Shareholder Value and the Common Good

Paul Mimbi, David Lutz

Description

What is the objective or purpose of business Management? According to the dominant theory of contemporary financial management scholarship, agency theory, business managers are obligated to maximise owner or shareholder value. According to most theories of business ethics, however, some owner-value-maximising actions should not be performed, because they would be unethical. Because business management scholars and business ethics scholars have not resolved this contradiction, students of commerce receive a contradictory education. The twenty-five essays in this interdisciplinary, international volume address the question of the objective or purpose of business management from a wide range of theoretical perspectives. Since some of the writers contradict one another, it is not possible that all of them are correct. Nevertheless, the fact that many of them argue persuasively that business managers should aspire to more than maximisation of a financial variable challenges everyone with a theoretical or practical interest in commerce to reconsider acceptance of the owner-value paradigm and to develop a richer conception of the profession of business management.

Sujets

• Law

Informations

• Publié par: LawAfrica Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 29 décembre 2005
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9789966530059
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

S HAREHOLDER V ALUE ANDTHE C OMMON G OOD

S HAREHOLDER V ALUE ANDTHE C OMMON G OOD

Essays on the Objectives and Purposes of Business Management

Edited by David Lutz Paul Mimbi

Published by:

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© LawAfrica Publishing Ltd Reprint 2011 © LawAfrica Publishing Ltd 2005

ISBN 9966-031-15-0

& SUP (Strathmore University Press) Copyright subsists in this work. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the publisher’s written permission. Any unauthorised reproduction of this work will constitute a copyright infringement and render the doer liable under both civil and criminal law. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the information published in this work is accurate, the editors, publishers and printers take no responsibility for any loss or damage suffered by any person as a result of the reliance upon the information contained therein.

Acknowledgements

Introduction

C ONTENTS

D AVID L UTZ andP AUL M IMBI

Keynote Address:The Relationship between Ethics and Business Management

J OHN G ITHONGO

Altruism and Human Flourishing:The High and Low Dimensions of ‘Self-Interest’ in Business Enterprise

C HRISTINE W. G ICHURE

Beyond Agency Theory:The Nature of the Firm from a Humanistic Perspective

J UAN F ONTRODONA

A Comparative Analysis of the Principle of Competition in Business Management and the Principle of Love in Christian Ethics in Africa

E UNICE K ARANJA K AMAARA

The Purpose of Business Management in the Light of Catholic Social Teaching

H ILARY G EORGE N DEMO

The Challenge of Business: Going beyond Wealth Maximisation and Profit Maximisation

A NNA M ARIA E. M ENDOZA andC ORAZON T.T ORALBA

Human Perfection as the Proper Aim of Business Management

F RANCIS G IKONYO W OKABI

The Objective of Maximum Profit, or the Wishful Thinking of a ‘Hyper-Monetised’ Economy

M INERVA U LLATE F ABO

ix

1

23

31

47

69

83

101

123

143

The German Way:The Free-Enterprise System – Daily Struggle between Capitalism and Social Responsibility

P ETER S CHIWY

Which Business Models for Sustainable Development?

M ICHEL A LBERT

Beyond ‘Welfarism’:Towards a Philosophical Grounding of Economic Theory P AUL M IMBI

The Objective of Business Management: A Biblical Perspective

C HRISTOPHER O WCZAREK

Should Entrepreneurs Advance the Profit-Maximisation Objective?

H ENRY M. B WISA

Ethics in Business Economics: Self-Interest, Inequality of Income, and Social Justice

M ADUABUCHI D UKOR

Governing the Business Enterprise: The Wealth-Creating Organ of, in, and for Society

K ARUGOR G ATAMAH

Profit Maximisation and Business Social Responsibility Objectives in Business Management

B ENJAMIN O. M ATURU

Capitalism and Social Investment in Africa: Contradictory Commitment to Development

O. F. E MIRI

The Misapplication of the Concept of Agency to Financial Management Theory

L UIS F RANCESCHI

161

169

185

199

211

225

243

255

269

281

Founding an Ethical Kenya:The Role of the Business Sector

A NNE W AIGURU

The Search for Metaphysical, Epistemological, Moral Principles to Serve as a Basis of Business Management

J OSEPH K AHIGA K IRUKI

The Objective of Business Management and the Necessity of Ethical Business Managers

M IRIAM P. N ARBARTE

Presumptive Taxation and Tax Compliance in Uganda: Incorporating Ethical Aspects

A RTHUR S SERWANGA andT HOMAS W ALTER

Management Ethics and the Reality of Negative Attitudes in Nigeria’s Public Employment Sector V.T. J IKE

Work Ethic, Locus of Control, and Task Performance

J OSEPH N TAYI

Personal Morality and Business Management: Empirical and Philosophical Perspectives

M ICHAEL M ABURURU N TABO

Contributors

305

323

329

337

349

363

383

393

A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ix

Many persons and several organisations contributed to the publication of this book.

The conference at which the papers were presented was made possible by a donation from Haco Industries Kenya Limited. We would like to thank Mr. C. J. Kirubi, Chairman, Mrs. E. Mbugua, Finance Director, and Mr. Chris Pasha, Sales and Marketing Director, for their company’s generosity.

Of the many members of Strathmore University’s staff who contributed to making the conference a success, we would like to thank especially Fina Desouza, Lucy Gikonyo, Rachael Kanini, Rufina Kingori, Robert Mureithi, Francis Mwaura and Margaret Roche. We would also like to express our gratitude to the students, members of the Journalism Club, who assisted in the administration of the conference: Rufina Achieng’, Crispus Kinyanjui, Oliver Madara, Dedi Maganga, Alex Maina, Andrew Mutha, Nancy Muturi,Winnie Ibukayo Mwangi, Joan Nduati, Christine Nzau, Brian Omwenga, Elsie Onsongo and Elizabeth Wamicha.

Mr. Martyn Drakard translated Mr. Michel Albert’s paper from the French. Mr. Carlos Sotz and Mr. Silvano Borruso translated Dr. Minerva Ullate’s essay from the Spanish. We are thankful that they made these contributions accessible to readers of English.

Last but not least, we would like to thank the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and its representative in Kenya, Mr. Gerd Bossen, for making it possible for Prof. Peter Schiwy to travel from Germany to participate in the conference, as well as for meeting the cost of printing the proceedings.

David Lutz and Paul Mimbi