My Interest in Business Ethics

Region
Ontario

Sector
Academic - Faculty/Staff

Areas of Interest
Accountability ; Codes of Conduct ; Corporate Social Responsibility ; Human Rights ; Philanthropy ; Public Policy ; Theory


Me in Brief

Research Contributions (partial): Globalization and the Pursuit of Global Ethics Together with Dr Bruce Grelle at the California State University at Chico, Dr. Bird organized a research project to examine a number of recent global initiatives establishing world wide moral standards with respect to various aspects of human life. They have solicited the assistance of four other academic researchers to help us realize this project. Together they will examine these initiatives within global inter-faith movements, environmental movements, the human rights movements, among those concerned about responsible business practices, as well as those concerned to arrive at common standards with respect to the use of armed force.

McGill-McConnell Masters in Management for National Voluntary Sector Leaders in Canada Between 1999 and 2003, Dr. Bird served as a co-director for the Ethics Module and as the tutor for 17 students (out of 120) in the McGill-McConnell Masters in Management for National Voluntary Sector Leaders in Canada. In the process of supervising these 17 master’s theses, he conducted his own studies of the civil society organizations for which students worked. As a by-product of this involvement he was called upon to help draft of a code of ethics on volunteering for Volunteers Canada, to help lead a workshop for the Community Foundations of Canada, and to work with Oxfam Canada, the Canadian Center for Philanthropy, and the Vibrant Community project.

In conjunction with these teaching and consulting roles, he began to conduct research on the role charitable organizations have played and do play in promoting justice. In part this current research proposal grows out of the informal research he has already been conducting on civil society organizations.

He is currently co-editing a book, Voices from the Voluntary Sector, which will contain the best major papers/theses by the students of this program. Business Ethics Research Cluster Dr. Bird was one of five co-researchers in this SSHRC-funded program, directed by Dr Wesley Cragg from York University. This project has been comparatively successful in developing links between researchers, businesses, and community groups across Canada interested in pursuing and applying business ethics research.

Justice and the Practices of International Businesses in Developing Areas Dr. Bird organized and managed this SSHRC-funded research project (1999-2005). He brought together and coordinated the research efforts of 30 researchers from universities and research centers in Canada, the United States, England, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, Brazil, China, and Pakistan to study the practices of international businesses in eighteen countries. They held four research workshops. Four students wrote their doctoral theses in connection with this project. They published two volumes of case studies. A volume of essays is in press with Palgrave Macmillan Press. Another volume of essays and case studies, to be published in Portuguese in Brazil, is also in press. Dr. Bird assumed the primary responsibility for editing these four volumes.