bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Potential impact of the colored Amazon and Orinoco plume on tropical cyclone intensity
Authors: Newinger C. , Toumi R.
Published: January 2015

The Amazon and the Orinoco river plumes modulate ocean stratification and color in the tropical North Atlantic. This changes air‐sea interactions and may thus be important for tropical cyclones (TCs). Using a regional ocean model, we try to separate the potential impact of river freshwater and light absorption on ocean temperatures, stability, and TC intensity. While the freshwater plume stabilizes the water column, there is no significant change in sea surface temperatures. However, increased stability and temperature inversions may reduce surface cooling feedbacks. The cooling inhibition index (CI) is +2.2 (J/m2)
larger when the river freshwater plume is present. Ocean color in the river plume on the other hand, blocks the deeper ocean from sunlight, leading to moderate surface warming (+0.1°C) and substantial subsurface cooling (−0.3°C 100 m mean temperature). As a consequence cold water is more readily available to passing storms and the CI decreases by −2.1 (J/m2)
. Using simple, idealized relationships between expected surface cooling and TC intensity, we find that river‐induced stability enhances strong TCs by up to −5 to −12 hPa, while ocean color may reduce intensity by +8 hPa to +16 hPa. The net impact of the colored plume is negligible for weak storms and a slight intensity reduction for stronger cyclones. Within the Amazon and Orinoco plume, the river freshwater effect may thus be substantially reduced or even offset by light absorbing particles.
An analytical model for the description of the full‐polarimetric sea surface Doppler signature
Authors: Fois Franco , Hoogeboom Peter , Le Chevalier François , Stoffelen Ad
Published: January 2015

This paper describes an analytical model of the full‐polarimetric sea surface scattering and Doppler signature. The model combines the small‐slope‐approximation theory (at the second order) with a weak nonlinear sea surface representation. Such a model is used to examine the variation of the Doppler central frequency/bandwidth and of the normalized radar cross section as function of wind speed and direction. The results suggest that the model can be a valuable tool for the accurate observation of sea surface currents.
Analysis of subsurface storage and streamflow generation in urban watersheds
Authors: Bhaskar Aditi S. , Welty Claire
Published: January 2015

Subsurface storage as a regulator of streamflow was investigated as an explanation for the large proportion of pre‐event water observed in urban streams during storm events. We used multiple lines of inquiry to explore the relationship between pre‐event water proportion, subsurface storage, and streamflow under storm conditions. First, we used a three‐dimensional model of integrated subsurface and surface flow and solute transport to simulate an idealized hillslope to perform model‐based chemical hydrograph separation of stormflow. Second, we employed simple dynamical systems analysis to derive the relationship between subsurface storage and streamflow for three Baltimore, Maryland watersheds (3.8–14 km2 in area) along an urban‐to‐rural gradient. Last, we applied chemical hydrograph separation to high‐frequency specific conductance data in nested urban watersheds (∼50% impervious surface cover) in Dead Run, Baltimore County, Maryland. Unlike the importance of antecedent subsurface storage observed in some systems, we found that rainfall depth and not subsurface storage was the primary control on pre‐event water proportion in both field observations and hillslope numerical experiments. Field observations showed that antecedent stream base flow did not affect pre‐event water proportion or streamflow values under storm conditions. Hillslope model results showed that the relationship between streamflow values under storm conditions and subsurface storage was clockwise hysteretic. The simple dynamical systems approach showed that stream base flow in the most urbanized of three watersheds exhibited the largest sensitivity to changes in storage. This work raises questions about the streamflow generation mechanisms by which pre‐event water dominates urban storm hydrographs, and the shifts between mechanisms in rural and urban watersheds.
Competition in the Market for Audit Services
Authors: Baylis Richard M. , Clatworthy Mark A.
Published: January 2015

Recent years have seen many UK and international regulators concerned with a potential lack of competition in the market for corporate audit services. It is often assumed that markets with few suppliers result from a lack of competition and this may lead to excessive prices and/or low quality. This article briefly reviews related theoretical and empirical research and shows that while the market for audit services is highly concentrated, there is no consensus that there is anti‐competitive pricing or lower audit quality. The article also briefly highlights some of the difficulties involved in investigating this issue.
Demand for Voluntary Audit
Authors: Dedman Elisabeth
Published: January 2015

The agency problems introduced by the separation of ownership and control may be resolved to some extent by independent, external audit. This is now a general requirement for listed firms all over the world. As both firms and managers have incentives to agree to such an audit, researchers have been interested in what happens when audit is not an obligation but a choice. The few empirical studies that have examined the demand for voluntary audit provide evidence that regulatory intervention is not necessary, though some argue that regulators are protecting society from market failure by demanding statutory audit.
Accounting for Merger & Acquisition
Authors: Meeks Geoff , Meeks J.G.
Published: January 2015

The article explores three aspects of financial accounting in relation to merger and acquisition (M&A): the use of accounting to evaluate the financial outcome of M&A; the alternative approaches to accounting for M&A adopted by the regulators; and the role of creative accounting in permitting or even promoting dysfunctional M&A.
Financial Analysts
Authors: Tan Zhiyuan S.
Published: January 2015

This article deals with sell‐side financial analysts. It offers an overview of the work these analysts generally perform and points toward the recently changing institutional and regulatory environment in which sell‐side financial analysis is conducted. This article provides a snapshot of those key areas of mainstream accounting and finance research on the work of analysts. This strand of research commenced some 40 years ago and has continued to the present. This article also introduces some sociologically informed studies of the work performed by analysts that emerged in the past decade or so. To end this article, some new developments in the work performed by analysts are highlighted. This article calls for continuing research on the work of analysts, particularly on those new developments, conducted by mainstream accounting and finance researchers as well as scholars who are informed mainly by sociology.
Budgeting
Authors: Ali Fekrat M.
Published: January 2015

Budgeting is the process by which the goals of an organization, and the resources to attain those goals, are quantified and communicated.
Consolidated Financial Statements
Authors: Brennan Niamh M.
Published: January 2015

Financial statements of a parent or holding company and its subsidiaries are calledconsolidated financial statements. The monetary amounts in the underlying financial statements of the parent and its subsidiaries are amalgamated as if the group were a single entity. Group or consolidated financial statements may also include amounts for associates and joint ventures. Where subsidiaries are not wholly owned, the element not owned by the parent company is deducted in a one‐line adjustment called noncontrolling or minority interests. Four concepts of control are considered: legal, economic (entity), parent company, and proprietary concepts of control. Five methods of consolidation are discussed: the acquisition method, merger method, equity method, gross equity method, and proportionate consolidation. Simple illustrative examples are used to explain the mechanics of basic consolidation.
Intangible Assets
Authors: Lenk Margarita M.
Published: January 2015

Intangible assets other than goodwill are separately identifiable, long‐lived, nonphysical rights or resources that possess a determinable future use and are specifically developed or acquired for the production or distribution of external goods or services.
Auditors' Role in Reporting on a Company's Going Concern Status
Authors: Asare Stephen K. , Williams Devin J.
Published: January 2015

We discuss the evolution and nature of auditors' responsibility to report on public companies' going concern status. Our discussion includes an overview of current standards that provide guidance to auditors on the evaluation of their public clients' going concern status. We also report the incidence of going concern reports in the last decade (2000–2010), summarize research that has examined how auditors make the decision and comment on the effect that the going concern report has on various stakeholders in the financial reporting chain.
Managing Accounting Earnings
Authors: Ahmed Anwer , Ajinkya Bipin B.
Published: January 2015

Managing accounting earnings refers to the purposeful manipulation that results in the altering of reported accounting numbers.
Not‐for‐Profit Organizations
Authors: Falk Haim
Published: January 2015

A not‐for‐profit organization (NFPO) is characterized by (i) not having intentional surplus from activities and (ii) the absence of indicia of ownership that gives owners or resource providers a simultaneous share in profit and control.
Income Taxation Based On Financial Accounting Income
Authors: Eilifsen Aasmund
Published: January 2015

There are differences among countries in the extent financial accounting income forms the basis for computation of taxable income – from applying a fairly integrated system to applying dual systems. The interplay between the systems will affect the scope and extent of tax considerations in the financial reporting. Tax considerations continue to influence financial reporting in many areas. Research has documented firms' trade‐offs between tax accounting and financial reporting.
Accounting for Derivatives
Authors: Tan Pearl , Lee Peter
Published: January 2015

Financial derivatives have escalated in significance in terms of their volume in global financial markets, widespread use and financial impact on companies and markets. They are akin to a two‐edged sword; their use may mitigate or increase risk. Spectacular collapses in the past have brought considerable attention to these instruments. However, when used for hedging purposes, they potentially enhance or preserve value and mitigate risk of financial distress. Accounting for derivative instruments has had a difficult history with accounting standards adopting a piecemeal approach in accounting for financial instruments. However, accounting standards now require derivatives to be recognized on the balance sheet at fair values. Special requirements relating to hedge accounting apply to derivative contracts that are entered into for risk mitigation. The United States were faster in arriving at a comprehensive standard that required companies to report their derivative contracts on the balance sheet. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) had a more challenging task to garner support from its member bodies worldwide to adopt the on‐balance sheet recognition of derivative contracts. However, its path‐breaking standard, IAS 39 has had an impact on the way companies account for financial instruments. In its effort to reform IAS 39, the IASB has issued IFRS 9 which, while simplifying the accounting for financial instruments, continues to require the on‐balance sheet recognition of derivative contracts. The “off‐balance” sheet treatment of derivative contracts is clearly a thing of the past.
Accounting for Leases Standards
Authors: Wilkins Trevor A.
Published: January 2015

This article provides a comparison of the various standards on the accounting for leases that have been issued by the standard setting bodies in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand and by the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC).
Audit Evidence
Authors: Trotman Ken T.
Published: January 2015

Audit evidence is defined in the International Standard on Auditing 500 (ISA 500) as “the information obtained by an auditor in arriving at the conclusions on which an audit opinion is based.”
Balance Sheet
Authors: Archer Simon
Published: January 2015

This article explains the balance sheet or statement of financial position and its components, assets, liabilities, and equity. Definitions of these components are given and the issue of assigning monetary values (“accounting measurement”) to the components, and the related controversies, are discussed.
cost–pricing relationship
Authors: Schoch Herbert P. , Hai Yap Teoh
Published: January 2015

Marketing activity makes up the bulk of total activity of most businesses.
Deferred Taxation
Authors: Citron David
Published: January 2015

The aim of deferred tax accounting is to insure that when transactions or events are included in the current period's financial statements, then the future tax consequences of those transactions and events are also reflected in those statements.
Earnings Forecasting
Authors: Rees Bill
Published: January 2015

This article reviews analysts' forecasts of earnings, pointing out the incentives and constraints that impact on analysts' forecasting proficiency, the relatively poor performance of published analysts' forecasts, the difficulty experienced when we try and improve on forecasts, and the evidence which is apparently consistent with the ability of analysts' forecast to provide a basis for earning abnormal returns. The final point is controversial as it is surprising that investment practices based on publicly available information could be used to demonstrate market inefficiency – especially given the relatively inaccurate nature of those forecasts. The analysis is based on a vast literature that been generated by the ready availability of data on analysts' forecasts but it is also apparent that this large‐scale empirical analysis is providing relatively few insights which impact on practitioner behaviour. Whilst we have learned a lot from large‐scale empirical analysis it would be interesting to supplement this evidence with alternative approaches.
Residual Income andEVA®
Authors: O'Hanlon John , Peasnell Ken
Published: January 2015

This article outlines the history of residual income as a performance measure, and describes the economic value added (EVA®) variant of residual income proposed by the consulting firm Stern Stewart and Co. It also summarises literature that has proposed or used residual income or a related accounting‐earnings‐based measure for the purpose of business valuation. Finally, it describes the link between (i) an accounting‐free measure of abnormal economic performance, (ii) EVA and (iii) another Stern Stewart performance measure termed market value added (MVA), which is the excess of a business's market value over the capital invested in the business.
Social and Environmental Accounting
Authors: Kolk Ans , Perego Paolo
Published: January 2015

The article provides an historical overview of the accounting practices related to the social and environmental aspects of business. Recent trajectories of corporate reporting in multinationals are highlighted, with an emphasis on different sector dynamics and regulatory contexts. The current wave of reporting seems not to have ended, with environmental, social and ethical aspects of business being considered in various forms, through inclusion in annual reports, in stand‐alone environmental, social, or sustainability reports, and sometimes in underlying management accounting systems. Academic research on firms' motivations for reporting is then summarized by addressing a range of theoretical frameworks and debates. Environmental and social accounting continues to be a lively and challenging area because of its societal, managerial, and policy relevance.
Earnings Per Share
Authors: Frecka Thomas J.
Published: January 2015

Earnings per share (
EPS
) measures the income earned by each share of common stock.
Accounting and Capitalism
Authors: Toms Steven
Published: January 2015

The “Enron stage of capitalism” illustrates how an accounting scandal, with serious implications for financial reporting and regulation, may also be an exemplar of the political and economic processes governing the evolution of global capitalism.
Accounting for Intangibles
Authors: Thomas Alison
Published: January 2015

We all have views on the sort of things that lie at the heart of a successful business today.
Accounting Income Concepts
Authors: Simmons John K.
Published: January 2015

Economic gain is and has been a significant motivating factor underlying activities of both individuals and business entities, although the nature of the specific activities varies across different cultures and over the centuries.
Bankruptcy Prediction and Financial Information
Authors: Charitou Andreas , Stephanou‐Charitou Melita
Published: January 2015

Bankruptcy is considered one of the most significant threats for many businesses today.
Budgeting and Management Control
Authors: Van der Stede Wim A.
Published: January 2015

Budgeting is ubiquitous in organizations beyond minimal size for several reasons. Budgeting provides a way to translate organizational objectives into an organized set of actions associated with specific expectations of results; budgeting facilitates coordination by forcing the sharing of information across the organization; and budgets provide a standard that can be used to evaluate performance. Budgets thus provide a means of planning and coordination, performance target setting, and performance evaluation. Therefore, budgets, and the processes through which they are set, are an important part of management control to influence behaviors and direct actions towards the achievement of organizational goals. But while budgets should be designed to increase positive (motivational) behaviors, they can also have negative (dysfunctional) consequences, such as through inducing budget slack creation and/or performance manipulations to increase the likelihood of achieving budget targets. Designing budgets therefore involves tradeoffs among various behavioral considerations.
Economic Modeling of Audit Market
Authors: Frantz Pascal
Published: January 2015

Ackerlof (1) introduces a setting in which an entrepreneur wishes to sell his or her firm.
Financial Reporting: A Historical Perspective
Authors: Arnold A. J.
Published: January 2015

Financial reporting is the process whereby businesses report to people “outside” the business (in the sense that their relationship with that business is public and relatively formal, rather than private and informal) on the financial aspects of that business's activities during a stipulated period of time.
Income Classification and Reporting
Authors: Ashbaugh Hollis , Fairfield Patricia , Yohn Teri L.
Published: January 2015

Income reflects the periodic change in a firm's net resources excluding contributions from or distributions to the owners of the firm.
Management Control In Knowledge‐Based Organizations
Authors: Ditillo Angelo
Published: January 2015

This article explores the specific characteristics of knowledge‐based organizations and describes the features of their management controls. Control mechanisms may act as effective means to integrate knowledge and coordinate activities. One of the key variables of control choices is the nature of the knowledge used to perform a task and its level of complexity.
National Accounting, Corporate Accounting, and Global Standardization
Authors: Suzuki Tomo
Published: January 2015

How do we find out about individual company performance or the broader performance of the economy in this era where the power of the corporations and the state of the economy significantly affect our everyday lives?
Performance Measurement, Implementation Issues
Authors: Ittner Christopher D.
Published: January 2015

This article discusses some of the primary technical and organizational issues facing organizations' performance measurement system implementation efforts. Among the primary challenges are selecting and interpreting performance measures and overcoming information system limitations, as well as overcoming organizational resistance and providing adequate top management support, decision‐making authority, and training. Organizations must consider these technical and organizational issues if they are to successfully implement new performance measurement systems.
Profit Measurement – Time and Uncertainty
Authors: McSweeney Brendan
Published: January 2015

Profit measurements have major corporate and social consequences. Calculations of profit already earned (ex post income) or that anticipated (ex ante income) influence corporate tax liabilities, dividend levels, incentive scheme payments, regulatory intervention, management goals, expansion or closure decisions, outsourcing criteria, acceptance or rejection of investment proposals, and other key business and political policies and actions. This entry describes key assumptions about time that underlie widely held and promoted views of profit calculation. It identifies flaws in those assumptions, and overviews the literature that addresses those weaknesses.
R&D and Intangibles
Authors: Sougiannis Theodore
Published: January 2015

Empirical studies have established that corporate intangibles assets such as Research and Development (R&D), employee satisfaction, firm reputation and celebrity status, are valued by market participants. R&D expenditures lead to higher future profitability and stock market investors price them positively. These investments do not appear to be superior since the average stock returns of R&D and non‐R&D firms are comparable. However, portfolios of high R&D intensity and of large unexpected increases in R&D earn positive future abnormal returns. This has sparked an ongoing debate as to whether the abnormal returns represent investor mispricing or compensation for risk. Since R&D spending is treated as a period expense in the financial reports, the potential mispricing has also been attributed to the limited disclosures and accounting practiced. Financial analysts appear to play an important role in compensating for R&D‐related financial reporting deficiencies but the compensation is far from complete. Successful R&D activity leads to patents which have also been shown to be positively associated with stock market values and future earnings. However, results show that neither analysts nor investors appear to fully understand the implications of patent information. Overall, there is a need for continued effort by policy makers to address intangibles‐related information deficiencies.
C
atholic Social Teaching: Some Implications for Business Leadership
Authors: Williams Oliver F.
Published: January 2015

While there has always been some reflection on the social and political implications of biblical teaching, within the last 100 years there has developed a body of official Catholic church teaching on social ethics known as Catholic social teaching (CST). These church statements reflect on and offer guidance to capitalist economies, attempting to be a moral force, ensuring that an acquisitive economy does not degenerate into an acquisitive society. Working from the fundamental principle of the dignity of the individual person, CST focuses on several norms to guide a business: the need for community; the embracing of fair treatment, lack of discrimination and encouraging diversity; the forming of channels for employee association and participation; the focus on the connectedness of all stakeholders, solidarity; and the developing of an attitude of stewardship toward the physical environment.
Codes of Ethics
Authors: Ryan Leo V.
Published: January 2015

Codes of conduct explore one aspect of defining an ethical environment. Codes of conduct introduces definitions and identifies leading codes of conduct B.C. and A.D., including Parliament of World's Religion's Global Ethics signed by fourteen religions. Codes of conduct are proposed by both the UN and UN agencies, including a code of conduct for Transnational Corporations (1996). Codes are developed by governments (Canada, Ireland, and U.S.) and intergovernmental bodies, including Business Round Table (1958), Caux Round Table (1986), and Caux Principles for Business Behavior for a Better World (1994). William Frederick identified six landmark international codes (1948–1998). Multiple governments and NGO's have proposed codes with minimal success. Enforcement of codes present extreme complications. Developing codes represents an intricate and involved task because of the scope, multiple issues to be incorporated, their complexity and problems of voluntary or legal enforcement.
Decision Analysis
Authors: Clyman Dana R.
Published: January 2015

It is often believed that quantitative methods are insufficient to explore fully the qualitative elements of important decisions, particularly when one is concerned with such ethical considerations as individual rights, interests multiple stakeholders, and nonfinancial societal concerns. Decision analysis is a formal and coherent theoretical methodology for modeling complex decisions in an uncertain world which integrates objective inputs with subjective judgments and personal preferences. The approach combines systematic analysis, with various analytical techniques, to help clarify the optimum choice for that particular decision maker given her values, preferences, and risk tolerance.
U
nited
K
ingdom, Business Ethics in the
Authors: Cowton Christopher J.
Published: January 2015

As a result of its empire and the early industrialization of its economy, the United Kingdom had a significant impact on business institutions and practices around the world. This article considers institutions of significance to business ethics in the UK – in particular, the governance framework and the stock market – and provides an overview of the development of academic business ethics.
Work and Family
Authors: Johnson Robin D.
Published: January 2015

This article describes some of the programs, policies, practices, and problems encountered when individuals and organizations attempt to help people manage the boundary between work‐professional life and family‐personal life. Issues mentioned include flextime, predictable hours, dependent care costs‐care‐concerns, leave policies, limits to overworking, telecommuting, policy versus practice dilemmas, work‐family stress, generation‐culture differences in definitions of family, and rethinking the gendered nature of work.
Africa, Business Ethics in
Authors: Gichure Christine W. , Oluoch Prisca M.
Published: January 2015

Research in African philosophy of management can make a significant contribution to the existing literature in African philosophy and management, as well as to the practice of African management. However, to date there is a dearth of substantial African business ethics literature. This on one hand; on the other hand much of what is used is, just like management theories, still largely based on Western ontology which either takes management theory for granted, thereby concerning itself mostly with moral dilemmas of managing following the said theories, or argues that some management theory is unethical. As a consequence, the impact of these ethical theories on the practice of management in Africa is still negligible. A practice of management relevnt to the African situation seems to require a re‐examination of the relationship between philosophy and management within African cultures. This article is an overview and justification of the opinion that a viable business ethics for Africa would have to take into consideration the general African worldview called Ubuntu, which has been proposed by some prominent scholars as an African worldview that can offer a relevant basis for an African Business Ethics.
Anticompetitive Practices in Marketing
Authors: Lambe C. J. , Spekman Robert E. , Hayden Aaron
Published: January 2015

This article reviews the historical background of marketing practices meant to limit competition in the United States and addresses the emerging issues that challenge companies with novel anticompetitive strategies.
Internet and Business Ethics
Authors: De George Richard T.
Published: January 2015

This article presents an overview of some of the ethical issues concerning the internet and business. The Internet is changing the way business is done, and in the process is raising new ethical issues in business and is adding new dimensions to old issues. Some businesses are involved in making the Internet commercially useable and other businesses are involved in selling goods and services. Their moral responsibilities vary according to their function. Central to all is the establishment of trust. Some of the major issues involve security, privacy, and intellectual property. In all the issues transparency and informed consent go a long way towards fulfilling the ethical requirements.
Just Wages
Authors: Naughton Michael
Published: January 2015

Alasdair MacIntyre explains that when speaking of justice, we are always faced with the question of “whose justice” and which tradition. The idea of what constitutes “just wages” is no exception. Among several visions, two tend to dominate: a “market” or “strategic” notion of a just wage and a communitarian, social or Aristotelian/Thomistic notion. Both agree that a just wage is fair and equitable compensation for work; however, what constitutes fairness is the basis of significant controversy. At the heart of this controversy is an understanding of what good is exchanged in the wage between employer and employee. For the market/strategic view, people and organizations must be free to negotiate and contract the wage price. The communitarian view or Aristotelian/Thomastic view of justice differs greatly. Justice within the communitarian perspective is a habit that directs the person's actions to the good of the other so as to contribute to stronger bonds of community. These two views have similarities and differences. Both would agree on where the company's responsibilities lie in light of their virtue. Both would argue that a firm is not responsible to pay employees in excess of a market or sustainable wage (one consistent with the sound financial management of the firm), even if it falls below a living wage. The essential difference is their underlying assumptions of what is exchanged.
Moral Projection, Principle of
Authors: Goodpaster Kenneth E.
Published: January 2015

Describes the use of analogy as a heuristic device comparing persons to organizations and organizations to persons in the context of business ethics.
Privacy
Authors: Petronio Sandra , Child Jeffrey T.
Published: January 2015

In today's world, the central role of privacy in the realm of organizational and business management is evident. Although, privacy is a common factor influencing many choices organizations make, the complexity of understanding the best way to address privacy issues is not necessarily clear. However, using a theoretical lens that focuses on how, behaviorally, people manage private information holds promise for better grasping the process people use that can lead to more productive outcomes. This entry introduces Petronio's communication privacy management theory, an applied, evidenced‐based system, which focuses on behavioral communication to identify how individuals, groups, and organizations make choices about regulating, revealing, and concealing information they consider private. Being able to isolate key elements of private information, management affords the prospect of developing more useful ways to address privacy issues.
S
arbanes‐
O
xley
A
ct
Authors: Mead Jenny , Sack Robert J.
Published: January 2015

In July 2002, in response to a series of financials scandals that had rocked the corporate world in the United States (most notably Enron, Tyco, and Worldcom), Congress passed the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (SOX), HR 2673, or “Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act.” Among the act's many provisions were a requirement that senior management sign off on the company's financial statements, and a requirement that management along with auditors establish internal controls and an effective monitoring system to maintain these controls.
Societies for Business Ethics
Authors: Carroll Archie B.
Published: January 2015

Societies for business ethics are organizations created for and sustained by individuals interested in the subject of business ethics. Such societies are typically based in academia and are composed primarily of academic members, but are also open to practitioner members. The seven societies presented here form a solid core for further exploration into this topic.
South America, Business Ethics in
Authors: Coutinho de Arruda Maria Cecelia
Published: January 2015

Most South American countries (
SAC
s) have gone through deep political and economic changes in recent decades. Ethical challenges exist for businesses, alongside illiteracy and low levels of education – even though the cultural and economic context includes Christian teaching and rich natural resources. With naive attitude, many business leaders often ask for a specific definition of
business ethics
. Values, honesty, transparency, and respect live along with corruption, fraud, bribery, inside information, human rights violation, and – most important in the SACs – lack of punishment. There are clear rules and laws, but compliance is not usually reinforced. With the dream of living in a successful economy leading some citizens to forego personal responsibility, business ethics has become an imperative in South America at the micro‐ and macrolevels. Companies, universities, and governmental agencies are starting to successfully implement ethical systems, based on social and environmental values.
Discrimination in Employment – Description and Legal Responses
Authors: Ortiz Daniel R.
Published: January 2015

This article defines “discrimination in employment,” identifies the major legal provisions governing it under United States law, and describes the requirements of Title VII, the most important provision and the one on which most specific legal prohibitions are modeled. In particular, it describes the shifting of evidentiary burdens that typically applies, the limited exception for bona fide occupational qualifications, and sexual harassment. It concludes by describing the requirements placed on employers to accommodate employees' religious beliefs, practices, and physical and psychological disabilities.
Entrepreneurship and Ethics
Authors: Venkataraman Sankaran
Published: January 2015

Entrepreneurship is concerned with how the opportunity to create “value” in society is discovered or imagined and acted upon thereby bringing new goods and services into the marketplace. The field of business ethics, on the other hand, is concerned with the fairness of methods used to create this “value,” and the ensuing distribution of the value among various stakeholders to the enterprise. Entrepreneurially introduced innovations can alter the economic, political, and social landscape. Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship have the power to do immense good, but can also harm. However, the entrepreneurial process contains within itself the power to address the harm.
Accounting, Liability in
Authors: Rockness Joanne W.
Published: January 2015

Sole practitioners to large public accounting firms continue to face potentially devastating legal liabilities. The legal basis of accountants' liability primarily lies in the U.S. Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934 and the common‐law theories of fraud, breach of contract, and negligence. The 1933 Securities Act imposes liability for actions related to initial public offerings of securities. It imposes civil and criminal liability for false statements or omissions in registration statements or if securities are sold without an accurate prospectus. The 1934 Securities Act regulates purchases and sales of securities. It imposes civil and criminal liability for false or misleading statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), or if an accountant intentionally deceives others through oral or written misstatements or omissions in connection with a sale or purchase of securities.
Advertising to Children, Ethics of
Authors: Gale Christopher
Published: January 2015

While false and grossly misleading advertising is condemned, some forms including “puffery” – partial truths and/or exaggerated suggestions and tone are accepted. This leads to cynicism toward the practice and worth of advertising, especially when children are affected. Children are particularly vulnerable especially given their poorly developed sense of critical judgment and underdeveloped sense of self. This has brought increased consumer pressure and government regulation.
Altruism and Benevolence
Authors: Blum Lawrence A.
Published: January 2015

Altruism is action taken out of concern for others for their own sake. Benevolence is such concern. Altruism does not require self‐sacrifice, although it generally has more moral worth when it does than when it does not. Altruism can bring about satisfaction in the agent. But such satisfaction is seldom the motive for engaging in beneficent action, and when it is, it is not a case of altruism at all. An altruist may fail to bring about benefit to the other, but built into altruism is a concern to discern the other's good, not merely to act on what one (perhaps mistakenly) takes to be her good. As humans, we have reason to care not only that other people's well‐being is enhanced, but also, about the motives for which people engage in actions that bring that result about, even though sometimes those motives are difficult to discern.
Casuistry
Authors: Jonsen Albert R.
Published: January 2015

A word coined, and almost always used, with a pejorative intent: it refers to the ability of clever and devious persons to argue, under the cover of specious moral reasons, for the rightness of their own case. Historically, this negative meaning arose out of theological disputes of the seventeenth century. At that time, Roman Catholic theologians commonly presented “cases of conscience,” short analyses of a wide variety of moral dilemmas, to educate believers about their moral duties and to help confessors judge the seriousness of sins and faults revealed to them in confession. Since that time, it is applied almost exclusively to a moral argument that is seen as overly complex, devious, and self‐justifying.
Compensatory Justice
Authors: Velasquez Manuel
Published: January 2015

Compensatory justice is the fairness that obtains when an agent adequately compensates a party whom he or she has injured for the losses that party has suffered. Compensatory justice is sometimes confused with retributive justice, which is the fairness that obtains when a person is adequately punished for wrongdoing.
Conflict of Interest
Authors: Davis Michael
Published: January 2015

Conflict of interest occurs if and only if
P
is in a relationship with one or more others requiring
P
to exercise judgment in their behalf, and
P
has a (special) interest tending to interfere with the proper exercise of judgment in that relationship.
P
may be an individual, corporation, or other decision‐making entity. A conflict of interest creates a loss of objectivity making
P
's judgment significantly less reliable than it would otherwise. A conflict of interest may be actual, potential, or apparent. The best response to conflict of interest is, depending on circumstances, avoidance, escape, disclosure, or management. While empirical research on conflict of interest remains thin, the overall results are clear: Conflict of interest is insidious. People, though generally aware of the conflict, generally fail to appreciate how much it is actually influencing their decisions.
Consulting, Ethics of
Authors: Toffler Barbara L.
Published: January 2015

As an organizational intervention consulting helps management understand the link between values, goals, structural design, systems and process and their impact on organizational outcomes; it may also help design and implement steps to design, re‐design and/or implement changes intended to improve performance. Asked to “make things better,” the consultant, at an ethical minimum, must do no harm. But without the review and accountability that comes with licensing and accreditation in some professions, the consultant operates essentially without established standards of practice and intervention; the client's trust in the consultant's knowledge and character is the main is the main basis for the service relationship. Furthermore, an organization's decision to bring in a consultant may by itself signal vulnerability. Little or no standard for professional accountability along with the client's vulnerability challenge the consultant to know his or her own limitations and to take seriously the admonition to “do no harm.” In consulting, ethical practice begins with recognizing the emotional and proprietary value of the business that is the subject of consultative intervention. Beyond this, other factors are crucial as well: respectful attention and action on behalf of the client; attentive listening; an effort to acquire and to understand essential relevant information; sensitivity to personal biases that may influence recommendation; and walking the line between suggesting and imposing change.
Corporate Punishment
Authors: Rafalko Robert J.
Published: January 2015

The question of whether some form of punishment is appropriate and warranted for corporations that break the law centers around two chief issues. The first issue is the corporation a moral agent that can be punished? The second issue concerns the justice and effectiveness of punishment of corporations which have broken the law. Corporate punishment based on – rectification, rehabilitation, and deterrence – do have meaningful applications. While corporation cannot be incarcerated they can be fined. The U.S. Sentencing Commission issued guidelines for the sentencing of organizations. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, fines are to be assessed against law–breaking organizations.
Fairness
Authors: Klosko George
Published: January 2015

Although closely related to concepts such as “equality” and “impartiality,” the distinctive domain of fairness is in reference to decision procedures, with the sense that cases that are similar in important respects should be decided according to similar procedures. The notion has a long history. Among the ancient Greeks, Aristotle, in particular, observed that fairness can have different specific senses in different political regimes. In recent years, fairness has received considerable attention, largely because of John Rawls's theory of “justice as fairness.” It is also discussed prominently in the literature on political obligation, social psychology of justice, and other subjects.
Game Theory
Authors: Morris Christopher W.
Published: January 2015

A general and abstract explanation of game theory as a branch of the study of rational choice, namely, decisions in context of interdependent choice.
Judaism and Business Ethics
Authors: Pava Moses L.
Published: January 2015

Jewish ethics, since its biblical origins, has recognized and celebrated the dignity, value, and meaning of humanly productive activities, including economic activities.
Marxist Ethics
Authors: Gould Carol C.
Published: January 2015

Marxist ethics focus on the material and practical situation of agents. The class of an agent is especially important, because class relations have tended to be exploitive throughout history. Marx critiques capitalistic exploitation. His critique presupposes norms of freedom and justice. A more just system requires social cooperation and a community in which all free and equal individuals can flourish. Marx insists upon the need for trade unions to protect exploited persons. Marx's view would seem to support economic democracy (e.g., employee stock ownership) as well.
Methodologies of Business Ethics Research
Authors: Weaver Gary R. , Treviño Linda K.
Published: January 2015

This entry reviews the key distinctions between normative (philosophical) and descriptive (empirical social scientific) methods in business ethics, considering differences in language, institutional roots, assumptions about human agency, role of empirical evidence, and bases for evaluation of theoretical claims.
Stockholder
Authors: Clarkson Max B.E. , Deck Michael
Published: January 2015

A shareholder, also called stockholder, is the owner of one or more shares of the authorized common stock issued by a corporation. Despite having certain rights, the shareholders do not own the corporation. The board of directors, elected by the stockholders, is legally responsible for the management of the corporation. The fiduciary duty of the board is to the corporation itself and not solely to the stockholders in order to maximize their wealth.
Trust
Authors: Hosmer LaRue T.
Published: January 2015

Trust is essentially the reliance of one person, group or firm upon the cooperative and/or beneficial actions of another person, group or firm. As such trust is critical for the well being of society. The problem is that the construct of trust has been used, with vastly different definitions for vastly different applications in the conceptual frameworks of vastly different disciplines: psychology, social psychology, sociology, organizational behavior, corporate strategy, and economic theory.

This entry on trust cites twelve definitions for different applications by different disciplines. All have an implicit moral assumption of behavior that can be considered to be right and just and fair. The trust entry concludes that there is a need to make this assumption explicit rather than implicit, with the proposed wording “Trust is the expectation by one person, group or firm of ethically justifiable behavior – that is, morally correct decisions and actions based up ethical principles of analysis – on the part of the other person, group or firm in a joint endeavor or cooperative exchange.”
Values
Authors: Ozar David T.
Published: January 2015

The use of the word “values” and its cognates in ordinary speech is explained and then the role of the concept,
values
, in people's explanations of their actions and in moral/ethical thinking generally is explained along with its role in those moral theories, commonly labeled “utilitarianism” or “consequentialism,” for which, the basis of correct moral judgment consists precisely in determining which of the available alternatives maximizes intrinsic values.
Work, Right to
Authors: Nickel James W.
Published: January 2015

This article discusses whether it is ethically imperative to provide work to people who are unemployed, can't find jobs or other economic opportunities, and want to work. The idea of a right to work is explained and arguments for and against such a right are presented.
Future Generations
Authors: Hosmer LaRue T.
Published: January 2015

The moral issue involved is the proper treatment of the people who will come after us as inhabitants of the earth.
China, Business Ethics In
Authors: Enderle Georges , Lu Xiaohe
Published: January 2015

Business ethics faces a vast array of daunting challenges in China. Because of the country's size and the pace of change, developing business ethics in China is a highly complex task. The approach must be comprehensive as well as differentiated. To focus solely on what individuals and organizations can and should do does not suffice; and to deal only with questions of the economic system is not sufficient either. Instead, business ethics in China has to come to grips with all three levels, the individual, organizational, and systemic. It has to speed up and strengthen its reform by contributing to and implementing reasonable international standards in technical, legal, and ethical terms. As a major economic power, China is expected to play a constructive and responsible part in shaping globalization.