Business Ethics

Seminar on entrepreneurial ethics

During my visit to Francisco Marroquín University, I led a one-hour seminar on entrepreneurial ethics. Subtopics: * Three moral types: Carly, Tonya, and Jane. * Six questions in ethics. * Egoism, Altruism, and Predation. * Entrepreneurial ethics: entrepreneurial success and virtue. * Why hasn’t the case for liberty convinced everyone? * Entrepreneurial ethics in contrast […]

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UFM interview on business ethics

I was video-interviewed by Luis Figueroa at Francisco Marroquín University on the topic of business ethics. In the twelve-minute discussion, I respond to the following questions: * What do you think of “corporate social responsibility”? * Why do you believe business ethics should begin with entrepreneurship? * Are there differences between ethics in family and

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Review of Frey’s America’s Economic Moralists

My review essay on Donald Frey’s America’s Economic Moralists: A History of Rival Ethics and Economics (SUNY Press, 2009) is now out in Business Ethics Quarterly. Subscribers to BEQ can access the issue here. Cite: Hicks, Stephen R. C. 2012. “Review of Donald Frey’s America’s Economic Moralists: A History of Rival Ethics and Economics.” Business

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Michael Strong on Socratic teaching

I like this paragraph from Michael Strong’s The Habit of Thought: “The effort of Socratic Practice is to develop students’ own standard of intellectual judgment by means of placing the onus of responsibility for understanding entirely on them and providing them with the tools and experiences necessary to develop their intellectual judgment. ‘Does it make

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Interview with Phyllis Johnson on entrepreneurship, coffee, and empowering women in Africa

In my interview with Phyllis Johnson after her talk at Rockford College, Ms. Johnson and I discussed her entrepreneurial career as well as the challenges faced by coffee farmers in Africa–most of them low-paid women with little-to-no business education and who, in many cases, are not allowed to own farmland due to cultural, religious, or

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Interview with Alexei Marcoux on moral partiality in business

Alexei Marcoux of Loyola University Chicago spoke at Rockford College on whether ethics requires moral partiality or impartiality in business decision-making. Below is my follow-up sixteen-minute interview with Professor Marcoux. Along the way, we discuss nepotism, conflicts of interest, fiduciary obligations, John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, and contemporary business ethicist Norman Bowie. Part I: Part

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Phyllis Johnson to speak at Rockford College

Phyllis Johnson will speak on “Entrepreneurship, Coffee, and Empowering Women in Africa” to my Business and Economic Ethics class on Thursday, October 6. Johnson is the President and Co-Founder of BD Imports, a Rockford-based company known for giving starts to African women and small businesses engaged in the production and trade of coffee. Johnson is

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