Codes, Stakeholders and Business Philosophy

Abstract

Two concepts that business ethics has made its own are codes of practice and stakeholding. They pre-date the self-conscious, organised business ethics effort. Codes are standard in large businesses in the United States, but are not so widely used elsewhere. Stakeholder models remain largely aspirational. Both concepts have critics, and their practical value has yet to be proved. Despite this, they have the potential to transform the quality of business life. Their main strength is in combination with an appropriate business philosophy, which does not yet exist. Widely respected business values can be identified, but they need to be founded on basic principles, which is a requirement for any discipline to move from ideology to maturity. Some possible principles are suggested. An illustration is taken from financial services regulation, where markets are generally seen (to borrow Rousseau's phrase) as having to be ‘forced to be free.’