Scope

This Research Guide focuses on issues of business or corporate ethics. The terms "business" and "corporate" are typically used interchangeably. Included in this topic are general principles of ethical business practices, news about the corporate accounting scandals of 2002-03 (Enron, WorldCom and Tyco are a few of the companies involved in significant ethics scandals), and the government's response to these scandals intended to reform corporate practices, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-204).

Overview

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online 1992 (updated daily)
Britannica Online is a searchable collection of authoritative references, including Britannica's latest encyclopedia articles. Basic instructions for Encyclopædia Britannica Online

Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics
College Library Reference Collection: BJ 63 A66 1998
Refer to volume 1, pages 397-411

Encyclopedia of Busine$$ and Finance
College Library Reference Collection: HF 1001 E466 2001
Refer to Volume 1, pages 316-345

Encyclopedia of Ethics
College Library Reference Collection: BJ 63 E45 2001
Refer to volume 1, pages 170-175

Finding Journal and News Articles

Below are links to databases that cover this subject area. The truncation symbol for all of them is an asterisk (*) unless otherwise noted.

Sample searches for databases:

business and ethic*
corporate and ethic*
corporate and (values or moral*)
capitalism and (moral or ethic*)
Sarbanes-Oxley
"corporate reform" and ethics
Tyco and (ethics or scandal)
Enron and (ethics or scandal)
WorldCom and (ethics or scandal)

Recommended Databases:

ABI/Inform 1971 - to date (updated daily)
ABI/Inform indexes and abstracts articles from more than 1300 scholarly and trade business periodicals. Popular journals such as Forbes, Fortune, and Business Week are also included. The Web version, ABI/INFORM Global, provides full-text articles from more than 600 of the journals from 1992 to the present. It is an excellent source of information on management techniques, corporate strategies, trends, and business conditions. Basic instructions for ABI/Inform

Academic Search 1984 - to date (updated daily)
This library database indexes approximately 3,100 popular magazines and academic journals and provides the full-text articles from approximately 1,000 journals. Basic instructions for Academic Search

Business Full Text 1982 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 400 key business periodicals, including trade magazines and scholarly journals, covering all aspects of business. Basic instructions for Business Full Text

Business Source Elite 1984 - to date (updated daily)
Contains a full-text database of more than 900 business journals plus an indexing and abstracting database of approximately 1,570 scholarly and popular journals. The database covers many areas of business including management, economics, finance, banking and accounting. Basic instructions for Business Source Elite

CQ Researcher November 1991 - to date (updated weekly)
Contains weekly reports from Congressional Quarterly that cover the most current and controversial issues. Basic instructions for CQ Researcher

Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe Dates Vary (updated daily)
Contains the full-text articles from U.S. and international newspapers (including the New York Times, June 1980 - to date), as well as some news and business magazines and trade journals. The truncation symbol is an exclamation point (!). Basic instructions for Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe

ProQuest Newspapers Dates Vary (updated weekly)
Indexes articles from 41 national and Wisconsin newspapers; includes full text for most. The truncation symbol is a question mark (?). Basic instructions for ProQuest Newspapers

ProQuest Research Library 1988 - to date (updated daily)
Indexes over 2,000 general-interest and academic journals. Nearly 1,000 periodicals are full-text. Dates vary, but many full-text journals go back to 1988. Basic instructions for ProQuest Research Library

Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) 1972 - to date (updated quarterly)
Indexes journal articles, books, government documents, statistical compilations, committee reports, directories, serials, reports of public, intergovernmental and private organizations, and most other forms of printed literature from all over the world. The full-text of the articles is not available in the database. Basic instructions for PAIS

Social Sciences Full Text 1983 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes more than 415 scholarly journals in economics, politics, public administration, public health, sociology, criminology, environmental and urban studies, psychology and anthropology. Basic instructions for Social Sciences Full Text

Finding Books

MadCat
Books on business or corporate ethics can be found in MadCat, the UW-Madison library catalog.

Sample keyword searches:

"business ethics"
"business values"
"corporate ethics"
"corporate values"
corrupt? and business
http AND any of the above terms (to find electronic resources)

Internet Sites

Business Ethics (publication)
http://www.business-ethics.com/
Business Ethics is a publication that promotes ethical business practices and the movement for greater social responsibility in business.

Business Ethics (compilation of links)
http://www.web-miner.com/busethics.htm
This site is a compilation of links to web pages, created by Sharon Stoerger, M.L.S., M.B.A., for the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In addition to news and articles, it includes links to organizations, case studies, and the ethics codes of specific corporations.

BusinessWeek Online
http://www.businessweek.com
Contains current articles covering various ethical dilemmas affecting the business world.

Corporate Ethics: An Online NewsHour Special Report
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/ethics/
The Web site of the PBS program "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" produced a special report on corporate ethics and recent scandals in the business world.

FindLaw
http://news.findlaw.com/legalnews/lit/
FindLaw's Legal News and Commentary Special Coverage section contains a collection of news stories and documents related to major corporate accounting scandals, such as those involving WorldCom and Enron.

Organizations

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
http://www.aicpa.org/index.htm
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is the national professional association for CPAs in the United States. Includes information on professional ethics and accounting standards.

Better Business Bureau (BBB)
http://www.bbb.org
The goal of the Better Business Bureau is to promote and foster the highest ethical relationship between businesses and the public through voluntary self-regulation, consumer and business education, and service excellence.

CorpWatch
http://www.corpwatch.org
Corp Watch is an activist organization that works to foster democratic control over corporate power and globalization. Their site contains news and resources about corporate ethics and excesses.

Ethics Officer Association (EOA)
http://www.eoa.org/
The Ethics Officer Association (EOA) is a non-profit professional association for managers of ethics, compliance and business conduct programs. EAO's goal is promoting ethical business practices. Resources available on the site include news, library reports, research documents, and EOA survey results.

International Business Ethics Institute
http://www.business-ethics.org/index.asp
The International Business Ethics Institute is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, educational organization. The Institute was founded in 1994, in response to the growing need for transnationalism in the field of business ethics. It promotes business ethics and corporate responsibility.

Society for Business Ethics
http://www.societyforbusinessethics.org/
The Society for Business Ethics (SBE) is an international organization of scholars engaged in the academic study of business ethics and others with interest in the field. Business Ethics Quarterly (BEQ) is the journal of the Society for Business Ethics. BEQ publishes scholarly articles and book reviews on all aspects of ethics in business, especially those that raise conceptual, methodological, practical, or theoretical issues.