Ties That Bind, written by two leading thinkers in the field of business ethics, offers a new approach to resolving today's most pressing debates about business behavior among diverse groups of people. Drawing from classic political philosophy and leading-edge social contract theory, Donaldson and Dunfee present a much-needed framework for making sensitive ethical judgments about economic and business behavior.

The authors - widely acclaimed for their landmark work with Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT) - suggest that we must reconcile the "empirical" approach to business ethics, which stems from existing business practices, with the "normative" approach, which reflects hypothetical contracts between economic participants.

To illustrate the implications of their ISCT method, Donaldson and Dunfee address practical issues, from gender conflicts and bribery to host country relations and selling derivatives on Wall Street. They cite examples from well-known companies, including AT&T, Levi-Strauss, and Royal Dutch/Shell, throughout.