Richard T. De George

The status of business ethics: Past and future

Business ethics, which grew out of religions interest in ethics in business and management educations concern with social issues, has become an interdisciplinary academic field. Thus far it has centered on teaching undergraduates. The easy work has now been done and the field has reached a plateau. To develop further it requires development on the MBA level, high quality research on new questions, positive models, better interdisciplinary integration, and attention to international business. Ultimately the field will stand or fall on the quality of research those in it produce.

Theological ethics and business ethics

Philosophers have constituted business ethics as a field by providing a systematic overview that interrelates its problems and concepts and that supplies the basis for building on attained results. Is there a properly theological task in business ethics? The religious/theological literature on business ethics falls into four classes: (1) the application of religious morality to business practices; (2) the use of encyclical teachings about capitalism; (3) the interpretation of business relations in agapa-istic terms; and (4) the critique of business from a liberation theological point of view. Theologians have not adequately addressed the questions of whether there are particular theological tasks in the field as they define it, and whether, if they define it, the theological definition is different from the philosophical.

Ethics, Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure

Universities can and have existed without academic freedom and academic tenure. But academic freedom is necessary for a university dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge in a democratic society. Both academic freedom and academic tenure are not only rights but also carry with them moral obligations. Furthermore academic tenure is the best defense of academic freedom that American universities have found. Academic tenure can be successfully defended from the many contemporary attacks to which it is being subjected only insofar as it is necessary to defend academic freedom, and only if all involved in the system of tenure observe the ethical requirements that the system demands.Universities can and have existed without academic freedom and academic tenure. But academic freedom is necessary for a university dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge in a democratic society. Both academic freedom and academic tenure are not only rights but also carry with them moral obligations. Furthermore academic tenure is the best defense of academic freedom that American universities have found. Academic tenure can be successfully defended from the many contemporary attacks to which it is being subjected only insofar as it is necessary to defend academic freedom, and only if all involved in the system of tenure observe the ethical requirements that the system demands.

Information technology, globalization and ethics

This paper illustrates the overlap of computer ethics and business ethics by examining two issues. The first is the lack of fit between digitalized information and copyright protection. Although there are moral arguments that can be used to justify protection of intellectual property, including computer software and digitalized data, the way that copyright protection has developed often reflects vested interests rather than the considered weighing of moral considerations. As a result, with respect to downloading MP3s, among other material, what is ethical is largely determined by the appropriately passed laws in each jurisdiction, and what is ethically permissible in one jurisdiction may be ethically impermissible in another. The second issue is the outsourcing of IT jobs from the U.S. While the practice has been politicized, examining it from an all-things-considered perspective, this paper argues it is ethically justified.

Using the Techniques of Ethical Analysis in Corporate Practice

Some issues of business ethics are peculiar to a particular country’s historical, social, political, or economic conditions. Yet those in the field of business ethics in different countries and parts of the world can and should learn from one another. Since business ethics in the United States has a somewhat longer history than in Europe, its current status may hold some lessons for those elsewhere.

Developing Ethical Standards for International Business: What Roles for Business and Government?

How does a company with integrity1 compete in international business? The short answer, from an ethical point of view, is: with care and with difficulty. The care needed involves gathering knowledge of and being sensitive to different customs, mores, ethical viewpoints, and cultural norms as the company moves from country to country. The difficulty stems from the lack of international enforcement of standards to keep competition fair, from the fact that governments are set up to foster the interests of the people they represent, and from the present-day reality that although business is global, there is no effective or efficient way of dealing with problems--such as the depletion of the ozone level--that fall beyond the competence of both individual corporations and individual governments.

Replies and reflections on theology and business ethics

In presenting business ethics as a field of philo sophical research and in characterizing four theological approaches to moral issues in busi ness, I attempted to solicit from theologians their views of business ethics and their ideas of the unique contribution theologians might make to the field. The responses show that contemporary theology is broader, richer, more diverse, and less traditional than my characterization indi cates. But if theology is taken so broadly that it includes all commitments to values, then it includes much that has been traditionally con sidered philosophy. Such a broad view of theology erases the distinction between much of philosophy and theology. It thus dissolves the question of whether theology has any unique contribution to make to business ethics. Philosophers will generally deny the extension of the theological domain to include philosophy. Nor do most of the papers in this symposium accept this assimilation of philosophy by theology. A few of the papers also reject any attempt to equate all rational approaches to ethics with philosophy, leaving for theology only revelation and perhaps a-rational approaches to ethics. They correctly insist that reason has a role in theology ? a claim that I do not deny. None of the papers asserts that there is a separate field of theological business ethics. All implicitly deny that there is a separate field of philosophical business ethics. Whether or not the individual authors believe there is a field of business ethics at all is difficult to determine. Professor Camenish mounts the clearest attack on my claims about the field of business ethics and about the role of philosophers in that field. His paper helps point up some of the differences as well as some of the similarities between our positions. Hence it is to his paper that I turn first.

Ethical theory for business professors

Although business ethics courses are flourishing on the undergraduate level, they have not made a significant inroad on the MBA level. Some argue that not only is no special course in ethics needed in MBA programs, but also that if a separate course on business ethics is given, it creates the impression that ethics is separate from business. The correct approach, they argue, is to integrate ethics in all business courses. The difficulty is that ethics is not usually integrated into MBA courses and so is not taught at all. Others maintain that philosophers, who typically teach business ethics courses, really know so little about business that they should not teach MBA level courses ? including business ethics courses. But management professors frequently are neither competent to teach ethics nor interested in doing so. Hence once again business ethics is not taught on the MBA level.

Post-September 11: Computers, ethics and war

This paper considers the moralresponsibility of computer scientists withrespect to weapons development in post-911America. It does so by looking at the doctrineof jus in bello as exemplified in fourscenarios. It argues that the traditionaldoctrine should be augmented by a number ofprinciples, including the Principle of aMorally Obligatory Smart Arms Race, thePrinciple of Assistance to Ones Enemies, thePrinciple of Public Debate on Weapons of MassDisruption, and the Principle of the MoralUnjustifiability of Private Wars.This paper considers the moralresponsibility of computer scientists withrespect to weapons development in post-911America. It does so by looking at the doctrineof jus in bello as exemplified in fourscenarios. It argues that the traditionaldoctrine should be augmented by a number ofprinciples, including the Principle of aMorally Obligatory Smart Arms Race, thePrinciple of Assistance to Ones Enemies, thePrinciple of Public Debate on Weapons of MassDisruption, and the Principle of the MoralUnjustifiability of Private Wars.

What is the American business value system

The model of free enterprise that has developed in the United States presupposes a value system. The central value is freedom. Next come goods and the means of acquiring them, viz., money and profit. Competition is central. But fairness of transactions is presupposed, and this implies honesty, truthfulness, and general respect for persons. Optimism and faith in the future have been ingredients from the start. Each of these values can be abused, and such abuses characterize the seamy side of capitalism. The Myth of Amoral Business helps undermine the values. Yet the changes American society is demanding of business can be seen as reaffirming the values the system presupposes. The imperative is for business to live up to its own best traditions — a social demand that business can and should meet if it wishes to continue as a system of free enterprise.