Handbook of Research Methods for Corporate Governance


Book Description

This Handbook provides an incisive, rigorous and contemporary guide to research methods in the continually evolving area of corporate governance, offering a welcome focus on holistic approaches to research. Not only analysing existing research methods dominated by the quantitative-qualitative dichotomy, it also explores the crucial need to challenge assumptions and methodologies in order to advance research in the field.




Spirituality and Corporate Social Responsibility


Book Description

Religion and spirituality have often been treated with a secular disdain by management theorists. Recently, the tide has begun to turn and there is a growing openness to cite spirituality in academic analysis and debate, and when considering issues of practical concern to those engaged in the actual business of management. This provocative book brings together a range of leading thinkers to consider the relationship between spirituality and corporate social responsibility. The book's contributors examine spirituality as an inherent dimension of corporate life even if it is only known through its absence - and through the negative consequences of this absence on people and the planet. With contributors from four continents, David Bubna-Litic has assembled a range of fascinating perspectives having their origins in traditions that include Christianity, Process Theology, Hinduism, Contemporary Buddhism, Deep Ecology, Humanism, Post-Modern and Post-Romantic Spirituality. Spirituality and Corporate Social Responsibility is a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in ways in which spirituality relates to what is or what should be driving businesses and organizations to more responsible behaviour.




Cambridge Handbook of Research Approaches to Business Ethics and Corporate Responsibility


Book Description

While there is a large and ever-expanding body of work on the fields of business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR), there is a noted absence of a single source on the methodology and research approaches to these fields. In this book, the first of its kind, leading scholars in the fields gather to analyse a range of philosophical and empirical approaches to research in business ethics and CSR. It covers such sections as historical approaches, normative and behavioural methodologies, quantitative, qualitative and experimental perspectives, grounded theory and case methodologies, and finally a section on the role of the researcher in research projects. This book is a valuable and essential read for all researchers in business ethics and CSR, not only for those starting out in the fields, but also for seasoned scholars and academics.




A Relational Ethics of Immigration


Book Description

To understand the ethics of immigration, we need to start from the way it is enacted and understood by everyday actors: through practices of hospitality and hostility. Drawing on feminist and poststructuralist understandings of ethics and hospitality, this book offers a new approach to immigration ethics by exploring state and societal responses to immigration from the Global North and South. Rather than treating ethics as a determinable code for how we ought to behave toward strangers, it explores hospitality as a relational ethics -- an ethics without moralism -- that aims to understand and possibly transform the way people already do embrace and deflect obligations and responsibilities to each other. Building from specific examples in Colombia, Turkey and Tanzania, as well as the EU, US and UK, hospitality is developed as a structural and emotional practice of drawing and redrawing boundaries of inside and outside, belonging and non-belonging. It thereby actively creates a society as a communal space with a particular ethos: from a welcoming home to a racialised hostile environment. Hospitality is therefore treated as a critical mode of reflecting on how we create a 'we' and relate to others through entangled histories of colonialism, displacement, friendship and exploitation. Only through such a reflective understanding can we seek to transform immigration practices to better reflect the real and aspirational ethos of a society. Instead of simple answers -- removing borders or creating global migration regimes -- the book argues for grounded negotiations that build from existing local capacities to respond to immigration.




The Living Code


Book Description

Of the 200 largest organizations in the world, more than 80% currently have a corporate code of conduct. An ever larger number of smaller organizations also have a code or are in the process of developing one. While in the 1970s and 1980s companies had to explain why they had a code, today they are cross-examined if they don't have one. A company has to have very good arguments to convince stakeholders that they can do without a code.A business code is a measure for success: success as manager, employee, team and for the organization as a whole. Unfortunately, many codes are underutilized. And many simply fail, with serious repercussions for the organization.This short and accessible book presents a model to create, develop and embed business codes. The validated model enables managers and organizations to better manage their codes as well as their performance. The author articulates why a code of conduct is necessary, what it should cover, as well as demonstrating through practical tips and examples how to make full use of it. What is required to breathe life into a code and keep it that way? How can you live your code? Illustrated with results from an empirical study of the "Fortune" Global 200, the ideas developed are based on the worldwide experience of the consultancy firm KPMG. The author works in the field of developing, implementing and monitoring of codes, as well as conducting intensive academic research in the last 15 years in his capacity as (associate) professor of business ethics.The Living Code is a unique book and will be essential reading for those that want to make a success of their code or are considering developing one. Readers will learn just how rich and threatening a code is and what it could mean for their organization, their team and themselves.




Knowledge Management for Corporate Social Responsibility


Book Description

In a changing and complex environment currently facing the main challenges of sustainable development, effective management of knowledge, intellectual assets, organizational learning, and talent management are the basis for social innovation and new ways of competition. In this sense, management and business practice are incorporating social and environmental demands made by all types of stakeholders to improve business decisions and strategies. Knowledge Management for Corporate Social Responsibility provides research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of linking firm profitability, social development, and natural environment in respect to business management practices. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as employer branding, intellectual capital, and organizational performance, this book is ideally designed for business professionals, small business owners, entrepreneurs, academicians, researchers, and business students.




Philosophy and Business Ethics


Book Description

This book explores the relationship between philosophy and business ethics. Academics and practitioners often muse about the ethical and moral aspect of management and business actions, but these studies can lack a deeper philosophical grounding. Contributors to this volume challenge this gap by applying different philosophical paradigms and theories to business management issues. The territory covered by the contributions collected in this book spans from the foundations of business management literature itself, to the role of philosophy in new business models and technology; from the way philosophical theory can explain – and encourage – ethical firm behaviour, to the political stance that an organization takes. Contributors take a holistic approach to business and management, bringing together real-world examples and rich academic theory, creating an interdisciplinary volume, with international authors. Covering important topics such as corporate social responsibility, sustainability, leadership, and stakeholder relations, this book will be of interest to academics working in the field of business ethics, philosophy and management studies.




On the (Im)Possibility of Business Ethics


Book Description

Corporations, and the environments in which they operate, are complex, with changing multiple dimensions, and an inherent capacity to evolve qualitatively. A central premise of this study is that a postmodern reading of ethics represents an expression of, and an engagement with, the ethical complexities that define the business landscape. In particular, the deconstructive philosophy of Jacques Derrida offers a non-trivial reading of a complex notion of ethics, and thereby helps us to develop the skills necessary to critique and intervene in our practices, and to develop robust strategies for living in the absence of prescriptive ethical frameworks. Although a central premise of this study is that substantive ethical claims can only be generated within a given context, the study nevertheless presents readers with a meta-position that illustrates the type of considerations that should inform ethical reflection from a complexity perspective. In order to illustrate the value that this meta-position holds for business ethics, these considerations are explored in terms of the implications that they hold for our understanding of corporate social responsibility, for the practice of responsible management and leadership practices, and for teaching business ethics.




Research Anthology on Developing Socially Responsible Businesses


Book Description

In today’s world of global change, it has never been more critical for businesses to adapt their strategies, management styles, and policies to match that of the surrounding environment. Consumers are increasingly becoming more aware of the impact that businesses and product consumption have on environmental health. Thus, businesses have had to alter their production workflows to better suit a more environmentally conscious customer base. As society faces numerous issues related to the environment, health, poverty, and social justice, the need for socially responsible businesses is crucial to develop and improve the overall landscape of the business field. The Research Anthology on Developing Socially Responsible Businesses discusses the best practices, challenges, opportunities, and benefits of creating socially responsible businesses and provides a context of why these business models are needed. This essential text also considers how society has changed over time and how businesses must adjust their ideals and practices in order to survive in a changing world. Covering a range of topics such as accountability, environmental issues, and human rights, this major reference work is ideal for business owners, managers, policymakers, academicians, researchers, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.