JANUARY 2022

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Greetings from SBE in this first month of 2022!  It is always exciting to see the work of the Society take shape as each new year gets going, and this year that is especially true.  I have received an impressive number of announcements to include in this newsletter, as the people of SBE have a great many projects and accomplishments to share.  I hope you enjoy seeing the breadth and creativity of our members’ activities as much as I do.

I am glad to share some good news from SBE with you as well.

First, SBE is planning our first in-person conference since 2019, in Seattle from Friday, August 5, to Sunday, August 7, plus pre-conference activities on Thursday, August 4.  I hope that you will join us in Seattle if you are able, and enjoy all of the interactions that make SBE such a remarkable gathering!  Conference registration, a link to reserve a room at the hotel, the Call for Papers, and the program submission link are all available here: sbeonline.org/conference/2022-annual-conference.  The submission deadline is coming up soon, on February 15.

Second, I have the privilege of introducing three new Board members, who will be taking office at the end of the Business Meeting in August.  Andy Gustafson will succeed me as the Executive Director of the Society, Kendy Hess will succeed Tim Mazur as the Treasurer of the Society, and Miguel Alzola will begin his term on the Board as Danielle Warren completes hers.  They have each written brief introductions in the feature below; please welcome them and thank them for their service!

I am encouraged to see the health of the Society and the field of business ethics displayed below.  Thank you for your involvement in both! – Jason

Dr. Jason M. Stansbury
Executive Director, Society for Business Ethics
James and Judith Chambery Fellow for the Study of Ethics in Business
Professor of Business
Calvin University

2022 ANNUAL CONFERENCE: AUGUST 5-7

The Society for Business Ethics 2022 Annual Conference will be held August 5-7 in beautiful Seattle, Washington. Many SBE attendees also register for and attend the Academy of Management annual meeting at other venues in the city on the same days.  Pre-conference activities include the ever-popular teaching workshop on the afternoon of August 4, the “Welcome Back Reception” on the evening of August 4, and the Emerging Scholars Program (by invitation only) on the morning of August 5.

Submissions are being accepted until February 15, in the following categories:

• Completed manuscripts
• Manuscripts for the “Agora” session
• Panels
• Workshops
• Emerging Scholars abstracts (Ph.D. Candidates only)
• Book reviews for the “Coffee with an Author” session

Full information on each of the above, plus submission instructions and policies, are available in the Call for Papers.

SBE welcomes critical, descriptive, interpretive, or normative investigations of phenomena including but not limited to business ethics; business and human rights; business and society; compliance management; corporate social responsibility; diversity, equity, and inclusion; ecological considerations in management; legal considerations in business; sustainable development; and technological ethics.

Our hotel is the Motif Seattle: https://www.destinationhotels.com/motif-seattle

It’s situated in Seattle’s bustling downtown, conveniently located only 700 meters from the iconic Pike Place Market, 350 meters from the University Street light rail station, 300 meters from the Washington State Convention Center (where the Academy of Management will have its exhibit hall), and a short walk from numerous other hotels.  Rooms are available at the special conference rate of $299 / night plus taxes and fees.

Early registration is available now, at only $200 for SBE members, and only $50 for Student / Emeritus / Non-Tenure-Track (SENTT) SBE members!  SBE is well-known for its hospitality, including nightly receptions beginning on Thursday, August 4, and numerous coffee breaks at which attendees enjoy one another’s company, network, and discuss current and future projects.

The SBE conference website includes the Call for Papers, a link to reserve hotel rooms at the discounted conference rate, and a link to register for the conference and buy tickets to the Presidential Luncheon through Cambridge University Press: https://sbeonline.org/conference/2022-annual-conference/

We hope to see you there! –

Kirsten Martin, President
Alejo Sison, Program Chair
Jason Stansbury, Executive Director

INTRODUCING NEW BOARD MEMBERS

Miguel Alzola, Board Member

Dear SBErs,

Happy New Year! My name is Miguel Alzola and I am an associate professor of ethics at Fordham University in New York City in the USA and at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am honored to serve at the Society for Business Ethics Executive Board starting this summer during our annual conference. I have been an SBEr since 2000, when I was a graduate student in Philosophy at the University of Buenos Aires. Together with Boca Juniors (the best football—soccer—team in the world) and the Argentina Radical Party (the party I ran for when I was in politics in Argentina), SBE is one of the three institutions that define my personal and professional identity. My expected contribution to the organization lies in bridging the geographical and disciplinary gaps in our field. Reconciling normative and empirical approaches to business ethics research. Encouraging new voices to come to our annual conference and to submit their work to our BEQ. I am thrilled to serve SBE in the company of the prestigious and generous friends and colleagues who are part of the board (Danielle, Kirsten, Christopher, Alejo, and Tae Wan) and the new executive director and treasurer. I look forward to meeting you in Seattle as we have done over the years. We have so many things to accomplish together in the years to come!

Kendy Hess, Treasurer

Hi, everyone! Jason asked me to write a few words introducing myself, so here I am.

I’m currently in my second career, serving as the Brake Smith Associate Professor of Social Philosophy and Ethics at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. In my first life I got a JD from Harvard Law School (1993) and practiced corporate environmental law for fifteen years, becoming a partner at Altheimer & Gray in Chicago and then moving to an Of Counsel position. My primary practice focused on brownfields redevelopment, mergers and acquisitions, and environmental compliance. During this time I also sang semi-professionally and got an MA in Liberal Studies from Northwestern University (don’t want to be one-dimensional!). I then abandoned Chicago and most of my law career to study at the University of Colorado-Boulder. I graduated with a PhD in philosophy in 2009.

My scholarship focuses on developing a metaphysically robust conception of group agency that will support the imposition of traditional moral obligations on firms and other highly organized groups. I get far fewer incredulous stares these days, so I’m calling that a win; new scholarly projects include the possibilities of a more holistic conception of the professional, and challenging the increasingly popular idea that firms should be politically active. My teaching centers on ethics and political philosophy with a special focus on the environment and contemporary business practice. My most exciting new project in this area has been the development of a liberal arts program – an interdisciplinary minor in Business, Ethics, and Society – which explores the role of business in a just, flourishing, and sustainable society.

Andy Gustafson, Executive Director

I am Professor of Business Ethics and Society at Creighton University, where I have taught business ethics since 2005.  I first got involved in the SBE while in graduate school at Marquette University.  At Creighton I teach undergrad and graduate courses mostly in business ethics, along with a Business, Faith and Common Good course, and also run a travel course to Las Vegas yearly, and until recently, a travel course to Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.  Articles I’ve published can be found in a wide variety of business ethics, philosophy, and ethics journals and handbooks.  I enjoy conferences and speaking events and have given over 150 presentations.  At Creighton I founded and direct our Business, Faith and Common Good Institute which brings lots of speakers to campus and hosts on a fall symposium each year.   I’m also the treasurer for Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education.  

I have been working out a utilitarian approach to business ethics, as well as the overlap between greatest happiness (Utilitarianism) and common good (Catholic Social Thought).   Lately I’ve been writing about utilitarianism as a humanistic approach to business ethics, Frank Knight’s view of entrepreneurship, and on the historical impact of utilitarianism on law in the U.S., as well as championing and explicating how the Economy of Communion movement in particular provides a valuable humanistic approach to business values and practices.  

My wife is also a philosopher and ethicist, so we frequently have overly-deep discussions about domestic concerns.  One hobby I enjoy is restoring and maintaining old houses and buildings which we then rent out (I am responsible for around 115 toilets, mostly in the midtown Omaha area).  I love the opportunities to engage with people in my neighborhood, and bring old buildings back to life and beauty.  I am thankful for the opportunity to serve the Society of Business Ethics, and I am so very grateful to those original founders who have come before us to build up such an outstanding international organization.   I am excited for the chance to serve all of you members, and I hope for very good things to come!  Please feel free to reach out at any time with your thoughts, concerns and suggestions.  

NEWS FROM BEQ

Latest Issue
Many of us may hope that twenty-twenty-too does not bring more of the same, but indeed something different: renewed inspiration, wisdom that capitalizes on the learnings that the COVID-19 years have yielded, and new perspectives. The first issue after the change in BEQ’s editorial leadership [January 2022 issue (32/1)] has gone to print, bringing with it all the scholarly excellence that we inherited from Bruce, who shepherded most of this issue’s content (thank you Bruce!). After the previous special issue on overlooked thinkers (31/4), the upcoming issue is a regular issue. Its table of contents features two articles that are set in the context of the ongoing pandemic, Danielle Warren’s presidential address on woke capitalism, and our editorial musings on what makes the blood flow in business ethics research. The full TOC of the latest issue is available here.

Changes in Editorial Team
We all owe the depth of BEQ’s intellectual tradition to the selfless service of members of our community. Some shouldered an especially impressive workload including Gary Weaver, who we would like to thank especially as he stepping down as associate editor. Gary led the journal from 2005 to 2011, then generously stayed on as associate editor for another ten years, and now agreed to join the editorial board! BEQ’s readership has been fortunate to benefit from this continuity, and we would like to thank you, Gary, for your ongoing commitment.

We are fortunate to welcome two more members of the editorial board. In the spirit of BEQ’s commitment to continuity, Bruce Barry, Vanderbilt, agreed to join after his term as editor. Laura Spence from Royal Holloway, London, also agreed to join, bringing with her important perspectives on gender and inclusivity. Already after last Summer the editorial board was expanded by another dozen members: Anne Antoni, Daniel Arenas, Caleb Bernacchio, Wendy Chapple, Marianna Fotaki, Jennifer Goodman, Robert Hughes, Emilio Marti, Kates Michael, Jukka Mäkinen, Sareh Pouryousefi, and Glen Whelan. Welcome to all! We are looking forward to the invigorating perspectives and generous service you will bring to the journal. 

Discontinuation of Review Articles
New beginnings afford us the chance to reflect on what is most meaningful and to introduce some carefully considered changes. One such change in the journal’s editorial policy is the discontinuation of review articles. BEQ’s commitment to publish only pieces making a novel theoretical contribution that advances our understanding of the subject matter at hand, posed a tension with review articles’ goal to systematically or narratively review the body of literature on that subject matter. Most proposals for review articles struggled to resolve this tension, as the required review seems to leave too little space for novel theoretical advancements. We also believe theoretical articles by necessity build from a critical discussion of a body of literature, making a separate section for “review articles” seem superfluous. The full motivation has been communicated in the “Instructions for authors” section on the BEQ webpage here.

Mollie Painter
Frank den Hond
Co-Editors in Chief

BEQ, published by Cambridge University Press, is the official journal of the Society for Business Ethics.

• MacIntyrean virtue ethics for organizations, work and employment: what more and what else? READ MORE
• SBE “Best Dissertation Award” accepting submissions READ MORE

• February 3 | Paul Polman to discuss “Net Positive” on Livestream DETAILS
• February 9, February 23, March 9 | R:ETRO Seminar Series DETAILS
• April 20-22 | 25th International Business Ethics Case Competition DETAILS
• May 16-17 | Business Ethics in the 6ix, vol. 6 DETAILS
• May 23-25 | Workshop on Teaching Professional Ethics through Experiential Learning: The Georgetown Approach DETAILS
• June 16-19 | International Association for Business & Society Conference DETAILS
• June 23-24 | The 12th International Conference on Catholic Social Thought and Business Education DETAILS
• July 1-4 | Philosophy of Management Conference DETAILS
• July 10-13 | International Association for Conflict Management Conference DETAILS

• Glossary—Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations by Chris MacDonald SEE MORE
• Analysis and Implications of the Social Rights by M. Isabel Garrido Gómez SEE MORE
• “Whistling at the Fake” Research Project with Dr. Costantino Grasso SEE MORE
• Exploring the Predictive Power of Guilt with Taya Cohen SEE MORE

• Lecturer Position in Business Ethics at Santa Clara University DETAILS
• Doctoral Program “Ethics and Responsible Leadership in Business” with Wittenberg Center for Global Ethics DETAILS