Business ethics expert, philosophy professor to deliver 2012 Sutton Ethics Lecture
LAWRENCE — Philosophy professor and business ethics expert Patricia Werhane will present “Globalization and Its Challenges for Business Ethics in the 21st Century” as the 2012 Sutton Ethics Lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 8, in Woodruff Auditorium at the Kansas Union.
The presentation will outline the moral and economic feasibility of “creative capitalism,” an idea that encourages global businesses to balance corporate profitability and the needs of poor communities in which companies operate. Werhane will also present models of “profitable partnerships” for creating value for global companies and communities alike.
The event is free and open to the public.
Werhane is the Wicklander Chair of Business Ethics and managing director of the Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at DePaul University and professor emeritus at the University of Virginia.
She has published numerous articles and is the author or editor of more than 20 books, including “Moral Imagination and Management Decision-Making” and “Profitable Partnerships for Poverty Alleviation.”
As founder and former editor-in-chief of Business Ethics Quarterly, the journal of the Society for Business Ethics, she also serves as academic adviser to the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics.
The Sutton Ethics Lecture Series was established in 1993 by the late Betsey Sutton in memory of her husband, Walter – a 1939 School of Business graduate. During his career, he served as managing partner at KPMG offices in Kansas City and Los Angeles. Prior to his death in 1985, Walter Sutton gave much of his time to civic organizations.
Previous Sutton Ethics Lecture Series speakers include FBI agent Robert Herndon, Best Buy executive Kathleen Edmond and Hallmark vice president Carol Hallquist.
The lecture series is presented by the University of Kansas School of Business and KU’s International Center for Ethics in Business.