J.S. Nelson is a professor of law and an expert legal advisor. She holds the first tenure-track appointment in a U.S. law school specifically to teach business ethics and develop law-school curricula around the subject. She teaches at Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law, has a courtesy appointment at Villanova's Business School, and is a senior fellow at the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. She has received numerous awards from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, and she publishes in top law reviews and peer-reviewed journals.

Lynn A. Stout was an American corporate law scholar, and a Distinguished Professor of Corporate & Business Law at Cornell Law School. She researched and wrote about corporate law, securities and derivatives regulation, law and economics, business ethics, and prosocial behavior in relation to the law. Her other books include Cultivating Conscience: How Good Laws Make Good People (2011); The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Corporations First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public (2012); and Citizen Capitalism: How A Universal Fund Can Provide Influence and Income to All (published posthumously in 2019). She died in 2018, with this book in progress.

"Nelson and Stout have written a readable and eminently usable book that answers the questions that real business people—whether they are organizational leaders or middle managers or entry employees—wonder and even worry about. What's more, their answers are informed and supported by research but presented in a directly applicable manner. Most importantly, their responses are in themselves 'tools' and 'scripts' for those of us who want to behave in accordance with our best values. And the research presented here clarifies that this is most of us." -- Mary C. Gentile, author of Giving Voice To Values: How To Speak Your Mind When You Know What's Right, and Creative Director of Giving Voice to Values

"This is a well-written book for anyone interested in corporations and their conduct. It's an excellent resource for students and faculty." -- Timothy Fort, Eveleigh Professor of Business Ethics, Kelley School of Business

"When two prominent legal scholars put their personal stamp on the issue now galvanizing the planet, how ethics fits in with modern business, it is time to pay attention." -- Thomas Donaldson, Mark O. Winkelman Professor, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

"What do we owe—if anything—to those we do business with? Business Ethics: What Everyone Needs to Know provides pragmatic answers to tough questions, drawing on legal requirements, professional standards, and classical philosophy. It should be your go-to-guide, especially in these rapidly changing and often competitive times." -- Michael Wheeler, Emeritus Chaired Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School

"This book by J. Nelson and L. Stout exhibits several virtues. First, it is accessible even to those not yet acquainted with the subject matter. It is disgraceful that intellectuals writing on business ethics tend to adopt a language that lay intelligent people cannot follow. Second, the book does not defend, in a aprioristic manner, one position over others. Rather, it clarifies pros and cons of the main theses on the subject in a balanced and fair way. Finally, this book comes out at a time characterized by the emergence of problems such as environmental degradation, pandemics, the explosion of income and wealth inequalities, problems that cannot be solved without the active intervention of businesses. Whence the great relevance of an ethical approach capable of directing their behaviour toward the common good." -- Stefano Zamagni, Professor of Economics, University of Bologna and SAIS Europe of the Johns Hopkins University

"This book contains extremely useful, science-based guidance as to how we can act more ethically and effectively influence others in our organizations to do the same." -- Robert Prentice, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin

"This comprehensive and accessible book, brings to the table everything one needs to know about business ethics. It addresses all the major questions and reviews in a highly clear way the relevant legal and management literatures. A fantastic achievement for Prof. J.S. Nelson and the late Prof. Lynn Stout." -- Yuval Feldman, author of The Law of Good People, and Faculty of Law, Bar-Ilan University

"This is a wonderful book that finally provides comprehensive guidance on how to understand and respond to business ethics challenges today. The current state of business ethics is placed firmly in historical context, and the writing is sharp and free of the jargon that dominates this field." -- Alison Taylor, Executive Director, Ethical Systems, NYU Stern School of Business

"An invaluable resource concerning business ethics. The chapters on compliance systems are particularly useful." -- Gideon Mark, University of Maryland Smith School of Business

"The book focusses on what are the most important concepts and tools for businesspeople and compliance professionals to comprehend well. It address what to do, how to do it and why to do it. It is an excellent book and important not only for businesspeople and students, but for Compliance Professionals: We see them all the time stuck in legal and paper-program issues. They more than all others should read it (and will love it)." -- Matthias Kleinhempel, Head of the Center for Governance & Transparency, IAE Business School

"Business Ethics is a timely yet evergreen resource for students and business leaders. Nelson and Stout bring together decades of academic research and literature in this clear and practical guide on ethical behavior and dilemmas in modern business." -- Elizabeth Pollman, Professor of Law and Co-Director of Institute for Law and Economics, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

"There is no doubt in my mind that this information will be useful to students and business people and that it is not discussed enough." -- Art Hinshaw, Clinical Professor of Law, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University

"An outstanding introduction to business ethics, including individual ethical decision making, leading ethical organizations, and the related legal issues. Each chapter covers an essential topic in business ethics and is organized around the key questions for that topic. This user-friendly format is valuable for the first-time reader and for returning to the book for advice in the future. This introduction to business ethics should be of value to everyone from business students to corporate leaders. The reader will become fully informed on the key managerial and legal issues related to ethics, compliance, and corporate social responsibility." -- David Hess, Professor of Busines Law and Business Ethics, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan