Business Ethics in Progress?

Business ethics is increasingly paid attention to in the public debate. The rapid changes in business conditions, due to changing institutions, changing markets and new means of communication in business, call for a renewal of the discussion of ethics and morality in business life. Among many other things, the questions of equality of race, religion and gender, of environmental conditions for sustainable industrial growth and the necessity to supply meaningful jobs for the young generation call for eth­ ical consideration as an integrated part of the decision-making processes in business and society. The number of corporations and firms and of public bodies, that have written ethical codes and other instituted means of enhancing corporate ethics, is increasing. Business schools all around the world include business ethics in their curriculum. In this development scholars from different academic fields have con­ tributions to make. The interest in business ethics is not restricted to ethi­ cists and economists. Also researchers from other areas, like sociology, of its history and theology, join in the efforts. As an academic discipline own, if it is to be regarded as such, business ethics is a remarkably crea­ tive arena for exchange of ideas from different comers of the learned world. It is now our task to develop this sometimes confusing blend into a useful resource for the further moralising debate.