Honest Work: A Business Ethics Reader Paperback – 30 Oct. 2013

Great quality book for how much it costed. Did expedited 2 day shipping and it came in 3 days, right before classes, so I am very happy

Had to get this for a philosophy/ethics class. We only read certain stories, but i thought that they all presented interesting views and were fairly easy to read.

I gave this book 4 stars because it's both well-written and well-intended. My criticism for why I had to purchase this book, and my suggestion for how ethics instruction would better serve business students is not directed specifically against the author's work.Let me start with something a little counter-intuitive: hard business skills are more relevant than ethical awareness in preventing unscrupulous business behavior. How? People do not typically use business skills to extract money dishonestly. They use sales techniques and other soft coercive skills. Bernie Madoff sold a ponzi to investors and Andy Fastow (Enron) coerced a byzantine, yet unsophisticated accounting fraud onto a reputable accounting firm using charm, manipulation, and intimidation. They harnessed powerful emotional tools to prey on people's insecurities.In these and other recent financial crimes, were the victims and secondary accomplices more competent and confident in their own hard business skillsets, they may have stood firm against pressure by charismatic and powerful fraudsters. Good intentions (everyone has them) plus confidence in one's own professional aptitude (few people have this) equates to ethical resolve in the real business world.A standalone ethics course doesn't give business students actual tools to resist coercion in their professional futures. As a practical matter, ethics shouldn't be taught in a vacuum or with the simplified case studies provided in this text. Ethics should be bundled within existing accounting and finance courses so that actual ethical dilemmas are discussed in their precise business context (i.e. accounting: what is an off-balance sheet obligation or risk exposure, when will it be encountered, how does this concept bear on auditor, accountant, corporate finance, or executive officer's duty to each stakeholder in an enterprise?).Honest Work is a high-quality, even enjoyable read. It merits 4-stars as a standalone book. I wrote this review because I had a constructive suggestion on how to improve one application for which this book is often purchased.

Copy I received gas some wear and writing but can never dislike free notes!

Hard to read for not native speakers (foreigners)Spent 2 hours reading 8 pages and didn't understand anything.....(p.s. I am not dumb, have a master degree and had philosophy class but the vocabulary here is hard for me.)