ethics Archives

Deciding life or death

Peter Lee discusses decision making when lives are on the line Is it ever right to kill or to let someone die? These are questions I have wrestled with over the past two decades and philosophers have argued about for millennia. For most of that time, I was safely tucked away in a lecture theatre,…

North meets South: a call for inclusive global research

The COVID-19 pandemic is not just a health, economic and humanitarian crisis, it is laying bare some undeniable truths in societies worldwide. By Smaranda Boros, Anita Bosch and Yuliya Shymko The COVID-19 pandemic is emphasising the extent of inequalities, both between and within societies. In the dynamics between nations, these inequalities revolve around the reliance…

Responsible research – some critical reflections

Fredrik Andersson welcomes the growing debate on “responsible research” but wonders if it goes too far or not far enough. “Imagine a world where business or management research is used widely in practice by business and other non-business organizations to improve the lives of people in our societies.” This is the tag line of…

A Matter of Trust

Fast-changing technology and some dubious business practices are eroding customer and public trust, especially in the finance sector. Paul Kofman suggests some remedies. Growing up in a small rural village, I remember that bankers were once held in high regard. The bank manager sat alongside the local GP, the police commissioner and the notary in…

Refugees welcome

Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger describes how Vienna University of Economics and Business and other Austrian universities offer a wide range of activities and initiatives for refugees In the autumn of 2015, 31-year-old Adnan came to Austria with his wife and two small children, full of hope and gratitude. Adnan had completed a master’s degree in banking and financial studies in Syria and…

In conversation with the Dalai Lama

In this edited extract adapted from his new book, Business as an Instrument for Societal Change: In Conversation with the Dalai Lama, Sander Tideman discusses the idea of Bodhisattva leadership and looks at how ancient ideas can be translated to meet the needs of modern-day business “Leaders are not born or made, but cultivated and developed. The best way to develop…

Economics’ Seven Deadly Sins

Are we teaching students the things they need to know? Not according to Eve Poole. Before he died Sumantra Ghoshal wrote a piece called “Bad Management Theories Are Destroying Good Management Practices”. It was published posthumously in the Journal of the Academy of Management Learning & Education. That was in 2005, post-Enron but pre-Credit Crunch.…

Time To Say: “Je Suis Diversity”

Global migration has introduced us to new communities and new religious practises. Edwina Pio asks how we can best reconcile them. How we handle the challenges of today will determine the future of our fragile planet and our humanity. Immigration is changing the composition and texture of workforces both nationally and globally. The world contains…

Rethinking Enterprise

Philippe de Woot, in an article based on his latest book, argues that economic actions based on ethical and political dimensions are increasingly essential. If there is a key trend in our time it is that of the progress of science and technology. This trend has become a steamroller whatever the vagaries of history and…