Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society

As a field of study, business ethics aims to specify the principles under which businesses must operate to behave ethically. Thus business ethics focuses on issues such as those that have recently attracted so much public scrutiny: executive compensation, honesty in accounting, transparency, treatment of stakeholders, and respect for the environment. These are, in fact, perennial questions that accompany the long history of human economic activity and that will also be present through an indeterminate future.

The Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society recognizes the inherent unity between business ethics and business and society which stems from their shared primary concern with value in commerce. With more than 900 entries, the five volumes of this ultimate resource span the relationships among business, ethics, and society, with an emphasis on business ethics and the role of business in society. This Encyclopedia features broad coverage of corporate social responsibility, the obligation of businesses to various stakeholder groups, the contribution of business to society and culture, and the relationship of business to the quality of the environment.

Key features include:

• Embraces commerce in all of its ethical and social dimensions
• Offers comprehensive and fairly lengthy essays on such crucial topics as justice, freedom, stakeholder theory, and regulation
• Provides very brief essays that introduce important personages in the field, while other similarly brief entries explain the nature and function of various organizations
• Includes contributions from respected authorities in the fields of management, psychology, sociology, communication, political science, philosophy, and other related fields
• Cross-references to other entries in the Encyclopedia and includes a list of references and suggested readings for each article