Business and Society

A business firm is unavoidably influenced by its host community’s social institutions, social values, and cultural traditions. At the same time, the firm exerts reciprocal influence on the society’s values and traditions. At the intersections where these two forces—Business and Society—meet, one discovers the major social and ethical issues associated with business practice. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) means that business has social and ethical, as well as economic, responsibilities to the people, communities, and environments affected by its operations. Business Ethics (BE) refers to the ethical rules, principles, and moral logic applied to business operations, policies, and decisions.

BILL'S BOOKS ABOUT BUSINESS AND SOCIETY

Social Auditing: Evaluating the Impact of Corporate Programs. 1976. Praeger. Japanese translation, Tokyo: Tuttle-Mori Agency, 1985. Coauthors: David Blake, Mildred S. Myers.

Business and Society. 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996. McGraw-Hill. Coauthors: Keith Davis, Robert Blomstrom, James Post, James Weber, Anne Lawrence.

Note: This Business and Society textbook, first published in 1968, is the longest-running textbook in the field, now in its 15^th edition and authored by Weber and Lawrence.

Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy. 1987. JAI Press. Co-editor: Lee Preston.

Business Ethics: Research Issues & Empirical Studies. 1990. JAI Press. Co-editor: Lee Preston.

Corporation, Be Good! The Story of Corporate Social Responsibility. 2006. Dog Ear Publishing.

BILL'S ARTICLES ABOUT BUSINESS AND SOCIETY

“The Growing Concern over Business Responsibility.” 1960.

California Management Review, 2, 4: 54-61.

“The Hidden Politics of Social Auditing.” 1974.
Business and Society Review, Autumn, 11: 49-53. Coauthor: Mildred S. Myers.

Reprinted in Robert L. Heilbroner & Paul London (eds.), Corporate Social Policy: Selections from Business and Society Review. 1975. Addison-Wesley, 253-258.

“Auditing Corporate Social Performance: The Anatomy of a Social Research Project.” 1978.
In Lee E. Preston (ed.), Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, vol. 1. JAI Press, 123-137.

“Free Market versus Social Responsibility: Decision Time at the CED.” 1981.
California Management Review, 23, 3: 20-28.

"Public Policy Advertising and the 1980 Presidential Election." 1983. Coauthor M.S.Myers.
In Lee E. Preston (ed.), Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, vol. 5. JAI Press, 59-86.

“Corporate Social Responsibility in the Reagan Era and Beyond.” 1983.
California Management Review, 25, 3: 145-157.

Reprinted in Vernon Whitford (ed.), American Industry: The Reference Shelf. 1984. 55, 6: 211-226.

“Theories of Corporate Social Performance.” 1987.
In S. Prakash Sethi & Cecilia Falbe (eds.), Business and Society: Dimensions of Conflict and Cooperation. Lexington Books, 142-161.

“From CSR1 to CSR2: The Maturing of Business and Society Thought.” 1994.
Business and Society, 33, 2: 150-164 “Coda: 1994.” Business and Society, 33, 2: 165-166.

“Business and Society.” 1997 & 2005.
In Patricia H. Werhane & R. Edward Freeman (eds.), Business Ethics, The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management, 1st and 2nd editions. Blackwell Publishing, 54-56.

“Business and Society.” 1998.
In Cary L. Cooper & Chris Argyris (eds.), The Concise Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management. Blackwell, 54-56.

“Moving to CSR4: What to Pack for the Trip.” 1998.
Business and Society, 37, 1: 40-59.

“Conceptual Foundations of Business: A Book that Made a Difference.” 1998.
In Ronald F. Duska (ed.), Education, Leadership, and Business Ethics: Essays on the Work of Clarence Walton. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 61-73.

“Corporate Social Responsibility: Deep Roots, Flourishing Growth, Promising Future". 2008.
In A. Crane, A. McWilliams, D. Matten, J. Moon, D Siegel (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility, Oxford University Press.

BUSINESS ETHICS

“Embedded Values: Prelude to Ethical Analysis.” 1985.
In Patricia H. Werhane & Kendall D’Andrade (eds.), Profit and Responsibility: Alternate Contexts for Business Ethics, Edwin Mellen Press, 46-64.

“Toward CSR3: Why Ethical Analysis Is Indispensable and Unavoidable in Corporate Affairs.”
1986. California Management Review, 28, 2: 126-155.

“The Values of Corporate Managers and Their Critics: An Empirical Description and Normative Implications.” 1987. Coauthor: James Weber.
In William C. Frederick (ed.), Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, vol. 9. JAI Press, 131-152.

“An Ethics Roundtable: The Culprit is Culture.” 1988.
Management Review, August, 48-50.

“The Moral Authority of Transnational Corporate Codes.” 1991.
Journal of Business Ethics, 10, 2: 165-177.

“Commentary on Business Ethics as a Discipline: The Search for Legitimacy.” 1991.
In R. Edward Freeman (ed.), Business Ethics: The State of the Art. Oxford University Press, 57-59.

“The Empirical Quest for Normative Meaning: Introduction and Overview.” 1992.
Business Ethics Quarterly, 2, 2: 91-98.

“Genes, Nanobots, and the Human Future: High-Tech’s Quest for Moral Responsibility—an Allegory in One Act.” 2000. Professional Ethics, 8, 3 & 4: 101-122.

“Notes for a Third Millennial Manifesto: Renewal and Redefinition in Business Ethics.” 2000.
Business Ethics Quarterly, 10, 1: 159-168.

“Natural Business Ethics” 2008.
In Robert W. Kolb (ed.), Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society, Vol. 3, Sage Publications, 1479-80.

“Pragmatism” 2008.
In Robert W. Kolb (ed.), Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society, Vol. 4, Sage Publications, 1651-52.