Business Ethics in a Capitalist World
Business Ethics in a Capitalist World
Parthasarathi Dutta Sharma
An argument on why Business Ethics makes sense in a Capitalist World
Contents
Background ............................................................................................................................................... 2
Can Greed ever be Good? ..................................................................................................................... 2
Homo Economicus Vs Homo Sociologicus .......................................................................................... 3
Tragedy of the commons .......................................................................................................................... 3
The Other Schools of Thought .................................................................................................................. 4
Doing Well by Doing Good ...................................................................................................................... 5
Doing Good in the Job Market .................................................................................................................. 8
Getting the Investors on Board ................................................................................................................. 9
Case Study: The consequences of Unethical Business Practice: Ford Pinto .......................................... 10
Ethics – more important than Profits… in a Capitalist World ................................................................ 11
Measuring Ethics Performance – the Triple Bottom Line ...................................................................... 12
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 13
References and Footnotes ....................................................................................................................... 14
Parthasarathi Dutta Sharma
An argument on why Business Ethics makes sense in a Capitalist World
Contents
Background ............................................................................................................................................... 2
Can Greed ever be Good? ..................................................................................................................... 2
Homo Economicus Vs Homo Sociologicus .......................................................................................... 3
Tragedy of the commons .......................................................................................................................... 3
The Other Schools of Thought .................................................................................................................. 4
Doing Well by Doing Good ...................................................................................................................... 5
Doing Good in the Job Market .................................................................................................................. 8
Getting the Investors on Board ................................................................................................................. 9
Case Study: The consequences of Unethical Business Practice: Ford Pinto .......................................... 10
Ethics – more important than Profits… in a Capitalist World ................................................................ 11
Measuring Ethics Performance – the Triple Bottom Line ...................................................................... 12
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 13
References and Footnotes ....................................................................................................................... 14
References: Elster, Jon (1989), Social Norms and Economic Theory, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 3(4): 99-117