Hell’s Cartel: IG Farben and the Making of Hitler’s War Machine

British journalist Jeffreys (Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug) presents a compelling account of the comprehensive collaboration of Germany’s major chemical conglomerate with Adolf Hitler’s genocidal dictatorship. The fourth largest industrial concern in the world, IG Farben was a key element of German foreign policy. Its employees were well treated. Its scientists won Nobel prizes. Its administrators created an international network controlling the … [ Read more ]

The Right Thing: Conscience, Profit and Personal Responsibility in Today’s Business

The suddenly hot topic of corporate governance is further deepened in this title, a collection of columns on business ethics first published in The New York Times. The broad categories tackled here include corporate ethics, policies, hiring, bosses, privacy, “lying, cheating, and stealing,” and leading by example. The strength in this collection is the real-word examples, bolstered by interviews with people involved in an issue … [ Read more ]

Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate Managers

Robert Jackall’s Moral Mazes offers an eye-opening account of how corporate managers think the world works, and how big organizations shape moral consciousness.

Based on extensive interviews with managers at every level of two industrial firms and of a large public relations agency, Moral Mazes takes the reader inside the intricate world of the corporation. Jackall reveals a world where hard work does not necessarily … [ Read more ]

Value Shift: Why Companies Must Merge Social and Financial Imperatives to Achieve Superior Performance

Harvard Business School professor Lynn Sharp Paine had been studying corporate malfeasance long before the Enron debacle. In this book she attempts to introduce readers to an “emerging new standard of corporate performance one that encompasses both moral and financial dimensions.” Based on her researching, teaching and consulting experiences over the past 20 years, Paine has amassed an in-depth understanding of corporate values. She uses … [ Read more ]

Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet

This is a penetrating exploration of the challenge of business ethics – free of preachy prescriptions – from three of today’s most influential psychologists. The book, based on a five-year study of multiple professions, examines the kinds of changes that would probably need to occur in business management for ethics-oriented systems to take root.

The Good, the Bad, and Your Business: Choosing Right When Ethical Dilemmas Pull You Apart

Seglin (department of Writing, Literature and Publishing, Emerson College) shows managers how to navigate everyday moral business dilemmas regarding pay, hiring and firing, and other issues, using real-life examples to demonstrate the difference between a “gray area” and an outright misdeed. He discusses the line between lying and posturing, addresses the question of spying on competitors, and tells how to align personal beliefs with business … [ Read more ]