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Twenty Years of European Business Ethics – Past Developments and Future Concerns

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Abstract

Over the past 20 years business ethics in Europe witnessed a remarkable growth. Today business ethics is faced with two challenges. The first comes from the social sciences and consultants who have both reclaimed the topics of business ethics, regretfully often at the loss of the proper ethical perspective. The second comes from the remarkable rise of corporate social responsibility which has pushed aside the mainstream business ethics methodology with its emphasis on moral deliberation by the individual. These challenges can be tackled by an institutional transformation in business ethics that links up to the long-standing European tradition of institutional analysis of the market. The second remedy is an enlargement of the research agenda in business ethics by coming closer to other parts of applied ethics where the business ethics view is at this moment grossly neglected.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. KULeuven, Center for Economics and Ethics, Naamse straat 69, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Luc van Liedekerke

  2. Tilburg University, Dante Building, Room D-248, P.O. Box 90153, 5000 LE, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Wim Dubbink

Authors
  1. Luc van Liedekerke
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  2. Wim Dubbink
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Correspondence to Luc van Liedekerke.

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van Liedekerke, L., Dubbink, W. Twenty Years of European Business Ethics – Past Developments and Future Concerns. J Bus Ethics 82, 273–280 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9886-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9886-x

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