ABSTRACT
The term “corporation” has been used to designate any group of persons united for some purpose. Within the business ethics literature the term is sometimes used synonymously with the terms “company” or “firm” simply to denote an organization with a business purpose, with some authors explicitly highlighting ethical issues of such organizations without regard to their legal form (Hartman 1996). The modern business corporation 1 , however, is a legally recognized organization with a class of investors (shareholders) who typically elect a committee (board of directors) that provides the highest level of management oversight for the activities related to the corporation. Investors’ shares may be publically bought and sold, or “closely held” by members of the corporation (Klein et al. 2006). The corporation has become the dominant form of business organization (Hansmann 1996).
