Business Ethics 2009 Update: Ethical Decision Making and Cases [Paperback]

O. C. Ferrell (Author), John Fraedrich (Author), Ferrell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2009

Delve immediately into the heart of ethics in business today with the latest, practical, applied coverage found in Ferrell/Fraedrich/Ferrell's BUSINESS ETHICS 2009 UPDATE. In the midst of the most recent business developments and financial crises, this book's accessible, up-to-date approach provides unmatched insights into the complex environment in which contemporary managers make ethical decisions. The book's solid managerial framework highlights the latest developments in ethics and how they relate to overall concepts, processes, and best practices. Readers clearly see the critical role that ethics can play in strategic business decisions. Captivating new cases and engaging examples help readers prepare for ethical dilemmas they will actually face in today's business world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 514 pages
• Publisher: South-Western College Pub; 7 edition (April 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439042810
• ISBN-13: 978-1439042816
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A miserable text book., July 22, 2010

By 

Joseph Longwell "Joe" (WV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Business Ethics 2009 Update: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (Paperback)

I can't believe that this book is the standard in most college ethics and business courses. I had to take two ethics classes, which were two of my first courses for this term. I was really excited to start school but this book soon quelled that excitement. Luckily, I also had a business law course to take at the same time so I could work on it when I had to get away from the ethics course for fear of losing my mind.

This book, if you can call it that, it just very poorly written. I don't mean that the mechanics or the grammar was poorly written, it had little organization of ideas and it was very redundant. It was also not written well, there was no form of organization of the material and it suffered from redundancy. See?

Also, this text was very hard to take notes from and I felt most of the material was just padding to fill out the book. Most of the ideas and topics covered were mostly common sense even though the book says that ethics isn't commonsensical. C'mon I mean really? People know it is wrong to steal, use company property for personal use, manipulate markets for personal gain, etc. The book makes it seem that in the business world people are removed from the usual expectations of conduct that society places on individuals and organizations.

I had to write two papers for the one ethics course. One was actually creating my own code of ethics and a standards and procedures policy for a fictitious company. This book was of little help in that area. Everything about code of ethics and what not is scattered throughout the book and in several chapters the book skews off in a tangent that is barely related to the topic. I ended up just b.s.ing my way through the paper and passed with almost a perfect score.

Also many of the examples of ethics violations or ethical dilemmas are never completed, they give an example, leave out the decision of the person in the example and then go back to it a chapter later but still never give any insight into whether the person made a decision and what the decision was.

All in all, this just a very hard book to read, I think the authors are very full of themselves, just as most philosophy experts are. And that is what this book is, a bunch of b.s. philosophy. I rented this book from a rental company online, I am contemplating purchasing the book just so that I can destroy it and there will be one less copy on earth. If you have to use this book for college, woe is you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It's OK, November 17, 2009

By 

K. Robinson (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Business Ethics 2009 Update: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (Paperback)

I agree with the previous posts. It is current and uses good examples. I guess what I don't like is the composition of the book. I am not sure if I can even complain about that without sounding stupid and like I am nagging. It's just really lengthy with little breaks throughout the chapters. Sitting down to read one chapter is really tedious. I don't like it. I think it could have been written in a form that is easier to follow. I have taken many college courses, as I am a senior, and so far, this is the worst. I am not sure if it is because of the subject itself or the book. It just seems that other tedious courses I have taken, I appreciated more because the book was easy to follow without being unnecessarily lengthy and dragging on like this one does. I never look forward to sitting down to open this book up and read two chapters a week. Reading this is almost torturous for me.

1.0 out of 5 stars Like we really have a choice anyway, April 13, 2011

By 

Book Knut - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Business Ethics 2009 Update: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (Paperback)

If you're buying this book it's because of the same reason I did - you have to for school. So whether or not it's any good is really a moot point. That said this book sucks. No need for fanciful terms, or witty prose when "sucks" gets the job done. This book is poorly written, verbose, factually unhelpful, and a cut-and-paste style mash of newspaper clippings held together by winding pseudo-essays from presumably the authors that go nowhere and offer even less insight. This book has the feel of a text that was created solely for creation's sake - without a clear purpose, or readily apparent layout or theme, and published more out of an attempt to fill a niche in the college text market than actually inform the reader.

If you're going to have to write either a company ethics plan, or research paper on something similar, get started now with either your school's library or maybe Google Scholar to guide you. Don't think that this book is going to be the "missing link" between an A (or just passing: depending on your own goals) and failure when it arrives in the mail. So, save yourself some money and buy the cheapest version you can get from a reputable supplier; this is not a book you are going to be keeping for your collection.