faulker031

Yesterday, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou narrowly won the support of the Greek parliament for his ongoing efforts to steer the country away from bankruptcy. Whether this has given him a second political life though is an open question. Greece’s financial troubles are far from over. As a member the EU and the Eurozone the survival of Greece within these European institutions seems still anything but certain. Last week, the debate among European heads of state and Finance Ministers on further support for Greece was tough and controversial. Finally an agreement of another multi billion Euro cash injection from mostly France and Germany paved the way for keeping Greece floating for another month or so. A thorny nettle of disagreement between the countries was the question, in how far private sector banks should be part of the solution. Germany, whose banks exposure of some €20bn is much lower than France’s was insisting on more involvement, while France opposed this approach in ...

Last year we released a free download of our introduction to corporate social responsibility , originally published in our textbook " Corporate social responsibility: readings and cases in a global context ". It proved to be pretty popular, with hundreds of downloads in the months since it was released. Today, we are making available another free CSR download, this time from our three volume edited collection on CSR , originally published by Sage in 2007. You can download the chapter by going HERE and selecting the "One Click Download" tab. The new download is more of an academic-oriented treatment than our last one. It sets out to describe the academic literature on CSR rather than how CSR is thought about by practitioners. So for anyone doing research in the field, or just looking for a general introduction to the academic field of CSR, it will provide a handy starting point. We intended it to be accessible rather than too complex or jargony, so it should make s...

Last week’s E-coli outbreak in Germany was another interesting case study in the ethics of risk management. A ferocious looking bacteria, thought to be carried by the very food we eat whenever we feel like a healthy option (i.e. salad vegetables) has led to a scare that has plummeted many of Europe’s farmers into severe financial troubles. On the face of it the numbers don’t quite hit home why exactly consumers and regulators across Europe (and especially in Germany) have reacted so strongly: while, sadly, 26 people have died so far from the E-coli outbreak, this number looks negligible in comparison to Germany’s 3,651 fatalities in road accidents annually (in 2010 ). Banning Spanish cucumbers – sure thing! But touching the fundamental right of Germans to speed without limit on the Autobahn? No way, no one even thinks about that. Fair enough maybe - food is one of those things that does raise the risk perception more than almost any other. But one of the more curious things about the...