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Business Ethics

Internet Resources

Codes of Ethics Online
Complied by Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, Illinois Institute of Technology.

Business Ethics Online
Site of the magazine, with selected articles available for free online and a monthly newsletter.

Business for Social Responsibility
Find online tools and guides to support responsible business practices provided by this global not-for-profit organization.

CSRwire
Find press releases from companies and non-governmental organizations as well as reports issued by companies on this site provided by the SRI World Group Inc., a provider of social investing and corporate social responsibility information.

Caux Round Table
An international network of business leaders responsible for one of the first international business codes of ethics, the Principles for Business.

International Business Ethics Institute
See especially the Links page to numerous domestic and international groups.

The Global Compact
A United Nations site that brings together companies, labor organizations, and civil society to support the Nine Principles for human rights, labor, and the environment.

EthicsWeb.ca
Canadian site on business, professional, medical and nonprofit ethics.

Transparency International
Obtain survey results on corruption in government, politics, business, civil society and the daily lives of people provided by this international, nonpartisan organization.

The Defense Industry Initiative on Business Ethics and Conduct
Consortium of US defense industry contractors.

Ethics Resource Center
News, organizational and global ethics articles, National Business Ethics Survey done in 2003.

Dow Jones Sustainibility Indexes
Financial performance of companies that take social, environmental, and economic factors into account when forming their strategies.

Print Resources

Search the Rensselaer Libraries' Catalog using the subjects:

• Business ethics.
• Industrial management -- Moral and ethical aspects.
• International business enterprises -- Corrupt practices.
• International business enterprises -- Moral and ethical aspects.
• Social responsibility of business.

Business Ethics: a reference handbook
Provides discussions of the ethics, economics, and law relating to ethical issues in business.
Location: HF5387.D54 1998

Tyranny of the bottom line: why corporations make good people do bad things
Examines the problems of focusing on the bottom line and offers suggestions on how to reform the corporate system and make corporations accountable to their stockholders, customers, employees, and the larger community.
Location: HD60.E784 1996

Business Law

LexisNexis Academic(Rensselaer at Hartford login ID and password required)
Find in-depth legal information in the Legal Research area. In the Case Law section, use Area of Law by Topic to search Corporate Law, Cyberlaw, Environmental Law, or Labor Law. In the Codes & Regulations section, use the Tax Law search.

FindLaw
Use the FindLaw 101 link to learn how to navigate the site. Search or follow the topic links under Topics and Guides.

Legal Information Institute
General law reference from Cornell. Follow the “Law listed alphabetically by topic” link to find business law resources.

CIO.com Legal Issues and Government Policy
Legal issues and policy related to e-commerce.

GigaLaw
Legal information for Internet Professionals.

Global and E-Commerce Law
Resources from Baker and McKenzie, an award-winning global law firm.

Lex Mercatoria
International commercial law site developed by the law faculties of the Universities of Tromsø and Oslo, Norway and the Institute of International Commercial Law, Pace University School of Law, White Plains, NY

Print Resources

Search the Rensselaer Libraries' Catalog using the subjects:

• Business law.
• Commercial law.

Corporate Governance

World Bank Corporate Governance
Locate resources on corporate governance, best practices, and country reports on over 20 countries.

OECD Corporate Governance Principles
The OECD Principles of Corporate Governance set out a framework for good practice which has been agreed by the governments of all 30 countries that are members of the OECD. They have been designed to assist governments and regulatory bodies in both OECD countries and elsewhere in drawing up and enforcing effective rules, regulations and codes of corporate governance. In parallel, they provide guidance for stock-exchanges, investors, companies and others that have a role in the process of developing good corporate governance.

FindLaw Corporate Governance Center
Find US-oriented news, associations, laws and Web resources.

US Securities and Exchange Commission
US federal agency charged with protecting investors and maintaining the integrity of securities markets in the US. Includes links to laws (including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002) and regulations, news, regulatory actions and litigation.

European Corporate Governance Institute (Belgium)
Non-profit academic research network. Website includes free electronic working papers, and full text corporate governance codes and principles.

Encycogov(Denmark)
Find several definitions of corporate governance. The site also contains multimedia and graphical content on the economics of corporate governance from an international perspective.

Print Resources

Search the Rensselaer Libraries' Catalog using the subject Corporate governance.

Back to the Drawing Board: Designing corporate boards for a complex world
The authors propose a redesign of corporate boards to improve their performance and accountability.
Location: HD2745.C3665 2004

Corporate Governance Best Practices: A blueprint for the post-Enron era
Best practices in the areas of structure of the board of directors, audit practices, disclosure, compliance, and ethics are presented. These were gathered by the Conference Board's Global Corporate Governance Research Center from a series of roundtables with directors and senior executives of major US companies.
Location: HD2745.B732 2003

Intellectual Property

US Copyright Office
Find copyright basics, links to publications, law and policy.

US Patent and Trademark Office
Search the full text of patents issued from 1976 to the present. (Patents issued between 1790 and 1976 are searchable by patent number and current US classifications only.) Federal trademark searches available.

esp@cenet
Search patents worldwide. This free database from the European Patent Organisation contains records for over 45 million patents from 71 countries.

World Intellectual Property Association (WIPO)
WIPO carries out many tasks related to the protection of intellectual property rights, such as administering international treaties, assisting governments, organizations and the private sector, monitoring developments in the field and harmonizing and simplifying relevant rules and practices. Look here for detailed information on patents, trademarks, industrial designs, geographic indications, copyright, and emerging issues worldwide.

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Advocates for free communication and sharing of ideas over the Internet.

Copyright and Fair Use
Find links to guides, key sites, current issues and legislation on copyright and fair use from Stanford University Libraries.  

Recording Industry Association of America
Read the RIAA's viewpoint on piracy, music, and the Internet.  

Motion Picture Association of America
Links to a corporate policy guide on unauthorized copying at work, piracy statistics and and situations from MPAA.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS (Science Direct) (Rensselaer at Hartford login ID and password required)
Articles address areas such as artificial intelligence, database design and use, electronic commerce, office automation, and systems analysis. Coverage also extends to the legal and social issues involved with computer use.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS (Science Direct) (Rensselaer at Hartford login ID and password required)
More than 200 overview articles describe all basic forms of media, such as books, newspapers, and the Internet, and address issues such as freedom of expression, information overload, libel, political reporting, and tabloid journalism. A unique series of more than 60 geopolitical studies describe the status of media in all regions of the world.

Print Resources

Search the Rensselaer Libraries' Catalog using the subjects:

• Intellectual property.
• Patents.
• Copyright.

Ingenta
Search an index to journals from a variety of disciplines.