Contract Theory And Business Ethics: A Review of Ties That Bind JOHN R. BOATRIGHT T o the familiar jibe that business ethics is an oxymoron might be added another incongruous juxtaposition, that of business ethics theory. The contradictory flavor of this phrase is not due to a low estimate of the moral tone of business but to skepticism about the practicality of ethical theory. How can any theory of ethics that is rigorous enough to pass muster with picky philosophers possibly give guidance to busy, hardheaded business managers? This challenge is faced squarely by Thomas Donaldson and Thomas W. Dunfee in their book, Ties That Bind: A Social Contracts Approach to Business Ethics. 1 For moral philosophers, Donaldson and Dunfee offer a grand theory, called Integrative Social Contracts Theory, or ISCT for short, which follows in the contract tradition of Hobbes, Locke, and, more recently, John Rawls. However, ISCT does not consist solely of general, ideal principles that result from most contract approaches, but includes specific agreements made in actual communities. The concreteness of their theory enables the two authors to provide managers with useful tools for ethical deci- sion making in cases of conflicting standards. Ties That Bind is an important contribution to both moral phi- losophy and the field of management that amply illustrates how ethical theory can yield practical business results. The theory is also intended to guide business ethics research, and the authors themselves apply ISCT to the problem of providing a normative © 2000 Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK. Business and Society Review 105:4 452–466 John R. Boatright is the Raymond C. Baumhart, S.J. Professor of Business Ethics at Loyola University Chicago.