THE EUROPEAN DIFFERENCE. Business Ethics in the Community of European Management Schools

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1 THE EUROPEAN DIFFERENCE Business Ethics in the Community of European Management Schools

2 THE EUROPEAN DIFFERENCE Business Ethics in the Community of European Management Schools edited by LAsZL6 ZSOLNAI Budapest University of Economic Sciences... " Springer-8cience+ BusÎness Media, LLC

3 ... " Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The European differenee : business ethies in the Cornmunity of European Management Sehools I edited by Lâszl6 Zsolnai. p. em. lneludes bibliographieal referenees and index. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Business ethies--study and teaehing. 2. Business ethies -Europe. 3. Business edueation-europe. 4. Cornmunity of European Management Sehools. 1. Zsolnai, LăszI6. HF5387.E '.4' dc CIP Copyright@ 1998 by Springer Science+Business Media New York Origina11y published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1998 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1998 AH rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprodueed, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, meehanieal, photoeopying, reeording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Springer-Science+Business Media, LLC. Printed on acid-free paper.

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface... Acknowledgment vii ix 1. Theory and Practice of Business Ethics in Denmark Peter pruzan Business Ethics at the Stockholm School of Economics Hans De Geer "Polder-ethics": Business Ethics in the Netherlands Nel Hofstra & Luit Kloostennan Business Ethics in France: "Comment faire sans phllosophie?" Yvon Pesqueux From Teaching to Learning of Business Ethics in Barcelona Josep M. Lozano Integrative Business Ethics - A Critical Approach in St. Gallen Peter Ulrich & Thomas Maak Business Ethics at the University of Economics in Prague Lidmilla N~mcova Establishing Business Ethics in Budapest L8szl6 Zsolnai Notes on Contributors References Index v

5 PREFACE The book aims to present the business ethics visions, programs and experiences of member universities of the Community of European Management Schools (CEMS). Since the authors are leading professors of business ethics in different European countries, the book can serve as a special guide to the European business ethics movement. The Community of European Management Schools was founded in 1988 as an association of top-level schools in management education throughout Europe. In 1998 member universities are as follows: Budapest University of Economic Sciences, Copenhagen Business School, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, ESADE Barcelona, HEC Paris, London School of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Stockholm School of Economics, Universitti Bocconi Milan, Universitiit St. Gallen, Universitiit zu Koln, Universite catholique de Louvain, and Wirtschajtsuniversitiit Wien. The University of Economics in Prague and the University of Economics in Warsaw are candidate members in CEMS. Over thirty international companies joined CEMS as corporate members. Sponsoring corporations includes ABB, Athur Andersen, Banca Commerciale Italiana, Banque Bruxelles Lambert, Banque Paribas, Cariplo, Central Hispano, Coats Crafts Europe, Coopers &- Lybrand, Dresder Bank, Dunaferr, Elektrowatt, Ericson, Goldman Sachs, Grouppo ENI, Henkel Industries, Henkel Industries, Hi/ti Corporation, F. Hoffman-la-Roche, ISS, J.P. Morgan, KPMG DTG, Norsk Hydro, Petrojina, Procter &- Gamble, Schindler Management, Schneider, Shell International, Siemens, SmithKline Beecham, Statoil, Swiss Bank Corporation, Tetra Laval, Trygg Hansa, Winterthur, and Zurich Insurance. The idea to produce a book about CEMS business ethics was born after the first meeting of the CEMS Inter-faculty Group in Business Ethics held in April 11-13, 1997 in Budapest. The Business Ethics Center of the Budapest University of Economic Sciences took the responsibility to organize this meeting where nine professors participated representing eight CEMS member universities. Our book presents the business ethics activities of the following CEMS member universities: Budapest University of Economic Sciences, Copenhagen Business School, Erasmus University Rotterdam, ESADE Barcelona, HEC Paris, Stockholm School of Economics, University of Economics Prague, and Universitiit St. Gallen. Some of the CEMS member universities are not represented in the book. London School of Economics and Universitiit zu Ko/z do not have business ethics programs as such. Universite catholique Louvain has a program in ethics and economics but its leader, Philipe Van Parij did not make a contribution to our vii

6 volume. Also, Franz Hrubi did not provide a report about the business ethics activities at the Wirtschajtsuniversitat Wien. Regrettably, we were not successful in finding contact at Bocconi Milan and the Norwegian School of Management in Bergen as far as business ethics is concerned. Contrary to these difficulties, we believe, that our book can provide a fair and rich picture about the scope and degree of involvement of CEMS in the field of business ethics. Papers of the book follow - by and large - the same structure. First, the authors present state of the art of business ethics in their countries and then concentrate on the educational, research and other activities of their own universities in business ethics, including the introduction of their centers, institutes or groups. Finally, some ideas about their future plans and projects are presented. Not surprisingly, the character and the level of development of business ethics in the represented European countries and universities are rather diverse. However, common characteristics can be discovered in the business ethics experiences in Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, France, Spain, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Some critical distance from the mainstream American approach to business ethics is certainly a common characteristic of the CEMS universities represented in the book. European business ethicists are well aware of the progress and innovations that American colleagues have accomplished in business ethics but the relevance and applicability of the American models and theories seem to be limited in the European context. European business ethics is deeply rooted in culture and less influenced by abstract principles or ideas - this is the main message of our book. In European countries probably culture is the main regulating force that provides a solid basis for ethics in general, and for business ethics in particular. Our book is an effort to demonstrate the distinctiveness and cultural integrity of European business ethics. Budapest, 1998 April Laszlo Zsolnai Vlll

7 ACKNOWLEDGMENT The CFMS Inter-jaculty Group in Business Ethics received support of various kinds. CEMS Executive Director, Nicole de Fontaines encouraged us from the very beginning. The Faculty of Business Administration of the Budapest University of Economic Sciences financed the first meeting of our business ethics group in 1997 in Budapest where the idea of the book was born. We received continuos support from Professors Karoly Balaton, Sandor Kerekes and Miklos Virag, the former and present CEMS representatives of the Budapest University of Economic Sciences. Zsuzsa Krista assisted us in many ways. The financial contribution of the CFMS Secretariat, the Budapest University of Economic Sciences, Copenhagen Business School, BEC Paris, the University of Eeonomics Prague, and the Universitiit St. Gallen made the publication of this book possible. We are grateful for this kind of active involvement of our institutions in business ethics. Budapest, 1998 April Laszlo Zsolnai IX