Business ethics for a global society: Howard Bowen’s legacy and the foundations of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract This article builds on Howard R. Bowen’s seminal treatise “Social Responsibilities of the Businessman” to portray how Bowen’s 11 Economic Goals for responsible business practice are visionary and remarkably evocative of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Drawing on the articles included in this guest issue, we reflectively discuss recent developments of corporate social responsibility and business ethics research and identify several avenues for future research. We maintain that the institutionalization of sustainable, responsible, and ethical business practices in any organization is not only achievable but also morally imperative if the subsumed contract between business and society for the effective functioning of both is to be upheld.