So how was the Society formed?<\/strong><\/p>\n Here we leave philosophy and tum to chronology. The Romulus and Remus of the Society for Business Ethics are Thomas Donaldson, who was teaching at Loyola University in Chicago, and Michael Hoffman, who was Director of the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College. The written documents of the time\u2014remember this is before email, before the photocopier (we are talking non-correcting typewriter, carbon paper, and ditto machines)\u2014are not always as complete as a historian would like. The first known extant document that I could find is a letter from Tom Donaldson to me, dated July 6, 1978. It reads in part: \u201cMy reason for writing is to invite you to participate as a founding member in an organization for \u2018professional ethics\u2019 or \u2018business ethics\u2019 which is presently being developed. The idea for the organization grew from a series of discussions between Michael Hoffman (Director of the Center for Business Ethics) and myself; we envision the organization as meeting concurrently with the Eastem APA and as servicing the growing number of philosophers interested in professional ethics. As yet we are undecided about whether to use the rubric of \u2018professional ethics\u2019\u2014thus making the scope broad\u2014or \u2018business ethics\u2019\u2014thus making it smaller. Perhaps you have a suggestion about this matter. Invitations to be founding members have also been extended to Norm Bowie and Tom Beauchamp.\u201d So we five were to be the founding members.<\/p>\n We invited a small number of philosophers to meet at the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association (APA) in December, 1978. in Washington, D.C., and sponsored a \u201cWorkshop on Issues, Courses, and Programs in Business and Professional Ethics.\u201d The Panelists were Bowie, Donaldson, and Hoffman. The workshop was attended by 70 people. From that meeting emerged an Ad Hoc Steering Committee for a Society for Business-Professional Ethics. The Committee was made up of Kurt Baier, Tom Beauchamp, Norman Bowie, Richard De George, Thomas Donaldson, Kenneth Goodpaster, Michael Hoffman, Larry May, Mark Pastin, Michael Payne, and Patricia Werhane. All were philosophers. Some never entered the field of business ethics, some were sprinters in for a short run, and others who are still working in the field are marathon runners.<\/p>\n Mike Hoffman sent out a questionnaire in the spring and received 150 responses. In a letter of July 26, 1979 addressed to \u201cMembers of the Ad Hoc Steering Committee for a Society of Business-Professional Ethics,\u201d Tom Donaldson reports that he and Mike Hoffman \u201cwere approached by another fledgling society, the Society for Professional Ethics, to see if we (and they) might be interested in merging forces.\u201d It had had its first meeting at the same APA meeting in December 1978. Robert Baum was one of the organizers and was already publishing a Business and Professional Ethics Newsletter. So the society\u2019s name and independence were still in doubt. Although I was on the Advisory Board of the Society for Professional Ethics, I voted for a separate organization. Most others voted similarly.<\/p>\n The next meeting took place in December 1979 at the APA meeting in New York. It was billed as \u201cBusiness Ethics Workshop.\u201d Mike Hoffman was Chair, Kenneth Goodpaster spoke on \u201cPersons, Corporations and Ethics\u201d, and Mark Pastin presented a response. At the Business meeting the group decided on the name \u201cSociety for Business Ethics,\u201d and in January Tom Donaldson sent out letters inviting people to join the new Society and pay the annual dues of $5.00.<\/p>\n By April 7, 1980, the Society had 185 paid members. All dues paying members had received tentative Articles of Organization of the Society (drafted by Michael Payne) and a letter announcing that an election would take place by mail ballot, which said, \u201cThe Organizing Committee has expressed its interest in making the Society\u2019s activities, including the presentation of papers and the official structuring of the Society, as open and democratic as possible.\u201d I note in passing that the Loyola Philosophy Department at the time, which was generous in its support of the Society, was suffering from an acute outbreak of the virus \u2018dateophobia\u2019 that infected both Tom Donaldson and Pat Werhane, who as a result were unable to put dates on memos and newsletters for several years.<\/p>\n The first meeting of the Society for Business Ethics took place from 4:30-6:30 on April 25, 1980 in Detroit in conjunction with the Western Division of the APA. We received 20 paper submissions, and a blind review process led to Deborah Johnson (who like Tom Donaldson got her Ph.D. at KU) giving the first paper, commented on by James Swindler (also a KU Ph.D.); and A. Richard Konrad giving the second paper, commented on by James Wilbur. At the business meeting the Articles of Organization were revised into \u201cBy-Laws of the Society for Business Ethics.\u201d Although the membership was \u201copen to all those interested in and concerned with the area of Business Ethics\u201d applications for membership had to be submitted to the Executive Committee, which had \u201cthe discretion to accept the proposal.\u201d The officers of the Society were to be an Executive committee, composed of three members, serving for one year. The annual \u201cregular meeting\u201d was to be held in conjunction with a meeting of a national society. The By-Laws were ratified by mail ballot.<\/p>\n The second official meeting of the Society took place on December 28, 1980, at the Sheraton Boston Hotel in conjunction with the APA. This was the First Annual Conference, since a portion of it was a business meeting. George Brenkert gave the paper.<\/p>\n Who was the first President: George Washington, Tom Donaldson, Ken Goodpaster, Richard De George, Manny Velasquez or Leo Ryan? All except Washington have some claim to the title.<\/p>\n Tom Donaldson was the Director of the Organizing Committee. The first Newsletter (mimeoed, now faded and undated) included a ballot with 42 names on it. The Society, remember was democratic. Ballots had to be returned by October 3, 1980. The second Newsletter (also undated) announced the results: the first Executive Committee consisted of Richard De George, Thomas Donaldson and Patricia Werhane. That newsletter also announced the appearance of two new journals: Journal of Business Ethics, edited by Alex Michalos, and Business & Professional Ethics, edited by Robert Baum, Norman Bowie and Deborah Johnson.<\/p>\n Being a democratic institution, the three members of the Executive Committee had no titles, and we simply divided up the work. We quickly saw, however, what should have been obvious, that electing a new committee every year made little sense. So we proposed a change in the By-Laws to three year terms, which was adopted. In the interim, the Committee members served for two years. For 1981 we decided that Tom would be Chair, that Pat would be Secretary-Treasurer and would serve as Chair for 1982, and that I would be the third member. Our official stationary reflected these positions. A new election for two other members, one for a two year term and one for a three year term was called. The revised By-Laws said that \u201cthe person on the Executive Committee in his or her third year will serve as Chair.\u201d This ballot contained only seven nominees. Ken Goodpaster was elected for a two year term and De George for a three year term. Obviously we couldn\u2019t follow the By-Laws, so Goodpaster became Chair at the end of his second (and final) year, and De George, in accordance with the By-Laws for the first time, became chair in 1984. But none of us was President, since there was no such office. By February 1982 the Society had over 350 members. The Society met regularly with all three divisions of the American Philosophical Association: the Eastern in December, the Pacific in early April and the Western (later renamed the Central) in late April or early May. The following year, from a slate of 14 names, Donaldson was elected to a three year term.<\/p>\n In July of 1983 with over 500 members the Society cosponsored with DePaul University a Workshop and Conference on Business Ethics. That summer meeting, which was not an official meeting of the Society, was to have many unforeseen consequences.<\/p>\n In a letter from Pat Werhane to Tom Donaldson, dated July 31, 1983, Werhane suggests repeating the summer meeting in 1984, and further suggests \u201cthe then-president of the society (Richard) should present the first paper.\u201d This is the first use of the term \u201cpresident\u201d in the records, and officially the Society still had no such title. Werhane\u2019s letter also included a suggestion from Eugene Arthur, S.J., from Rockhurst College in Kansas City, who had attended the workshop, that the Society meet with the Academy of Management. A letter from Ken Goodpaster, Chair of the Executive Committee, to Werhane in August 1983 says, \u201cI agree with the Academy of Management joint efforts and will be happy to follow-up on this with Richard if he has contacts.\u201d I was a member of the Academy but had no contacts, even though In February 1984 Tom sent me a copy (people now had photocopiers) of a letter he had received from Patrick Keleher, Manager of College Relations at Illinois Bell. The letter begins \u201cI see the business ethics movement in 1984 as an experimental aircraft climbing and straining for altitude attainable only if the test pilot kicks in a powerful afterburner. Without that extra thrust, the outcome is predictable: plateau, stall, perhaps even tailspin. The afterburner is corporate involvement in the movement.\u201d Patrick Keleher, an SBE member, volunteered to \u201cstart making something happen along these lines\u201d among businesses in Chicago. Interestingly, the records contain no follow-up letter. Obviously the Society hasn\u2019t stalled, or entered a tailspin. But it has reached out to business in a variety of ways. Elmer Johnson, General Counsel of General Motors, was invited to be on the program for the 1984 summer workshop, and accepted. De George was his respondent.<\/p>\n On April3, 1984, Manuel Velasquez was elected to a three year term on the Executive Committee. Within a month of the election he had agreed to take over the duties as Secretary, handling the newsletter and general correspondence. The dues continued to be sent to Werhane and Donaldson at Loyola, who served jointly as Treasurer. Velasquez, who had caught the dateophobia virus, continued the tradition of not dating the Newsletter. The transition was not very smooth and it took a long time for the office to be transferred. In the shuffle no election was held and the Executive Committee served two years.<\/p>\n The Society was now meeting four times a year with each of three APA meetings and a sunm1er meeting in Chicago. Tom Donaldson and Ian Maitland agreed to coordinate joint announcements in the publications of the SBE and the Social Issues in Management division of the Academy. In January 1986 Norman Bowie was elected to the Executive Committee, replacing Richard De George. That Spring Manny sent the Spring 1986 SBE Newsletter to all SIM members, including an invitation to join, dangling before them the Society\u2019s unbelievable bargain $5.00 annual dues.<\/p>\n The Society met with the Central Division of the APA in Saint Louis, and with the Eastern Division in Boston in December. It also met in August of 1986 for its then annual Chicago Conference on Business Ethics, this time, for the first time, in conjunction with the meeting of the Social Issues in Management (SIM) Division of the Academy of Management, which was also meeting in Chicago. SIM members chaired three sessions and made six presentations. The meeting was well received. Despite the fact that the October 1986 Newsletter reported that the summer conference in conjunction with the Academy had been \u201cbeneficial\u201d and although \u201ceveryone agreed that similar cooperative efforts should be supported in the future whenever possible,\u201d the Executive Committee decided not to meet the following year with the Academy in New Orleans but to meet again in Chicago because of the support provided by DePaul and Loyola.<\/p>\n In 1987 Mike Hoffman was elected to replace Tom Donaldson on the Executive Committee.<\/p>\n In October 1987 desktop publishing finally hit the SBE and the Newsletter took on a somewhat professional look for the first time,and for the first time was no longer mimeographed. The results of the election reported in March 1988 broke a pattern as William Frederick was elected to replace Manny Velasquez. Frederick was the first non-philosopher to be elected to the Executive Committee. The camel had stuck its nose under the tent, and things would never again be the same.<\/p>\n In 1988 the SBE\u2019s annual Chicago conference did not take place and instead the SBE and the Institute for Business Ethics of DePaul University co-sponsored a conference on business ethics on August 5-6, 1988 in Anaheim, California, just prior to the meeting of the Academy of Management. This was not the Annual Conference of the Society. That took place in December with the APA. Nonetheless, the Anaheim meeting drew fifty people, including a number of SIM members who attended and joined the Society. For the first time we had a Society banquet and for the first time we had a presentation called the Presidential Address, given by Manny Velasquez, even though Manny was no longer on the Executive Committee, even though the Society had no office of President, and even though this wasn\u2019t the annual conference of the Society. The tradition of the Chair of the Executive Committee giving the Presidential Address in the year following the expiration of his term was thus introduced. Letters between Norman and Mike Hoffman indicate that the Executive Committee is still uncertain about having a summer meeting in conjunction with the Academy. Although Norman says his term, in accordance with the Bylaws, ends December 31, 1988, Mike wants him to give the Presidential Address in 1989 as the outgoing President. He is included in the Executive Committee; as is the newly elected member, Lisa Newton.<\/p>\n The By-Laws, which were not often referred to, specified that \u201cThe regular meetings of the Society shall be held in conjunction with the meeting of a National Society, and be as convenient as possible for members to attend.\u201d Section 1 of Article 4 said that \u201cAt a regular meeting of the Society a Nominating Committee of three members shall be appointed by the Society.\u201d Section 2 of Article IV said that \u201cThe officers shall be elected by ballot, and their terms of office shall begin at the close of the first regular meeting following their election.\u201d Following the rules, the nominating committee used to make its report at the December meeting, and ballots were sent out early in the year. The results were announced in the Spring Newsletter. But when did they take office? Officially they should have to wait until the end of the December meeting of the year in which they were elected. But this made little sense. So they in fact, though illegally, took their positions upon election. This led to some confusion. In July 1988 Norm Bowie tried to remedy the situation by asking for nominations in the September Newsletter, sending out ballots in late November, and having people begin their term on January 1. A good idea, even if it ignored the By-Law provision of making nominations at the regular meeting of the Society.<\/p>\n In August Pat Werhane wrote the Executive Committee and Tom Donaldson and Richard De George. The second sentence reads: \u201cOne of the problems with the Society, perhaps its major one, is that we are too democratic.\u201d Lest that be misinterpreted, she goes on to suggest that the Society have \u201can Executive Director, appointed for 5 years, who collects dues, sends out the newsletter, and sees that someone organizes the conference. This procedure would simplify our complicated financial arrangements, the newsletter, and our so-called files.\u201d All those responding to a memo from Norm Bowie supported the idea of an Executive Director and nominated the obvious candidate, Pat Werhane, for the job. She was elected unanimously by the Executive Committee, so perhaps the Society had begun to be a little less democratic.<\/p>\n The Apri1 1989 Newsletter says, \u201cThe Annual Society for Business Ethics Conference will be held August 11-12, 1989, in Washington, D.C., just prior to the Academy of Management meeting.\u201d The Newsletter describes the Annual Conference in Washington with the Academy as the \u201cmost successful ever.\u201d Norm Bowie gave the Presidential Address. Despite this, however, the official annual conference, which includes a business meeting, was still held at the session of the SBE with the APA in December. As if it were standard practice, the Newsletter announces the Annual meeting of the Society in August preceding the Academy meeting.<\/p>\n In 1989 the dues increased to $40.00. Only about 100 of the Society\u2019s more than 500 members paid on time. The increase was due to the Society\u2019s starting a new journal, and the dues included a subscription to the journal. The dues were for 1989\/90 (instead of for the calendar year as previously), and the ballot for a new member of the Executive committee goes out in January, with a return date of March 1, despite the procedure stated in the By-laws. In the January 1990 Newsletter, the new President (now so called routinely, despite the lack of any such office in the By- Laws) calls for volunteers for a committee to rethink the Society\u2019s organizational structure.<\/p>\n On March 1 the members were informed that the Executive Committee had appointed Pat Werhane as Editor of the new journal of the Society, to be called Business Ethics Quarterly. Jennifer Moore was elected to replace Mike Hoffman. The Annual Conference was announced for San Francisco, August 7-9. The Following March Brother Leo Ryan was elected to replace Bill Frederick. The Annual Conference is held in August in Miami Beach, and this time includes a business meeting. The Presidential Address was given by Bill Frederick, noted as \u201cPast President\u201d of the Society. The SBE meeting with the APA in December continues, but by now definitely is no longer the Annual meeting. Nonetheless, Pat Werhane in a letter to \u201cInterested Parties,\u201d dated April 2, 1992, notes: \u201cFuture of the Conferences in conjunction with the Academy of Management: It was suggested that the Society meet alternately with the Academy and Bentley College\u2019s Conference or with some other relevant society. Werhane will survey the membership (again) for input on this suggestion.\u201d A memo with the same date from Lisa Newton concerning the newly established Association of Ethics Officers notes that \u201cThese officers have asked what ethics background they should have for their jobs, and expressed interest in obtaining it.\u201d The Committee came up with some recommendations, but the project became moot as Bentley College stepped in to fill the AEO\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n On April l9, 1992, Pat identified herself in a memo as \u201cRetiring Executive Director\u201d to be replaced by Ron Duska as of August 15,1992, and she circulated a proposed set of revised By-Laws for the Society. As my story indicates, they were badly needed. The new bylaws increased the Executive Committee to six, to include the past president, the Executive Director and the Editor-in-chief of BEQ; and specified that the senior Executive Committee member will serve as President. They still specify the terms of office of members of the Executive Committee beginning January 1 following their election. Although the changes were adopted, the next Newsletter only lists five members of the Executive Committee, and does not include the past President. Ed Freeman was the newly elected member to replace Lisa Newton, but he is listed in November although he does not officially take office until January 1. So the Society did not follow the new Bylaws any better than it did the old.<\/p>\n Under Duska the Newsletter took on its present professional format and increased its coverage of announcements, conferences, books, calls for papers, videos, teaching tools, and other news in the area of business ethics.<\/p>\n At the 1993 meeting in Atlanta, Jennifer Moore gave the Presidential Address, and Leo Ryan, the Chair of the Executive Committee was the first constitutionally authorized President of the Society. So take your pick as to who was the first president of the Society.<\/p>\n When is the annual conference?<\/p>\n As one can see from the previous narrative, it was originally in December with the APA, then unofficially moved to the summer, usually before the Academy of Management. To this day the By-Laws continue to say that the annual conference is set by the Executive Committee.<\/p>\n The November 1993 Newsletter says \u201cIt is time to vote for a new member of the Executive Committee who will begin serving in the summer of 1994.\u201d Ryan wrote De George asking for a summary of the history of the Society\u2014an abbreviated version of which was published in the Newsletter. Tom Dunfee was elected to take Jennifer Moore\u2019s place, and as usual did not wait until January l and assumed the position as of the Annual Conference. Pat Werhane moved to the University of Virginia, but the journal stayed at Loyola, as did Al Gini, the Managing Editor. Laura Nash was elected to the Executive Committee in 1994.<\/p>\n In August 1994 Leo Ryan delivered the Presidential Address in Dallas, the year in which Ed Freeman was President. At that meeting the SBE held joint sessions with the Social Issues in Management of the Academy of Management. Laura Nash was elected to the Executive Committee. Richard De George was appointed as the SBE historian. At the Executive Committee meeting there was animated discussion of the SBE\u2019s meeting with groups other than the Academy, and in good democratic fashion, the matter was sent for resolution by mail ballot. Fewer than ten ballots were returned.<\/p>\n John Boatright was elected to replace Leo Ryan. In 1995 the Society followed the Academy of Management to Vancouver for its Annual Conference. Not to be forgotten were the continuing meetings of the SBE at the Eastern and often at other divisions of the American Philosophical Association. The incoming president, Tom Dunfee, noted that the Society\u2019s membership was now up to 700 members, and that the Society was meeting with other organizations\u2014the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics; the International Society for Business, Economics and Ethics; the European Business Ethics Network; and the APA.<\/p>\n For 1996 the Academy of Management had to do without the SBE, which met with the Academy of Legal Studies in Quebec City. Dunfee also established a rather large Advisory Committee to review SBE activities, policies and structures. Archie Carroll won in a run-off election to become the new member on the Executive Committee. The next year George Brenkert was elected to the Committee, as Tom Dunfee left.<\/p>\n The Society in 1997 entered the Internet world with a Web site developed by Mark Schneider. In May 1997 Ron Duska turned over the duties of Newsletter editor to Joe DesJardins. The May Newsletter carried a set of proposed amendments to the By-Laws, some of which enabled the Society to be officially recognized as a 501-3C not for profit organization. The Society gained that stature. Laura Nash gave the Presidential Address at the Boston meeting. Ron Duska in the September Newsletter announced that membership in the Society had increased to over 1000. That same Newsletter says that the annual conference \u201cis a time of transition for the officers of the Society,\u201d despite what the By-laws say to the contrary. In 1998 the first Membership Directory appeared, listing about 800 names.<\/p>\n John Dienhart was elected to replace Laura Nash. In 1998 John Boatright gave the Presidential address raising the question \u201cDoes Business Ethics Rest on a Mistake?\u201d His affirmative answer did not lead to dismantling the Society. The Newsletter says that the changing of the guard took place, and Archie Carroll replaced Boatright as president. So informally the term of office is again ambiguous. The new board member is announced in the spring and officially added to the roster, but the offices change over in August. Laura Hartman was elected to the Executive Committee, replacing John Boatright. In February 1999 dues collection and membership data processing for the Society was outsourced to the Philosophy Documentation Center. The 1999 meeting in Chicago drew over 150 members. George Brenkert replaced Carroll as President. Brenkert was also appointed the new Editor of the BEQ, as of June 1, 2000, replacing Pat who served in that position for ten years. AI Gini stayed on as Associate Editor. Dues increased from $40 to $50. Although the October Newsletter carried the Minutes of the Business Meeting, the members had not received minutes of the Executive Committee meeting for some time.<\/p>\n January 2000 brought a new millennium and also a new Executive Director, as John Boatright replaced Ron Duska. By February Boatright had redesigned the SBE website and set about streamlining and improving the Society\u2019s finances. After all, he was the author of Ethics in Finance.<\/p>\n Daryl Koehn was elected to the Executive Committee. At the annual conference in Toronto George Brenkert gave his Presidential Address. At the Business Meeting the Society adopted John Boatright\u2019s proposal that the Society incorporate and by the fall he had succeeded in completing the process. The Society also adopted new By-Laws. Among the changes, the term of office was increased from four to five years, and a nominating committee was instituted. The Society\u2019s paid individual membership had dropped to 506 in 1999, but there were 383 institutional members\u2014so the total was still 889. Edwin Hartman was named chair of a committee to increase members\u2019 attendance at the annual conference. He did an excellent job because attendance at the 2001 meeting was the largest ever\u2014174.<\/p>\n Donna Wood joined the Executive Committee (now called the Board of Directors) in 2002, replacing Archie Carroll, the first member to serve five years under the new By-Laws. John Dienhart\u2019s presidential address in Washington, D.C., was especially noteworthy for its title, \u201cWho Are Our Hairdressers?\u201d The Spring 2002 Newsletter carried the Profit and Loss Statement for the Society for 2001 and revealed that somehow the Society had eye-popping total cash assets of $75,665.66. Dennis Moberg was elected to the Board. Laura Hartman gave the Presidential address in Denver.<\/p>\n In 2002 the SBE gained, through the good offices of Laura Hartman, an SBE list server. In 2003 the Society also added a media guide so the media could contact members, and a communications and marketing director. Ed Hartman was elected to the Board and began his term in August 2003. The annual conference took place in Seattle. Daryl Koehn gave the Presidential Address. The Board appointed Denis Arnold as SBE liaison with the APA, and he actively set up programs at the three APA division meetings. The Society\u2019s early roots had not been forgotten.<\/p>\n In 2004 Richard Nielsen was elected to the Board replacing Laura Hartman. At the New Orleans meeting Dennis Moberg became president. But the Board decided that the president would give his address in the fourth year of his five year term, rather than in the third year. So Moberg lost his opportunity to speak at the luncheon in Hawaii and was slated to speak at the luncheon in Philadelphia instead. Hence, the luncheon opening was filled by De George, who presented a history of the Society.<\/p>\n At the end of 2004 John Boatright stepped down as Executive Director, leaving the Society with 576 individual members and 414 institutional members, for a total of 990. He left the society as an incorporated entity with assets in excess of $92,000.<\/p>\n Joseph DesJardins agreed to take on the job of Executive Director as of January 1, 2005. Gina Wolfe took over as editor of the Newsletter, Bob Solomon replaced Daryl Koehn on the Board, and George Brenkert announced that Gary Weaver would replace him as Editor-in-Chief of the BEQ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chronological History So how was the Society formed? Here we leave philosophy and tum to chronology. The Romulus and Remus of the Society for Business Ethics are Thomas Donaldson, who was teaching at Loyola University in Chicago, and Michael Hoffman, who was Director of the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College. The written documents […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":47,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nI agreed to pursue the matter. Little did any of us know what that contact would turn out to mean.<\/p>\n