Some Musings About the Future of Business Ethics Scholarship
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EDITORIAL
Some Musings About the Future of Business Ethics Scholarship Patricia H. Werhane1,2,3
© Springer Nature B.V. 2020
As a retiring Consulting Editor for the Journal of Business Ethics and one of the founders of the Society for Business Ethics, I was asked by the editors-in-chiefs to write a small piece outlining where I think scholarship in the field is at the present time and where it is going or should go in the future. A bit of background: The Journal of Business Ethics was one of the first contemporary journals in business ethics, founder by Alex Michalos and later joined by Deborah Poff. From its beginning the Journal has distinguished itself by appealing to social scientists as well as philosophers and theologians. This is in contrast with some other journals that imagine that normative philosophy has a choke-hold on the field, despite the Business and Society social science-led movement began in the 1960s. Given the original mission, under the present leadership of Ed Freeman and Michelle Greenwood the Journal has reorganized itself with section editors who evaluate papers in their fields of specialization, e.g., organizational behavior, finance, economics, philosophy, theology, etc., as well as considering cross-disciplinary contributions. This reorganization has contributed to a fine collection of articles and reviews from several points of view, advancing the Journal of Business Ethics the distinction of being on the top 50 list in the Financial Times. So where is this cross-disciplinary scholarship going and what will the field look like in 2050? The Journal has always encouraged special issues on a focused topic. Initiated by a series of sessions on feminism at the Society for Business Ethics meetings in 2019 (and reminiscent of an early Ruffin collection edited by Ed Freeman on this topic) they have announced a new Feminisms and Business Ethics section,. With the current preoccupation with diversity, race, and * Patricia H. Werhane [email protected] 1
Professor Emerita, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
2
Professor Emerita, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA
3
Gies College of Business, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, USA
equity, these are very positive steps for the Journal. And, in this present climate of anger and protests and given the cross-disciplinary make-up of the Journal editors, this is now the “moment” to broaden the scope across international venues to encourage submissions and special issues on these topics that are inclusive of thinking in emerging as well as mature economies. Indeed, I would encourage research and writing that truly take into account cultural differences as well as race and gender diversity. Scholarship in the field of business ethics and corporate responsibility in the twenty-first century will, or should, be developing leading thinkers in at least three other areas. These are obvious but always evolving. Most obviously is environmental sustainability. Very simply put, how can organizations avoid further polluting and in
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