Beyond Integrity: A Judeo-Christian Approach to Business Ethics

I have taught this book in a Christian-oriented Business Ethics college course aimed at working adult students. This is a very professional work. There is an excellent selection of case studies, many of them of fairly recent vintage. There are great discussions of theoretical concepts including models of social involvement (from the likes of Friedman, Goodpaster, and Rivoli) and "groupthink." The book falls short in the otherwise promising subtitle: A Judeo-Christian Approach to Business Ethics. Rae and Wong present a variety of different ethical approachs and find merit in nearly all of them. For instance, ethical egoism is found to be consistent with a Christian world view because, after all, each of us must be concerned with the future of our own soul. What we seem to get is a generally eclectic view of ethics. In the end, the authors give the greatest weight to virtue ethics. However, it is highly debateable whether this view properly characterizes the "Judeo-Christian approach." While concern for one's soul, virtues, etc., certainly are part of the Christian life, many Christian ethicists might characterize the overall approach in terms of a modified divine command theory. In any case, after laying out all these approaches, and picking their favorite, the authors fail to apply virtue ethics with any regularity to their subsequent commentaries and discussions. In my class, students much preferred the other textbook we used: Richard C. Chewning, et al's "Business Through the Eyes of Faith." This is a very different kind of book from "Beyond Integrity," but it seemed to speak directly to the students' personal situations. We might have been better off using a standard secular text on ethics, together with Chewning et al. However, "Beyond Integrity" is the book to use if you must have a top-flight business text with a Christian point of view. Few doubt that we need to raise the level of honesty and integrity in the workplace. Given that most Americans proclaim a belief in God, and at least pay lip service to the Bible and Christianity, it makes sense that we should be calling on our employers and employees to "walk the talk." Arguably, a properly practiced Judeo-Christian ethic can provide the resources to build a better business environment.

I am a Christian CEO in Hong Kong and have written a book review on this book for the Graduate Christian Fellowship a few months back. An excellent reference. Touched on many important and controversial issues including capitalism, bribery in third world, honesty, advertisement and marketing, etc. Presented many primary articles with balanced, provocative opinions from all sides. A book for the serious thinker. NOT FOR NEW CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS NOR FOR NON-BUSINESS PERSON. Only one criticism: the editors' own comments at the end of each chapter is a bit weak; not the same calibre as the 20-30 authors.