After the popularity of the movie The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, a lot of people, shall we say in the ‘older age bracket’, started making up bucket lists. Activities, usually involving travel to exotic locations, featured prominently on these lists. I also made up a bucket list but, intriguingly, on mine was that I’d always wanted to write a textbook on business ethics, which has been my preferred research area for more than 25 years. So, when Cambridge University Press approached me, I was rather reluctant to turn the task down as I knew that if I didn’t do it then it would probably haunt me in the future.
When initially conceptualising the project, I was cognisant of and guided by various models of moral behaviour, with the intention of delivering on four key dimensions that I wanted the text to develop:
Moral sensitivity – the ability to recognise that a moral dilemma exists, to interpret the circumstance and assign recognition of what ethical issues are contained in the situation.
Moral motivation – the ability to prioritise moral values in relation to other personal values.
Moral judgement – the ability to make a morally justifiable decision and judge whether an action is morally right or wrong.
Moral action – the ability to provide, in the face of situational pressure, an ethical outcome.
More specifically, I wanted to:
examine the current factors which are driving an increased awareness of business ethics in today’s business environment
provide some clarity to the lexicon of business ethics and related terminology
engage with current issues in the business environment and society at large, as presented in the media
investigate ethics in a variety of functional areas of business including information technology, human resource management, marketing, accounting, entrepreneurship and international business
present ethical principles which are of relevance in these key functional areas
review the theoretical foundations of ethics
provide guidelines to assist with ethical decision-making
discuss the strategies that can be used to strengthen the ethical climates of organisations.