Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons^™

Corporate Governance Guidelines: How To Improve Disclosure And Promote Better Corporate Governance In Public Companies, Jennifer O'Hare

Faculty Publications

If you are a shareholder of a public corporation, you may think it would be easy to find basic information about your shareholder rights, such as whether shareholders have the right to call special stockholder meetings. You would probably assume that the information would be disclosed in the company’s “Corporate Governance Guidelines,” (CGGs) which, according to a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) rule, must be posted on the company’s website for shareholder review. But, as this article shows, companies are not required to disclose information about shareholder rights in their corporate governance guidelines, and most companies have chosen not to …

Don't Forget The "G" In Esg: The Sec And Corporate Governance Disclosure, Jennifer O'Hare

Faculty Publications

For years, many shareholders—both institutional and individual investors—have pressured the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to require public companies to disclose more information about the environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) risks facing the company. However, the SEC has generally refused calls to require public corporations to disclose, for example, how they are addressing climate change or workforce diversity challenges. With a new president in the White House and a new administration at the SEC, the SEC will soon propose new ESG disclosure rules, requiring more information about the “E” and the “S” in ESG. But the SEC has forgotten the …

A Perspective On Bribes And Bribery, Annetta Gibson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Revisiting The Purpose Of Business, Joseph Bamber, Andy Borchers

Faculty Publications

While it is easy to see the ways that business has gone global today, it is less easy to see how scriptural ideas for holistic business are currently put in practice. We have outlined themes related to business found in Scripture and used them to create a holistic scorecard for businesses. We also compare recent views on the purpose of business and some businesses that follow these models using the scorecard. We include the classic 1970 essay by Milton Friedman (“The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits”) and continue through John Elkington (Cannibals with Forks), Mackey & …

Private Ordering And Improving Information Flow To The Board Of Directors: The Duty To Inform Bylaw, Jennifer O'Hare

Faculty Publications

It seems that almost every day there is another report of a corporate scandal at a public company. Whether the scandal involves sexual harassment by senior management or widespread illegal conduct by employees, the first question asked by investors and the media is usually, “Where was the board?” And the board’s response is almost always, “We didn’t know.” Directors of public companies rely on officers to provide the information the board needs to manage the corporation, but, strangely enough, officers may not even be legally required to provide information to the board. The Delaware General Corporation Law is silent on …

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 …

National Income Inequality, Society, And Multinational Enterprises, Nathaniel C. Lupton, Guoliang Frank Jiang, Luis F. Escobar

Faculty Publications

This chapter calls for understanding the perspective of multinational enterprises (MNEs) on international differences in income inequality. The authors set a research agenda on how national differences in income inequality influence MNE expansion strategies. Applying a transaction cost framework, both negative and positive economic outcomes of income inequality, from the MNE's perspective, are identified. Low levels of income inequality may deter foreign investment, as MNEs prefer countries where they incur lower levels of transaction costs arising from interactions with various market and non-market actors. However, the positive effect of income inequality on location attractiveness will likely diminish at higher levels …

Social Media: Creating Student Awareness Of Its Use In The Hiring Process, Justin Blount, Carol S. Wright, Ashley A. Hall, Judith L. Biss

Faculty Publications

As the use of social media permeates our lives, it is important for business educators to promote the effective use of this technology to students for both their role as job seekers as well as potential hiring managers. This article will present current perceptions among business students on using social media in the job search process, primary research from recruiters in an attempt to understand employers’ policies and practices with respect to the use of social media in the hiring process, key laws which students should be aware of with respect to the use of social media by employers, and …

Creating A Stakeholder Democracy Under Existing Corporate Law, Justin Blount

Faculty Publications

Much of the current debate in corporate governance is framed in terms of stakeholder versus shareholder forms of corporate governance. While one would find little debate that stakeholders’ interests are important to any business, there is substantial debate regarding whether any stakeholder besides shareholders should have a formal role in corporate governance. What has been largely ignored in this debate is the issue of private ordering: since corporate law is largely enabling rather than mandatory, can stakeholder governance structures be voluntarily created within the current shareholder-centric default corporate law structure? This article argues that this is clearly the case, sets …

Betting The Farm: Cases In Ethics, Annetta M. Gibson

Faculty Publications

Lake Union Trust Services Seminar

Law And Entrepreneurial Opportunities, D. Gordon Smith, Darian M. Ibrahim

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Corruption On Firm Tax Compliance In Transition Economies: Whom Do You Trust?, Anna Alon, Amy M. Hageman

Faculty Publications

Tax compliance is an important issue for governments and the public alike. To meet public needs and fund public mandates, firms around the world are expected to comply with tax laws. Factors that are related to organizational (firm) tax compliance have not been sufficiently examined in the literature. Due to the increasing global influence of transition economies, factors associated with firm tax compliance in transition economies are particularly of interest. Based on a sample of over 5,000 firms from 22 former Soviet Bloc transition economies, we find that higher levels of corruption and higher levels of particularized trust (reliance on …

‘I Don’T Lend Money; It Causes Amnesia!’ Money, Culture And Ethics., Annetta M. Gibson

Faculty Publications

Christian leaders seek to be ethical people and make ethical decisions, but often the ethical dilemmas a leader must face do not have clear-cut answers. Ethical dilemmas can be even more troubling when they occur in a culturally diverse situation that is coupled with decisions involving financial transactions. Views of money and how to handle money are culturally influenced and may not be the same as the views of the leader, who may come from a different culture. This leads the Christian leader to ponder: When working in a culturally diverse environment, how can one tell the difference between a …

Dimensionality Of Business Ethics In China, Marc Sardy, J. Mark Munoz, James Jianmin Sun, Ilan Alon

Faculty Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the ethical dimensions in China. It reviews the extant business ethics literature on China, collects data on ethical conduct from a large Chinese university, and analyzes the data to examine emerging trends. Design/methodology/approach – Factor analysis and multidimensional scaling (MDS) are applied to an established survey instrument after reliability is confirmed. Findings – Principal-components factor analysis uncovers six main factors. MDS further reduces the explanatory variables into four ethical dimensions, while increasing the number of useable observations. These four dimensions are then correlated with some demographic and psychographic variables. Results …

Usage Of Public Corporate Communications Of Social Responsibility Within Brazil, Russia, India And China (Bric), Ilan Alon, Christopher Lattemann, Marc Fetscherin, Shaomin Li, Anna-Maria Schneider

Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to analyze the status of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) communications in BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). The four countries are among the biggest emerging markets, forecasted to have increasing influence in economic and political spheres. How these countries manage their corporate communication in regards to CSR is, thus, the focus of our investigation. Design/methodology/approach: This paper compares the extent and content of corporate communication with respect to CSR from a sample of over 100 companies from the BRIC nations by investigating the nature of CSR motives, processes, and stakeholder. Findings: The …

A Return To Descartes: Property, Profit, And The Corporate Ownership Of Animals, Darian M. Ibrahim

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Unique Benefits Of Treating Personal Goodwill As Property In Corporate Acquisitions, Darian M. Ibrahim

Faculty Publications

Corporate acquisition talks may not get far if buyer and seller disagree over transaction structure, which can have significant after-tax effects. But the parties may have overlooked an item that, due to its potential tax treatment, could be the key to facilitating the acquisition. That item is the selling shareholder's "personal goodwill."

Personal goodwill exists when the shareholder's reputation, expertise, or contacts gives the corporation its intrinsic value. It is most likely to be found in closely held businesses, especially those that are technical, specialized, orprofessional in nature or have few customers and suppliers. If personal goodwill is treated as …

“Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”: Airline Liability For Checked-In Jewelry, Eloisa Rodriguez-Dod

Faculty Publications

It is expected that when you arrive at an airport you most likely will have to check in a bag or two. What is not expected, however, is that someone would rummage through your baggage and take your belongings. Unfortunately, this happens frequently. A passenger packs her jewelry in her luggage, checks that luggage in, boards her flight, and never sees that jewelry again. Once she discovers the missing jewelry, her options for recovering the loss are quite limited.

This article examines the history and current state of the law regarding airline liability for passengers’ lost belongings on domestic as …

Worker Ownership In Enron's Wake - Revisiting A Community Development Tactic, Peter R. Pitegoff

Faculty Publications

Worker ownership of business enterprise has long been touted as a vehicle for community economic development. Employee stock ownership plans in leveraged buy-outs, ESOPs and broad-based stock options in going concerns, and worker cooperatives in selected sectors - the experience has varied widely in goals, method, and outcome.

This Article reflects on the continued utility of worker ownership as a component of community development and calls attention to contrasts with conventional corporate governance and goals. Rather than an end in itself or just another way of doing business, worker ownership can be a vital element of a broader job creation, …

A Review Of Empirical Studies Assessing Ethical Decision Making In Business, Terry W. Loe, Linda K. Ferrell, Phylis Mansfield

Faculty Publications

This article summarizes the multitude of empirical studies that test ethical decision making in business and suggests additional research necessary to further theory in this area. The studies are categorized and related to current theoretical ethical decision making models. The studies are related to awareness, individual and organizational factors, intent, and the role of moral intensity in ethical decision making. Summary tables provide a quick reference for the sample, findings, and publication outlet. This review provides insights for understanding organizational ethical decision constructs, where ethical decision making theory currently stands, and provides insights for future empirical work on organizational ethical …