A Pragmatic Approach to Business Ethics

"Michalos. . . offers his own approach to the topic in this clearly written (with humorous tone), well-structured, fully reasoned, and courageous presentation. . . . Each chapter offers a great deal of information, discusses numerous arguments, and takes an unambiguous stand. . . . the reader. . . will certainly benefit from this fairly broad approach to business ethics." --G. Enderle in Choice "Alex C. Michalos exemplifies how one proceeds on the assumption that 'God dwells in the details,' and how one engages in an increasingly fuzzy world by balancing principled commitment and skepticism. As a direct result, you will find yourself getting sucked into a dialogue about things that matter to you, which is the whole point of A Pragmatic Approach to Business Ethics." --Jonathan B. King, Associate Professor of Management, Oregon State University "Professor Michalos has produced a marvelously valuable collection of work here. . . . To my knowledge, Professor Michalos has produced the only business ethics text marketed today that examines critical ethical issues from a consistently pragmatic perspective. In 'Ethical Considerations in Evaluation,' Michalos develops a rigorous model demonstrating the compatibility of ethical and rational decision making. 'Fourteen Unsuccessful Ways to Pass the Buck' presents fourteen thoughtful refutations of the argument that business people do not have moral responsibilities. What's the matter with Machiavellian ethics? 'The Best and Worst Arguments for Business Ethics' probes that question provocatively. Trust--an informed propensity to allow oneself to be vulnerable to harm in the interest of some perceived greater good--may be the single most important virtue to be gained from a study of A Pragmatic Approach to Business Ethics. . . . Michalos has done an outstanding job and I am confident that his text will be widely adopted." --Bill Shaw, Woodson Centennial Professor, Legal and Ethical Studies in Business, University of Texas, Austin "This book provides a very wide-ranging collection of examples of where business ethics make a difference - advertising, tobacco promotion, manufacture and marketing of armaments, concentration and taxation of wealth and the North American Free Trade Agreement. A well-presented collection of evidence that business and ethics can go together and provides support for a pragmatic approach." --Journal of Management Psychology Alex C. Michalos, long-time Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Business Ethics, argues for a pragmatic approach to business ethics and demonstrates the usefulness of the approach by applying it to a variety of issues within this remarkable book. The issues discussed are broad and far-reaching and include the relations between rational and moral/ethical decision making, the limits of loyalty to employers, the impact of trust on business, and the role of commercial public opinion polling during elections. Michalos also covers advertising, tobacco promotion, manufacture and marketing of armaments, concentration and taxation of wealth, and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Provocative and insightful, A Pragmatic Approach to Business Ethics provides a foundation for business ethics that is essential. This volume will be of interest to professionals in all fields and to students and scholars in business ethics and social issues in business courses.