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Ethical blog

Why do we need new business models for a sustainable Earth?

    In our book Progressive Business Models, we write about the changing role of business in the “Anthropocene” era, the epoch since human life on Earth began to have an impact on the nature of our planet. The severe deterioration of the Earth can be tracked to current patterns of production and consumption, as business activities have come to dominate nearly all the life spheres almost everywhere in the world. Big business has been seen to play… Read More »Why do we need new business models for a sustainable Earth?

    Fight in the Artic

      For millennia, a thick layer of sea ice has defended the pristine, beautiful and utterly unique marine world of the Artic waters around Svalbard, in the Barents Sea. But global warming is melting the ice and industrial fishing has started moving in, leaving a trail of destruction behind. Svalbard’s seas hold some of the last pristine environments left on earth, home to some of our planet’s most incredible and mysterious creatures which thrived in this… Read More »Fight in the Artic

      Tribute to Peter Pruzan

        In April 2016 we celebrated the 80th anniversary of Peter Pruzan, Professor Emeritus at Copenhagen Business School and Visiting Professor at Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning in India. Peter Pruzan made important contributions to systems science, management, and business ethics. He is a leading scholar in spiritually-based leadership and one of the initiators of the Europe-India dialogue on spirituality and management. This occasion I recall my most important  encounters with Peter Pruzan during the last… Read More »Tribute to Peter Pruzan

        Phishing for Phools

          In their book “Phishing for Pools. The Economics of Manipulation and Deception” Nobel-prize-winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Schiller argue that in a free economy when opportunities appear, phishers are always there to manipulate and deceive customers. The book engagingly documents this phenomenon in the markets for alcohol, tobacco, gambling, food, houses, cars, pharmaceuticals, and on the financial markets. Akerlof and Shiller identify two main sources of phishing: one is distorted information and the other is psychological bias.  In… Read More »Phishing for Phools

          Angels and Economics

            Angels are non-physical beings who perform benevolent acts as intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and Earth. The role of angels includes protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God’s tasks. What is remarkably about angels is the fact that they do good things without consuming physical matter or energy and hence they do not make any negative impact on the geochemistry of the Earth. The ecological footprint of angels is zero but their overall… Read More »Angels and Economics

            How to Teach Sustainability?

              Teaching sustainability requires taking a truly holistic and deeply personal approach. To address issues of sustainability in business I suggest to use the four-dimensional framework developed by Ian Mitroff at USC in Los Angeles. It says that every important problem has four irreducible aspects: scientific/technical, interpersonal/social, systemic, and existential. The technical/scientific perspective is the dominant perspective in today’s Western culture and favors technical solutions to most problems, even when other solutions  are more appropriate. We use this perspective in most of our teaching at… Read More »How to Teach Sustainability?

              The Bodhisattva Model

                David Loy, well-known Buddhist scholar and Zen teacher wrote an insightful essay on „Buddhists Must Awaken to the Ecological Crisis”. Loy observes that for many modern Buddhists „the path is sometimes understood as a program of psychological development to help us let go of afflictive emotions and resolve personal problems.” But he adds „there is a difficulty if one believes that all problems are due to the way the mind works; the solution, then, is… Read More »The Bodhisattva Model

                Keystone XL Pipleline Project Is Rejected

                  In early November 2015 President Obama vetoed the Canadian-USA oil pipeline project called Keystone XL.  It is a great victory of economic, social and environmental reason. I am especially happy about this decision because in March 2013 in my class in the University of Richmond, Virginia I analyzed the project with American students and we reached a similar negative conclusion. The proposed oil pipeline (1,179-mile, 36-inch-diameter) was supposed to transport crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta (Canada) to… Read More »Keystone XL Pipleline Project Is Rejected

                  The Fallacy of Stakeholder Management

                    Stakeholder theory represented by Edward Freeman and others says that business should consider the interests and claims of the stakeholders and manage its activities accordingly. In this view the effective management of stakeholders is a strategic activity that is necessary for business success as it adds value to shareholders and ensures the long-term survival and sustainability of the firm. Ignoring stakeholders is dangerous, not just because it is morally inappropriate, but also because it does… Read More »The Fallacy of Stakeholder Management

                    Vision for Future Earth

                      The current unsustainable state of the Earth is largely caused by business so reconsidering the role of business in society-and-nature is crucial. Without transforming business into a progressive social institution which respects nature, future generations and the common good of society there is no chance for achieving a Sustainable Earth. Social innovation has a vital role in the sustainability transformation of business and society. Environmentally non-harming and regenerative business solutions can be developed in close collaboration with local… Read More »Vision for Future Earth