Abstract
This December 2011 issue, ending the 50th anniversary celebration volume of Business & Society (BAS), comprises two special forums arranged (not commissioned) by the editor for this issue, and a review essay concerning an important edited book on small and medium sized enterprises.
The lead special forum contains two articles that address aspects of the developmental history of business and society scholarship. The first article concerns “Productivity and Prestige in Business Ethics Research.” The second article concerns “Rediscovering Howard R. Bowen’s Legacy.” In connection with this lead special forum, the editor draws attention to De Bakker, Groenewegen, and Den Hond (2005), “A Bibliometric Analysis of 30 Years of Research and Theory on Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Social Performance,” published 2005 in this journal.
Chad Albrecht (Utah State University), Jeffrey A. Thompson (Brigham Young University), and Jeffrey Hoopes (University of Michigan) draw on a survey of some 320 business ethics scholars worldwide. Their study identifies 15 business schools perceived to be leaders in the field of business ethics. The authors also report on factors that associate with individual publication productivity and perceptions of institutional prestige. This article, part of a broad research project by the authors, affords some interesting insights concerning the present state of business ethics scholarship.
Aurélien Acquier (ECSP Europe Paris Campus), Jean-Pascal Gond (HEC Montréal), and Jean Pasquero (Université du Québec à Montréal) assess the agenda and the historical and current significance of what is arguably the seminal book in corporate social responsibility: Howard R. Bowen’s Social Responsibilities of the Businessman, published in 1953. The authors draw on biographical information and their reading of the book and the field to offer an assessment. I think readers of this journal will find their conclusions stimulating.
The second special forum contains two articles that address different aspects of reform efforts in South Africa. The third article in this issue addresses “Understanding Corporate Governance Reform in South Africa.” The fourth article in this issue addresses “Corporate Social Responsibility and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Legislation in South Africa.”
Stefan Andreasson (Queen’s University Belfast) investigates corporate governance reform in South Africa. As he points out, South Africa is an interesting case in which there are international links to United Kingdom and United States corporate governance approaches (not necessarily the same, of course) and domestic concern for socioeconomic development. Andreasson inquires into how divergence between two key countries in what is sometimes thought to be an Anglo-American model influences South Africa’s corporate governance reform process. There is an attention to stakeholder considerations in South Africa as a dimension of socioeconomic development that may be in contrast to the shareholder model. The author considers how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the King reports on South African corporate governance may relate to one another. He discusses whether there may be an emerging “African” model of corporate governance in the interaction between foreign influences and domestic concerns.
Bindu Arya (University of Missouri, St. Louis) and Balbir Bassi (The ABSA Group Limited, Johannesburg, South Africa) address the relationship of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to broad-based black economic empowerment legislation in South Africa. A 2003 act was followed in 2007 by Codes of Good Practice issued by the Department of Trade and Industry. The situation affects both local and multinational enterprises operating in South Africa.
This journal has published a number of articles concerning South Africa (see Eweje, 2006; Kumar, Lamb, & Wokutch, 2002; Paul, 1992) with emphasis on corporate social responsibility and the impact of international sanctions. The December 2011 special forum reflects the new emphasis on reform measures in South Africa.
The final article in this December 2011 issue is a review essay by Susan Mayson (Monash University) based on a 2010 edited book concerning Ethics in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: A Global Commentary. The coeditors of the book are Laura J. Spence (Director of the Centre for Research into Sustainability at Royal Holloway, University of London) and Mollie Painter-Morland (Associate Director of DePaul University’s Institute for Business and Professional Ethics and Editor-in-Chief of the Business and Professional Ethics Journal). The book draws in part on the 2008 International Society of Business, Economics and Ethics Congress held in South Africa. One of the chapters in the book, by Painter-Moreland and Dobie, concerns Sub-Saharan Africa. The review essay is thus a useful complement to both of the special forums in this issue.
This journal, it should be noted, has published several important articles that concern small- and medium-sized enterprises. Cook and Fox (2000) studied those enterprises’ public policy activities. Rothenberg and Becker (2004) looked at diffusion of environment technology in the printing industry. Burton and Goldsby (2009) studied the corporate social responsibility of small business owners. Kearins, Collins, and Tregidga (2010) quite recently discussed consideration of nature in visionary small enterprise.