Humanism in Business

2009, 472 pages, ISBN: 9780521898935
Publishers: Cambridge University Press
Full Citation: Humanism in Business, Spitzeck, H., Pirson, M., Amann, W., Khan, S., von Kimakowitz, E. (Eds.) (2009). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

What is the purpose of our economic system? What would a more life-serving economy look like? There are many books about business and society, yet very few of them question the primacy of GDP growth, profit maximization and individual utility maximization.

Even developments with a humanistic touch like stakeholder participation, corporate social responsibility or corporate philanthropy serve the same goal: to foster long-term growth and profitability. Humanism in Business questions these assumptions and investigates the possibility of creating a human-centered, value-oriented society based on humanistic principles. An international team of academics and practitioners present philosophical, spiritual, economic, psychological and organizational arguments that show how humanism can be used to understand, and possibly transform, business at three different levels: the systems level, the organizational level and the individual level. This groundbreaking book will be of interest to academics, practitioners and policymakers concerned with business ethics and the relationship between business and society.

Table of Contents | Editorial Team | Links and Downloads

Introduction, Michael Pirson, Ernst von Kimakowitz, Heiko Spitzeck, Wolfgang Amann and Shiban Khan

Part I. Philosophic-Historical Grounding of Humanism:

Chapter 1: Philosophical grounds of Humanism in economics, Julian Nida-Rümelin
Chapter 2: The Humanist tradition, Matt Cherry
Chapter 3: Humanism and culture: balancing particularity and universalism among the world's religions, Greg Epstein
Chapter 4: A requisite journey: from business ethics to economic philosophy, Claus Dierksmeier
Chapter 5: The global economy from a moral point of view, Stephen B. Young
Chapter 6: The implications of Humanism for business studies, Omar Aktouf and W. David Holford
Chapter 7: Current trends in Humanism and business, Domènec Melé

Part II. Towards an Integration of Humanism and Business on a Systems Level:

Chapter 8: Towards a civilized market economy: economic citizenship rights and responsibilities in service of a humane society, Peter Ulrich
Chapter 9: Development as freedom - individual freedom as a social commitment, Amartya Sen
Chapter 10: On corporate responsibility for human rights, Klaus M. Leisinger
Chapter 11: The value shift: merging social and financial imperatives, Lynn Sharp Paine
Chapter 12: The ugly side of capitalism: what the young generation needs to combat, Ulrich Steger

Part III. Humanistic Management:

Chapter 13: Democratizing the corporation, Allen L. White
Chapter 14: Social entrepreneurship - a blueprint for humane organizations? Michael Pirson
Chapter 15: Humanism at work: crucial organizational cultures and leadership principles, Claudia Peus and Dieter Frey
Chapter 16: Positive organizational scholarship: embodying a humanistic perspective of business, Miguel Pereira Lopes, Miguel Pina e Cunha, Stephan Kaiser and Gordon Müller-Seit
Chapter 17: Corporate sustainability as an indicator for more humanism in business? A view beyond the usual hype in Europe, Oliver Salzmann, Aileen Ionescu-Somers and Ulrich Steger
Chapter 18: Changing direction - corporations as ambassadors of the environment? Oliver Rapf

Part IV. The Individual as a Change Agent for a Humane Business Society:

Chapter 19: Ethical codes at work, Adrian Henriques
Chapter 20: The daunting challenges of globalization and the power of individuals in cross-stakeholder networks for a humanistic face of globalization, Jean-Pierre Lehmann
Chapter 21: The leader as responsible change agent: promoting Humanism in and beyond business, Thomas Maak and Nicola Pless
Chapter 22: Quiet leadership - a way to sustainable positive change, Joe Badaracco
Chapter 23: Everyone a changemaker: social entrepreneurship's ultimate goal, William Drayton
Chapter 24: Social business entrepreneurs are the solution, Muhammad Yunus
Chapter 25: Concluding observations, Ernst von Kimakowitz, Michael Pirson, Heiko Spitzeck, Wolfgang Amann and Shiban Khan
Index.