.

0 (hodnocen0 x )

EB

EB

ONLINE

Cham : Springer, 2017

1 online zdroj

ISBN 978-3-319-50724-8 (e-kniha)

ISBN 978-3-319-50723-1 (print)

This volume provides bridges from the social sciences to business ethics and from the latter to the quality of life, by connecting the research themes of quality of life, social sciences, including public policy-making, and business ethics or corporate responsibility. It builds on the premise that public policy making is essentially a species of good decision making, as explained in the first volume. It shows that, because most developed countries function as market economies whose governments depend on taxation to pay for their services and because a large proportion of government revenue comes from well-regulated, responsible corporations, the quality of people’s lives is highly dependent upon good public policies, taxation and business ethics. The volume presents and examines ethical/moral problems arising in market economies since the first century BCE, including the first appearance of the business case for business ethics, fourteen arguments concerning the neglect of business ethics, business ethics issues for the 1990s and beyond, the loyal agent’s argument, advertising, the importance of trust, public opinion polling, public program evaluation, and a critique of the relatively new monster of super-capitalism. In addition, it deals with connections among the concepts of efficiency, morality, and rationality related to decision making in general and public policy making in particular. Finally, it explains relationships between outcomes measurement and performance indicators in general and performance-based management in public administration, the taxation of net wealth and financial transactions..

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1 Social Sciences and Business Ethics ...1 // References ...4 // 2 Business Ethics and the Quality of Life ...5 // Ethical Foundations ...5 // The Quality of Life ...6 // From Pleasure and Pain to the Quality of Life ...7 // Critical Issues for Consequentialist Quality of Life Assessment.. 8 // Some Problems ...10 // Conclusion ...10 // Further Reading ...11 // 3 The Costs of Decision-Making ...13 // Production, Implementation and Failure ...14 // Production Costs ...14 // Implementation Costs ...18 // Failure Costs ...18 // Overview ...20 // Bargaining and Protection ...20 // Planning Costs ...21 // Concluding Remarks ...24 // References ...25 // 4 Efficiency and Morality // 5 Rationality Between the Maximizers and the Satisficers ...35 // Introduction ...35 // The Regress of Maximization ...35 // Blunt-Rationality, Self-sufficiency and Excessive Costs ...39 // Satisficing Rationality ...41 // The Inadequacy of Satisficing Rationality ...43 // A Third View of Rationality ...44 // References ...50 // 6 The Loyal Agent’s Argument ...53 // Introduction ...53 // The Argument ...54 // The Second Premise ...56 // Corporate Principals ...57 // The First Premise ...58 // Conclusion ...60 // 7 Moral Responsibility in Business, or Fourteen Unsuccessful Ways to Pass the Buck ...63 // Introduction ...63 // Complementary versus Contrary Terms ...64 // Social versus Moral Responsibilities ...64 // Moral Maxims Versus Moral Theories ...66 // Arguments and Replies ...67 // 8 A Case for a Progressive Annual Net Wealth Tax ...81 // Introduction ...81 // Taxation ...82 // Distributions of Wealth and Income ...84 // Outline of the Proposed Tax ...87 // Arguments for a Net Wealth Tax ...88 // Replies to Arguments Against a Net Wealth Tax ...90 // Conclusion ...108 // References ...109 // 9 Militarism and the Quality of Life ...111 // Introduction ...111 //

An Overview of Canada and the United States of America ...112 // Canadian Federal Government Expenditures ...113 // The Canadian Arms Industry ...116 // Arguments Against the Production and Export of Arms ...117 // Conclusion ...122 // References ...123 // 10 The Impact of Trust on Business, International Security // and the Quality of Life ...127 // Introduction ...127 // Perception, Trust and Measurable Risk ...129 // Social Construction of Perception, Knowledge and Value ...130 // Personal Expectations, Bias and Constructions of Reality ...132 // Experimental Research on Trust ...136 // Explaining Lack of Trust ...143 // Addressing the Problem of Lack of Trust ...145 // Conclusion ...149 // References ...149 // 11 Ethical Considerations Regarding Public Opinion Polling // During Election Campaigns ...155 // Introduction ...155 // A Moral Point of View ...156 // Social Indicators ...158 // Survey Research ...159 // Arguments for Banning the Publication of Some or All Poll Results During Election Campaigns, and Replies to Them ...162 // Arguments Against Banning the Publication of Any Poll Results // During Election Campaigns ...169 // Proposed Bills Banning the Publication of Poll Results During Election Campaigns ...171 // Proposed Bills Providing Disclosure Standards for the Publication of Poll Results During Election Campaigns ...175 // A Model Set of Disclosure Standards for the Publication of Poll Results During Election Campaigns ...180 // References ...181 // 12 Brief to the Ontario Cabinet Committee on North American Free Trade ...185 // Introduction ...185 // Notes on an Alternative Agenda ...195 // 13 Issues for Business Ethics in the Nineties and Beyond ...197 // Introduction ...197 // Organized Labour ...197 // Social Dumping ...199 // International Finance and Third World Debt ...199 // Tobacco Promotion ...201 // Arms Trade ...201 //

Wealth Concentration and Taxation ...202 // Pollution and Resource Depletion ...204 // International Trading Blocks ...204 // The Business Council on National Issues ...206 // A Quantitative Overview ...209 // Concluding Remarks ...209 // References ...211 // 14 Observations on Performance Indicators and Performance-Based Management in Public Administration ...213 // Introduction ...213 // Citizen’s Guide to Performance Indicators ...215 // Politics in the “New Professionalism” ...216 // The “New Professionalism” Without Politics (Almost) ...219 // Remarks on the Osbome-Gaebler Decalogue ...224 // Conclusion ...230 // References ...231 // 15 The Integration of Public Policy-Making with Outcomes // Measurement ...235 // Introduction ...235 // Outcome Measures as Unifying Instruments ...237 // Critical Issues ...246 // Concluding Remarks on Performance Indicators ...249 // Citizen’s Guide to Performance Indicators ...249 // References ...250 // 16 A Handful of Sand in the Wheels of Financial Speculation ...251 // Introduction ...251 // The Risks of Financial Crises ...252 // Financial Transactions ...258 // Taxing Financial Transactions and Tobin’s Tax ...259 // Arguments for Tobin Taxes ...262 // Arguments Against Tobin Taxes, with Refutations ...262 // Conclusion ...269 // References ...270 // 17 Ethics Counselors as a New Priesthood ...21? // Introduction ...273 // Priests and Other Do-Gooders ...274 // Moral/Ethical Classification ...275 // Principled Moral/Ethical Evaluation ...276 // Adequacy Conditions for an Acceptable Moral Theory ...277 // Some Negative Consequences of Unprincipled Moral/Ethical // Decision-Making ...278 // More Problems for Principled Moral/Ethical Decision-Making ...281 // A Thought Experiment ...282 // A Step Backward and a New Assessment ...284 // Troublesome Second Thoughts ...285 // Conclusion ...291 // References ...291 //

18 Observations on the Proposed BC—STV Voting System ...293 // Addendum ...295 // 19 Ancient Observations on Business Ethics: Middle East Meets // West ...297 // Introduction ...297 // Straight Dealing Leads to Observable Payoffs ...298 // Unobservable Payoffs to Unobservable Souls ...299 // Trust, Social Cohesion and Social Capital ...300 // Moral Relativity ...301 // The Relativity of All Assertions ...303 // Ethics Without Tears: Natural Pleasures Versus // Conventional Pains ...304 // Virtue Its Own Reward and the Principle of Transparency ...305 // Justice, Legal Compliance and Moral Rightness ...306 // More Ethics Without Tears: The Invisible Hand ...309 // Conclusion ...309 // References ...311 // 20 The Monster of Supercapitalism ...313 // Introduction ...313 // The Efficiency Argument for CSR ...314 // Objections to the Efficiency Argument for CSR ...315 // Enter the Monster of Supercapitalism ...316 // Supercapitalism Versus Democracy ...316 // Baby and Bathwater Down the Drain ...318 // Democracy and Democratic Process ...320 // The Nature of CSR and Its Relation to the Law ...323 // Conclusion ...327 // References ...328 // 21 The Business Case for Asserting the Business Case // for Business Ethics ...329 // Introduction ...329 // Validation and Vindication ...331 // Motives and Profits ...332 // Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2010 ...334 // Auditing the CSR Report ...338 // Conclusion ...340 // References ...341 //

22 Public Policy Letters to Editors 1989-2001 ...343 // Citizens Forum: Stop Cruise Missiles Over Canada ...343 // Citizens Forum: Marching Against Ontario Poverty ...344 // Citizens Forum: Overwhelming Case Against Buying Submarines ...345 // Nuclear Energy Should not Be a Priority ...346 // Citizens Forum: Abortions Are not ‘on Demand’ Basis ...348 // Citizens Forum: Settle All Native Land Claims First ...349 // Citizens Forum: Readers Oppose Low-Level Flights ...350 // Letters: Recession to Deepen with New Tory Budget ...351 // Health Care Still a Political Football ...353 // Towards the Renunciation of War ...355 // Opinion: Canada Helps Outfit World’s Warriors ...356 // Pay Equity—the Other Side ...359 // NAFTA Hearing Exposes Costly Flaws ...360 // A Regressive Trade Deal ...361 // No Guarantees ...362 // Massed Ottawa Rally Left a Great Feeling ...363 // Business Ethics: Not Giving up on the Pony ...364 // Another Perspective Alex Michalos: No Place for Scrooge ...365 // Building a Healthier Community ...366 // Tax Freedom Day a Clever Strategy of Corporate Spin ...368 // NDP Convention: A Delegate’s View ...370 // The Ugly World of the WTO (A UNBC Professor Tells // of his Visit to the Seattle Convention) ...372 // Vote New Democrat for a Change ...374 // Recruit and Retain a Simple Equation ...375 // Appendix ...377