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Economics, ethics and sustainability: Redefining connections
Abstract
Economists have generally framed the question of welfare in terms of wealth creation and distribution. More recently this conception of welfare has been challenged by concerns for the unsustainability of expanding material wealth. Sustainability thus requires the expansions of welfare considerations to include the limits posed by the biophysical world within which all economic activity takes place. This paper pursues the question how the concept of ethics generally accepted and operative in mainline economics influences our understanding of sustainability. The question pursued is whether this concept of ethics can lead to sustainability or whether other ethical concepts are necessary to achieve a more compatible relationship between economic activity and sustainability? To pursue this question three ethical concepts are discussed: utilitarian ethic, discursive ethic, and the ethic of care. In each case the question is raised whether the ethical concept under consideration contributes to or undermines sustainability. The conclusion reached in this paper is that a utilitarian ethic leads to a perception of the links between economic activity and environmental context which is not likely to yield sustainable outcomes beyond an economically defined notion of sustainability. Discursive ethic and ethic of care have important contributions to make to redefining concept and implementation of broader sustainability goals.
... W. Hediger, Reconciling "weak" and "strong" sustainability, International Journal of Social Economics 26/ 7-9 (1999), s. 1120-1143. 18 today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs 20 . This interpretation is commonly identified with the concept of sustainability 21 . ...
... It is believed, however, that the culture emphasizes these elements, and they are rather the expression of it" 25 . 20 Zob. J. Eppel, Sustainable development and environment: a renewed effort in the OECD, "Environment, Development and Sustainability" 1 (1999), s. 41-53. ...
... This article approaches the human dimension of the complex problem of sustainability by considering both psychological and behavioral perspectives (e.g., Grant, 2010;Kola-Olusanya, 2008 and ethical perspectives (e.g., Betts, 2009;Marden & Mercer, 2005;Newton, 2002;O'Hara, 1998;Shearman, 1990). Sustainability and ethics have an almost intuitive relationship (Betts, 2009). ...
... O'Hara posits that sustainability is an ethical issue because it relates not only to how human beings affect each other, but also to how humans affect non-humans. In other words, harm to the environment can cause damage and be unethical even if no individual human being is ever directly impacted (O'Hara, 1998). ...
Purpose. Can games provide a holistic understanding of the ethical decision-making process related to sustainability and environmental management?
Method. Thirty participants, 18 to 34 years old, were recruited. Twenty were then randomly assigned to play a popular role-playing game, which raises an issue of whether to drain or preserve a virtual lake. Ten participants were assigned to a control condition, which involved a written version of the lake dilemma. Using a researcher-developed coding scheme, this study compared the ethical thinking skills and thought processes used to approach the lake scenario.
Findings.Control condition participants more frequently chose to drain the lake than game condition participants. The top-ranked thought processes used by the control condition participants were reasoning-related only, whereas the top-ranked thought processes used by the game condition participants were both reasoning- and empathy-related, which may have related to their greater likelihood to preserve the lake. While, most game participants chose to preserve the lake (75%), game participants chose the “negative” choice in this scenario more often than any other (non-sustainability related) scenario provided in the game.
Implications. This study helps us to understand how people think through sustainability-related scenarios, and how to use games for policy making and education.
... Like sustainability, ICT policy is an intricate interdisciplinary discourse. There is no one predetermined way through which an individual organisation or consortium of organisations can achieve sustainability (Daily and Huang, 2001;O'Hara, 1998). This may be attributed to the fact that sustainability itself is a result of a complex integration of many interrelated economical, social and (Barbier, 1997;O'Hara, 1998;Hediger, 1999;Clark, 1999;Spricis, 2001;and Wolters and Boer, 2002). ...
... There is no one predetermined way through which an individual organisation or consortium of organisations can achieve sustainability (Daily and Huang, 2001;O'Hara, 1998). This may be attributed to the fact that sustainability itself is a result of a complex integration of many interrelated economical, social and (Barbier, 1997;O'Hara, 1998;Hediger, 1999;Clark, 1999;Spricis, 2001;and Wolters and Boer, 2002). Similarly, there is no simple pro forma for a global policy that governs ICTs for sustainable development. ...
Four critical factors have been evaluated for their ranked importance and general effects on sustainable development. However, the main purpose of this paper is to quantitatively assess the criticality of ICT policy, and how related attributes affect sustainable development. One main hypothesis about the ICT policy has been tested, and the effects of the related variables and their interactions have been assessed. This research is carried out using surveys and interviews among a sustainable development community.
It has been found that ICT policy is critical for leveraging knowledge for sustainable development. However, ICT policy ranked the least important compared to the other three factors. For ICT policy to be successful in leveraging knowledge, it must be tailored to both organisation and national-specific Knowledge Management (KM) strategies. It has been found that there are no coherent frameworks for participation of community and other organisations in the international development community surveyed. The communication of indigenous knowledge into formal work, the inclusion of local content and languages, the lack of trust between organisations and the conformity with policies are found to be common problems in a international development community. Progress towards sustainable development requires a rigorous ICT policy, combined with strict regulations, to encourage Integrated Information and Communication Technologies Infrastructure (IICTI) investment, acquisition and usage.
This paper attempts to evaluate ICT policy on the mobilisation of knowledge for sustainable development purposes. It will be valuable for sustainable development decision makers to consider these findings as guidance for issues related to ICT planning and KM activities.
... The natural human urge to seek a meaning in work and the consequential search of its place in the larger scheme of existence gives birth to ethics of care in these organization. Ethics of care brings about a certain reciprocity; mutuality and relationality at the centre of ethical temperament, whilst utility and functionality-based ethics become simply a part of the whole (OÕHara, 1998). The Buddhist notion of karuna comes close to this concept. ...
... In the field of economics a shift in the dominating paradigm is visible from a purely utilitarian view to unselfish motives like compassion, sympathy, self sacrifice and care (Sen, 1987;OÕHara 1998;Calkin and Vezina, 1996). Preference for these values can often yield significant economic gains, even in utterly competitive situations, whereas those who practise their self-interest may fail in such settings (Frank, 2003in Kulshrestha, 2007. ...
The article discusses the meaning of consciousness and presents a collective consciousness view of business organizations
and their development. It proposes an integrative hierarchical framework of three levels of organizational consciousness:
material, social and spiritual. The concepts of excellence, ethical and moral temperament of organizations at different levels
of consciousness are also discussed. The article describes the features of social and spiritually conscious business organizations,
taking some examples from secondary sources. Overall, it is an attempt to link the ideals of human evolution with the potential
behaviour of business corporations.
... In economics, particularly, the integration of normative principles, such as social justice, human solidarity, compassion for the impoverished, and respect for ecological limits, is vital for understanding and achieving sustainable development. By analysing and incorporating societal values into economic models, the potential for attaining sustainability is significantly enhanced (Langhelle, 1999;O'Hara, 1998;Van, 2013). ...
This study explores the pivotal role of theories of economics in shaping the multifaceted concept of sustainable development and integrates economic, social, and environmental dimensions. It traces the intellectual trajectory of classical, neoclassical, and contemporary economic paradigms, analysing their contributions to sustainability-oriented policies and practices. The study critically analyses key concepts, including equitable income redistribution, resource stewardship, and ecological preservation. It contrasts liberal and dependency theories while also comparing insights from environmental and ecological economics. Employing a rigorous literature review and comparative analytical methodology, the study bridges the theoretical foundations with real-world applications, illustrating the dynamic interplay between theories of economics and sustainability imperatives. The findings elucidate the dichotomy between weak and strong sustainability frameworks, advocating for ethical and interdisciplinary approaches to policymaking. By offering a comprehensive synthesis of the most influential theories of economics and sustainable development practices, this study provides profound insights for policymakers, academics, and practitioners seeking to address pressing global challenges through informed and integrative strategies.
... In economics, particularly, integrating normative frameworks such as social justice, human solidarity, concern for the impoverished, and respect for ecological boundaries is crucial for comprehending and realizing sustainable development. By scrutinizing and incorporating societal values into economic frameworks, the prospects for achieving sustainable development are greatly enhanced [ (121)(122)(123)(124)]. ...
This article delves into the nuanced influence of diverse economic theories on the concept of sustainable development, spanning economic, social, and environmental dimensions with intricate complexity. It elucidates the varying perspectives on the sustainability of economic growth and the evolving ethical discourse within economics, offering valuable insights into their implications for sustainable development efforts. Through an exploration of economic development, the article investigates the dynamic interplay between international dependence and liberal theory, drawing parallels among the ideas of influential economists like Karl Marx, Adam Smith, and David Ricardo. It highlights the inherent link between economic and social spheres, particularly emphasizing income distribution's pivotal role in addressing real-world challenges and advancing sustainability objectives. Furthermore, the article delves into social development by examining Amartya Sen's capability approach, which breathes new life into classical economic concepts by emphasizing individual agency. It contrasts prevailing economic paradigms and their consequences for sustainable development. Finally, in the environmental realm, the article discusses resource and environmental economics alongside ecological economics, presenting nuanced interpretations of sustainability rooted in either neoclassical or classical theory. This comprehensive analysis provides valuable insights into the complex landscape of sustainable development, aiming to inform and guide future endeavors in this critical field.
... Ethics provides a framework to facilitate a more holistic and integrative view of sustainability [2]. Beyond that, ethics is at the core of true sustainability [3]. The close relationship of ethics with sustainability also reveals the threat of unethical behaviors to sustainability. ...
The present study examines whether there is a relationship between the ethical leadership (EL), organizational justice perception (OJP), and deviant behaviors (WDB) of customs officers working at international airports in Turkey, and aims to determine whether OJP has a mediating effect on the relationship between EL and WDB. For this purpose, the study was conducted on the 487 customs officers working at 28 airports open to international flights in Turkey. In this study, which was carried out with the quantitative method, the obtained data were analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that EL had a direct and significant effect on OJP. On the other hand, OJP had a negative direct, and significant effect on deviant workplace behaviors. Moreover, there was no direct and consequential effect of EL on WDB. In addition, EL indirectly affected WDB through OJP, and the OJP had a full mediation effect between these two variables. The findings were interpreted by using social exchange theory. This study develops our understanding of the organization-level antecedents of WDB and mediating role of OJP as the social mechanism of EL. In the Conclusion section of the study, some theoretical conclusions are discussed, and recommendations are offered for customs managers.
... These aspects, acknowledged in particular by feminist scholars, point to the suitability of the ethic of care for addressing sustainability challenges. The role of connections and interdependence has the potential to make the oft-devalued worlds of some stakeholders, such as minority groups and nature, more visible, to critically evaluate hierarchies and, crucially, to transform our sense of awareness and responsibility into action (Becker, 2011;Ehrenfeld & Hoffman, 2013;O'Hara, 1998). Moriggi et al. (2020) refer to the ethic of care in relation to deep leverage points for sustainable transformations and propose it as a useful perspective to reconsider research practice. ...
The urgent need for radical changes towards sustainability provides an opportunity to reconsider the epistemology and methodology of tourism research. The present study discusses this opportunity by adopting the concept of deep leverage points for sustainable transformations and an ethic of care perspective. The discussion highlights the vital role that a deep form of reflexivity plays in care-based tourism research that aims at sustainable transformations. This reflexivity is identified as the core component of a conceptual model that is developed to illustrate the crucial aspects of a type of scholarly engagement that, in accord with feminist scholarship, is termed care-full academic activism. These aspects concern attentiveness and responsiveness, which relate to interconnectedness, and imagination and critical thinking, which relate to transformational agency. The present study emphasizes the communalities between the concept of sustainable transformation and the ethic of care. It provides a holistic and innovative view of care-based sustainability research and a practical guide for scholars.
... The ethics of care address the entrenched assumptions in which our notion of moral decision-making rests. Ethical relationships of care are defined by attention and flexibility in relationships that challenge accepted hierarchies, competence and dependency (O'Hara 1998). ...
Public policies have required public agencies to adopt sustainable public procurement. It is necessary to understand the importance of the requirement for sustainable purchases to happen. Thus, this study aims to examine the main difficulties in adopting SPP at a public university in Brazil. To that end, research on the topic was carried out based on critical theory using qualitative methodology through a case study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three groups selected intentionally: requesters, purchasers and suppliers. Aspects related to the understanding of sustainability, SPP and the relationship between ethics and sustainability were analysed. The study revealed that the interviewees understand that ethics is directly related to the practice of sustainability, but it is a difficult issue because of its historical roots and changes in paradigms. Due to the complexity of the SPP theme, one of the main implementation difficulties mentioned by the interviewees was the lack of training. For suppliers, the understanding of sustainability was already consolidated, but it required agreement between being sustainable and economically viable for the company. Thus, this work sought to expose how those involved in SPP understood, refuted or validated sustainability issues in government procurement. Previous studies revealed the difficulties and conceptions of buyers, but we did not find research that investigated requesters and suppliers. It is hoped that this information will serve actions in favour of sustainable production and consumption and as a basis for other studies on sustainable public procurement.
... In the same vein, the paradigm of ethics of care entails 'care' as the essence of moral reasoning, and focuses on active relationships with and caring for others to enhance their well-being (Gabriel 2015;Noddings 2013). Consequently, altruism aligns with this natural 'other-focused' view of the ethics of care, which emphasizes connectedness and interdependence based on vitalizing and life-sustaining relationships (O'Hara 1998;Pandey and Gupta 2008). ...
Broader outlook, ethics, and social responsibility have been long-standing concerns in business practices and management. In this regard, an effective management education would play a pivotal role in instilling an ethical grounding among management students, who represent the future management practitioners. Therefore, going beyond the self-oriented perspective and promoting altruistic behavior among them would be significant in establishing broader, socially responsible considerations in organizations. However, little research has investigated how to increase altruistic behavior. To address this need, we propose that Yoga-based practices (YBP) can build-up altruistic behavior by enhancing subjective vitality (SV), self-transcendence (ST), and psychological capital (PsyCap). We report two studies to test this hypothesis. In Study 1, a survey-based study (n = 342), we examine the impact of SV and ST on altruistic behavior mediated by PsyCap. The results from structural equation modeling supported the hypothesized model. In study 2, we examine the impact of YBP on SV and ST using longitudinal randomized controlled experiment design (n = 109). The findings of study 2 suggest that YBP enhanced both SV and ST and that YBP are effective, efficient, and sustainable training tools for building altruistic behavior among management students. We discuss the significance and implications of these findings for organizations, management education, and leadership development. We consider the limitations of our study and suggest directions for future research.
... In the same vein, the paradigm of ethics of care entails 'care' as the essence of moral reasoning, and focuses on active relationships with and caring for others to enhance their well-being (Gabriel 2015;Noddings 2013). Consequently, altruism aligns with this natural 'other-focused' view of the ethics of care, which emphasizes connectedness and interdependence based on vitalizing and life-sustaining relationships (O'Hara 1998;Pandey and Gupta 2008). ...
... It is rather clear that light green ethics operates from a self-interested perspective where concern for the environment is limited and exploitation of resources is permitted to a certain degree. Encroaching on nature is mostly fueled by consumerism -the notion that human wellbeing is achieved by greater wealth and increased levels of consumption (O'Hara, 1998). The anthropocentric view is also supported in traditional religious thought. ...
The natural environment is a central issue in both academic and wider societal discourse. The global sport industry is not immune from this discussion and has to confront its responsibility to reduce its impact on the natural environment. This book goes further than any other in surveying both the challenges and the opportunities presented to the sports industry as it engages with the sustainability agenda, exploring the various ways in which sport scholars can integrate sustainability into their research. With a multi-disciplinary sweep, including management, sociology, law, events, and ethics, this is a ground-breaking book in the study of sport.
Drawing on cutting edge research, it includes over thirty chapters covering all the most important themes in contemporary sport studies such as:
- climate change, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility
- ethics, governance, and the law
- event management, tourism, and pollution
- marketing, branding, and consumer behavior
- the Olympics, urban development, and mega-event legacies.
With contributions from world-leading researchers and practitioners from around the globe, this is the most comprehensive book ever published on sport and the environment.
... There are many ways conflicts exist between economic and development ambitions against environmental requirements. The utilitarianism, both as a theory of personal morality and as theory of public choice has been most influential in economics [6]. The utilitarianism is a branch of the theory of normative ethics of behavior (the study of right and wrong) which states that an action is right if and only if its consequences are optimal, i.e., it produces the best balance of goodness over badness for everyone involved. ...
A survey at five public universities in the Peninsular Malaysia has been conducted to get a clearer statistics of students' understanding of engineering ethics, technological advancement and safety. Ethical issues, sometimes rampant, occur in the public and private sectors as well as in the society, these have caused poverty in the long run and to some extent the environment. The survey has been conducted over a period of almost one year with the respondents being the third and fourth year engineering and other technical equivalent students. Very significant number of participants i.e. 92.1% indicated their agreements that there exist ethical issues in the country and there are tremendous rooms for improvement. 89.0% respondents indicated that our ambitions towards a developed nation is possible if engineers and technical expertise in the government and private sectors embrace ethics awareness in their dealings. Responses of similar magnitudes also reveal that a lot of man-made accidents and disasters are avoidable i.e. if ethical awareness are put into actions.
... This QSOT view does not "fit" with the contemporary business narrative and its socioeconomic structures; for example, Grant (2013) describes how business students tend to rate "compassion" highly as a personal value, but very low as a value taught in business school. However, QSOT's emphasis on the importance of sharing and cooperation is consistent with research examining ancient economies and contemporary hunting-gathering societies (e.g., Sahlins, 1972), and is aligned with the literature in relationality (e.g., O'Hara, 1998), virtue ethics, Ubuntu, and other perspectives that tend to start from the community as the primary unit of analysis, and secondarily seek to understand what it means to be a "person" within that larger community. For example, virtue ethics suggest that happiness (eudaemonia) is found in community (Aristotle, 1999). ...
We draw on quantum physics ideas of “entanglement” and “indeterminism” to introduce and develop “Quantum Sustainable Organizing Theory” (QSOT). Quantum entanglement points to the interconnectedness of matter in ways that defy Newtonian physics and commonsense assumptions that underlay conventional organizing theory. Quantum indeterminism suggests that uncertainty is an inherent feature of reality and not simply a lack of information that impedes rational decision making. Taken together, these quantum ideas challenge the assumptions of conventional organizational theorizing about the boundaries between a firm and its natural and social environment, the importance of self-interested individualism and (sociomaterial) financial measures of performance, the emphasis on competitiveness, and the hallmarks of rational theory and practice. We discuss implications for sustainable organizing in particular and for organization theory more generally.
... In the recent years there is an increasing effort to also integrate social issues into corporate sustainability management (e.g. Gladwin et al., 1995b;O'Hara, 1998). In this context sustainability management is often quite closely related to concepts like corporate social performance (e.g. ...
Abstract We present the results of an online survey on the state of corporate sustainability in German companies. The survey focused on the meaning,and relevance of sustainability to German companies, the motivations behind their commitment to sustainability, and on the use of different management,tools toimplement,sustainability in corporate practice. Although the majority of the companies,declaredthat sustainability plays an important role our analysis reveals considerable differences between,these companies' approaches to corporate sustainability. A cluster analysis enables us to distinguish between three significantly distinct types of approaches to corporate sustainabilityamong,the
... These tools range from environmental accounting (see, e.g., Gray, 1992;Schaltegger and Burritt, 2000) and life-cycle assessment (LCA) (see, e.g., Heijungs et al., 1992) over environmental reporting (see, e.g., Bennett and James, 1999) to sustainable product design (see, e.g., Ehrenfeld, 1997;Maxwell and van der Vorst, 2003) and green marketing (see, e.g., Belz, 2001). In recent years there has been an increasing effort to also integrate social issues into corporate sustainability management (see, e.g., Gladwin et al., 1995b;O'Hara, 1998). In this context sustainability management is often quite closely related to concepts such as corporate social performance (see, e.g., Clarkson, 1995) and corporate social responsibility (see, e.g., Carroll, 1999;Holme and Watts, 2000). ...
In this article we present the results of an online survey on the state of corporate sustainability in German companies. The survey focused on the meaning and relevance of sustainability to German companies, the motivations behind their commitment to sustainability and the use of different management tools to implement sustainability in corporate practice. Although the majority of the companies declared that sustainability plays an important role, our analysis reveals considerable differences between these companies' approaches to corporate sustainability. A cluster analysis enables us to distinguish between three significantly distinct types of approach to corporate sustainability among the respondents: sustainability leaders, environmentalists and traditionalists. These three types are characterized and discussed against previous research. The results suggest that there are substantial differences with regard to the motivation for and the implementation of corporate sustainability that are covered behind the corporate rhetoric of a high commitment to sustainability. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
... From this perspective all kinds of capital can be substituted, which has often been criticised (e.g. Funtowicz and Ravetz, 1994; O'Hara, 1998; Rees and Wackernagel, 1999; Røpke, 1999). Sustainable Value Added 2 is based on opportunity costs and a model with three actors. ...
This paper proposes a new approach to measure corporate contributions to sustainability called Sustainable Value Added. Value is created whenever benefits exceed costs. Current approaches to measure corporate sustainable performance take into account external costs caused by environmental and social damage or focus on the ratio between value creation and resource consumption. As this paper will show it is more promising to develop sustainable measures based on opportunity costs. Sustainable Value Added is such a measure. It shows how much more value is created because a company is more efficient than a benchmark and because the resources are allocated to the company and not to benchmark companies. The concept of strong sustainability requires that each form of capital is kept constant. As Sustainable Value Added is inspired by strong sustainability, it measures whether a company creates extra value while ensuring that every environmental and social impact is in total constant. Therefore, it takes into account both, corporate eco- and social efficiency as well as the absolute level of environmental and social resource consumption (eco- and social effectiveness). As a result, Sustainable Value Added considers simultaneously economic, environmental and social aspects. The overall result can be expressed in any of the three dimensions of sustainability.
The maritime industry holds significant importance in facilitating international trade and contributing to the overall well-being of societies. Maritime activities encompass significant ecological and social results, in addition to their economic value. For instance, carbon emissions from maritime transportation remain a significant challenge, necessitating the implementation of various strategies and technologies to mitigate the issue. Nevertheless, the concept of maritime sustainability encompasses various complex aspects that have significant social and environmental implications. There are ongoing conflicts concerning the sharing of ocean resources among various maritime stakeholders. One additional concern pertains to the environmental inequality that exists between high-income and low-income countries in terms of ship recycling and demolition. Herewith, this chapter considers the various facets of sustainability in the maritime industry, including a recent term of blue economy, where sustainable economics intertwines with ecological well-being. Extensive discussion is also provided on contemporary technological and systems approaches aimed at mitigating the detrimental environmental effects of maritime operations. By interweaving ethnoeconomics and the welfare of coastal communities, this chapter also provides an in-depth discussion on recent issues such as ethical consumerism of maritime resources and environmental injustice.
The contemporary macroeconomic mainstream has faced substantial scrutiny, particularly from economists with more heterodox perspectives. They argue that its assertion of modern economies operating smoothly along an intertemporal equilibrium path lacks alignment with real-world circumstances. Historical evidence shows that such harmony is rarely the norm. However, the conventional viewpoint is open to diverse criticisms. Is it possible for the field of economics to evade its inherent ethical and moral dimensions? Within macroeconomics, there appears to be an absence of ethical grounding. This article addresses this question.
The 11th Street Bridge Park is an ambitious project that will connect Washington DC Wards 6 and 8 by replacing a retired bridge across the Anacostia River. The new 11th Street Bridge will be the city's first elevated public park built on the piers of the old bridge. The Bridge Park will feature local food, recreation, health, and the arts. The UDC College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability, and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES) is a key partner in the project and has worked with community groups to anchor the bridge park through community gardens, food production workshops, and nutrition classes. Over 200 raised bed gardens have been built, and Ward 6 and 8 residents have learned to grow and prepare food. While the Bridge Park builds a physical bridge, the community work of CAUSES brings the social and cultural aspects of the project into focus. This chapter describes the transformative work of empowering urban residents to grow food and to use their local expertise in collaboration with CAUSES land-grant specialists to improve their economic condition and adopt healthier lifestyles.
The various sustainable development measures of Estonia are discussed. The high carbon dioxide emission per capita caused by oil shale industry and energy production were the key-factor for unsustainability of Estonia. It is stated that good preconditions for ethical considerations for sustainability exists in Estonia. It is stated that following the suggested measures would increase the savings, ecological footprint would decrease and ecological deficit would be positive.
Despite the proliferation of CSR related research in management literature, the numerous nuances of this multidisciplinary concept continue to pose challenges for a clear conceptualization. Moreover, the majority of academic CSR research focuses on evidences from developed countries, largely overlooking the cues from developing economies. Therefore, the addition of CSR viewpoints from an emerging economy can contribute invaluable insights to the growing body of scholarly work in this realm. This paper addresses this research gap by exploring CSR from an Indian perspective. Based on the Indian pharmaceutical industry, four case studies are complemented with 40 supplementary interviews with top management personnel within the industry. The results clearly suggest that the Indian perspective and practice of CSR differ significantly from the West. Three essential elements of the Western conceptualization of CSR - stakeholder pressure, environmental concerns and integration into core business are absent in India. Instead, the Indian CSR perceptions and practices seem to stem from the Gandhi's social trusteeship ideology, which perceives businesses as social development agents. The companies primarily focus their CSR activities on their employees, followed by the employees' families and the community. This finding adds to the debate of CSR conceptualization by highlighting the influence of the local context. This paper argues that the cultural heritage of corporate philanthropy and the current economic needs of social advancement shape the CSR practices in India. It thus calls for sensitivity to CSR's contextual idiosyncrasies, and opines against undifferentiated application of Western CSR concepts that ignore the local cultural context.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to describe a transformative business sustainability (TBS) model of stakeholders and sources in sustainable business practices with an interface and exchange node of resource residuals.
Design/methodology/approach
– The research is based upon a grounded methodology drawn from four in-depth case studies, spanning over six years in different countries and industries. Data were gathered from multiple sources, and interview transcriptions were returned to interviewees for clarification, accuracy, final proofreading and approval.
Findings
– The TBS model complements existing research by emphasising the importance of commitment to an overarching vision through corporate leadership assigning areas of strategic priority that respond to current and future environmental regulation and social needs.
Research implications/limitations
– Efforts aimed towards business sustainability and application of sustainable business practices in business networks include interfaces and interactions between involved stakeholders and sources. We argue that stakeholders and sources should be recognised as intertwined, where resources used in activities in a business network causing resource residuals may be recovered and reused by other actors in the business network.
Practice implications
– The TBS model can be used by managers to plan, implement and assess practices to provide a holistic view of sustainable business activities that supports the development of a company and its network. It may also be used to map and navigate interactions between elements within and external to the company.
Originality/value
– The principal contribution of the current research is twofold, a TBS model and a tool to map and navigate corporate sustainability efforts.
This article explores the implicit and explicit conceptions of the relationship between business, society, and nature that are evident in the management literature. The authors derive three conceptions, termed the disparate, intertwined, and embedded views, and consider how they relate to the economic, social, and environmental challenges of our time. It is argued that an embedded view is best able to help us address these challenges, as it infers a holarchical (or holistically hierarchical) perspective of the business— society—nature interface: the notion that the business, societal, and biospheric systems are not only interrelated but that they are most realistically (and therefore most usefully) viewed as nested systems. The embedded view highlights systemic limits and the dependency of society and economy on nature, and it thus provides a logical value ordering to these domains. The authors conclude by discussing the research implications of an embedded view.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the concept of “transformative business sustainability”. “Business sustainability” refers the total effort of a company – including its demand and supply chain network – to reduce the impact on the Earth's life‐ and eco‐systems –, i.e. the total e‐footprint. “Transformative” highlights the need for an open minded, dynamic and flexible approach to “business sustainability” not governed by blinkers.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper discusses a conceptual development of transformative business sustainability, derived from a frame of reference. The essence is the introduction of a multi‐layer model of units (i.e. different businesses or other stakeholders), a network of e‐footprint sources and a “recovery pool and redistribution buffer” at the interface.
Findings
Transformative business sustainability is both a theoretical and managerial concept. It could also be seen as a roadmap to plan, implement and evaluate business sustainability.
Research limitations/implications
Transformative business sustainability provides opportunities for development. Suggestions for further research are presented.
Practical implications
E‐footprint sources in business, applying an Earth‐to‐Earth approach, are described. The concept of transformative business sustainability contributes by achieving genuine and continuous business sustainability and awareness at strategic, tactical and operative levels of business, avoiding use of buzzwords and window dressing.
Originality/value
Well‐being of the planet Earth has to be at the core of business sustainability. The authors contend that the “recovery pool and redistribution buffer” is crucial in the planning, implementation and evaluation of transformative business sustainability.
Against a background of an increasingcommitment to the environmentby government and industry, the impact of “care for the environment” in the hospitality management curriculum is explored. Hospitality educators have the opportunity to expose students to environmental concepts, issues and techniques within a vocational context. Corporate responsibility is a prerequisiteto sustainable policy development. If hospitality management education can deliver students with the skills and motivation to be environmentally proactive they will be effective change agents and ensure the hospitality industry works for the “sustainable vision”. A survey of final year students reveals that their attitudes and actions are influenced positively by their learning experience and that the hospitality curriculum can be a positive force for change.
We suggest that both our social problems and the ineffectiveness of the instituions constructed to deal with them have a common source: dualistic thinking. We further suggest that this problem severely handicaps current approaches to the reform of the modern organizations, including corporations. More specifically, we argue that dualism is a fundamental flaw of both the organizational transformation approach and the labor-managed firm approach to corporate reform. Finally, we argue that the solution to overcomeing the problem of dualism lies in the discovery of new communication processes. We suggest that one such process that shows great prmise is David Bohm's dialogue.
Over the past few decades a new associationism and cooperativism perspective that takes on a broader, civil-society and solidarity-based view of the economy has developed in France. This perspective resonates with the long tradition of “reform-economics” that France is known for and expresses an understanding of economic relationships as embedded in non-market and non-monetary social relationships. Such broadly understood conceptions of economic activity defy narrow definitions of profit orientation, production and distribution. Economic activity motives include social and political ones that link 'civil entrepreneurs' in solidarity networks to service recipients and other stakeholders. One of the functional foundations of this new interdependent notion of the economy is the growing 'tertiarization' of economic activities, that is the “intensification of social interactions within productive systems” (Perret and Roustang 1993: 59 - 60). While the market economy is dependent on the non-monetary economy, the tertiarisation of production activities accentuates the interdependence between the market economy and non-market economies. This article seeks to analyze the links between the re-emergence of a civil and solidarity-based economy to the evolution of new forms of public commitment and the changing structures of productive activities in France. It further argues for a theoretical perspective that provides an analytical framework for a more comprehensive approach to the empirical complexity of social economic considerations consisting of three economic spheres: the for-profit economy, the public sector economy and the generally locally based non-monetary reciprocity based economy. Given its ability to link these three poles the civil and solidarity-based economy can revitalize social and political link and consolidate the social fabric while at the same time creating jobs. Yet despite this potential, its mission cannot be to the problems of unemployment and other failures of the market economy. It is instead to facilitate relationships between paid and volunteer work in a context that makes users, workers and volunteers the participants in collectively designed services and economic relationships.
In this paper I argue that the criterion of valuation in neoclassical economics is flawed because it is not an invariant measure of value. It is invariant only when unrealistically restrictive conditions are imposed on the class of admissible utility functions, which in fact makes it a special case. The only sensible alternative is to turn to classical value theory based on real sacrifices or opportunity costs.
This introductory chapter: 1) Summarizes the state and goals of the emerging transdisciplinary field of ecological economics, particularly as regards issues of sustainabilit y; 2) provides a working agenda for research, education and policy for the coming decade to ensure sustainability; 3) provides some policy guidelines and recommendations for achieving these goals.
The loss of bio-diversity has received increasing attention as one
of the most serious environmental threats we face. Yet not only
biodiversity is being lost at staggering rates, socio-diversity is being
lost as well. Sociodiversity is defined as the various social and
economic arrangements by which people organize their societies,
particularly the underlying assumptions, goals, values and social
behaviours guiding these arrangements. Just as the loss of bio-diversity
has focused attention on the interface between human socio-economic and
ecological systems, so too can the interaction between these systems
give us insights into the reasons for the loss of diversity in
socio-economic systems. Examines the assumptions and valuation concepts
underlying economic theory and the ways in which mainline economic
theory contributes to the loss of socio-economic diversity. The analysis
draws on ecologically relevant concepts and proposes that the base for
economic theory and valuation be expanded to include five categories
identified as relevant to sustain bio-diversity. These are: context,
participation, place, limits and temporality. These categories point to
the need to expand, diversify and make concrete economic theory and
methodology.
Discursive ethics has its origin in the Frankfurt School of critical theory. As an applied ethic it is also associated with practical philosophy. In this paper discursive ethics is discussed as a conceptual and practical framework for ecosystems valuation and environmental policy. The discussion focuses on three main strengths of discursive ethics: (1) it offers an integrated process for ecosystems valuation; (2) it offers a decision-making framework for responding to uncertainty and risk and the reality of action-in-indeterminacy; (3) it offers a process for deconstructing common valuation concepts and identifying conditions for their critical reconstruction. The theoretical discussion is followed by a case study example which illustrates the usefulness of discursive ethics in identifying valuation biases hidden behind disciplinary assumptions and conceptual norms. These include cultural norms of rationality, information biases which consider “hard facts” over “soft values”, and disciplinary valuation biases which distinguish between “hard” and “soft” expert contributions. As the case study illustrates, a successful application of discursive ethics in ecosystems valuation and environmental policy demands sensitivity to such underlying biases. Beyond its policy relevance discursive ethics may also offer a framework for an extended peer discourse through which new foci in research and education can be identified.
This fully updated and comprehensively revised edition of a classic text concentrates on the economics of conserving the living environment. It begins by covering the ethical foundations and basic economic paradigms’ essential for understanding and assessing ecological economics. General strategies for global environmental conservation, policies for government intervention, developing countries, preserving wildlife and biodiversity, open-access to and common property in natural resources, conservation of natural areas, forestry, agriculture and the environment, tourism, sustainable development and demographic change are also all covered.
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Photographs of the earth taken from space have had an unexpectedly significant and yet contradictory influence upon the development of "global consciousness'. The image of the world as a small, discrete, living organism has led to "new age' and Gaia-based philosophies which view humanity as one strand in the web of nature. Yet the global image also distances humans from the earth, enabling a new role for the human race - that of observer manager and planner of the "Blue Planet'. -Author
This book examines the implications of neoclassical economic theory and how it relates to the environment and environmental activity. It addresses the ongoing conflict between market forces and environmental integrity and explains how neoclassical economic theory views the relationship between economic activity and the natural world. Each chapter outlines the concepts of economic theory and the relevance of its environmental and policy implications. It focuses on both micro and macro-economics. Policy tools such as price and income elasticities, consumer surplus and methods for measuring the economic value of environmental resources are discussed. A case study which examines a range of policy options is presented. Examples are also given throughout the text to illustrate region and international policy questions.
Science always evolves, responding to its leading challenges as they change through history. After centuries of triumph and
optimism, science is now called on to remedy the pathologies of the global industrial system of which it forms the basis.
Whereas science was previously understood as steadily advancing in the certainty of our knowledge and control of the natural
world, now science is seen as coping with many uncertainties in policy issues of risks and the environment. In response, new
styles of scientific activity are being developed. The reductionist, analytical world-view which divides systems into ever
smaller elements, studied by ever more esoteric specialties, is being replaced by a systemic, synthetic and humanistic approach.
The old dichotomies of facts and values, and of knowledge and ignorance, are being transcended. Natural systems are recognized
as dynamic and complex; those involving interactions with humanity are “emergent,” including properties of reflection and
contradiction. The science appropriate to this new condition will be based on the assumptions of unpredictability, incomplete
control, and a plurality of legitimate perspectives.
With federal agencies required to conduct benefit-cost analyses for each new major regulation, analyses of water quality changes are likely to be an increasingly important part of the policymaking process. A revised version of the travel cost demand model and illustrations show the importance of these revisions for the model's estimates. Although the magnitude of the difference in benefit estimates between the original and new versions of the model varies with the specific recreation site selected, the findings indicate that the original model generally implied estimated benefits from three to over 30 times as large as the revised model. This implies that judgment can play an important role in the definition and use of economic models, as well as the need for better information on households' recreation decisions and more complete description of recreation site characteristics. 15 references, 4 tables.
Au-dela de la distinction entre liberte positive et liberte negative, l'A. propose une definition feministe de la liberte qui rend compte de l'experience materielle et historique des femmes. Rejetant la theorie sexiste de la liberte, l'A. denonce la contexte patriarcal du constructivisme social qui rend impossible toute auto-definition des femmes
I will begin by stating three theses which I present in this paper. The first is that it is not profitable for us at present to do moral philosophy; that should be laid aside at any rate until we have an adequate philosophy of psychology, in which we are conspicuously lacking. The second is that the concepts of obligation, and duty—moral obligation and moral duty, that is to say—and of what is morally right and wrong, and of the moral sense of “ought,” ought to be jettisoned if this is psychologically possible; because they are survivals, or derivatives from survivals, from an earlier conception of ethics which no longer generally survives, and are only harmful without it. My third thesis is that the differences between the wellknown English writers on moral philosophy from Sidgwick to the present day are of little importance.
Production is commonly described as the root of wealth creation, growth and progress. Mainline production theory ascribes this wealth generating ability to a limited number of inputs transformed into equally narrowly defined goods and services. Output which is not part of the official economy's market exchange, or inputs not employed in their production process remain external and unaccounted for. Many of these unaccounted for goods and inputs are provided in households, gardens, subsistence production, or ecological and biophysical systems through the ‘free’ services of women or nature. Thus an alternative view of production is suggested, one which views production itself as linked to the social and bio-physical contexts within which it takes place. This context first makes the generation of input streams, the receiving of output streams and the processing of inputs by means of fund factors (Georgescu-Roegen) possible. As production is contextualized it becomes evident that processes which sustain input generation, waste absorption and material transformation are critical to the production process. These are referred to as sustaining services. A sustaining production process is one which maintains sustaining services instead of destroying them. It is further argued that steps toward the implementation of a sustaining production concept require a move from abstraction to material concreteness. Three areas of concreteness are discussed as moving from solely monetary to physical valuation criteria, moving from methodological homogeneity to diversity, and moving from a mystified and distanced decision making process about quantity and quality of production to one of informed, participatory discourse.
This is the first book to examine the central tenets of economics from a feminist point of view. In these original essays, the authors suggest that the discipline of economics could be improved by freeing itself from masculine biases. Beyond Economic Man raises questions about the discipline not because economics is too objective but because it is not objective enough. The contributorsânine economists, a sociologist, and a philosopherâdiscuss the extent to which gender has influenced both the range of subjects economists have studied and the way in which scholars have conducted their studies. They investigate, for example, how masculine concerns underlie economists' concentration on market as opposed to household activities and their emphasis on individual choice to the exclusion of social constraints on choice. This focus on masculine interests, the contributors contend, has biased the definition and boundaries of the discipline, its central assumptions, and its preferred rhetoric and methods. However, the aim of this book is not to reject current economic practices, but to broaden them, permitting a fuller understanding of economic phenomena. These essays examine current economic practices in the light of a feminist understanding of gender differences as socially constructed rather than based on essential male and female characteristics. The authors use this concept of gender, along with feminist readings of rhetoric and the history of science, as well as postmodernist theory and personal experience as economists, to analyze the boundaries, assumptions, and methods of neoclassical, socialist, and institutionalist economics. The contributors are Rebecca M. Blank, Paula England, Marianne A. Ferber, Nancy Folbre, Ann L. Jennings, Helen E. Longino, Donald N. McCloskey, Julie A. Nelson, Robert M. Solow, Diana Strassmann, and Rhonda M. Williams.
Interdisziplinarität ist eine oft postulierte, aber selten praktizierte Wissenschaftsform. Für eine moderne Wirtschaftsethik ist sie konstitutiv, kommt es doch zur Überwindung des symptomatischen "Nicht-Verhältnisses" (Mittelstrass) von Ethik und reiner Ökonomik gerade auf eine methodische Vermittlung der disziplinären Welt der ökonomischen Sachrationalität mit der so ganz anderen philosophischen Denkwelt der ethisch-praktischen Vernunft an. Diese konstitutive Problemstellung wird zunächst verfehlt von Ansätzen der Wirtschaftsethik, die sich damit begnügen, Moralität bloss als ein äusserliches Korrektiv der ökonomischen Sachlogik aufzufassen und normativ zu fordern, ohne sich auf das immanente Ethos der ökonomischen Rationalität einzulassen. Sie wird ebenso verfehlt von Ansätzen einer "rein" ökonomischen Theorie der Moral, die nur deren ökonomische Funktionalität (Nützlichkeit) analysieren, sich jedoch auf keinerlei normative Verbindlichkeiten einlassen wollen. Der im vorliegenden Beitrag vorgeschlagene integrative Ansatz von Wirtschaftsethik lässt sich durchaus auf die ökonomische Sachlogik ein, dies jedoch in grundlagenkritischer Weise. Drei systematische Grenzen oder Defizite rein ökonomischer Ansätze der Wirtschaftsethik werden sorgfältig herausgearbeitet: ihre "deontologische Lücke", die fehlende kritische Reflexion empirischer Präferenzen (methodologischer Individualismus) und der fehlende Blick für die nicht-systemischen Voraussetzungen vernünftigen Wirtschaftens (Konfusion von strategischer und kommunikativer Rationalität). Diese drei Momente - ein unverzichtbares deontologisches Minimalethos, die kritische Reflexion individueller Präferenzen und die Wiedereinbettung des ökonomischen Systems in lebensweltliche Rationalitätsmuster einer freiheitlich-demokratischen Gesellschaft - konstituieren zugleich die normativen Voraussetzungen einer ethisch gehaltvollen, zeitgemässen Leitidee vernünftigen Wirtschaftens. Zum Schluss wird diskutiert, wie weit sich unter den strukturellen Bedingungen einer modernen Gesellschaft ökonomische Rationalität und Ethik überhaupt vermitteln lassen (integrativer Ansatz von Wirtschaftsethik). Dabei wird ein differenzierter Standpunkt eingenommen, der einem relativ autonomen ökonomischen System Raum lässt, die Kriterien seiner Funktionsrationalität jedoch in einer umfassenderen sozialökonomischen Rationalitätsidee aufhebt: Es geht in der Wirtschaftsethik um die Begründung einer neuen, ethikbewussten ökonomischen Sachlichkeit. Direkt bestellbar auf der Website des Instituts für Wirtschaftsethik: www.iwe.unisg.ch unter "Schriften". Der Beitrag ist auch als Sammelbandbeitrag verfügbar unter dem Titel "Wirtschaftsethik auf der Suche nach der verlorenen ökonomischen Vernunft", in: Ulrich, P. (Hrsg.): Auf der Suche nach einer modernen Wirtschaftsethik. Lernschritte zu einer reflexiven Ökonomie. St. Galler Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsethik Bd. 4, Bern/Stuttgart/Wien: Haupt 1990, S. 179-226.
Der vorliegende Beitrag plädiert für eine neue Sichtweise auf die Ökonomie: Ökonomie wird bestimmt als Raum sozialen Handelns. Das gestaltende Veränderungspotential der Menschen basiert dabei auf lebensweltlichen Elementen, vor allem auf der in ihrer Lebenswelt erlernten Art des kommunikativen Handelns. Im Gegensatz zur traditionellen Ökonomik, die ökonomisches Handeln ausschliesslich als erfolgsorientiert versteht, wird hier die dem kommunikativen Handeln immanente Verständigungsorientierung in den ökonomischen Handlungsraum hereingeholt. Auf dieser theoretischen Grundlage geht der Beitrag der Frage nach, ob es in der Ökonomie einen "systematischen Ort" der Gestaltungsmöglichkeit durch die handelnden Menschen selbst gibt und wo er auszumachen ist. Der Beitrag findet diesen "systematischen Ort" in den ökonomischen Institutionen, insbesondere in den ihnen zeitlich vorgelagerten "sozialen Netzwerken" (Granovetter), die, im Sinne von Habermas, "diskurstheoretisch entziffert" werden, d. h. als soziale Handlungszusammenhänge verstanden werden, in denen bessere Kommunikationsvoraussetzungen bestehen als in den schon verfestigten Institutionen. In diesen sozialen Netzen steht folglich das kommunikative Handeln im Mittelpunkt. In ihnen werden auch die Handlungsgrundlagen reflektiert - diese Netze sind somit auch Entstehungsort und Ansatzpunkt einer modernen Ordnungsethik. Der Beitrag schliesst mit dem Hinweis auf praktische und wirtschaftspolitische Schlussfolgerungen sowie mit dem Gedanken, dass die hier vorgestellte neue Sichtweise von und auf Ökonomie die Modernisierung/Dynamisierung vieler ökonomischer Kategorien erfordert.
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Minnesota, 1987. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 310-323). Microfiche.
From most branches of economics the concept of cardinal utility has been eliminated as redundant since ordinal utility has been found to suffice for doing the job. Cardinal utility has been kept only in welfare economics to support the demand for a more equal income distribution. Recently, however, the concept of cardinal utility has been introduced also in the theory of choices involving risk.1
A number of recent contributions by economists have provided a clear insight into the causes of the varied forms of environmental deterioration, and have also suggested, implicitly or explicitly, policies for more efficient management of environmental as well as other resources. In this paper, the authors explore the implications of uncertainty surrounding estimates of the environmental costs of some economic activities. It is shown in particular that the existence of uncertainty will, in certain important cases, lead to a reduction in net benefits from an activity with environmental costs. In such cases the implication for an efficient control policy will generally involve some restriction of the activity.
Depending on ethical beliefs, different decisions emerge for resolving the carbon dioxide (CO²) issue. It is doubtful that an international consensus can be reached on a correct ethical criterion. Perhaps the best strategy would be to delay acceptance of either a particular set of beliefs or the existing scientific evidence and wait for more-accurate and conclusive research to emerge. If the scientific evidence is accepted as valid, and all future generations that will exist are evaluated equally, then the optimal current regulatory strategy is to restrict, as much as possible, current emissions of CO². 17 references, 2 figure, 1 table.
Diskursethik - Notizen zu einem Begruendungsprogram
- J. Habermas
Ethical theory and utilitarianism
- Hare R.M.
Gender and Knowledge. Elements of a Postmodern Feminism
- S.J. Hekman
Wirtschaftsethik in der Moderne: Zur ökonomischen Theorie der Moral
- K Homann
- I. Pries
Statistische Onderzoekingen. Methodology for the Calculation of Sustainable National Income. M44
- R Hueting
- P Bosch
- B. de Boer
Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale
- M. Mies