics. This essential companion can be used in a number of marketing courses and will be a valuable reference for practitioners.

In a field dominated by books that focus exclusively on the perspective of business in large corporations or that assume that business has a moral deficiency in need of reform, Al Gini and Alexei Marcoux offers students and business people alike a concise guide towhat everyone ought to do when doing business. Where other books are organized topically, Gini and Marcoux look at the moral features of business that recur across topical areas, stressing the considerations that bear on business people whether they be corporate functionaries, principals in family businesses, or solo entrepreneurs who do it all, end to end. They present to students the essential concepts, ideas, and issues involved in ethics in business and emphasize the individual acting person and what it means to have character and integrity when doing business.

This book explains why moral beliefs can and likely do play an important role in the development and operation of market economies. It provides new arguments for why it is important that people genuinely trust others-even those whom they know don't particularly care about them-because in key circumstances institutions are incapable of combating opportunism. It then identifies specific characteristics that moral beliefs must have for the people who possess them to be regarded as trustworthy. When such moral beliefs are held with sufficient conviction by a sufficiently high proportion of the population, a high trust society emerges that supports maximum cooperation and creativity while permitting honest competition at the same time. Such moral beliefs are not tied to any particular religion and have nothing to do with moral earnestness or the set of moral values-what matters is how they affect the way people think about morality. Such moral beliefs are based on abstract ideas that must be learned so they are matters of culture, not genes, and are therefore able to explain differences in economic performance across societies.

An innovative business book positioning ethical practice as the cornerstone of success “Business ethics? Isn’t that an oxymoron?” As a lecturer in ethics, communication, and leadership at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a moderator of the Aspen Executive Seminar, Leigh Hafrey has heard time and again that ethics and business don’t mix. InThe Story of Success: Five Steps to Mastering Ethics in Business, Hafrey draws on fifteen years of conversations with businesspeople at all stages of their careers, from MBA to Chairman of the Board, to articulate five steps that generate ethical practice: 1. Speak Up, Speak Out: define your managerial style 2. See the Big Picture: recognize the forces that affect your practice 3. Break the Rules, Make the Rules, Absorb the Costs: drive change, and know it 4. Tell Good Stories: find stories that bring out the best in your people and yourself 5. Test for Truth: distinguish fact from fantasy in your story-telling Hafrey illustrates these five steps through contemporary books and movies: to show how we elaborate a managerial style from early childhood, he discusses adult readings of Du Bose Heyward’s classic children’s tale,The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes; to explain professional standards, he quotes Chinese MBA’s on the warrior code of characters in Ang Lee’s Academy Award-winning filmCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.Hafrey juxtaposes these reports with real-life businesspeople’ s stories of career challenge and personal success, and speculates on the way in which American business values increasingly shape and will be shaped by global culture.

How can leaders guide organizations to success amid the new century's geopolitical challenges? Renowned executive consultant Richard R. Kilburg demonstrates that despite the complexity of the modern world, the foundations of executive leadership still reside in the timeless virtues first articulated by ancient philosophers. From rich discussions of the classical and modern literatures on virtue and executive leadership to exercises that translate models of leadership into plans for action, Virtuous Leaders is a vital resource for leaders and executive consultants and is sure to become a classic in the field. Book jacket.