Library Guides:  Business Ethics 185

Instructor: Darlean McClure
Developed by Gina Haycock, Librarian
October 3, 2007

Reference Sources

There are three subject encyclopedias on ethics on the Reference shelves in the COS Library. There are entries for business ethics, affirmative action, and discrimination. The philosophy and social science encyclopedias have entries for the philosophers and their principles studied in this class.

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy #R100 R869
Ethics  #R 170 Et84
Encyclopedia of Values and Ethics #R 170.3 H588
Encyclopedia of Ethics  #R 170.3 En56
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences #R 303 In61

Online Reference Books:
Gale Virtual Reference Library - Gale provides access to 200 reference books. All the books are full-text and cover a wide variety of topics including art, science, literature and much more. All 200 titles can be searched simultaneously or individual titles may be selected. (Cost $20,000)

Books

A general search in the COS Book catalog:

More specific subject headings to use in the COS Library Online Catalog are as follows:

ONLINE BOOKS:

Periodicals (Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers)

The COS Library subscribes to 9 periodicals on the subject of business:

• Advertising Age
• Black Enterprise
• Business Week
• Forbes
• Fortune
• Harvard Business Review
• Kiplinger's Personal Finance
• Money
• Wall Street Journal

Periodical Databases   

• Infotrac - provides articles from more than 500 scholarly, trade and general-interest publications, as well as references for The New York Times. The databases integrate core titles in every major academic concentration; area  and issue-specific journals; academic journals with application in the professions; and publications with national news coverage and commentary.  The time period it covers is current year to date + the previous 3 years. The optional back file extends coverage as far back as 1980.  (Annual Cost $9,732)
  This database defaults to a subject search and is a good starting point, because it gives sub-headings that help to narrow and focus the topic. Related topics are also provided. NOT ALL the articles are full-text, but a search can be limited to full-text only.
   
• Lexis/Nexis - provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, medical and reference information. (Annual Cost $5,518) Not available off campus!!!
  All the business articles in this database are full-text.
   

• Academic Abstracts - indexes over 950 periodicals from 1984 to the present.  It will identify the periodical titles that the COS Visalia Library owns.  Of the 950 periodicals indexed approximately 480 have the complete text of articles back several years.  (Annual Cost $2,999)
  This database provides an abstract or summary of each article. This database defaults to an advanced search.
   

• SIRS (Social Issues Research Series) - contains all full-text articles from a variety of newspaper and magazines covering current social issues.  (Annual Cost $1440) This database defaults to a subject search , but also has a leading topics search and a keyword search.
   
• CQ Researcher -complete source on the most current and controversial issues of the day with complete summaries, all the pros and cons, bibliographies and more. (Annual Cost $523) This database offers a quick key word search or searches by topic or date. The articles are full-text.
   
• Student Research Center - This site provides access to the Columbia Encyclopedia as well as government reports, magazines, news transcripts, Primary Source Documents and more.

Some possible key words to use in searching in the databases are as follows:

These terms could be combined with employment or business. In a key word search the more terms used the narrower the search becomes.

Web Sites

Ethical Principles/Philosophies

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by two philosophy professors and contributions by a team of volunteer specialists, provides information on key topics and on individual philosophers.
A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names provided by a college professor originally as a study guide for his philosophy classes.
EpistemeLinks authoritative links to philosophers and philosophies.
Feminist Care Ethics brief information from the University of Denver Center for Ethical Deliberation.
Advice from Aristotle from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, University of Santa Clara.
Feminist Bioethics form the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy maintaining academic standards of refereed entries.
Kant and Kantian Ethics sponsored by the University of San Diego.
Utilitarianism links to many web pages on the proponents of utilitarianism sponsored by the University of San Diego.
An interview with Carol Gilligan from public radio.

Women in Business

U. S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau was established by Congress in 1920 and this site provides fact sheets and publications and speeches.
WomensMedia.com provides resources to help women to advance their careers.
WorkingMother ,the online version of the print magazine helping women juggle career and family roles, provides links to recommended web sites.

Affirmative Action/Diversity in Business

The Affirmative Action and Diversity Project: A Web Page for Research provides a variety of resources  exploring "diverse opinions regarding Affirmative Action" from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Fusion: Diversity Resources for Business Results provides valuable articles on diversity in the workplace.
Talking about Affirmative Action questions and answers from the viewpoint of the National Organization of Women (NOW).

Discrimination in Business

Employment Discrimination This site provides an overview of employment discrimination laws and links to a variety of state and federal laws, agencies and court decisions. This site sponsored by Cornell University.
Glass Ceiling Commission was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and designed to identify barriers to workplace advancement for women and minorities .
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Sexual Harassment  provides definition and laws and statistics and additional links.
Age Discrimination at Work provides definition and resources from the AARP.
Age Discrimination information from the U. S. Department of Labor
Ethnic/National Origin, Color, Race, Religion and Sex Discrimination information from the U. S. Department of Labor

Business Ethics

On the COS Library Home Page (http://www.cos.edu/library/) from the link: Web Sites by Topic there is a link to Business and then to the topic Business Ethics. The links under this topic cover case studies in business ethics and issues and example of codes of ethics.
The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics is linked to the Brookings Institution, an independent research organization.     
The Ethics Resource Center is a nonprofit organization with links covering business, global and personal ethics. This site also provides summaries of a research project, National Business Ethics Survey, which examines workplace ethics from the employees perspective.
The National Whistleblower Center, a nonprofit advocacy organization, helps those who have taken actions based on their ethical beliefs.
Contemporary Ethics is an audio series sponsored by National Public Radio exploring the concept of right and wrong in the 21st Century.
Business Ethics is a gateway of annotated links to business ethics resources.
Business & Human Rights Resource Center provides international links to reports and guides including examples of company misconduct and of best practices.
Business for Social Responsibility is a global nonprofit organization promoting corporate social responsibility and this site provides in depth coverage of topics in free Issue Briefs.
GreenBiz.com provides information to help companies integrate environmental responsibility into their business practices.
International Business Ethics Institute provides selected articles form its publication International Business Ethics Review.
Better Business Bureau ethics section of the site provides standards and codes of practice.
Business Ethics Network a group of organizations working to improve business conduct of the world's largest corporations.
Corporate Accountability International is an organization founded to challenge irresponsible corporate behavior around the world.
Corporate Research Project is a nonprofit center specializing in research that aides activist organizations promoting ethical corporate behavior.
Corporate Watch although based in the United Kingdom this site looks at the social and environmental impact of large multinational corporations.
CorpWatch: Holding Corporations Accountable an organization of independent journalists dedicated to exposing corporations profiting from war, fraud and environmental and human rights abuses around the world.

Business Ethics Codes and Corporate Social Responsibility Reports

Business Ethics Links from the Schulich School of Business
CorporateRegister.com: A Register of Steps Towards Sustainable Business

International Standards and Guidelines

Global Reporting Initiative - a non-profit organization providing a framework for sustainability reporting world-wide.
International Fair Trade Association - seeks "to improve the livelihoods and well being of disadvantaged producers by linking and promoting Fair Trade Organizations and speaking our for greater justice in world trade"
Social Accountability International - promotes human rights for workers around the world.
United Nations Global Compact - promotes responsible corporate citizenship around the world.
 

Many of the above links were taken from the following article:
Cannon, Anita. "Business Ethics: From Oxymoron to Defining Issue of 21st Century Business."
        College and Research Libraries News. 67  (2006): 367-371.
     

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This page was last updated: October 01, 2007
For questions and comments, please mail to ginah@cos.edu