Search results

The modern social and political order is characterised by a range of disparate moralities which lead to a plethora of interpretations and competing perspectives as to what ought to be the appropriate ethical template for corporate social responsibility. The possibility of uniting these disparate threads into a unified whole is explored by addressing the complex philosophies of Immanuel Kant and his alleged successor, Hans Kelsen; paying particular attention to their contrasting views of the proper foundations of public consensus towards establishing an idealised moral community of corporate actors.

The research is library-based and suggests that philosophy (in this instance, Kant’s moral philosophy and Kelsen’s general theory of law and state, for example) is able to offer an alternative rational and morally grounded ethics of law and governance; pertinent to the effective governance of corporate behaviour and moral management practices.

Central concepts, characteristic of both the Kantian and Kelsenian philosophical methodologies, have the capacity to act as a positive influence on the development of effective CSR mechanisms for assuring greater accountability. In addition, it is suggested that by prescribing ethically appropriate corporate behaviour as a first consideration, such philosophical frameworks are capable of providing a powerful disincentive against corporate crime.

The paper is interdisciplinary and (in an era of mistrust, global financial impropriety and other corporate misdemeanours) explores the utility of a philosophical approach towards articulating the conditions for imposing a moral duty incumbent upon all corporate actors in addressing the practical and conceptual needs of their shareholders and wider society.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the usefulness to business education of aesthetics, literature and the ancient ideal of the rule of law in an increasingly complex global environment. Recent financial scandals have exposed a range of vulnerabilities in the management decision‐making process and, increasingly, big business is searching for ethical answers. It is suggested that there is a need to develop the necessary critical, analytical and empathic qualities of, in particular, the business student in order that future global corporate leaders might also be moral managers.

The abstract yet foundational concept of the rule of law is reworked in order to widen its application to business activities and ensure greater accountability. It is argued that the intellectual sensibilities need to be stimulated beyond the traditional business studies format, looking to various examples from the liberal arts. The paper proposes greater attention to, for example, the classics, as the lessons we can learn from fiction are highly pertinent to modern leadership and corporate conduct in general.

There is a relatively new literary genre of business books which is inspired by classic and popular works of literature, for example Power Plays: Shakespeare's Lessons in Leadership; however, such books are yet to appear regularly on business school recommended reading lists.

There are compelling reasons for a radical change in management style, one being that the single‐minded pursuit of profit has recently produced an unprecedented global economic crisis. The paper proposes that, by placing a greater emphasis on developing the intellectual and empathic sensibilities, future managers may be able to adopt a more conscionable approach to environmental and wider societal concerns.

Against the backdrop of an alarmingly amoral and inept set of global management practices, the paper urges a radical return to a classical or liberal arts education for the business student. A re‐imaging of the traditional rule of law also provides the basis for deciding the right course of action; tailored to meet the specific needs of the modern business community.

A significant catalyst in global economic success has been the information revolution. The Internet, in particular, has facilitated a vast increase in the quantity of available information and multimedia, in general, has allowed corporate players to dramatically increase their market share by exploiting new channels of persuasion, inducing the consumption of yet more goods and services. Globalisation has enabled the discovery of new cultural influences, often transformed by marketers into yet another sales device. Marketers have routinely employed a number of psychological techniques with the cynical intention of subverting human emotions into a marketing tool. Beginning with Edward Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Freud, who has been credited with pioneering these methods in the 1920's, a technologically‐aided ‘spinning’ of the ‘truth’ continues to be employed in the private and public sphere today. It has been alleged that governments have favoured such techniques in order to reinforce support for the global economy; whilst at the same time their own susceptibility to manipulation and coercion by the global forces of corporatism has resulted in action taken against the wider public interest. It is suggested in this article that societies need to re‐empower themselves against the global information manipulators who comprise a powerful elite. In order to realise a reflective, rational and truly reciprocal society, corporate practices must be subject to stringent statutory control and, finally, demonstrate a commitment to ethical, conscionable behaviour.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate access to grocery retailing in Nantes, France.

The spatial distribution of all grocery retailers in Nantes was mapped. Socio‐demographic data as supplied by INSEE was mapped for Nantes, and these data used to determine areas of poor access to healthy food, e.g. fresh fruit and vegetables retailing.

There are six areas of Nantes which appear to have both poor physical access to grocery retailing and a socio‐demographic profile which suggests people living there may have difficulties in travelling to remote shops. These six areas generally do not coincide with the officially‐recognised ZUS deprived areas of Nantes.

Data on obesity and related medical conditions were absent from INSEE, limiting the analysis that could be performed. The data were also liable to errors such as MAUP and ecological fallacy; however, the spatial detail was sufficient for meaningful conclusions to be drawn.

Previous food and dietary research in France has concentrated on economic factors mediating diet. There has been less research on spatial access to food and any correlations with areas of poverty or areas with other populations, e.g. pensioners, who may find travel to remote shops difficult. This research investigates these spatial linkages. Officially‐recognised areas of poverty in Nantes (ZUS areas) are not the areas presenting the most problematical physical access to healthy food retailing, therefore research based on financial aspects alone may miss some areas of difficult food access.

The spatial patterns of food access in Nantes, and the implications for targeting research and policy initiatives to these areas, have not previously been researched.

This paper aims to investigate the statistical and geographical links between the prevalence of obesity and a range of socio‐economic indicators in a major UK city

The geographical pattern of fresh fruit and vegetable retailing was mapped across Birmingham (UK), and this data was combined with UK census data from Neighbourhood Statistics to investigate possible correlations between obesity and the social geography of this city. To further elicit the varying underlying links between obesity and social conditions, a methodology of partial correlations was used to create “social transects” across Birmingham so the operational effects of social conditions upon poor diet could be investigated across a range of Birmingham neighbourhood types.

Across Birmingham as a whole, people whose ethnic or social make‐up did not fit the dominant group in their neighbourhood were more likely to be obese than those of the majority socio‐ethnic group for that area. The level of qualifications was the dominant influencer on obesity and diet. Particularly, less wealthy people in the more affluent areas of Birmingham were likely to suffer financial difficulties in eating healthily. However, in less affluent areas, being in (low‐paid) work actually increased the chances of being obese, as compared to being unemployed in these districts.

Changes in the pattern of retailing or changes in individual's social status over the period of this research may confound the results; however the research may be regarded as a snapshot of conditions in Birmingham in ca.2006. The areal analysis may be confounded by the MAUP problem, although as distance to shops does not emerge as a major predictor of obesity, the results are still valid. The research applies to only one city (Birmingham), although a wide range of neighbourhood types typical of other British cities are covered.

Time limitations emerge as a significant factor in diet, especially in the less‐affluent areas of Birmingham. The significance of a range of social indicators upon diet is greatly affected by the range of neighbourhood types sampled. Factors barring access to a healthy diet can vary upon very small scales, even down to the individual household. Distance to shops has an effect upon diet, but only as a “moderating factor” acting in conjunction with a wider range of economic and social factors.

The effects of poverty, and especially unemployment, have very different effects upon diet and obesity in poor as compared to affluent areas; and in poorer areas, time limitations upon households operate so as to worsen the diet of those in low‐paid work. This implies that dietary improvement initiatives aimed at the less well off should aim for a compromise between health and convenience; otherwise such initiatives will merely widen health inequalities. Minority groups in all areas, whether a minority by ethnicity, age, or wealth, need special attention by dietary investigators.

The use of partial correlations to elicit the different responses to socio‐economic conditions as regards diet has not been applied before to a major UK city. The distance to shops for all residential areas for a major UK city has not been previously mapped.

To investigate CSR initiatives and suggest how these might re‐legitimate, where necessary, current systems of democracy.

The CSR programmes of the world's largest 60 companies were examined, along with more unusual CSR activities of smaller companies worldwide. Democratic systems were analysed to elicit what deficiencies exist in this form of government. CSR initiatives were classified according to the balance of their benefit to the community against benefit to the company itself. This classification was used to suggest how CSR might fill the democratic gap left by the increasingly global scale of government.

Too often, CSR comprises companies claiming credit for programmes they would be legally obliged to undertake or which increase company profits, although some CSR is genuinely altruistic. Traditionally, local communities have little say as to what companies put back into their neighbourhood however if competitions, for example “best kept village”, were encouraged involving companies at a local level, CSR would then have greater relevancy. Perhaps global actors, both corporate and governmental, would in this way gain legitimacy.

Approximately 100 companies were used for this study. A larger sample could have been used although this selection covers most of the types of CSR currently being practiced. The findings are only applicable to democratic countries, although this system of government is practiced by the majority of countries worldwide.

This paper proposes a novel classification of CSR, by geographical scope and by type of initiative. New links are made between the concept of CSR and the deficiencies of the democratic system of government.

The ‘consumer society’ has become a ‘consumer oligopoly’ in Britain as the big four supermarkets, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury, and Morrison have between them captured a 75% share of the grocery market. This has been achieved through globalisation, the attainment of large economies of scale, and major deployment of buying power. Total annual profits of the ‘big four’ UK supermarkets now stand at £3 billion, and several millions of this is spent on charitable causes and other CSR activities such as promoting sustainable development. However the spectacular growth of the supermarkets over the past fifty years has not been to the benefit of all. Some consumers have seen their access to healthy food curtailed as local shops have closed, and the quality of their diet has fallen; this is often referred to as the ‘food deserts’ phenomenon. The spatial scale of ‘food deserts’, the coping strategies employed by those affected by such ‘deserts’, and the solutions proposed to alleviate food access problems, are profoundly local in character, typically operating over distances of less than two kilometres. This paper suggests that a re‐focussing of the CSR activities of supermarkets towards the local scale can not only boost the social image of the supermarkets in fields where their impact is seen as negative, but can also be profitable for these corporations. Further benefits of a more local perspective include environmental advantages such as the maintenance of biodiversity and support for farmers whose incomes may be in decline. In tandem with a global commercial outlook, supermarkets have engaged with government at a national level to further their business interests. Simultaneously, governmental power within Britain has also moved from the local to the national level. In contrast, many organisations representing disadvantaged groups call for a localised, ‘bottom‐up’, approach. Britain's current centralised ‘top‐down’ approach to governance may be driven by financial pressures or ideological considerations, but this has nevertheless alienated some voters from government. This shift has prompted a certain disengagement with political processes for some individuals, and a shift towards ‘direct action’ tactics which may be damaging to commercial activities. It is argued here that a realignment of the supermarket's engagement with politics from the national to the local level is possible, financed by the resources the supermarkets currently devote to CSR activities. This re‐localisation of supermarket political activity would in fact pay dividends for the ‘big four’ retailers, because by helping to re‐build the legitimacy of national government it would create a more stable environment for business within the UK.