ABSTRACT

This second collection of outstanding shortlisted contributions from the Critical Management Studies (CMS) Interest Group of the Academy of Management (AOM) Dark Side" case-writing competition continues to go where other business case studies fear to tread.There are very many case studies of business best practice when engaging with social, environmental and ethical issues. But when educators look for resources to illustrate to students the more typical examples of bad – let alone scandalous – practices of some firms, the cupboard is almost entirely bare. And yet there is a critical need for business educators to expose students and managers to such issues to understand the different multifaceted phenomena of our late capitalist era; to support critical, reflective moral development; and to reflect and understand the complexities of organizational life. To argue that such cases deal with the bad apples in an otherwise functioning system misses the point. Whether focusing on the phone-hacking scandals at national newspapers, the influence of big pharma companies on clinical trials, the Bhopal tragedy or the use of child labour in the garment industry, the problems discussed are of major importance and in many cases have been demonstrated to be common practice for particular companies. Good news they are not, but all are stimulating and present students with dilemmas and decisions to make in a myriad of ways.Each of these 14 selected cases from 2009–2012 has been thoroughly documented, peer-reviewed and edited. They cover four continents (Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania) and both business and public organizations. The industries covered range from extractive industries, the energy industry, consumer products, pulp and paper, movies, media, municipal affairs, academia, banking, and the drug industry. The book is split into three sections: 'Community and Environment'; 'Human Rights and Business'; and 'Ethics and Policy'.Online Teaching Notes to accompany each chapter are available on request with the purchase of the book.

chapter |8 pages

Introduction

Dark side cases: challenging the 'bright side' bias of mainstream management education

section A|62 pages

Community and environment

chapter 1|13 pages

Shell in Ireland

A community destroyed

chapter 2|19 pages

Of gods and demons 1

The sacred hills of Niyamgiri and Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL)

chapter 3|15 pages

The dark side of light-handed regulation

Mercury Energy and the death of Folole Muliaga 1

chapter 4|14 pages

San Rafael 1

section B|65 pages

Human rights and business

chapter 5|14 pages

Kraft Foods Argentina

The H1N1 disparity

chapter 7|30 pages

The Bhopal Gas tragedy

Revisited after twenty-five years 1

chapter 8|9 pages

The battle for Middle Earth

New Zealand's bid to save The Hobbit 1

section C|101 pages

Ethics and policy

chapter 10|10 pages

Monkey business

The Black Eyed Peas in Halifax 1

chapter 12|10 pages

Milk or wine come rain or shine

Culture and politics in a Dutch—Belgian banking group after an international takeover 1

chapter 13|26 pages

‘Alisha in Obesity-land’

Is food marketing the Mad Hatter? 1

chapter 14|15 pages

The Olivieri case

An ethical dilemma of clinical research and corporate sponsorship 1