Good Business in a Global Age: A History of Ethics, Responsibility, and American Economic Expansion

FAIN: HR-50347-07

Christopher Endy
California State University, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA 90032-4226)

A Faculty Research Award will allow me to complete a book manuscript analyzing how Americans have viewed the impact of U.S. business on foreign societies. My study begins in the late 19th century, with the first wave of American business expansion overseas, and ends in the 1970s, a decade of landmark changes in notions of multinational corporate social responsibility. The project examines government archives, business records, and cultural artifacts to explain Americans’ evolving conceptions of “good” or “responsible” international business. The first study of its kind, my book will deepen our understandings of how Americans have thought about globalization, corporate ethics, and cultural diversity.