All organizations have ethics programs which consist of both explicit and implicit parts. This paper defines corporate ethics programs and identifies a number of their components. Corporate ethics programs'' structural and behavioral dimensions are proposed which may allow further examination of such program components and their impacts. Finally, fifteen propositions are suggested which describe the influence of founder values, competitive pressures, leadership, and organizational problems on corporate ethics programs and the manageability of such programs.

Various authors advocate consideration of stakeholder value concerns in organizational decision making. Brenner and Cochran (1990, 1991) propose a stakeholder theory of the firm which contains several propositions and a stakeholder value matrix. In order to begin any stakeholder rnodel validation, an approach is needed to measure stakeholder value and influence weights. We propose a multicriteria decision modeling approach, utilizing the analytic hierarchy process, to estimate stakeholder value matrix weights. This approach is illustrated using a simplified example and suggestions are (...) made regarding the process needed to begin to validate the stakeholder theory of the firm. (shrink)

During the past 2 decades, business has become increasingly active in the political process, and scholars continue to debate the extent to which this activity is organized. This fundamental issue is addressed by using multidimensional scaling to structurally analyze political action committee (PAC) campaign contributions within the context of resource dependence and class cohesion theories. Results indicate that resource dependence theory can better explain the forces that drive business participation in the U.S. public policy process. Both theoretical and managerial implications (...) are discussed. (shrink)

This panel considered the uses of and prospects for the stakeholder theory/approach. After 20 years of popularity, the stakeholder concept has still notemerged as a true theory. However, it offers some unique perspectives on business organizations and there is plenty of room to develop stakeholder theory and research. These session notes are offered to further the scholarly discussion.

This “paper” recalls the events that shaped the first international conference of the International Association for Business and Society. A number of surprises andfortunate circumstances determined the actual nature of our 1992 meeting in Leuven, Belgium. This description provides a brief overview of that conference’s planning and execution.