Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons^™

Oral History Conversation With Nick Sandoval, Kristina Overman, Parker Shultz, Courtney Coddington, Roc Beas

Philosophy 332: Business Ethics

No abstract provided.

Oral History Conversation With David Bruemmer, Brandon Chung, Roberto Rodriguez, Constance Olmert, Alec Weber

Philosophy 332: Business Ethics

This oral history conversation is an interview with David Bruemmer.

Keeping Investors Onboard: A Corporate Social Responsibility Crisis Response Framework, Clarence Goh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

There is evidence to suggest that managers use CSR reporting as a means to manage their firms’ CSR reputations. In this study, I jointly examine CSR reputation and CSR crisis response in the context of CSR crises, and how they can influence investor judgments and decision making. In particular, in the context of CSR crises, I build on situational crisis communication theory to develop a CSR crisis response framework which managers can use to examine and understand how specific types of CSR crises can influence their firm’s CSR reputations, which can in turn influence investor judgments and decision making. Following …

Dealing With Un(Expected) Ethical Dilemma: Experience From The Field, Zaleha Othman 6762207, Fathilatul Zakimi Abdul Hamid

The Qualitative Report

Despite the growing interest in qualitative research and discussion of ethics, there has been little focus in the literature on the specific ethical dilemmas faced by researchers. In this paper, we share our fieldwork experiences regarding the ethical dilemmas that we encountered while doing research on a sensitive topic. Specifically, we share some of the ethical dilemmas, that is, concerning confidentiality, anonymity, legitimacy, controversial data, interpretation and off-the-record data, which emerged from the research. Most importantly, this paper shares ideas concerning how researchers might deal with ethical issues while preserving their integrity in the research process. Overall, this paper suggests …

Entire Fairness: A Call To Preserve Delaware Doctrine, Lisa Bei Li

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

Appraisal arbitrage is on the rise. Institutional investors—namely, hedge funds—buy into target companies after their merger announcements and bet on the price. By purposely taking a minority position, these funds proceed to courts to obtain what they otherwise could not in the market: a “fair value.” Where there is no allegation of wrongdoing or injury, these plaintiffs nonetheless successfully divert deal value away from business combinations. Based on a misunderstood statute, appraisal arbitrage has exploded into a multi-billion dollar industry for large fund investors. In June 2016, amid growing concerns, the Delaware General Assembly amended section 262, Delaware’s appraisal statute. …

The Evolution Of A Christian Business School's Mission--Bringing "Business As Mission" To A Business School's Mission, Chuck Capps, Rob Touchstone, Ray Eldridge, Leanne Smith, Andy Borchers

Faculty Publications

Colleges of business typically seek accreditation to achieve legitimacy and raise their reputations. Major business school accreditors (AACSB, ACBSP, and IACBE) all base their accreditation standards on college-created mission statements. This paper describes how one Christian business school developed a unique mission statement in response to both accreditation standards and as a spiritual transformation catalyst. This statement calls for the college to “develop business leaders who embrace the values and virtues of Jesus,” and it is now being inculcated through curricular and co-curricular activities. This paper details how three programs in particular: Business as Mission, Servant Leadership, and Service Learning—manifest …

Equity Culture And Decent Work: The Case Of Amazon (2017), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Every year, publicly traded companies hold annual meetings at which management presents a summary of the year’s accomplishments and shareholders vote on a slate of ballot issues, referred to as “proxy resolutions,” that are placed there by either management or shareholders. As in public life, in theory this form of corporate governance relies on a division of authority and checks and balances among shareholders, the board of directors, and company management. In theory, shareholders function much like registered voters, boards serve as their elected representatives, and management operates much like the executive branch to carry out the mandates accorded to …

Introduction, Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

America faces a reckoning, a crucible of what Reinhold Niebuhr observed more than eighty years ago. Our democratic principles and traditions are imperiled by the power of financial oligarchs and unfettered money flows, which have contributed to massive inequality that, in turn, has given rise to political unrest and a sense of cultural unmooring.

The articles presented here are both descriptive and normative, setting forth a complex social problem with seemingly bottomless proportions and then offering a design or set of remedial actions to alleviate them. Drawing on my professional experience going back to the mid-1970s, I wrote these pieces …

Money And Morality: Pathways Toward A Civic Stewardship Ethic (2012), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Based on a plenary presentation made at the Ninth Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance, held at Harvard Law School in 2010, less than two years after the 2008 financial crisis, this article argues for the restoration of ethical values and civic commitments in capitalism and economic enterprise, drawing on traditional religious, theological, and philosophical principles regarding the civic moral obligations associated with building and managing wealth. The article is divided into three main parts. It begins with an overview of reform measures emanating from the financial debacle, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and an …

Improving Impact: Collaborative Multi-Party, Multi-Sector Engagement (2011), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Most people do not realize the full implications of the fact that we live now in an era marked more by networks than hierarchies. Nowadays, power is distributed across boundaries and borders, rather than concentrated in one place—be it a physical setting, demographic group, industrial sector, or professional discipline. Thanks to systems thinking and the ubiquity of digital tools and platforms, there are many more opportunities for lawmakers, policymakers, and economic institutions to collaborate with concerned citizens on critical public issues, thereby breaking the grip of lobbyists, third-party intermediaries, and the power elite. On top of that are recent breakthroughs …

Trusting Harvard: The Cost Of Unprincipled Investing (2014), Marcy Murninghan, Robert A.G. Monks

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article provides a framework for answering two questions: How can Harvard fulfill its fiduciary obligation as an investor in ways that advance its beliefs, values, and commitments? How can Harvard take the lead in creating a curriculum for students, professionals, and the general public about the civic moral obligations of wealth? While aimed at Harvard, the issues covered are relevant to other universities and tax-exempt institutional investors, because they have a special duty to advance the public interest. Commissioned and co-authored by the noted corporate governance and responsible ownership guru Robert A. G. Monks, it calls on Harvard to …

Corporate Civic Responsibility And The Ownership Agenda: Investing In The Public Good (1994), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article seeks to provoke broader public discussion about ways in which human and ecologic dignity, prosperity, and the civic ideal can be advanced through a revitalized and principled ownership agenda that features greater levels of corporate accountability and civic virtue. It draws from portions of what then was called an “Occasional Paper,” part of a series emanating from the early days of the University of Massachusetts Boston’s McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies. Written in 1994, it introduces a new paradigm for corporate governance called the “corporate covenant,” which casts ownership within the framework of citizenship. These …

A Framework For Good Ownership And Good Governance (1999), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article encapsulates a more extensive analysis that was commissioned by The Boston Foundation’s board of trustees in December 1998 to investigate its investment practices and identify ways in which its asset management decisions might be brought into fuller alignment with its charitable purpose—without conceding earnings or undermining its philanthropic fiduciary responsibility. The undertaking was spurred by the leadership of Robert A. Glassman, co-founder and co-chair of Wainwright Bank and a trustee of The Boston Foundation (TBF) since 1985, who took the reins from David Rockefeller Jr. in 1995 as chair of TBF’s investment committee. The research project built on …

Using The Five Domains Model To Assess The Adverse Impacts Of Husbandry, Veterinary, And Equitation Interventions On Horse Welfare, Paul Mcgreevy, Jeannine Berger, Nic De Brauwere, Orla Doherty, Anna Harrison, Julie Fiedler, Claudia Jones, Sue Mcdonnell, Andrew Mclean, Lindsay Nakonechny, Christine Nichol, Liane Preshaw, Peter Thomson, Vicky Tzioumis, John Webster, Sarah Wolfensohn, James Yeates, Bidda Jones

Equine Husbandry and Welfare Collection

The aim of this study was to conduct a series of paper-based exercises in order to assess the negative (adverse) welfare impacts, if any, of common interventions on domestic horses across a

broad range of different contexts of equine care and training. An international panel (with professional expertise in psychology, equitation science, veterinary science, education, welfare, equestrian coaching, advocacy, and community engagement; n = 16) met over a four-day period to define and assess these interventions, using an adaptation of the domain-based assessment model. The interventions were considered within 14 contexts: C1Weaning; C2 Diet; C3 Housing; C4 Foundation training; C5 …

The Early Eight And The Future Of Consumer Legal Activism To Fight Modern-Day Slavery In Corporate Supply Chains, Andrew G. Barna

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Drummond Financial Services Llc, Et Al. Order On Pending Motions And Requests, John J. Goger

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Entrepreneurship Education Empowers Youth To Change Their Lives, Marianna Brashear, Jason Riddle

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) aims at equipping Title 1 schools with free, hands-on, engaging materials that any teacher can facilitate either individually or in a classroom setting with no background in entrepreneurship necessary. These versatile lessons, courses, and workshops teach the entrepreneurial mindset optimizing opportunities for grades 8-12 students no matter which life/career path they choose.

Water System Unreliability And Diarrhea Incidence Among Children In Guatemala, Jennifer Trudeau, Anna-Maria Aksan, Wiliam F. Vásquez

WCBT Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVES:

This article examines the effect of water system unreliability on diarrhea incidence among children aged 0-5 in Guatemala.

METHODS:

We use secondary data from a nationally representative sample of 7579 children to estimate the effects of uninterrupted and interrupted water services on diarrhea incidence. The national scope of this study imposes some methodological challenges due to unobserved geographical heterogeneity. To address this issue, we estimate mixed-effects logit models that control for unobserved heterogeneity by estimating random effects of selected covariates that can vary across geographical areas (i.e. water system reliability).

RESULTS:

Compared to children without access to piped water, …

Are Corporate Codes Of Ethics And Risk Assessment By Internal Auditors Associated With Sustainability Audits By Internal Auditors?, Steven M. Desimone, Mohammad Abdolmohammadi

Economics Department Working Papers

An increasing number of organizations engage in sustainability reporting to the public. However, assurance of this disclosure is relatively new. In this study we investigate corporate codes of ethics and risk assessment by internal auditors as correlates of organizations’ engaging their internal audit functions (IAFs) in sustainability audits. Using data from a large sample of chief audit executives (CAEs) we find significant and positive associations between code of conduct and risk assessment and sustainability audits by IAFs. Also, we find positive and significant association between industry (environmentally sensitive vs. others), CAE experience, and CAE major (accounting vs. others) and sustainability …

Maximizing Shareholder Wealth And Stakeholder Value Through Benefit Corporations: Doing Good And Doing Well, Arlene J. Nicholas, Samuel A. Sacco

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

Benefit Corporations must create a "general public benefit," and answer to shareholders while decisions based on society or environment, rather than solely on profit, are legally protected (Alpern, 2015). The Benefit Corporation's legal and performance standards help ensure market growth, valuation, impact, and integrity (Neubauer, 2016). This paper examines the evolution of Benefit Corporations and some of the legal differences between traditional for-profit corporations including related court cases. The authors provide a business rationale in support of conscientious for-profit organizations. How a company can become a Benefit Corporation and the value added will be discussed.