Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T18:15:35.461Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Social Function of Business Ethics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Ronald Jeurissen
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Business ethics serves the important social function of integrating business and society, by promoting the legitimacy of business operations, through critical reflection. Although the social function of business ethics is implicit in leading business ethics foundation theories, it has never been presented in a systematic way. This article sets out to fill this theoretical lacuna, and to explore the theoretical potentials of a functional approach to business ethics. Key concepts from Parsonian functionalistic sociology are applied to establish the social integrative function of business ethics. This produces a theoretical framework for business ethics that provides strong theoretical arguments against often-heard criticisms of business ethics. Many of these criticisms are ideological in nature, in that they systematically play down the importance of integrative functions in the business-society relationship, on the grounds of unrealistic assumptions about the performance of economic and bureaucratic institutions. However, business ethics itself can also become ideological, if it forgets that the conditions for the application of ethics to business are not always ideal as well.

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 10 , Issue 4 , October 2000 , pp. 821 - 843
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albert, H. 1985. Treatise on Critical Reason. Princeton N.J.: Princeton University Press. (Translation of Traktat iiber kritische Vernunft, Tubingen: Mohr, 1968)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barry, B. 1989. Theories of Justice. Vol. 1: A Treatise of Justice. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumol, W. 1991. “(Almost) Perfect Competition (Contestability) and Business Ethics.” In Perfect Markets and Easy Virtues. Business Ethics and the Invisible Hand, ed. Baumol, W. and Batey Blackwell, S., pp. 1–23. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Beauchamp, T. L. and Childress, J. F. 1989. Principles of Biomedical Ethics. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Beyer, J. M. 1981. “Ideologies, Values, and Decision Making in Organizations.” In Handbook of Organizational Design, ed. Nystrom, P. C. and Starbuck, W. H. Vol. 2, pp. 166–202. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Blasche, S.; Köhler, W. R.; and Rohs, P., eds. 1994. Markt und Moral: Die Diskussion um die Unternehmensethik. Bern: Paul Haupt.Google Scholar
Bowie, N. 1990. “Morality, Money, and Motor Cars.” In Business Ethics and the Environment, ed. Hoffman, W. M.Frederick, F. and Petry, E. S Jr., pp. 89–97. New York: Quorum.Google Scholar
Brickley, J.; Smith, C. W.; and Zimmerman, J. L. 1994. “Ethics, Incentives, and Organizational Design.” Journal of Applied Corporate Finance 7 (2): 20–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, A. 1985. Ethics, Efficiency and the Market. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefeld.Google Scholar
Ciulla, J. B. 1995. “Leadership Ethics: Mapping the Territory.” Business Ethics Quarterly 5: 5–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conry, E. J. 1995. “A Critique of Social Contracts for Business.” Business Ethics Quarterly 5: 187–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donaldson, T. 1982. Corporations and Morality. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Donaldson, T. 1987. “Fact, Fiction and the Social Contract: A Reply to Kultgen.” Business and Professional Ethics Journal 5: 40–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donaldson, T. 1989. The Ethics of International Business. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Douma, S. and Schreuder, H. 1991. Economic Approaches to Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Duska, R. 1990. “Whistleblowing and Employee Loyalty.” In Contemporary Issues in Business Ethics, ed. Desjardin, J. and MacCall, J. J.2nd ed., pp. 142–147. Belmont Calif.: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Duska, R. 1992. “Why be a Loyal Agent? A Systemic Ethical Analysis.” In Ethics and Agency Theory, ed. Bowie, N. E. and Freeman, R. E., pp. 143–168. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Enderle, G. 1991. “Business Ethics and Market Failure.” In Market Morality and Company Size [Issues in Business Ethics, Vol. 2], pp. 67–85. Dordrecht: Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foucault, M. 1971. L’ordre du discours. Paris: Gallimard.Google Scholar
Friedman, M. 1970. “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits.” New York Times Magazine, September 13.Google Scholar
Gauthier, D. 1986. Morals by Agreement. Oxford: Clarendon.Google Scholar
Habermas, J. 1976. Legitimation Crisis. London: Heinemann. (Translation of Legitmationsprobleme im Spãtkapitalismus, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1973)Google Scholar
Habermas, J. 1987. The Theory of Communication Action, Vol. II: Lifeword and System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason. Boston Mass.: Beacon. (Translation of Théorie des kommunikativen Handelns, II, Zur kritik der funktionalistischen Vernunft. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1981)Google Scholar
Habermas, J. 1996. Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Disourse Theory of Law and Democracy. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. (Translation of Faktizitàt und Geltung: Beitràge zur Diskurstheorie des Rechts und des demokratischen Rechtsstaats. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1992)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hausman, D. M. and McPherson, M. S. 1996. Economic Analysis and Moral Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hodapp, P. F. 1990. “Can There Be a Social Contract with Business?” Journal of Business Ethics 9: 127–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofstede, G. 1991. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Homann, K. and Blome-Drees, F. 1992. Wirtschafts- und Unternehmensethik. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck.Google Scholar
IJsseling, S. 1976. Rhetoric and Philosophy in Conflict: An Historical Survey. The Hague: Nijhoff. (Translation of Retoriek en filosofie. Bilthoven: Ambo, 1975)Google Scholar
Kultgen, J. 1987. “Donaldson’s Social Contract for Business.” Business and Professional Ethics Journal 5: 47–50.Google Scholar
Lewis, A. and Warneryd, K. E., eds. 1994. Ethics and Economic Affairs. London, Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luhmann, N. 1969. Legitimation durch Verfahren. Neuwied: Luchterhand.Google Scholar
McKinley, W.; Mone, M. A.; and Barker, III, V. L. 1998. “Some Ideological Foundations of Organizational Downsizing.” Journal of Management Enquiry 7: 198–212.Google Scholar
Munch, R. 1984. Die Struktur der Moderne. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Mulligan, Th. M. 1990. “Justifying Moral Initiative by Business.” Journal of Business Ethics 9: 93–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mulligan, Th. M. 1993. “The Moral Mission of Business.” In Ethical Theory and Business, ed. Beauchamp, T. L. and Bowie, N. E.4th ed., pp. 65–75. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Mumby, D., ed. 1993. Narrative and Social Control Newbury Park: Sage.Google Scholar
North, D. C. 1990. Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, T. 1961. “An Outline of the Social System.” In Theories of Societies, ed. Parsons, T.Shils, E.Naegele, K. and Pitts, J. Vol. I, pp. 30–79. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Parsons, T. 1966. Societies: Evolutionary and Comparative Perspectives. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
1971. The System of Modern Societies. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Parsons, T. and Smelser, N. 1956. Economy and Society. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Rudd, A. 1981. “Social Responsibility and Portfolio Performance.” California Management Review 23: 55–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samuelson, P. A. and Nordhaus, W. D. 1989. Economics. 13th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Schein, E. H. 1985. Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Sciulli, D. and Gerstein, D. 1985. “Social Theory and Talcott Parsons in the 1980s.” Annual Review of Sociology 1: 369–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sen, A. 1985. “The Moral Standing of the Market.” Social Philosophy and Policy 2: 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sen, A. 1987. On Ethics and Economics. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Sinclair, A. 1993. “Approaches to Organisational Culture and Ethics.” Journal of Business Ethics 12: 63–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinmann, H. and Löhr, A. 1996. “A Republican Concept of Corporate Ethics.” In Europe’s Challenge: Economic Efficiency and Social Solidarity, ed. Urban, S.Wiesbaden: Gabier.Google Scholar
Stinchcombe, A. L. 1967. “Formal Organisations.” In Sociology: An Introduction, ed. Smelser, N. J.New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Stone, C. D. 1975. Where the Law Ends: The Social Control of Corporate Behavior. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Suchman, M. 1995. “Managing Legitimacy: Strategic and Institutional Approaches.” Academy of Management Review 20: 571–610.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Topitsch, E. 1961. Sozialphilosophie zwischen Ideologie und Wissenschaft. Neuwied: Luchterhand.Google Scholar
Ulrich, P. 1987. “Die Weiterentwicklung der ökonomischen Rationalitát: Zur Grundlegung der Ethik der Unternehmung.” In Õkonomische Théorie und Ethik, ed. Biervert, B. and Held, M, pp. 122–149. Frankfurt: Campus.Google Scholar
Velasquez, M. G. 1992. Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. 1975. Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Willigenburg, Th. van. 1991. Inside the Ethical Expert: Problem Solving in Applied Ethics. Kok Pharos: Kampen.Google Scholar