Prof's Choice

Evolving values, legalities, and business decisions.

KENNETH R. ANDREWS, editor, Ethics in Practice: Managing the Moral Corporation (Harvard Business School Press, 1989) Some of the best articles and cases on business ethics to appear over the years in the pages of the Harvard Business Review, including "The Parable of the Sadhu."

THOMAS DONALDSON, TheEthics of International Business (Oxford University Press, 1989)—Where do we draw the line between a decent respect for others' cultural values and a normless relativism that says anything goes if some people do it? Georgetown Business School professor and philosopher Donaldson offers some well-reasoned guidelines for international managers.

BARBARA ANDOLSEN, GoodWork at the Video DisplayTerminal (University of Tennessee Press, 1989)—The changing nature of clerical work and the so-called "automated office" raise a host of new ethical questions for employees and managers. Andolsen brings a religiously informed perspective to a relatively neglected area of business ethics that affects many people's lives.

WILLIAM H. SHAW AND VINCENT BARRY, fifth edition, Moral Issues in Business (Wadsworth, 1992)—A leading text for business ethics that covers a variety of areas and offers many relevant cases. For the serious student of business ethics, this is a good place to begin.

DAVID W. EWING,Justice on the Job:Resolving Grievances in theNonunion Workplace (Harvard Business School Press, 1989)-A pioneering study of the concept of "corporate due process" and its implementation in 15 different companies. Arguing that no employee should be deprived of a job without a fair hearing, E wing makes an informed contribution to the emerging employee-rights movement.

CHRISTOPHF.R D. STONK,Where the Law Ends (Harper & Row, 1975)—An impassioned argument for corporate social responsibility above and beyond the demands of the law. Precisely because the law can't effectively regulate and control all corporate behavior, Stone argues, corporations must be guided by moral values.

TERRY HALBERT AND ELAINE INGULU, Law and Ethics inthe Business Environment (West Publishing Company, 1986)-Business ethics and business law constantly interchange as society's evolving values5 shape the legal context of business decision-making. This excellent case-oriented' book covers issues like whistle-blowing, drug testing, sexual harassment, trade secrets, workplace safety, and environmental hazards.