ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how the concept of business ethics emerged in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, how the globalization of the world economy changed the debate over business ethics, and how corporate programs to implement a global commitment to business ethics developed. Between 1975 and 2015, the study and practice of business ethics became a truly global phenomenon. Business ethics first emerged as a management concern and as an academic subject in the United States in the late 1970s. Attention to business ethics in United States corporations was generally limited to legal compliance with explicit laws and regulations such as the foreign corrupt practices act and with increasingly numerous consumer and clean air and water regulations adopted in the 1960s and 1970s. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the challenges faced in defining and implementing a commitment to global business ethics.
