This case study reviews a train crash that occurred in January 2005 when a Norfolk Southern freight train struck a parked train on the tracks near Graniteville, South Carolina. At issue is the safe transportation of hazardous materials, the assignment of responsibility, the stakeholder management of participants and the outcome to Avondale Mills, a local textile company that ended up closing its doors after the spill.

This case and teaching note focuses on the efforts of a small, boutique hotel located in North Bali, Indonesia to generate competitive advantage in the marketplace through the adoption of sustainability practices and environmental standards. It raises questions around the nature of innovation and competition, particularly in the context of an emerging economy.

This case describes the background of cigarette product placement in commercial movies and the emergence of the Smoke Free Movies Initiative. It draws onresearch by tobacco control activists on the impact of smoking in movies on youth smoking initiation. Voluntary and mandated restrictions on the use of cigarettes in film productions are discussed. Historic documents from tobacco industry archives reveal the explicit goals and intentions of tobacco companies to use films to market their products to unsuspecting observers.

The case focuses on the decision by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance in 2006 to remove Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. from its investment portfolio because of theretailer's "serious and systematic" abuses of human and labor rights. Discussion of the decision-making process that led to the divestiture, and the impact that Wal-Mart has had on various realms – social, economic, industry, and the supply chain, among others – are included in the case.

The case focuses on the decision by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance in 2006 to remove Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. from its investment portfolio because of theretailer's "serious and systematic" abuses of human and labor rights. Discussion of the decision-making process that led to the divestiture, and the impact that Wal-Mart has had on various realms – social, economic, industry, and the supply chain, among others – are included in the case.

Grenada Chocolate Company (GCC) is the world’s smallest chocolate factory. After being hit with several hurricanes, the founders of GCC must decide the best way to continue their business. This case addresses the possibilities GCC has while exploring the benefits and pitfalls of a small business.

This case tracks the evolution of the gambling industry in Missouri, detailing the milestone events and their outcomes, and identifying the various stakeholders.Through media accounts and other archival data, the case summarizes the respective positions of each stakeholder, and presents the methods used for communicating those positions. The case presents the life cycle of a public issue and readers will learn how the key players manage stakeholder concerns. Additional theoretical issues raised for discussion are the methods by which businesses attempt to influence their political environment, as well as how they resolve conflicts in the public forum.

This case study emphasizes the process of concept-testing, pre-feasibility analysis, and branding of an agriculturally based niche product within the broadercultural context of the Native American community. The focus is not value-added, but rather cultural values added.

This case examines BP company’s launch of a new global brand - under the banner of “Beyond Petroleum” and a new logo – a vibrant sunburst of green, while, and yellow – in 2000. The case also analyzes the series of environmental health and a safety problem BP suffered since the launch of the “Beyond Petroleum” campaign and explores what important lessons that can be drawn for companies that might be considering sustainability factors in their branding strategies.

Asbestos-related illnesses contribute to the deaths of more than 100,000 people worldwide (ILO 2006) and the plight of sufferers of these illnesses has become a global ethical issue. A leading, Australian building products corporation, James Hardie, created a complex corporate structure that included the establishment of a “Victims Compensation Fund”, and moved its corporate headquarters to the Netherlands to reduce its liabilities. Hardie claimed that this move was tax minimization (Haigh 2006). In this study case, a number of ethical issues provides the opportunity to discuss many business-society questions. These include the duties of the company towards a wide range of stakeholders affected in some way by Hardie’s earlier production of asbestos-related products and its subsequent responses to the question of compensation.

This case deals with the corporate response to a crisis and the successful evacuation of approximately 900 hotel guests, staff, and family members of staff whowere stranded in the Fairmont New Orleans hotel by Hurricane Katrina. This rescue effort, spearheaded by managers at the sister Fairmont hotel in Dallas, Texas, was completed shortly after 12 a.m. on Friday, September 2, 2005, when the last bus with evacuees pulled into the Dallas Fairmont after making a round trip of more than 1000 miles — and about 64 hours after planning began. This case is particularly significant for lessons that may be derived about crisis management and leadership, and it also raises several interesting ethical issues. The case, which relies on field research plus secondary sources, is appropriate for business ethics and business strategy courses.

This paper focuses on research being undertaken to establish what the leadership gaps in SMEs are, as perceived by the SME leaders, and what can be doneby academia to address them given that many smaller organisations have nobody within their organisations with whom to identify effective leadership.

The Stern School is undertaking a program to teach business ethics to Stern professors and others who have an interest in ethics but no previous formal instruction. The two-year series of faculty seminars will produce a cadre of professors who are well equipped to do research, to write scholarly papers, and to teach business ethics at a high level. The documentation of the seminar series will be available for others to use.

This paper reports the findings of a survey of business deans from AACSB International member universities to determine attitudes regarding the teaching ofbusiness ethics in schools of business.

This workshop was organized to explain the GLOBE database to IABS members and elicit interest in embarking upon a major study of national similarities anddifferences in corporate responsibility practices.

Business schools are slowly waking up to the reality that most of the products and services discussed in management curricula serve a small portion of humanity. A small number of business schools has begun to address businesses designed to meet the needs of the poor (the so called “base of the pyramid”) in business in society courses or in dedicated elective courses. As the world heads into an era defined by pervasive uncertainty, perhaps a business mindset focusing on management in the face of inherent unpredictability is a better model for reflecting on business in society. Effectuation theory describes a decision process employed by entrepreneurs and the poor that differs substantially from the rational choice paradigm that dominates management education. This theory of problem solving that views the environment as constructible by choice in the face of pervasive uncertainty may be a better foundation for theories of business insociety than existing frameworks.

This discussion applies a “scholarship of teaching and learning” (SOTL) perspective with regard to the authors’ introduction of “learning or wisdom circles” inbusiness ethics and business & society courses. Building upon the use of wisdom circles conducted at the 2005 and 2006 International Association of Business and Society (IABS) meetings and descriptions of “circles of trust” or learning circles for college classes found in several academic disciplines, we have set aside significant class time during academic semesters for undergraduate students to participate in these circles or trust-based dialogues. We provide a pedagogical and philosophical rationale for an “inside-out” approach to teaching ethics from the heart, followed by an overview of one of the authors’ planning, implementation, and assessment of student learning circles. In the spirit of SOTL, we seek feedback from peers concerning the perceived effectivenessof these teaching methods as part of a more comprehensive learning strategy for ethicsrelated business courses.

When it comes to business ethics training, several alternative approaches are available. This study examines the use of one particular case, “The Difficult HiringDecision,” for training business executives as well as MBA students. The study finds that the process of analyzing the case can lead to new insights regarding the importance of business ethics and ethical values in a firm’s ethical corporate culture.

This paper reports on a project which examined current ethics education content at Griffith Business School and proposed a way forward for GBS to enhance itsethics education contribution. In so doing, the project also reported on likely elements of best practice and associated issues for consideration by any University seeking to enhance its ethics education. An abbreviated version of the literature review carried out to substantiate the recommended options is also included in this paper.