Mark Stephen Schwartz, an associate professor of business ethics at York University, is honouring the legacy of his York mentor and friend, Professor Emeritus Wesley Cragg.
In 2017, Schwartz sat down to write a letter to Cragg, aware that his mentor, colleague and friend’s passing was near.
“I am sending this note to make sure that you are aware of the major impact you have had on my life,” Schwartz began, before telling Cragg – a widely respected scholar of business ethics who served at York University from 1992 to 2009 – how profoundly that support had changed him.
In his letter, he credited the PhD he completed under Cragg’s supervision, and the ethical approach to business education that still defines his own teaching at York University today, to the guidance and encouragement he received.
He also shared memories of their time together – from travelling to Northern Ontario for early fieldwork to standing with Cragg atop Masada, the ancient mountaintop site overlooking the Dead Sea, on the day he would have convocated – to underscore the deep personal bond they formed working alongside each other.
Through the note, Schwartz sought to honour the professional and personal difference Cragg made in his life. Nearly a decade later, he has gone a step further by ensuring Cragg’s legacy is also documented through a new book, Wesley Cragg: A Canadian Business Ethics Pioneer. "It seemed the most appropriate way to attempt to repay Wes,” says Schwartz, a faculty member at York's Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.
Edited by Schwartz, the book is a collection of influential academic articles and book chapters written or co‑written by Cragg over the course of his prolific career, which included more than 75 journal articles worldwide and 14 authored or edited books.
Those works reflect Cragg’s influential belief that business ethics should prioritize cooperation over competition and encompass not just actions but perception and character. At a time when many business schools embraced shareholder primacy, says Schwartz, Cragg argued that ethical decision‑making must balance people and profits – a perspective that helped establish him as a leading authority in the field.
His scholarship ranged widely – from stakeholder theory and human rights to corruption and environmental ethics – and included important work with Indigenous communities on issues such as informed consent and responsible resource development.
He lent that authority beyond academia, advising federal government departments and private‑sector organizations on complex ethical issues. He served as the inaugural George R. Gardiner Professor in Business Ethics at York's Schulich School of Business – the first designation of its kind in Canada – and led initiatives such as the Canadian Business Ethics Research Network and the Canadian chapter of Transparency International, helping to advance corporate social responsibility nationally and internationally.
To navigate the breadth of Cragg’s career, Schwartz approached the selection process with some key principles. “The primary criterion was to include the very best of Wes’s articles and ones I believed he himself would have also wanted to include,” he says. Schwartz focused on pieces that addressed core business ethics themes, where Cragg was the sole or lead author, and that together offered a broad representation of the issues explored throughout his career. Several pieces also reflect Cragg’s collaborative work with fellow York scholars, including Alan Greenbaum, Ian Greene, Dirk Matten and Schwartz.
Schwartz’s work on the book was helped too by his own extensive career, having authored seven books on business ethics and earning recognition as the most productive business ethics researcher in Canada – and 14th in the world – in a study published in the Journal of Business Ethics (2010).
Schwartz hopes the book will offer insight into Cragg’s thinking or highlight the scope of his contributions. “Wes was a very deep thinker, and his writings provide distinct perspectives on business ethics,” says Schwartz. “I hope that readers find Wes’s work interesting, intriguing, thought‑provoking, unique, noteworthy and useful.
“Wes always had high standards, which only pushed me to try to work harder,” says Schwartz. "I can only hope that he would have appreciated my efforts to memorialize his academic career."