Malcolm McIntosh

This is the fourth international edition of Visions of ethical business and once again it is loaded with topicality and initiatives in corporate citizenship.

The Fourth in a Series of Free Vision Papers from Financial Times Prentice Hall

Visions of Ethical Business

Compelling reading, this book both reinforces and elevates the role of art in the exploration and analysis of the concepts of democracy, globalization and capitalism. In the book, the author describes a post-human world, a state we have already entered. But how should we think about it, given we have already been co-opted? Can we articulate the future outside the false discipline that the market often dictates, beyond the clutches of a few social media companies, and maintain our rich diversities while holding on to those things that make life possible and worthwhile: love, hope and art? Running throughout the book is the central theme of uncertainty and divergence. It is uncompromising in asking the question about the need for a new global creation story, which has at its core not the certainties of one defined creation myth but the need to feel comfortable with the uncertainty principle both in physics and the political economy. It is up to artists, scientists and philosophers to articulate this wonder and to help us write a new global creation story based on art (the arts), uncertainty, diversity, risk and wonder – and of course knowledge. This book has the capacity to both clarify and re-shape your thinking.

Love, Hope and Art as Political Economy

In Search of the Good Society

Jörg Andriof

A number of disparate but interconnected forces such as deregulation and globalization, rapid advances in communications technology and the rise in the power of the consumer and civil society have now combined to bring corporate responsibility to prominence in many corporate boardrooms. In this information age, the ramifications of not addressing best practice in environment, workplace, marketplace and community could range from bad press coverage to complete market exclusion. These are perilous times for the social construct of modern capitalism.In today's society successful companies will increasingly be those that recognize that they have responsibilities to a range of stakeholders that go beyond compliance with the law. If in the past the focus was on enhancing shareholder value, now it is on engaging stakeholders for long-term value creation. This does not mean that shareholders are not important, or that profitability is not vital to business success, but that in order to survive and be profitable a company must engage with a range of stakeholders whose views may vary greatly. If in the past corporate social responsibility was simply seen as profitability plus compliance plus philanthropy, now responsible corporate citizenship means companies being more aware of and understanding the societies in which they operate. This means senior executives and managers being able to deal with a wide range of issues including greater accountability, human rights abuses, sustainability strategies, corporate governance codes, workplace ethics, stakeholder consultation and management.The aim and scope of Perspectives on Corporate Citizenship is to help capture and distil these and other emerging trends in terms of content, context and processes, in one concise volume. With contributions from the *crème de la crème* of leading thinkers from around the world, Perspectives on Corporate Citizenship is essential reading for students, scholars and all serious thinkers on one of the most critical issues of our time.

Perspectives on Corporate Citizenship

Alan Hunter

This book is testimony to the emergent nature of human security as an idea, as a useful construct and as an operational strategy. The aim is to showcase new directions that may enrich the human security agenda. Some human security discourse is still rooted in the traditional language of the aid-agency/UN development/economic growth models, often hostile to the corporate and business sector, and sometimes negligent of sustainability and climate change issues. Another limited and outmoded approach is an exaggerated focus on Western interventions, especially military ones, as a "solution" to problems in poor or conflict-prone areas. "Human Security" was introduced as a construct by the UNDP in 1994. The inherent combination of law-enforcement and people-centred humanitarianism has strived to provide an umbrella to both protect people from threats while empowering them to control their destinies. But with accelerating economic globalization and information flows there is a need to revisit the concept. A new paradigm of Sustainable Human Security is required. This book argues that proponents of a human security approach should welcome efforts to remove the barriers between enterprise, corporations, aid and development agencies, government agencies, citizen groups and the UN; and work towards multi-stakeholder approaches and solutions for vulnerable populations. Such an approach is clearly vital in responding to the imperatives of concerted action on issues such as climate change, HIV, terrorism, organised crime and poverty. The agenda may have changed, but it remains true that almost all human tragedies are avoidable. This book examines a number of global problems through the lens of human security and the needs of the individual: global governance; health; the environment and the exploitation of natural resources; peace and reconciliation; the responsibility to protect; and economic development and prosperity. In the latter case, the role of business in the human security pantheon is promulgated. There are many reasons why businesses may want to engage with the needs of vulnerable populations – not least the fact that companies cannot function without secure trading environments. In addition, there are growing demands for corporate responsibility and citizenship from markets, customers, shareholders, employees and, critically, communities. This book throws new light on the human security agenda. It will be essential reading for anyone involved in the debates on human security as well as for practitioners and scholars in international affairs, global governance, peace studies, climate change and the environment, healthcare, responsibility to protect and corporate responsibility.

Malcolm McIntosh

Books

Your next favorite book is out there