The Ethical Imperative: Why Moral Leadership Is Good Business

Robert W. Sexty is a professor of commerce and business administration
at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the author of Canadian
Business: Issues and Stakeholders.

Everyone has heard the cliché “Business ethics is an oxymoron.”
Nothing could be further from the truth, since ethics apply to all forms
of human activity. This book is not a “quick fix” for the ethical
challenges confronting business. The author, a former advertising
executive who has studied theology, presents a comprehensive and complex
model.

A brief description of some of the chapters illustrates the book’s
complexity. “Orientation”—Business requires an orientation toward
the right, the just, and the ethical at a time when the global economy
is imposing a unity without the moral cohesion necessary for survival.
“Costs”—Business will incur costs and failures if it is not
prepared to exercise ethical judgments at a time when self-interest,
criminal activity, and the excesses of capitalism are threatening to
dominate. “Impetus”—While all cultures have the capacity to be
ethical, it is not feasible to impose a global ethic.

The reader is taken through a three-stage process: an analysis of the
current business and social situation, the presentation of a new model
for a global ethic, and the steps for the necessary implementation. One
chapter describes examples in which the process was implemented.

For businesspeople looking for practical solutions to the business
ethics dilemma, this substantial book has much to offer.