Future Generations and Business Ethics

2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Jeurissen ◽  
Gerard Keijzers

Abstract:Companies have a share in our common responsibility to future generations. Hitherto, this responsibility has been all but neglected in the business ethics literature. This paper intends to make up for that omission. A strong case for our moral responsibility to future generations can be established on the grounds of moral rights theory, utilitarianism and justice theory. The paper analyses two practical cases in environmental policy, in order to come to grips with the complicated ethical issues involved in the responsibility to future generations. The cases deal with the management of finite energy sources and of vulnerable resources of biodiversity. The ethical issues involved in these cases have an important bearing on business ethics: future generations should be included among the stakeholders of the firm. The paper concludes with a plea to institutionalize a “third arena” for debate and deliberation on the protection of the interests of future generations, next to the arenas of the government and the market. Companies should participate in this third arena, led by a participatory ethics.

Author(s):  
Yuriy Konstantinovich Knyazev

In Slovenia, there is an urgent problem of limiting the harmful effects of economic activities that deteriorate the living conditions of people, animals and fl ora. The state is taking measures to encourage residents to stay in their home towns and take care of their arrangement and development, the preservation of natural resources and a comfortable environment for people. Numerous public organizations of civil society play an important role in this. This article outlines the features of the modern environmental policy of Slovenia, carried out within the framework of the general line of the European Union, aimed at the phasing out of carbon fuels and the transition to renewable energy sources. The article analyzes Slovenian official documents, setting out the country's environmental strategy, progress in the implementation of plans for energy and climate measures until 2030, the current state of the energy sector and its compliance with the planned tasks. The author's assessment of the efficiency of the environmental policy carried out in Slovenia and its possible results is presented. It is stated that although the indicators of improving the environmental situation are gradually increasing, the emission of harmful gases is decreasing, and the efficiency of the use of energy and raw materials is improving, Slovenia still lags behind the European average in most of these indicators. Meanwhile, it has a relatively high share of renewable energy sources in its total production. This is achieved through budget subsidies for the energy produced from renewable energy sources so that its price does not exceed the market level. Significant monetary resources are spent to apply a wide range of incentive measures. Therefore, the government is forced to seek opportunities to further increase the funding for environmental activities, in particular through European Union funds, including assistance to fight the coronavirus pandemic. English version of the article on pp. 317-324 at URL: https://panor.ru/articles/features-of-the-environmental-policy-in-slovenia/66114.html


1995 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 865-882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Velasquez

Abstract:I evaluate the adequacy of the three models of international business ethics that have been recently proposed by Thomas Donaldson, Gerard Elfstrom and Richard De George. Using the example of the conduct of the aluminum companies in Jamaica, I argue that these three models fail to address the most important of the ethical issues encountered by multinationals because they focus too narrowly on human rights issues and on utilitarian considerations. In addition I argue that these models also evidence an inadequate understanding of microeconomic theory. I end by proposing that these defects can be remedied by a model of ethics that incorporates a theory of moral rights, a utilitarian-based theory of the market, and a theory of justice.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 660-665
Author(s):  
Chi Sheh ◽  
◽  
Peng Chan ◽  
Wen Jun Sim ◽  
◽  
...  

Fast fashion is becoming more and more popular nowadays and this industry is growing rapidly. In order to supply to the big demand of fast fashion clothing, company will need to increase the production of the clothing in shorter time frame. Besides that, to out beat the competitor, company will provide more choices of clothing in cheaper price to the customers. By practicing these actions to increase the business profits, company is behaving unethical to the manufacturer of the cloth. Most consumers are not aware of these ethical issues. This paper is will used and tested the conceptual model of fast fashion business ethics based on literature reviews. The finding from this paper will manifest the “real cost” of a cheap and branded fast fashion clothing and will be supported by real life event that happened. However, after realizing the problems, some company did make some changes and the solutions are stated in the paper as well.


This chapter considers the relationship between intellectual difficulty and moral responsibility. It focuses on this question: if it is difficult for us to come to believe the truth about some matter, and we do not in fact come to believe it, so that we are ignorant of that matter, does that affect our responsibility if we then act from our ignorance? Answering this question requires getting clearer on both intellectual difficulty and moral responsibility for actions done from ignorance. This chapter takes up both tasks, distinguishing three different kinds of intellectual difficulty—skill-related difficulty in performing, effort-related difficulty in performing, and difficulty in trying—and two different families of views regarding moral responsibility: agential control views and agential revelation views. The chapter then considers the interaction between these different kinds of intellectual difficulty and these different views of moral responsibility, focusing particularly on the familiar case of the Ancient Slaveholder.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Sareh Pouryousefi ◽  
R. Edward Freeman

Pragmatists believe that philosophical inquiry must engage closely with practice to be useful and that practice serves as a source of social norms. As a growing alternative to the analytic and continental philosophical traditions, pragmatism is well suited for research in business ethics, but its role remains underappreciated. This article focuses on Richard Rorty, a key figure in the pragmatist tradition. We read Rorty as a source of insight about the ethical and political nature of business practice in contemporary global markets, focusing specifically on his views about moral sentiments, agency, and democratic deliberation. Importantly for business ethicists, Rorty’s approach sets in stark relief our moral responsibility as useful, practical thinkers in addressing the societal challenges of our time. We use “modern slavery” as an empirical context to highlight the relevance of Rorty’s approach to business ethics.


Author(s):  
Nayan Mitra

AbstractCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is like a chameleon, that changes its colour according to the context it is in. In the developed economy, it takes the form of sustainability and/ or philanthropy, whereas, in emerging economies, it speaks the language of religious, political and/ or mandated CSR. India, in recent times came into the limelight with its mandated CSR policy that was incorporated into its Companies Act 2013, which became operational from the financial year 2014 - 2015. Mandated CSR is thus a new area of study that is based on the philosophy that ‘CSR should contribute to the national agenda in emerging economies,’ under some statutory guidelines as laid down by the Government.But, business houses, do look for maximising its profit. Profit can be financial and/ or non-financial. If not money, then at least the effort must be compensated with reputation, image, that helps in brand building! And, to have this as an objective, their efforts should be strategic! But, does all strategies work? With these questions and conceptual thinking, this empirical research aims to identify the key aspects of Strategic Management, CSR and Firm Performance and establish relationship between them; apart from developing a valid and reliable scale to do so. This is indeed one of the first researches and documentations done among the large Indian firms in India immediately in the post mandate period and thus forms a base for understanding the CSR dynamics in the years to come.


2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haifeng Huang

Despite the prevalence of anti-government rumors in authoritarian countries, little is currently known about their effects on citizens’ attitudes toward the government, and whether the authorities can effectively combat rumors. With an experimental procedure embedded in two surveys about Chinese internet users’ information exposure, this study finds that rumors decrease citizens’ trust in the government and support of the regime. Moreover, individuals from diverse socio-economic and political backgrounds are similarly susceptible to thinly evidenced rumors. Rebuttals generally reduce people’s belief in the specific content of rumors, but often do not recover political trust unless the government brings forth solid and vivid evidence to back its refutation or win the endorsement of public figures broadly perceived to be independent. But because such high-quality and strong rebuttals are hard to come by, rumors will erode political support in an authoritarian state. These findings have rich implications for studies of rumors and misinformation in general, and authoritarian information politics in particular.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Lovejoy

One of the fundamental challenges of climate change is that we contribute to it increment by increment, and experience it increment by increment after a considerable time lag. As a consequence, it is very difficult to see what we are doing to ourselves, to future generations, and to the living planet as a whole. There are monumental ethical issues involved, but they are obscured by the incremental nature of the process and the long time frame before reaching the concentration of greenhouse gases and the ensuing accumulation of radiant heat—and consequent climate change—that ensues.


Author(s):  
Ievgenii Shulga ◽  
◽  
Nataliia Shynkaruk ◽  
Nataliia Yashchuk ◽  
◽  
...  

The article examines topical problems of the role of international organizations in the direction of the development of alternative energy and strengthening of energy security in the world. Considerable attention is paid to the importance of the introduction and development of alternative energy in the context of ensuring environmental human rights and economic well-being. Analyzed the main international legal treaties regulating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and the use of alternative renewable energy sources. The main international governmental and non-governmental organizations in the direction of ensuring environmental and energy security have been identified. Attention is drawn to the need to strengthen the role of these organizations by strengthening the functions of supervision and monitoring to increase the possibility of influencing states that do not comply with the provisions of signed and ratified international conventions. It is concluded that it is necessary to adjust the vector of development of instruments for the protection of environmental rights in the direction of its world globalization. The existing global concept for the development of alternative energy sources requires changes. Given that the environmental problem is universal and, although to one degree or another, it still affects every person, regardless of country or nationality, the obligation to protect the environment must be universal, fulfilled and enforced not only by the government bodies of sovereign states, but also international government organizations. It is noted that the programs and recommendations of international organizations are developed directly for individual states, taking into account their geographical and economic location when choosing the types and methods of developing alternative energy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-25
Author(s):  
Damaji Ratmono

Preservation of library materials or library collections is an effort made so that library materials can be used by future generations. This paper describes the "Malaysian" binding method used by the Sub Division of Technical Binding Materials of the National Library of Indonesia in preserving the collection of periodicals such as tabloids and newspapers. Apart from that, this paper also describes some of the advantages and disadvantages seen in the use of the "Malaysian" method as well as the early history of using this method in preserving the collection of periodicals in the National Library of Indonesia. This writing aims to make readers, especially library managers, know and gain insight into the "Malaysian" binding method. This writing method is through descriptive research with a qualitative approach. Methods of data collection are carried out through the field research, interviews, and literature study. The results show that the National Library of Indonesia uses this method after studying it from Malaysia in May 1990. From observations it is also known that this method has several advantages, namely the binding result is stronger, the collection is more preserved, the binding can be assembled and has an aesthetic side. Meanwhile, the disadvantages of this binding method are that the process tends to be longer, more expensive, cannot be put on too many shelves because the collection will shift backwards, the pages tend to come off easily if the stitches are not strong enough, and can only be used in binding periodical collections.


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