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Leaders in business, law and the academy
examine the ethical issues associated with corporate globalization
in a new book edited by Rev. Oliver F. Williams, C.S.C., associate
professor of management at the University of Notre Dame.
Published this month by Notre Dame Press, "Global
Codes of Conduct: An Idea Whose Time Has Come" is a part
of the John W. Houck Notre Dame Series in Business Ethics.
Father Williams and Houck, who died in 1996, founded Notre
Dame's Center for Ethics and Religious Values in Business
in 1978.
As the international integration of economic
activity continues to grow, contributors to the book consider
the broad topic of worldwide standards for business conduct
— and how they can be developed — as well as the
effectiveness of current accountability structures, the need
for additional structures, and the promotion and protection
of human rights in developing countries. The book is composed
of 19 essays, including one by Father Williams and five by
other Notre Dame faculty: George Enderle, Arthur F. and Mary
J. O'Neil Professor of International Business Ethics; Garth
Meintjes, associate director of the Center for Civil and Human
Rights; Patrick Murphy, chair and professor of marketing;
Lee Tavis, C.R. Smith Professor of Business Administration;
and Ann Tenbrunsel, associate professor of management.
"The contemporary globalization of business
cries out for a global ethic," says Richard T. DeGeorge,
University Distinguished Professor and director of the International
Center for Ethics in Business at the University of Kansas.
"This collection of timely new essays ... suggests fruitful
lines of future development. The book is an important and
welcome addition to the literature on international business
ethics."
Father Williams specializes in understanding
how the ethics of virtue might inform the ethical conduct
of managers. A winner of Notre Dame's Reinhold Niebuhr faculty
award, he has been listed as one of the "outstanding
faculty" in Business Week's ratings of MBA programs.
The author of "The Apartheid Crisis,"
Father Williams also is an expert on economic and political
issues in South Africa. He served as a member of the U.N.
Observations Mission in South Africa for the historic 1994
elections that brought an end to the country's 46-year policy
of apartheid and currently serves as chair of the U.S. board
of the United States-South Africa Leadership Development Program.
Father Williams is a faculty fellow in Notre
Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and
served as associate provost from 1987-94. He is the editor
or author of 12 previous books as well as numerous articles
on business ethics in journals such as the Harvard Business
Review, California Management Review, the Journal of Business
Ethics, Business Horizons, and Theology Today.
Father Williams earned his doctorate from Vanderbilt
University and his bachelor's and master's degrees from Notre
Dame. He was ordained a priest in the Congregation of Holy
Cross in 1970.
The Center for Ethics and Religious Values
in Business in Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business seeks
to strengthen the Judeo-Christian ethical foundations in business
and public policy decisions by fostering dialogue among academic
and corporate leaders, as well as by research and publications.
The center also helps to coordinate and integrate the teaching
of ethics throughout the business curriculum at Notre Dame,
which Business Week rates as the best in higher education.
By: Dennis Brown, Notre Dame Public Relations
and Information
Date: April 26, 2000
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