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Definition
| An underlying agreement between businessses and society based on basic duties and responsibilities businesses must carry out to retain public support. This may be reflected in laws and regulations. |
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Definition
| An economic ideology with a bundle of values including private ownership of means of production, the profit motive, free comopetition, and limited government restraint on the markets. |
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Definition
| An economic philosophy that rejects government intervention in markets. |
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Definition
| A political pattern, recurrent in world history, in which common peopel who feel opressed or disadvantaged seeked to take power from a ruling elite seens as thwarting fulfillment of the collective welfare. |
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Definition
| An ideology holding that workers should revolt against property owning capitalists who exploit them, replacing economic and political domination with more equal and democratic institutions. |
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Definition
| An entity that is benefitted or burdened by the actions of a corporation or whose actions may benefit or burden the corporation. The corporation maintains a relationship with these entities. |
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Definition
| Actions taken by managers to adapt a company to changes in its market and sociopolitical environments. |
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Term
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Definition
| An economic policy of lowering tariffs and other barriers to encourage foreign trade. |
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Term
| The Industrial Revolution |
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Definition
| An economic metamorphosis in England in the late 1700s. It occurred when the necessary conditions were present and shifted the country from a simple agrarian economy into a growing industrial economy. |
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Definition
| A statistical measure of inequality in which zero is perfect equality (everyone has the same amount of wealth) and 100 is absolute inequality (a single person has all the wealth). |
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| The creation of networks of human interaction that span worldwide distances |
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Definition
| A set of reinforcing beliefs and values that constructs a worldview. |
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Definition
| A system of shared knowledge, values, norms, customs, and rituals acquired by social learning. |
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Definition
| Values based on assumptions of security and affluence, for example, tolerance of diversity and concern for the environment. |
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Definition
| The rightful use of power. It is the opposite of tyranny, or the exercise of power beyond right. |
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Definition
| The view that business is the most powerful institution in society because of its control of wealth. The view holds that the power is inadequately checked, and therefore, excessive. |
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Definition
| The view that business power is exercised in a society where other institutions also have great power. It is counterbalanced and restricted and therefore, not excessive. |
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Definition
| A society with multiple groups and institutions through which power is diffused. |
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Definition
| A society with a largely agricultural economy. |
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Definition
| A price giving a moderate profit, one inspired by fairness, not greed. |
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Definition
| The lending of money for excessive interest. |
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Term
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Definition
| A price determined by the interaction of supply and demand |
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Definition
| The belied that hard work and adherence to a set of virtues such as thrift, saving, and sobriety would bring wealth and God's approval. |
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Definition
| A socially engineered model community designed to correct faults in the world so its members can find happiness. |
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Term
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Definition
| A political reform movement that arose among farmers in the late 1800s. The movement blamed social problems on industry and sought radical reforms such as government ownership of railroads. |
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Definition
| A turn-of-the twentieth century political movement that associated moderate social reform with progress. It was lessradical than populism and had wider appeal. |
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Definition
| The doctrine of a classless society in which property is collectively owned and income from labor is divided among members. It rejects the values of capitalism. |
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Definition
| An economic philosophy of active state intervention to stabilize the economy and stimulate employment |
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Definition
| The name given to a group of economists and to the free market doctrine they taught. It is synonymous with neoliberalism. |
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Term
| Corporate Social Responsibility |
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Definition
| The duty of a corporation to create wealth in ways that avoid harm to, protect, or enhance societal assets. |
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Term
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Definition
| The philosophy of the later 1800s and early 1900s that used evolution to explain the dynamics of human society and institutions. The idea of "survival of the fittest" in the realm implied that rich people and dominant companies were morally superior. |
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Definition
| An agent of a company whose corporate role puts them in a position of power over the fate of the company and related parties. |
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Definition
| The theory that the sole responsibility of a corporation is to optimize profits while obeying the law. |
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Term
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Definition
| The sequence of coordinated actions that add value to a product or service. |
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Definition
| Regulation by nonstate actors based on social norms or standards enforced by social or market sanctions. |
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Term
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Definition
| A production cost not paid by a firm or its customers, but by members of society. |
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Term
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Definition
| The practice of a corporation publishing information about its economic, social, and environmental performance. |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that ethical consumers will pay a premium for commodities from producers in developing nations who use sustainable methods. |
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Term
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Definition
| A model of the methods an organization can use to achieve certain goals. |
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Term
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Definition
| The underlying idea or theory that explains how a business will create value by making and selling products or services in the market. |
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Definition
| A brief statement of the basic purpose of a corporation |
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Term
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Definition
| A basic approach, method, or plan for achieving an objective. |
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Term
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Definition
| The state in which company social strategies, structures, and processes are visible to external observers. |
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Term
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Definition
| Economic growth that meets current needs without social and environmental impacts that harm future generations. |
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Term
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Definition
| An accounting of a firm's economic, social, and environmental performance. |
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Term
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Definition
| Verification by audit that information in a corporate sustainability report is reliable. |
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Term
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Definition
| Charitable giving of money, property, or work for the welfare of society. |
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Term
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Definition
| A form of corporate giving in which charitable activities reinforce strategic business goals. |
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Term
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Definition
| A form of giving in which charitable contributions are based on purchases of a firm's products. |
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Term
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Definition
| Small loans given to the poor. |
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Term
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Definition
| The study of good and evil, right and wrong, and just and unjust |
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Term
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Definition
| The study of good and evil, right and wrong, and just and unjust actions in business. |
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Term
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Definition
| The belief that business should be conducted without reference to the full range of ethical standards, restraints, and ideals in society |
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Term
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Definition
| Business actions are judged by the general ethical standards of society, not by a special set of more permissive standards. |
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Term
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Definition
| A form of social behavior in which people behave supportively in the expectation that this behavior will be given in return. |
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Term
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Definition
| A school of thought that rejects ethical perfection, taking the position that human affairs will be characterized by flawed behavior and ought to be depicted as they are, not as we might wish them to be. |
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Term
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Definition
| The theory that because human nature is everywhere the same, basic ethical rules are applicable in all cultures. There issome room for variation in the way these rules are followed. |
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Term
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Definition
| The theory that ethical values are created by cultural experience. Different cultures may create different values and there is no universal standard by which to judge which values are superior. |
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Term
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Definition
| Master ethical principles that underlie all other ethical principles. All variations of ethical principal must conform to them. |
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Term
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Definition
| Payments awarded to redress actual, concrete losses suffered by injured parties. |
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Term
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Definition
| Payments in excess of a wronged party's actual losses to deter similar actions and punish a corporation that has exhibited reprehensible conduct. |
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Term
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Definition
| A nonviolent economic offense of cheating and deception done for personal or corporate gain in the course of employment. |
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Term
| Deffered Prosecution Agreement |
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Definition
| An agreement between a prosecutor and a corporation to delay prosecution while the company takes remedial actions. |
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Term
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Definition
| An agreement in which U.S. attorneys decline prosecution of a corporation that has taken appropriate steps to report a crime, cooperate, and compensate victims. |
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Term
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Definition
| A person hired by a corporation to oversee fulfillment of conditions in an agreement to avoid criminal indictment. |
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Term
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Definition
| A set of values, norms, rituals, formal rules, and physical artifacts that exists in a company. |
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Term
| Ethics and Compliance Program |
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Definition
| A system of structures, policies, procedures, and controls used by corporations to promote ethical behavior and ensure compliance with laws and regulations. |
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Term
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Definition
| Training employees to follow rules in laws, regulations, and policy. |
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Term
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Definition
| Training employees to make decisions based on ethical values |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that actions are right and wrong in themselves independently of any consequences |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that actions are right or wrong, in part or whole, based on their consequences |
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Term
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Definition
| Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. |
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Term
| Test of Universalizability |
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Definition
| Could this act be turned into a universal code of behavior? |
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Term
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Definition
| Business is like a game with permissive ethics and actions that do not violate the law are permitted. |
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Term
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Definition
| Test an ethical decision by asking how you would feel explaining it to a wider audience such as newspaper readers, television viewers, or your family. |
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Term
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Definition
| Virtue is achieved through moderation. Avoid behavior that is excessive or deficient of a virtue. |
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Term
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Definition
| The end justifies the means. |
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Term
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Definition
| Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. |
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Term
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Definition
| Treat others as ends in themselves, not as means to other goals. This principle prohibits selfish manipulation of other people. |
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Term
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Definition
| Would you be willing to change places with the other person or persons affected by your actions? |
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Term
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Definition
| What is good or right is understood by an inner moral sense based on character development and felt as intuition. |
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Term
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Definition
| Justice is the interest of the stronger. |
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Term
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Definition
| Be loyal to the organization |
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Term
| Principles of Equal Freedom |
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Definition
| A person has the right to freedom of action unless such action deprives another person of a proper freedom. |
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Term
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Definition
| A set of rules for making decisions having both good and evil consequences. |
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Term
| Principle of Proportionality |
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Definition
| Managers can risk predictable, but unwilled, harms to people after weighing five factors: type of good and evil, probability, urgency, intensity of influence, and alternatives. |
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Term
| Principle of Double Effect |
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Definition
| When both good and evil consequences result from a decision, a manager has acted ethically if the good outweighs the evil, if his or her intention is to achieve the good, and if there is no better alternative. |
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Term
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Definition
| Each person has protections and entitlements that others have a duty to respect. |
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Term
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Definition
| Protections and entitlements that can be inferred by reason from the study of human nature. |
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Term
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Definition
| Protections and entitlements conferred by law. |
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Term
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Definition
| Each person should act fairly toward others in order to maintain the bonds of community. |
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Term
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Definition
| The benefits and burdens of company life should be distributed using impartial criteria. |
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Term
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Definition
| Punishment should be evenhanded and proportionate to transgressions. |
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Term
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Definition
| Victims should receive fair compensation for damages. |
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Term
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Definition
| The greatest good for the greatest number. |
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Term
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Definition
| Ethical behavior stems from character virtues built up by habit. |
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Term
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Definition
| The four most basic traits of an ethical character-justice, temperance, courage, and wisdom. They were identified by Plato. |
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Term
| Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
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Definition
| A method used to map activity in neural networks during ethical decision making. |
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Term
| Critical Questions Approach |
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Definition
| A method of ethical reasoning in which insight comes from answering a list of questions. |
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Term
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Definition
| An amount of money for a project added into an appropriations bill by any member of the Senate or House of Representatives. |
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Term
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Definition
| A government in which powers are divided between a central government and subdivision governments. In American government, the specific division of powers between the national and state governments is set forth in the Constitution. |
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Term
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Definition
| A clause in the Constitution, Article VI, Section 2, setting forth the principle that when the federal government passes a law within its powers, the states are bound by that law. |
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Term
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Definition
| The constitutional arrangement that separates the legislative executive, and judicial functions of the national government into three branches, giving each considerable independence and the power to check and balance the others. |
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Term
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Definition
| The powers of judges to review legislative and executive actions and strike down laws that are unconstitutional or acts of officials that exceed their authority. |
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Term
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Definition
| An amendment to the Constitution added in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights. It protects the rights of free speech, free press, freedom to assemble or form groups, and freedom to contact and lobby government. |
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Term
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Definition
| A group that represents the political interests of many companies and industries. |
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Term
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Definition
| A group representing the interests of an industry or industry segment. |
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Term
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Definition
| An office in Washington, D.C., set up by a corporation and staffed with experts advocating the firm's point of view to lawmakers and regulators. |
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Term
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Definition
| A combination of business interest-including corporations, trade associations,-united to pursue a political goal. |
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Term
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Definition
| Advocating a position to government |
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Term
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Definition
| Direct interaction with government officials or staff in meetings, phone calls, or e-mail. |
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Term
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Definition
| Indirect lobbying activity designed to build friendly relations with lawmakers, officials, and staff. |
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Term
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Definition
| The technique of generating and expression of public, or "grassroots," support for the position of a company, industry, or any interest. |
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Term
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Definition
| An agreement to exchange something of value for an official act. |
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Term
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Definition
| The exchange of a gratuity for an official action in the past or future when that action might have been or might be taken even without exchange. |
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Term
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Definition
| Elections for president, vice president, senator, and representative. The 435 representatives are elected every two years, the president and vice president every four years, and the 100 senators every six years (with one-third of the senators up for election biennially). Elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November in even-numbered years |
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Term
| Political Action Committee |
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Definition
| A political committee carrying a company's name formed to make campaign contributions. The money it gives to candidates comes from individual employees, not from the corporate treasury. |
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Term
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Definition
| The two-year period between federal elections. |
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Term
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Definition
| Money that is unregulated as to source or amount under federal election law. |
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Term
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Definition
| Money raised and spent under the strict contribution limits and rules in federal election law. |
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Term
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Definition
| Fund-raising by an individual who solicits multiple contributions for a candidate, then "bundles" the checks and passes them on. |
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Term
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Definition
| A message of express advocacy to voters that is not coordinated with a candidate. |
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Term
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Definition
| Costs of production borne not by the enterprise that causes them but by society. |
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Term
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Definition
| A clause in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution that gives Congress the power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."8 It has been interpreted to give the federal government wide power to regulate business. |
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Term
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Definition
| A regulatory agency run by a small group of commissioners independent of political control. |
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Term
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Definition
| A regulatory agency in the executive branch run by a single administrator. |
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Term
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Definition
| The removal or substantial reduction of the body of regulation covering an industry. |
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Term
| Troubled Asset Reflief Program |
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Definition
| A program that gave federal regulators power to exchage funds for an ownership interest in banks and corporations. |
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Term
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Definition
| Government activity that guides the behavior of citizens, groups, and corporations to reach economic or social goals. |
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Term
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Definition
| A decree issued by an agency to implement a law passed by Congress. |
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Term
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Definition
| A daily government publication containing purposed rules, final rules, notice of public meetings by regulatory agencies, and presidential executive orders. |
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Term
| Significant Regulatory Action |
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Definition
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Term
| Code of Federal Regulations |
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Definition
| A reference work that compiles regulations of all agencies in a series of volumes |
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Term
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Definition
| Information in nonbinding documents intended to clarify official regulations. |
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Term
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Definition
| The general rule that feeral courts should defer to agency rules that are based on reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statutes. |
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Term
| Multinational Corporations |
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Definition
| An entity headquartered in one coutnry that does business in one or more foreign countries. |
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Term
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Definition
| The economic policy of lowering tariffs and other barriers to encourage trade and investment. |
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Term
| Transnational Corporation |
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Definition
| As defined by the United nations, a parent firm that controls the assets of affiliated entities in foreign countries. |
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Term
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Definition
| Business entities in foreign countries controlled by parents transnational corporations |
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Term
| Transnationality Index (TNI) |
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Definition
| The average of three ratios: foreign assets to total assets, foreign sales to total sales, and foreign employment to total employement. |
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Term
| Foreign Direct Investment |
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Definition
| Funds invested by parent MNC for starting, acquiring, or expanding an affiliate in a foreign nation. |
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Term
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Definition
| The limited, speculative purchase of stocks and bonds in a foreign company by individuals or equity funds. |
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Term
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Definition
| A government entity that invests the savings of a nation. Since it is state owned, it's investment goals may be different from those of private equity funds. |
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Term
| International Codes of Conduct |
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Definition
| Voluntary, aspirational statements by MNC's that set forth standards for foreign operations. |
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Term
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Definition
| A 1977 code of conduct that required multinational corporations in South Africa to do business in a nondiscriminatory way. |
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Term
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Definition
| Statements of philosophy, policy, and principle found nonbinding international agreements that, over time, gain legitimacy as guidlines for interpreting the "hard law" in legally binding agreements. |
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Term
| Convention on Biological Diversity |
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Definition
| A treaty that requires nationas to preserve biological diversity by promoting sustainable economic activity. It emerged from the UN-sponsored Earth Summit in 1992 and has been signed by 163 nations. |
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Term
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Definition
| A set of 27 principles of sustainable development that emerged from the 1992 Earth Summit, a UN Conference of 172 nationas and 2,400 NGOs held in Rio de Janeiro. |
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Term
| Communication on Progress |
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Definition
| The required annual report of a company participating in the Global Compact. It explains how the company is implementing the 10 principles. |
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Term
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Definition
| The act of a corporation cloaking its lack of social responsibility by insincere membership in the UN Global Compact. |
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Term
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Definition
| A 1789 law permitting foreign citizens to litigate, in a federal court, wrongful actions occuring anywhere in the world that violate international law or US treaties. |
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Term
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Definition
| Growth in networks of economic, political, social, military, scientific, or environmental interdependence to span world wide distances. |
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Term
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Definition
| A policy of increasing national power by managing the economy to create a trade surplus. Exports were promoted, imports restricted. |
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Term
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Definition
| A tax or duty charged by a government on goods moved across a border. Tariffs raise the cost of imports, making them less competitive with similar domestic goods. |
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Term
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Definition
| A policy of national self-sufficiency and economic independence |
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Term
| Multilateral Trade Negotiation |
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Definition
| A trade negotitation in which multiple nations seek consensus on an agreement that will apply equally to all |
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Term
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Definition
| A principle enacted in some trade agreements requiring that if one participant extends any benefit to another, that participant must extend the same benefit to all. |
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Term
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Definition
| Equal treatment for imported and local goods in a domestic market |
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Term
| Structural Adjustment Program |
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Definition
| A set of economic policies prescribed to correct flaws in a national economy. |
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Term
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Definition
| An economic policy of lowering tariffs and other barriers to encourage foreign trade. |
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Term
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Definition
| A set of free market policies imposed on developing nations by the World Bank as loan conditions |
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Term
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Definition
| The conditions that accompanied World Bank and IMF loans, usually the adoption of new economic policies based on free market principles. Loans would be made in increments over time as conditions were met. |
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Term
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Definition
| A trade agreement in which member countries eliminate import duties and other barriers to trade with each other, but maintain them for imports from nonmembers. |
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Term
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Definition
| A bloc of nations that form a free trade area and impose a common external tariff on imports from nonmember nations. |
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Term
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Definition
| The flow of goods and services across borders unhindered by government imposed restrictions such as taxes, tariffs, quotas, and rules. |
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Term
| Competitive Advantage of Nations |
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Definition
| The theory that having a cluster of similar producers gives a nation special advantage over other countries. |
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Term
| Law of Comparative Advantage |
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Definition
| Efficiency and the general economic welfare are optimized when each country produces that for which it enjoys a cost advantage. |
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Term
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Definition
| The use of trade barriers to shield domestic industries from foreign competitors. |
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Term
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Definition
| A state in which the value of a country's total exports is less than the value of its total imports, either with a single trading partner or overall. |
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Term
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Definition
| A government policy to shape the economy by promoting companies or sectors. |
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Term
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Definition
| Exporting a product at a price below the price it normally sells for in its home market. This is usually done to build market share. |
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Term
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Definition
| Laws that require or influence government agencies at all levels to purchase U.S. made goods and services rather than foreign-made products. |
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Term
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Definition
| Any impediment to merchandise imports aside from customs duties. |
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Term
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Definition
| The debasement of integrity for money, position, privilege, or other self-benefit. |
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Term
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Definition
| Small amounts of money demanded by minor officials to perform their regular duties. |
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Term
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Definition
| Anything of value improperly requested or given in exchange for a corrupt action. |
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Term
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Definition
| The act of accompanying the request for a bribe with a specific or implied threat of lost business. |
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Term
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Definition
| A federal program set up in 1980 to clean up toxic waste sites. It takes its name from a fund holding money for the projects. |
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Term
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Definition
| The presence of substances in the environment that inconvenience or endanger humans. |
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Term
| Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY) |
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Definition
| A statistical measure combining in one number years lost to premature mortality and years lived with disability. One Daly equals one lost year of healthy life. |
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Term
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Definition
| An animated interactive realm of plants, animals, and microorganisms inhabiting an area of the nonliving environment. |
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Term
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Definition
The productivity of natural ecosystems in creating food and fiber and in regulating climate, water, soil, nutrients, and
other forms of natural capital. |
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Term
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Definition
| Nonpolluting economic growth that raises standards of living without depleting the net resources of the earth. |
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Term
| Environmental Kuznets Curve |
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Definition
| An inverted U-shaped curve illustrating that as gross domestic product rises in emerging economics pollution goes through stages of rapid increase, leveling off, and decline. |
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Term
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Definition
| The theory that humans are separate from nature because they have the power of reason and unlike plants and animals, souls. |
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Term
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Definition
| The belief that history is a narrative of improvement in which humanity moves from lower to higher levels of perfection. |
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Term
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Definition
| An economy in which private individuals and corporations own the means of production and, motivated by the desire for profit, compete in free markets under conditions of limited restraint by government. In this economy, nature is valued primarily as an input into the production process. |
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Term
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Definition
| The ethical philosophy of the greatest good for the greatest number. |
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Term
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Definition
| A theory that rejects human domination of nature and holds that humans have only equal rights with other species, not superior rights. Human interference with nature is now excessive and must be drastically reduced. |
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Term
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Definition
| Bias by humans toward members of their own species and prejudice against members of other species. |
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Term
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Definition
| Six natural substances in large quantities that cause substandard air quality-carbon monoxide, nitrogen, dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, particulates, and lead. |
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Term
| Volatile Organic Compounds |
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Definition
| Gases that evaporate from liquid or solid carbon based compounds such as gasoline or floor wax. In sunlight they react with other pollutants to form urban smog. |
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Term
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Definition
| Small particles formed in the atmosphere by photochemical reactions of gases found in urban smog. |
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Term
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Definition
| The number of molecules of a chemical in 1 million molecules of a particular gas, liquid, or solid. It can also be expressed as the ratio of the molecules of a certain chemical to the total number of molecules in a gas, liquid, or solid. |
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Term
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Definition
Chemical emissions that pose a health risk of serious illness such as cancer or birth defects with small inhalation
exposures. |
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Term
| Maximum Achievable Technology |
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Definition
| A performance standard used by the EPA to control emissions of hazardous air pollutants. It requires control of toxic air emissions at least equal to that achieved by the top 12 percent of sources in the industry. |
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Term
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Definition
| Deposition of acids formed when sulfur and nitrogen compounds undergo chemical reactions in the atmosphere and return to earth in rain, hail, snow, fog, and dry fallout of acidic particles. |
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Term
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Definition
| An inert, colorless, odorless gas found in soil and rock formations. It is a naturally occurring decay product of uranium. |
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Term
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Definition
| A family of gases containing the elements chlorine, fluorine, and carbon used as refrigerants, aerosol propellants, foams, and solvents. They are inert and exceptionally stable, but break down in the upper atmosphere in ozone consuming reactions. |
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Term
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Definition
| Atmospheric gases that absorb energy radiated from the earth, decreasing its release into space. |
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Term
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Definition
| A treatment or untreated wastewater discharge from an industrial facility. |
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Term
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Definition
| A discrete source of effluent such as a factory, mine, ship, or pipeline. |
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Term
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Definition
| A probability existing somewhere between zero and 100 percent that a harm will occur. |
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Term
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Definition
| The largely scientific process of discovering and weighing dangers posed by a pollutant. |
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Term
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Definition
| The process of deciding which regulatory action to take (or not take) to protect the public from the risk posed by a pollutant. |
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Term
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Definition
| The process of establishing a link between a substance, such as a chemical, and human disease. The link is established primarily by animal tests and epidemiological studies. |
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Term
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Definition
| An agent capable of initiating cancer. There are 58 known human carcinogens and another 188 suspected human carcinogens. |
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Term
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Definition
| A statistical survey designed to show a relationship between human mortality (death) and morbidity (sickness) and environmental factors such as chemicals or radiation. |
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Term
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Definition
| A quantitative estimate of how toxic a substance is to humans or animals at varying exposure levels. |
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Term
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Definition
| To infer the value of an unknown state from the value of another state that is known. |
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Term
| Linear Dose Response Rate |
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Definition
| A relationship in which adverse health affects increase or decrease proportionately with the amount of exposure to a toxic substance. |
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Term
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Definition
| An exposure point greater than zero at which a substance begins to pose a health risk. Until this point, or threshold, is reached, exposure to the substance poses no health risk. |
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Term
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Definition
| The study of how much of a substance humans absorb through inhalation, ingestion, or skin absorption. |
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Term
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Definition
| A written statement about a substance summarizing the evidence from prior stages of the risk assessment process to reach an overall conclusion about its risk. It includes discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of data and, if the data support it, a quantitative estimate of risk. |
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Term
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Definition
| The systematic identification, quantification, and monetization of social costs and social benefits so they can be directly compared. |
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Term
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Definition
| A method for assigning a rice to ecological goods or services that are not traded in markets. |
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Term
| Value of a Statistical Life |
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Definition
| The dollar amount that people exposed to a risk are willing to pay to reduce the risk of premature death. |
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Term
| Command and Control Regulation |
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Definition
| The practice of regulating by setting uniform standards, strictly enforcing, rules, and using penalties to force compliance. |
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Term
| Market Incentive Regulation |
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Definition
| The practice of harnessing market forces to motivate compliance with regulatory goals. |
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Term
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Definition
| The substitution of revenues from taxes on pollution for revenues from taxes on productivity. |
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Term
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Definition
| A market-based pollution abatement scheme in which emissions are capped and sources must hold tradable permits equal to the amount of their discharge. |
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Term
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Definition
| A universal measure that uses the warming potential of CO2 as a reference for the relative warming potential of the six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol-carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. |
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Term
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Definition
| A mechanism in which an emission allowance for CO2e is a traded commodity with a price set by forces of supply and demand. |
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Term
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Definition
| Projects that compensate for all or part of a company's greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating the CO2 equivalent of those emissions from another source. |
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Term
| Clean Development Mechanism |
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Definition
| A carbon offset program set up under the Kyoto Protocol. It allows developed countries to meet greenhouse gas reproduction pledges by paying for carbon offset projects in developing nations. |
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Term
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Definition
| An EPA program that requires facilities handling any of 650 hazardous chemicals to disclose amounts each year that are released or transferred. The information is made public. |
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Term
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Definition
| Regulation without legal compulsion or sanctions. |
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Term
| Environmental Management System |
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Definition
| A set of methods and procedures for aligning corporate strategies, policies, and operations with principles that protect ecosystems. |
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Term
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Definition
| A standard for an environmental management system created by an international standard setting body. Certification in this standard allows companies to claim state-of-the-art ecological responsibility. |
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Term
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Definition
| When industrial activity poses a risk to human health or ecosystems, if that risk is poorly understood, then prudence calls for restraint. |
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Term
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Definition
| A person who uses products and services in a commercial economy. |
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Term
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Definition
| A term denoting (1) a movement to promote the rights and powers of consumers in relation to sellers and (2) a powerful ideology in which the pursuit of material goods beyond subsistences shapes social conduct. |
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Term
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Definition
| A wave of new, challenging ideas based on human reason and scientific inquiry. It swept over Western Europe in the eighteenth century. |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea, arising in the Enlightenment, that human beings are ends in themselves. |
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Term
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Definition
| An emphasis on material objects or money that displaces spiritual, aesthetic, or philosophical values. |
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Term
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Definition
| A situation arising when an individual sits on the board of directors of two or more corporations. This is illegal under the Clayton Act of 1914 if the corporations compete in the same market. |
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Term
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Definition
| A doctrine in the law of orts that covers redress for injuries caused by defective product is one kind of tort. |
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Term
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Definition
| An unintentional failure to act as a responsible, prudent person exercising ordinary care. |
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Term
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Definition
| A relationship giving parties a common interest under the law, as in the relationship between parties to a contract. |
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Term
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Definition
| A contract in which the seller guarantees the nature of the product. The seller must compensate the buyer if the warranty is not fulfilled. |
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Term
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Definition
| An explicit claim made by the manufacturer to the buyer. |
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Term
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Definition
| An unwritten warranty that a product is adequate to meet a buyer's reasonable expectations that it will fulfill its ordinary purpose and the buyer's particular purpose. |
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Term
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Definition
| The theory that liability exists, even in the absence of negligence, when an activity or product is inherently dangerous. |
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Term
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Definition
| A large cohort of workers born between 1946 and 1964. |
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Term
| Replacement Fertility Rate |
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Definition
| The number of children a woman must have, on average, to assure that one daughter survives to reproductive age. |
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Term
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Definition
| Any shift in the proportions of agricultural goods, producing, and service occupations in an economy. |
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Term
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Definition
| The sector that includes farming, fishing, and forestry occupations. |
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Term
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Definition
| The economic sector that includes manufacturing, mining, and construction. |
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Term
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Definition
| The sector of occupations that add value to manufactured goods. |
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Term
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Definition
| Any sequence of actions that adds value to a product or service |
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Term
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Definition
| The transfer of work from within a company to an outside supplier. |
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Term
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Definition
| The transfer of work from a domestic to a foreign location or to a foreign supplier. |
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Term
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Definition
| The agreement by which an employee exchanges his or her labor in return for specific pay and working conditions. It is an abstract concept, but may also be set forth in writing. |
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Term
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Definition
| The freedom of employers and workers to negotiate the employment contract, including wages, hours, duties, and conditions without government interference. |
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Term
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Definition
| A theory in law that an employment contract can be ended by either the employee or the employer without notice and a for any reason. |
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Term
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Definition
| A Japanese company that operates on a model analogous to a family. The company offers lifetime employment and rising income in return for hard work and loyalty from employees. |
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Term
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Definition
| A slowly rising wage scale based largely on seniority that allows for small differentials based on ability and provides a comfortable income fitting various stages of life. |
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Term
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Definition
| A Japanese word for death from the stress of overwork. |
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Term
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Definition
| A form of industry-labor-government cooperation in which government strongly regulates the labor market to secure expansive rights and generous benefits for workers. |
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Term
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Definition
| A German term meaning literally "short work," for a program in which the government subsidizes worker pay to promote employment. |
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Term
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Definition
| Nonwage costs, including payments for social security, health insurance, and payroll taxes that employers must pay to cover disability, unemployment, maternity leave and similar benefits. |
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Term
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Definition
| Four fundamental standards to protect basic worker rights on which there is broad international agreement. |
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Term
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Definition
| The ability to make quick and smooth shifts of workers into and out of jobs, companies, or industries as business conditions change. |
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Term
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Definition
| Rights bestowed by governments on their citizens. |
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Term
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Definition
| The belief that each race has distinctive cultural characteristics and that one's own race is superior to other races. |
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Term
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Definition
| Measures enacted in the South from 1877 to the 1950's legalizing segregation in public places, buses, trains, restaurants, schools, and businesses. The term Jim Crow, taken from a song in a nineteenth century minstrel show, came to stand for the practice of discrimination or segregation. |
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Term
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Definition
| An inherent power of state governments to regulate economic and social relationships for the welfare of all citizens. |
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Term
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Definition
| The belief, prevalent in the South, that racially segregated facilities were not inherently unequal. |
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Term
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Definition
| Unequal treatment of employees based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. |
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Term
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Definition
| Discrimination caused by policies that apply to everyone and seem neutral but have the effect of disadvantaging a protected group. Such policies are illegal unless strongly job related and indispensable to conduct of the business. |
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Term
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Definition
A legal defense a company can use to fight a disparate impact charge. It must show the practice in question was job-related
and essential. To rebut this defense, a plaintiff can show that another practice was equally good and less discriminatory. |
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Term
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Definition
| The statistical test for disparate impact. The test is failed when, for example, blacks or women are selected at a rate less than 80 percent of the rate in which white male applicants are selected. |
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Term
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Definition
| Policies that seek out, encourage, and sometimes give preferential treatment to employees in groups protected by Title VII. |
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Term
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Definition
| A pattern or practice of individual acts or rules in a corporate culture that permits or condones discrimination. |
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Term
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Definition
| Annoying or persecuting behavior in the workplace that asserts power over a person because of their sexual identity. It is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. |
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Term
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Definition
| A situation, defined as illegal, when submission to sexual activity is required to get or keep a job. |
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Term
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Definition
| A situation, defined as illegal, where sexually offensive conduct is pervasive in a workplace, making work unreasonably difficult for an affected individual. |
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Term
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Definition
| An invisible barrier of sex discrimination thwarting the advance of women to top corporate positions. |
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Term
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Definition
| Programs to recruit from diverse groups, promote tolerance, and modify cultures to include non-mainstream employees. |
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Term
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Definition
| A support network formed by employees who personify an attribute associated with discrimination stereotyping, or social isolation. |
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Term
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Definition
| The exercise of authority over members of the corporate community based on formal structures, rules, and procedures. |
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Term
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Definition
| A document issued by a state government to create a corporation. |
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Term
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Definition
| The legal duty of a representative to manage property in the interest of the owner. |
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Term
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Definition
| Rules of corporate governance adopted by corporations. |
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Term
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Definition
| A form stockholders mark giving management the right to vote their shares as indicated. It is also called simply a proxy or a proxy form. |
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Term
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Definition
| A booklet of information sent to stockholders before annual votes on directors, executive pay, and other matters. |
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Term
| Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
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Definition
| A statute enacted to prevent financial fraud in corporations. It mandated stricter financial reporting and greater board oversight. |
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Term
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Definition
| A financing transaction in which one firm lends assets to another firm in exchange for cash with a simultaneous agreement to purchase the assets back. |
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Term
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Definition
| A statute to reform financial regulation and prevent a recurrence of the 2007-2008 financial crisis. |
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Term
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Definition
| Directors who are employees of the company. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Directors who are not company employees. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Outside directors of a corporation who, aside from their directors' duties, do not have business dealings with it that would impair their impartiality. |
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Term
|
Definition
| An independent director who presides over meetings of nonmanagement directors. |
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Term
|
Definition
| A chairman of the board who is not an executive of the coporation. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The right to buy shares of a company's stock at a fixed grant price in the future and under conditions determined by the board of directors. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The price at which a specified number of shares can be purchased in the future by executives who hold options. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The date when stock options can be exervised by purchasing shares at the grant price. |
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Term
|
Definition
| A future date, after the vesting date, when shares can no longer be bought at the grant price. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Shares of company stock awarded after a fixed period of years if individual and company performance goals are met. |
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Term
|
Definition
| A grant of stock with restrictions. It cannot be sold until certain conditions are met, most often the lapse of time or meeting a performance goal. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Setting the exercise price of stock options at the price on a date before the date they were granted. |
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