IBE1

• Bedrijfseconomie
• WO
• Studiejaar 1

Introduction  

PhD on governance in the digital age at the Radboud University

Research Associate at the Clingendael Institute   

digitalisation, Big Tech regulation, digital connectivity & nexus between trade, technology and geopolitics in EU-Asia context.

What are we going to do today? 

- Diving into Chapter 1 & 2  with practice questions and discussions

- Q&A possibility at the end of every working group 

The working groups will not be recorded and students cannot record the working groups themselves due to privacy regulations 

Did you attend the lectures on Monday & Tuesday?

Yes

No

Only on Monday

Only on Tuesday

International Business Ethics

How would an analytical philosopher describe itself?

1. Disciplined
2. Artistic
3. Chaotic
4. Optimistic

How would an continental philosopher describe an analytical philosopher? ?

1. Philosophical
2. Realistic
3. Profound
4. Docile followers of science

Analytical philosophy & continental philosophy 

Seen from the perspective of continental philosophers 

Analytical: 

stuck in language games, shallow, naïve, docile followers of science and liberalism, not serious 

Continental 

Analysis of being, profound, realistic, politically engaged, critical about the endeavours of science and philosophical. 

Aporia

Philosophical problems are deemed to be aporetic if they do not lend themselves to easy solutions.

Example: 'The gift' - How to give a 'real' gift? 

• Ultimately this is impossible
• it must be given without any form of reciprocity - so even a simple 'thank-you' note makes it not a real gift 

Discussion 

What do you think of Codes of Conduct within businesses? 

Break-out rooms 1 & 2: Analytical view 

Break-out rooms 3 & 4: Continental view 

Discussion 

Can you be completely neutral in talking about a just society? 

Break-out rooms 1 & 2: Analytical view

Break-out rooms 3 & 4: Continental view 

Continental: no

Analytical: yes - if you are willing to imagine it

BREAK

Please be back in 15 minutes 

Mute yourself and disable your video 

BUT DO NOT LEAVE THE ZOOM CALL 

Milton Friedman 

• Just one social responsibility for the company: to increase its profits (as long as it stays within the rules of the game
  
  
• Shareholders are everything 
  
  
• Stakeholder theory is dangerous for it undermines democracy
  

Ed Freeman 

• Need a plural view of the relation between business and society 
  
  
• Isolating economic tasks from social tasks is intellectually fallacious. Thinking that economy does not belong to the social system is systematically wrong-headed 
• Stakeholder theory is pluralistic, some manifestations: ethics of duty (Kant), pragmatism, politics, feminism, endlessly more 

Team Friedman or Team Freeman?

Team Friedman!

Team Freeman!

I am not sure yet

Team who?

No wrong answers

As long as you can argue WHY you came to your conclusion 

Who else? 

While Freeman initially only focuses on descriptive, Donaldson and Preston focus on: 

- Three typological formulations: descriptive, instrumental and normative 

- Stakeholder management requires as its key attribute, simultaneous attention to the legitimate interests of all appropriate stakeholders 

Descriptive (or empirical): arises from the way in which the stakeholder concept sees the firm as an interaction of intrinsically valuable and potentially collaborative, competitive interests.

Instrumental: stakeholder theory permits the exploration of a relationship between CSR and busisnes performance

Normative: tendency of stakeholder theory to permit the consideration of a broad range of interests beyond the shareholder/owner or contractually engaged parties.

But why the firm in the middle? 

Four ways to challenge the firm-centric view of corporate responsibility and stakeholder management: 

1. Replace firm with another stakeholder 

2. Highlight and refocus attention to actual stakeholder by using pictures 

3. Take systems approach to stakeholder theory  (complex network of interrelations) 

4. Alliance model (program for manufacturing, education, funding and distribution is in de middle) 

One more slide with some continental views on stakeholder theroy

Bauman: 

Bureaucracy is problematic as it prevents face-to-face contact

Levinas: 

• The reduction or totalization of the Other to 'stakeholder' is a problem 
• Egology (knowledge in own terms)  and stakeholder theory is based on firms 
  
• Rational approach: act of rationalization reduces responsibility to a collective and not individual responsibility 

What kind of stakeholder
model is this?

1. Firm-centric
2. Alliance
3. Focus on actual stakeholder
4. This is not a stakeholder model

Can you run a country like a company? 

Questions? 

See you next week! 

Next week: 

Chapter 5: Moral Decision Making

Chapter 6: Organizational Justice