Responsibility, Ethics & Legitimacy of Corporations

Business ethics, corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship, values-driven management, corporate governance and ethical leadership are necessary horizons for legitimacy of corporations in the process of globalization. With the theories of business ethics as a starting point, it is possible to propose a vision of the good citizen corporation. The book presents theories concepts of responsibility for stakeholder justice and basic ethical principles of respect for autonomy, dignity, integrity and vulnerability. This is the foundation for an analysis of the ethical relations to internal and external constituencies of the firm, i.e. shareholders, owners, investors, management, employees, consumers and local community. The interaction with the environment is further analyzed with focus on ethical principles as the basis for sustainability. This investigation culminates with the conceptualization of the firm as a collective and institutional moral agent. The content also includes analysis of concrete political developments in the United States, Europe and the United Nations. Finally, the book provides a framework for a new corporate strategy based on global business ethics.

Jacob Dahl Rendtorff's book is a must-read for all those interested in the global business ethics movement. Thisthoroughly researched and well-argued work not only demonstrates the essential interconnections between the economic and citizenship rresponsibilities of business, but also convincingly makes the case that the very legitimacy of the corporation itself is dependent upon operating according to appropriate ethical values. Business scholars and practioners alike will profit from Rendtorff's insightful and important ideas. --W. Michael Hoffman, Ph.D., Executive Director, Center for Business Ethics, Bentley College, USA

This book is more than an introduction to business ethics. It is an argumentation for a values-driven management in which the state as well as civil society are as important as corporations ... This book is far beyond the mainstream of managerial business ethics and corporate social responsibility. It is also a book with substantial theoretical background. These two reasons are enough to highly recomment it. Management --Yvon Pesqueux, CNAM, Paris, France, President of the International Association of Scholarly Associations of Management

Business Ethics is moving up the hierarchy of corporate priorities. This book presents an extensive review of the wide-ranging both theoretical and managerial literature that forms the backdrop of this trend in modern corporate managemnet. Ethical issues are becoming ever-more pressing, and they must be integrated not only into corporate strategy, but also into corporate everyday life. Anyone who wishes to obtain a critical understanding of the theoretical pillars of these concepts will be interested in this book, as will also corporate managers, who today have to put many of these principles into practice. --Steen Scheyer, D.Sc., Professor, Department of Leadership and Strategy, University of Southern Denmark

This book is more than an introduction to business ethics. It is an argumentation for a values-driven management in which the state as well as civil society are as important as corporations ... This book is far beyond the mainstream of managerial business ethics and corporate social responsibility. It is also a book with substantial theoretical background. These two reasons are enough to highly recomment it. Management --Yvon Pesqueux, CNAM, Paris, France, President of the International Association of Scholarly Associations of Management

Business Ethics is moving up the hierarchy of corporate priorities. This book presents an extensive review of the wide-ranging both theoretical and managerial literature that forms the backdrop of this trend in modern corporate managemnet. Ethical issues are becoming ever-more pressing, and they must be integrated not only into corporate strategy, but also into corporate everyday life. Anyone who wishes to obtain a critical understanding of the theoretical pillars of these concepts will be interested in this book, as will also corporate managers, who today have to put many of these principles into practice. --Steen Scheyer, D.Sc., Professor, Department of Leadership and Strategy, University of Southern Denmark