Topic 2
Lecture
- w10: Dimensions of business ethics and CSR – mapping ethical space [pdf ‘handout’]
- Extra materials: Background info – the critique of Friedman’s view of CSR [pdf]
Main reading
Balch, O (2019), Good company: the capitalists putting purpose ahead of profit, The Guardian, Nov 24th
Blowfield, M and Murray, A (2014), Corporate responsibility (3rd ed), Oxford: OUP
Chryssides, GD and Kaler, JH (1993), An introduction to Business Ethics, London: Chapman and Hall
Fisher, C and Lovell, A (2009), Business Ethics and Values (3rd ed), London: FT-Prentice Hall
Friedman, M (1970), The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits, The New York Times Magazine, September 13
Garriga, E and Melé, M (2004), Corporate Social Responsibility Theories: Mapping the Territory, Journal of Business Ethics, v54, pp51-71
2020 Examples
Booth, R (2020), Grenfell Tower suppliers knew their cladding would burn, inquiry told, The Guardian, Nov 9th
Elliott, L (2020), $427bn a year lost to tax abuse by firms and rich individuals, study finds, The Guardian, Nov 20th
Greenfield, P and Weston P (2020), Banks lent $2.6tn linked to ecosystem and wildlife destruction in 2019 – report, The Guardian, Oct 28th
Hern, A (2020), Apple whistleblower goes public over ‘lack of action’, The Guardian, May 20th
Holden, R (2020), Revealed: how the gas industry is waging war against climate action, The Guardian, Aug 20th
Rushe, D and Paul, K (2020), US justice department sues Google over accusation of illegal monopoly, The Guardian, Oct 20th
Smithers, R (2020a), Organic vegetable box firm Riverford certified as an ethical B Corp, The Guardian, Sept 21st
Smithers, R (2020b), Unilever sets target of €1bn in annual sales of plant-based foods, The Guardian, Nov 18th
Thunberg, R et al (2020), After two years of school strikes, the world is still in a state of climate crisis denial, The Guardian, Aug 19th
Past Examples
‘Anonymous’ (2019), I’m the Google whistleblower. The medical data of millions of Americans is at risk, The Guardian, Nov 14th
Boseley, S (2017), Philip Morris waging global effort to hobble anti-smoking treaty, files show, The Guardian, July 13th
Burgen, S (2018), HSBC whistleblower Hervé Falciani facing extradition to Switzerland, The Guardian, April 5th
Butler, S (2017), Asda is named worst supermarket in treatment of suppliers, The Guardian, June 26th
Conlon, S (2019), Zara clothes to be made from 100% sustainable fabrics by 2025, The Guardian, July 17th
Davies, R (2017), Carlsberg aims for zero carbon emissions after Trump’s Paris pullout, The Guardian, June 13th
Garside, J (2015), HSBC whistleblower given five years’ jail over biggest leak in banking history, The Guardian, November 27th
The Guardian (2017), Paradise papers
Makortoff, K and Reuters (2018), Whistleblower reveals more players in £178bn Danske Bank scandal, The Guardian, Nov 19th
McGreal, C (2019), Johnson & Johnson faces multibillion opioids lawsuit that could upend big pharma, The Guardian, Jun 23rd
Monaghan, A (2017), Rio Tinto charged with fraud in US and fined £27.4m in UK, The Guardian, Oct 18th
Pegg, D (2018), From Seattle to Luxembourg: how tax schemes shaped Amazon, The Guardian, April 25th
Ratcliffe, R (2019), Major western brands pay Indian garment workers 11p an hour, The Guardian, Feb 1st
Safi, M and Rushe, D (2018), Rana Plaza, five years on: safety of workers hangs in balance in Bangladesh, The Guardian, April 24th
Smithers, R (2018), First sustainable Lego pieces to go on sale, The Guardian, Mar 2nd
Sweney, M (2017), Amazon paid just £15m in tax on European revenues of £19.5bn, The Guardian, August 10th
Sweney, M (2019), Facebook paid just £28m tax after record £1.6bn revenues in UK, The Guardian, Oct 11th
Taylor, M and Bartlett, J (2019), Fresh wave of climate strikes takes place around the world, The Guardian, Sept 27th
Walters, J (2018), Opioid lawsuit targets rich family behind drug that fueled US crisis, The Guardian, June 12th
Walters, J (2019), Purdue Pharma: Oxycontin maker faces lawsuits from nearly every US state, The Guardian, Jun 4th
Wood, Z (2019), Richer Sounds founder hands over control of hi-fi and TV firm to staff, The Guardian, May 14th
