PREFACE

When I was asked to handle the course on Business Ethics for students of postgraduate diploma in Business Management at Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA), I came across a serious problem. While there were a few good books on the subject published from abroad, Indian books on Business Ethics with Indian illustrations and case studies were very limited. The available books were not properly structured—some of them did not touch upon the theoretical aspects of business ethics, while others had pieced together a few essays on some issues related to the subject and included writings or speeches of some eminent public figures. The paucity of good, well-structured books on the subject warranted a well-written India-centric book that would help students, and to some extent, the teachers. The lack of adequate number of text books is understandable because the subject of business ethics as a core course for management students is hardly two decades old. At the same time, more and more B-schools have started introducing Business Ethics as a core or an elective course. Hence, I felt a vital need for a good book on Business Ethics, which focuses on the Indian perspective, and the idea of writing this book was born.

There was also another reason, rather a justification, for writing this book on business ethics. My well-received book on corporate governance brought out by the same publisher, Pearson Education, discusses Corporate Social Responsibility, Business Ethics, Corporate Governance etc. that are generally included in any book on Business Ethics. Follow-up efforts to improve future editions of Corporate Governance threw up new additional material that appeared common to both the subjects. In the meantime, the subjects of business ethics, corporate social responsibility and corporate governance were assuming greater importance in the media as well as academia with several articles and research papers being published in newspapers and journals. The idea of writing this book had thus become irresistible!

While working on the chapterisation of the book—I should add in all humility—the course content that was followed by my predecessor at LIBA, Dr C. L. Ramakrishnan, former Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu looked well-conceived for me to emulate to a certain extent. By adding a few more topics, the book looked complete in all respects. I take this opportunity to salute Dr C. L. Ramakrishnan, an able and highly ethical police officer, for showing me a clear path in writing this book. I have borrowed some of his ideas at several places in the book. Since some of his imaginative ideas were presented more in power-points than as published text, I had to elaborate many of the points he had touched upon in his presentation.

A book of this sort, with the need to explain much of philosophy and ethical dilemmas, could not have come from one who has been a student and teacher of economics all his life. I have generously drawn a lot of ideas, theories, and real life cases from many authors, some of whom lent their original contributions to the subject of Business Ethics that has been and still keeps evolving. Wherever I have borrowed from their works, I have acknowledged. If I have omitted to give credit to any source, it is needless to say it is unintentional and due to sheer lapse of memory. Humility is a virtue I cherish most, especially in owning up the original contributions I have used. However, if there are mistakes or inadequacies in the book, it is due to my fault and I have no hesitation in saying “Mea culpa” The supplement for this book gives a lesson plan and PowerPoint slides at www.pearsoned.co.in/acfernando as useful study-aids.

I have made an effort to make this book useful for students taking the course on Business Ethics. My publisher has also made serious efforts to get reviews of my peers to improve the coverage and quality of the book. I have carried out to the extent possible, all their suggestions. I seek the opinion and feedback of the academic community to make the future editions of this book more acceptable to all stakeholders.

A. C. Fernando