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The purpose of this article is to take a look at a new paradigm that is taking shape in an increasingly‐interwoven international system – that of ethical governance.

This article uses the literature and the authors' own knowledge.

All over the world governments are relinquishing many of their hitherto‐inherent activities through deregulation, privatisation, concession, outsourcing or sheer desertion, even in sensitive areas like food and drug control, public health and personal security. Should corporations fulfil a social service in addition to their profit‐seeking function? How is the social incidence of corporate activity measured and who policies it? What are the boundaries of limited corporate liability? Is ethical governance just wishful thinking? This paper suggests that it is through principles‐based policymaking and management that these queries can be addressed in earnest as we may have reached the point of no return already.

The paper adds to the body of knowledge on ethical governance and will be of interest to those in the field.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss why neither people nor organizations can demand trust, but rather how people and organizations can demand trustworthiness of themselves and others. While trustworthiness can be developed, and trust earned, this process takes time.

An examination of the literature was undertaken to review trust from a variety of dimensions and perspectives to determine the role of trust as a fundamental notion, which may be an underlying factor in foreign aid objectives.

This paper advocates that an understanding of trust and trustworthiness, when fused with a stakeholder perspective, may lead to enhanced levels of global poverty reduction objectives.

This paper enhances personal knowledge and understanding at the theoretical and practical levels enabling business leaders to gain insight regarding the inherent stakeholder factors that need to be considered when designing performance‐measurement strategies and reporting frameworks.

The aim of this paper is to use Rawls's principles of justice to develop a system of global ethics that can be used to govern international business practices.

A critical synopsis of Rawls's political philosophy is provided, his application in prior business ethics literature is reviewed, and a Rawlsian‐inflected ethics for conducting international business practices is outlined.

This paper concludes that Rawls's philosophical insights have significant relevance for the conduct of contemporary international business; that through critical engagement of Rawls's ideas there emerges the potential for international business to be predicated on social justice values.

This paper offers the first substantive attempt to elucidate the conditions under which international business is rendered to be consistent with Rawls's principles of justice.

The main purpose of this article is to identify some emergent issues when sustainability is introduced into global value chains. These issues deal with the conditions under which a sustainable global value chain might gain international competitiveness.

An exploratory research was conducted, based on a case study. The main players of the JOBEK's Global Value Chain were identified and interviews were carried out with representatives of these players. A thematic content analysis was developed, supported by Atlas TI software, using interview data and documents.

Three main themes have emerged, which can be considered as underlying issues of an emerging concept that the authors call the “sustainable global value chain”. These are: bargaining power between the chain's players; a differentiation strategy along the global value chain; and a collaborative awareness‐building process along the global value chain.

Although the findings result from a single case study, the characteristics of this case have allowed the authors to suggest an emergent concept for the field of international business: the concept of a sustainable global value chain. This has implications for the development of a new research field and for the introduction of some ethical concerns into this field.

Managers of organizations that participate in sustainable global value chains may consider the emerging concepts and their interrelationships as a guideline for strategic decision‐making. In particular, managers need to be aware of how the relationships between power balance, CSR product differentiation strategies and awareness building may influence the competitiveness of their sustainable global value chain.

The article proposes the emergence of a new concept that has important ethical implications for international business: the sustainable global value chain. The authors suggest that the further development of this new concept is likely to stimulate the development of an emergent research field.

The purpose of this study is to analyse CSR practices implemented by Spanish companies and the relationship between such practices and corporate financial performance.

The empirical analysis carried out was performed in two phases or stages: analysis of the data obtained through content analysis; and analysis of the motivations behind CSR practices using a dependency model, multiple linear regression, enabling their effect on corporate performance to be explained. Several control variables were introduced to represent the size of the companies, expressed in terms of total assets, and the industry in which the firm operates.

The paper underpins the fact that in Spain there has been a significant increase in practices favouring the reduction of environmental impact, as well as the creation of comfortable workplaces, especially promoting workers' rights. Several of these corporate practices associated with social responsibility in Spanish firms show a positive and significant impact on the rate of sales growth but there is a lack of impact on productivity or market value. Moreover, other responsible practices are not related to short‐run improvements in companies' performance.

The findings allow the authors to conclude that CSR practices in Spanish firms are geared towards social welfare, and that they are mainly associated with differentiation with regard to competitors and improving the company image, which lead to performance‐linked economic advantages (such as sales increases).

The paper has analysed corporate practices in a specific country separately (Spain) and has determined the relationship between CSR and firm performance.

The purpose of this paper is to address questions policymakers, working in a global marketplace, might ask about ethical and theological considerations of ambiguities or uncertainties of justice issues in the global markets in which they operate.

The paper draws on earlier research and published works in examining four specific questions about ambiguities of justice, from ethical and theological perspectives, and their relevance for policymakers in the global marketplace.

Justice, including social justice, is a significant value impacting on decision and policymakers in government and other types of organizations in a global marketplace. However, the value “justice” exhibits ambiguity or uncertainty. Even if a claim that economic policies developed through prudential judgement are not subject to the moral or ethical code is accepted, it does not absolve individual participants in the policymaking and administrative processes from ethical and moral responsibility if the outcomes of the policies are deemed to be selfish and unjust.

This paper is limited by the ability to examine all the literature in the field at a greater depth. However, this has been ameliorated by examining a sufficient sample of theological and social scientific literature and relating these to the writings of the theologian, Paul Tillich, on questions about the four ambiguities of justice.

This paper provides a useful appraisal of the various social justice issues that might be encountered by managers working in a global marketplace. It provides some definitive alternatives from which policymakers may select a course of action for their organizations in individual and collective markets throughout the world.

An identified need is fulfilled in this paper in that it supports executives and managers who may have doubts about ethical and theological justice issues that arise through the policies adopted and processes employed in their operations in the global marketplace.

The purpose of this article is to question whether business is ethical as long as it follows rules, and on this view, to reflect over the relation between responsibility and justice.

To exemplify this relation, the paper is based on in‐depth interviews with a human rights consultant. In this way, the paper presents a story from the field and thus follows a narrative method to retell the story of the consultant leading a human rights project in South Africa.

The paper concludes that following rules is not enough to ensure ethical business in a global market place. As global business rests on dynamics and flexibility, it seems limited that most business ethics rests on bureaucratic notions. The value of also viewing ethical decision‐making as personal responsibility is introduced through the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas.

The study is based on in depth interviews with one person. Although this method ensures access to deeply personal and thorough knowledge about the event, it also has its limitation and risk of bias. Although this paper points towards some interesting relations between personal responsibility and international/organisational justice, more research is needed in the field of personal responsibility to make stronger conclusions.

The paper proposes that people working at the global market place could benefit from being educated in personal ethics and not only bureaucratic notions of ethics.

The paper provides valuable insight into the scarcely researched area of personalised business ethics.