Piet Naude

Stellenbosch University | SUN · Business School

The “value” that business creates has been expressed in five influential “markers” in the values-debate represented by Milton Friedman (1970, shareholder value), Freeman, R Edward, (Strategic management. Pitman, A stakeholder approach. London, 1984, stakeholder value), Porter, Michael E and Kramer, Mark R, (Harvard Business Review 1–13, 2006, creat...

After describing the emerging “world of technology” as constituting a cyber-society, the ethical issues arising from pervasive technological innovation are discussed with reference to work, freedom, and equality. The real issue at stake is the lack of an overarching sense-making narrative in a world that lives off disruption. The chapter ends with...

Management Education can be a force for the good. The question is what “good” should be created? In this chap. 3 such forms of “good” are proposed, each with specific implications for management education: Private, Social, Common, and Transcendent Good.

In the first part of this chapter, the pluralist nature of modern societies with a variety of social system is explained. In the second part, it is described what happens if the logic of one social sphere invades other social spheres. As an illustration, the role of religion in early Western universities is discussed. The third part of the chapter...

After explaining how management education is included in the claim for “decolonization,” three broad challenges emanating from this claim are outlined, namely institutional, curricular, and knowledge-related challenges. A response to decolonization would require reducing the institutional power asymmetry between the center and the periphery; revisi...

After presenting a brief typology of seven forms of inequality, the choice for income inequality is motivated. In the second and key part of the chapter, the question of whether business schools contribute to income inequality is addressed by looking at both the “access” and the “output” side of such institutions. The conclusion is that higher educ...

This essay discusses whether an indigenous African ethic, as expressed in ubuntu, may serve as an example of how to decolonise Western knowledge. In the first part, the key claims of decolonisation of knowledge are set out. The second part analyses three strategies to construct models of ‘African’ (business) ethics, namely transfer, translation and...

South Africa ratified the Paris Agreement in 2016 and thereby committed to reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) concentration levels as part of its self-determined goals in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). This article viewed the targets in the NDC through an ethical lens. It was demonstrated that the commitment below the ‘business-as-usual’...

The Steinhoff saga, possibly the biggest case of corporate fraud in South African business history, has dominated financial and general news since the company’s share price collapsed on 5 December 2017. This mini case offers an academic perspective on the Steinhoff case, relying on information in the public domain, which is limited in depth and sco...

This essay is a bi-disciplinary effort in applied ethics by a theologian and an economist who both share the convictions of the Christian faith and wish to demonstrate the significance of this faith for the vexing question of economic inequality. Following the see- judge- act- model often used in public theology, it examines first conceptual matter...

This article starts with a brief statement on the well-known contradictory nature of the Reformed tradition in South Africa, defending injustice and struggling for justice in the name of the same tradition. By following the work of Reformed systematic theologian D.J. Smit, it argues that the justice-affirming potential of the Reformed tradition is...

The debate around decolonization of knowledge is situated within a discussion of Ubuntu as a basis for an African ethic. Decolonization as de-and re-contextualizing of knowledge is defended, whilst the emergence of alternative knowledge forms that can still be called "science", is seen as unlikely at this point.

This conceptual paper seeks to explain the study of corporate social responsibility (CSR) against its recent historical past, in part by examining major factors giving rise to CSR and its diffusion in contemporary corporate practice. In doing so, it highlights some of the principal arguments for and against CSR, as well as identifies some of the te...

This conceptual paper seeks to explain the study of corporate social responsibility (CSR) against its recent historical past, in part by examining major factors giving rise to CSR and its diffusion in contemporary corporate practice. In doing so, it highlights some of the principal arguments for and against CSR, as well as identifies some of the te...

This essay presents a broad analysis of African “cityness” and brings this analysis in relation to an ecumenical interpretation of the marks of the church. The aim is to construct an “urban ecclesiology” where the realities of African cities influence our understanding of the church, and where – in turn – the marks of the church provides some point...

This paper is a discussion of recent initiatives by the International Federation of Accountants with regard to ethics education in the accounting profession. This discussion is framed by four related questions focusing on the reasons for ethics education (why ethics?), the potential and limitations of ethics education (can ethics be taught?), follo...

After giving an overview of major economic policy developments and their successes or not in South Africa from its transition to democracy in 1994 until recently, this article acknowledges efforts at, but also pleads for stronger engagement of theology with economic issues. The article also highlights some of the difficulties in achieving this and...

In this essay, aspects of the work of theologian W.D. (Willie) Jonker are reframed to complement current debates about 'public theology' in South Africa. The introduction points out that Jonker worked during a crucial period in South Africa's history and that his theology is intrinsically linked to the church struggle between 1955 and 1994. The sec...

This article commences with the observation - drawn from a number of standard collections - that a multiplicity of confessions is a particular trait of the Reformed tradition. An explanation for this is then sought with reference to the very conception of theology in the Reformed tradition (Willie Jonker); the spiritual power of the church to decla...

This paper starts with a theologically interpreted life-story of Edmund Schlink. Thereafter his view of an ecumenical dogmatics is discussed, before the theme of church unity in the context of the ecumenical movement is outlined. The paper concludes with an application of Schlink's view to the South African context.

This article attempts to reconstruct the nature and effect of an ideological faith through a careful analysis of the Markan narrative. Originally a sermon, the article argues that the question of Jesus' identity is the leading question in the gospel. The misunderstanding of those closest to Him – the disciples – provides interesting clues into self...

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany) declared 2008 as a special year for research on the African continent. An invitation was sent to all past Humboldt scholars to submit proposals for a colloquium with a research theme relevant to the Africa continent. The guidelines were clear: Invite past Humboldt scholars who should make up approxima...

This paper explores the theological consonance between Nicea, the oldest ecumenical creed, and Belhar, the youngest Reformed confession, in the context of the World Council of Churches' project to find a common expression of the apostolic faith today.

In a short methodological note on the complex array of feminist theological viewpoints, it is argued that the focus on language (metaphors) and its relation to reality is a common concern for most feminists. Whereas much creative reinterpretation or the biblical text has been accomplished by feminist scholars, very little attention has been given t...

This paper first explains why the HIV/Aids pandemic requires a fundamental reorientation of our theological reflection, followed by three reasons why such reflection is inhibited in the present churches' context. It then attempts to set out how God the creator; Jesus, the self-donating priest; and the Holy Spirit create the basis for the church as...

This paper explains how a “theology of apartheid” was constructed in the first half of the twentieth century in SA from a combination of three nineteenth century European theological currents: The neo-Calvinism of Kuyper, the missiological thinking of Warneck, and Pietism. In this way the celebration of plurality – so evident in postmodern theologi...

This article proceeds in three sections: In the first section globalisation is depicted as homogenizing cultural force and usurping power of moral formation. In the second section the ethical challenges posed by globalisation in terms of “cultural justice” are outlined. This is followed by a theological and ecclesiological comment as part of the wi...

After a short introduction on the World Council of Churches (WCC) project relating to a common expression of our apostolic faith, six questions are raised from a South African perspective. These questions serve as polemical pointers to argue that the common confession-project has limited value to address both issues of church unification and the co...

This essay explores the notion of “Public Theology” as developed in the North American context. It is explained in terms of the effort by theologians to regain some form of “public space” that was lost due to theology’s marginalization and privatization after modernity. How this displacement of religion came about is briefly explained with referenc...

This article points out the notion of 'Africa' is notoriously complex and should be used with circumspection. It then proceeds to sketch the major historical forces that shaped large parts of the African continent as we know it today: The Atlantic slave trade; colonialism, post-colonial mis-rule, and the creation of a global economic system. These...

This article offers a Biblical and Reformed theological perspective on the unfinished work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. It argues that we as South Africans should deal with our past through a theologically motivated restorative justice in order to resist both cheap reconciliation and a politically expedient selective...

This paper is a Biblical and Reformed theological perspective on the unfinished work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa. It argues that we as South Africans should deal with our past through a theologically motivated restorative justice in order to resist both cheap reconciliation and a politically expedient selective...

This paper argues that the main challenge facing the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in Southern Africa is the construction of a coherent theological universe of discourse. This “universe” might be mapped out in terms of four co-ordinates, namely Reformed, ecumenical, critical-public and African from within which an agenda for the church will emerge. T...

This essay offers a close comparative reading of the Belhar confession and the DRC witness document, Church and Society. It is argued (in the first statement) that although on the surface there are many similarities in content between the two documents, they are in fact theologically quite distinct (statements two to five). It is hoped that the DRC...

This article was developed in six statements and attempted to reconstruct the basis for the�socio-economic ethics of Etienne de Villiers, as well as its ecclesio-centric nature and theoretical�formulation in virtue and responsibility ethics. There was reference to De Villiers�s shift from�an exclusive to an inclusive ethical view as a response to h...

This paper, originally read as the fourth Willie Jonker commemoration lecture (October 2009), explores how the central tenets of Jonker’s theology have been fundamentally shaped by John Calvin. It is argued that Jonker’s very understanding of Reformed theology is derived from Calvin. Furthermore, on three issues, Calvin plays an important role: Jon...

The series of discussions on standardized monetization (SM) that led to the publication of this book have focused on historical and conceptual analyses of how systems of monetization came into being; the nature of the cultural-intellectual achievement implicit in setting up systems of monetization, and the implications for law, politics, and partic...

This article explains the complex notion of “happiness” and the variety of theological approaches to happiness. It then sketches three models of happiness in the South African context: the segregation model deriving from a specific understanding of neo-Calvinism, the traditional African model based on a communitarian notion of ubuntu, and the model...

This article outlined key features of prophetic discourse and investigated whether this form of moral discourse adequately addresses issues of economic injustice. It is shown that the strength of prophetic discourse is its ability to denounce instances of injustice whilst at the same time announcing a God-willed alternative future. The 'preferentia...

In this chapter the link between transparency and corporate social responsibility will be discussed from a South African perspective. Transparency can be understood as the reliability, relevance, clarity, timelessness and verifiability of information, although it does not entail the disclosure of competitive or sensitive information detrimental to...

Section 6.1 (the introduction) comprises (Section 6.1.1) a brief statement on the limitations of the exposition below, followed by (Section 6.1.2) a short explanation of “Africa”, the African Union, and the urgent socio-economic development needs of the continent. Section 6.2 focuses on the historical background to Africa’s current position in the...

In defence of partisan justice – an ethical reflection on "the preferential option for the poor" Can one defend a form of partisan justice? This question is answered in the affirmative in the light of two broad arguments: The theological argument arises from the preferential option for the poor from Latin America, and the philosophical argument is...

In this celebration of Moltmann� s 80th birthday, an ecclesiological reading of his well known trilogy, Theology of hope, The crucified God, and The church in the power of the Spirit is attempted. It is asserted that Moltmann� s discussion of the marks of the church is a high point and summary of his early theological development. These insights ar...

This paper-written from a systematic theological and ethical perspective-first explains the notion of responsiveness as one of the important values guiding new knowledge and Higher Education reform in South Africa. It then proposes three criteria for "responsive" scholarship which are then applied to New Testament scholarship as the latter emerges...

This article explores the historical and theological relation between the Confession of Belhar (1982) and some significant antecedent church witnesses from 1948 onward. After identifying these witnesses, a coherence is sought in the confessional interpretation of the SA situation, and core theological themes linked to ecclesiology, Christology and...

The managerial and personal approaches to Business Ethics are inadequate to address the systemic problems facing ethical reflection in Africa. It is argued that the ethical guidance position that takes the least advantaged individuals or groups in society as reference points, is a more suitable ethical approach. The philosophical version of this eg...