What is the purpose of our economic system? What would a more life-serving economy look like? There are many books about business and society, yet very few of them question the primacy of GDP growth, profit maximization and individual utility maximization. Even developments with a humanistic touch like stakeholder participation, corporate social responsibility or corporate philanthropy serve the same goal: to foster long-term growth and profitability. Humanism in Business questions these assumptions and investigates the possibility of creating a human-centered, value-oriented society based on humanistic principles. An international team of academics and practitioners present philosophical, spiritual, economic, psychological and organizational arguments that show how humanism can be used to understand, and possibly transform, business at three different levels: the systems level, the organizational level and the individual level. This groundbreaking book will be of interest to academics, practitioners and policymakers concerned with business ethics and the relationship between business and society.

What is the purpose of our economic system? What would a more life-serving economy look like? There are many books about business and society, yet very few of them question the primacy of GDP growth, profit maximization and individual utility maximization. Even developments with a humanistic touch like stakeholder participation, corporate social responsibility or corporate philanthropy serve the same goal: to foster long-term growth and profitability. Humanism in Business questions these assumptions and investigates the possibility of creating a human-centered, value-oriented society based on humanistic principles. An international team of academics and practitioners present philosophical, spiritual, economic, psychological and organizational arguments that show how humanism can be used to understand, and possibly transform, business at three different levels: the systems level, the organizational level and the individual level. This groundbreaking book will be of interest to academics, practitioners and policymakers concerned with business ethics and the relationship between business and society.

This book aims at catalyzing our learning from the COVID-19 crisis. Numerous studies have emerged confirming that during the COVID-19 pandemic, crisis management has been far from holistic. Progress previously made towards sustainability has in many cases been reversed and global inequality has grown. This volume scrutinizes the crucial role of businesses in the lived experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and calls for a new goal system in business, establishing human dignity as the ultimate outcome of sound business. Part of the Humanism in Business Series, this book brings together a group of international experts to consolidate the lessons to be learnt from the pandemic and how it was handled. It explores the foundations of the crisis, before focusing on selected sectors and regions for analysis and, finally, drawing conclusions according to the principles of humanistic crisis management. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of business ethics, as well as policy-makers, professionals and all those who practice humanistic management.