I Could Not Disagree More or Less

HOT READS FOR THE PRACTITIONER

Title: Corporate Responsibility and a Little Ethics Too

Competency: leadership, financial leadership, visionary leadership

Who benefits: senior managers

Consultant Usage: senior organizational development consultants, executive coaches

What’s it about?  Every once in a while I like to step back and look at the big picture in the world of business.  The big picture is our guide to the future … in some sense it is the prelude to the details, practices, and competencies needed in the work place of the future. 

Over the past year or so Sloan Management Review (MIT) has published some controversial articles that leaves me a bit befuddled and wondering where do we go from here.

Number 1 on the list of “What?” articles is “The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility”. Author Aneel Karnani argues that “the idea that companies have a duty to address social ills is not just flawed, it also makes it more likely that we’ll ignore the real solutions to these problems”.  Based on the title, it would seem ironic is that Professor Karnani has written several articles and a book on the roles of business, government and civil society in reducing poverty. 

For those of you who would like his case in a nutshell, here is a summary of his article:

“But the idea that companies have a responsibility to act in the public interest and will profit from doing so is fundamentally flawed.”

“Finding the Balance:

•The Illusion: Because companies sometimes can profit from acting in the public interest, it fuels the belief that executives have a responsibility to serve not only their shareholders but also some larger social purpose.
•The Reality: When companies do well by doing good, the driving force is the pursuit of profit, not a commitment to social welfare. More often, profits and social welfare are at odds, and executives can’t be expected to heed the call for social responsibility at the expense of shareholders.
•The Danger: Appeals to corporate social responsibility are not an effective way to strike a balance between profits and the public good, and they may be a distraction from more effective initiatives, such as government regulation.

A counter balance to this article is “How to Do Well and Do Good” by one of my favorite authors, Rosabeth Moss Kanter.  She says that “the key to achieving both of those goals together is to integrate societal benefits with company strategy.”

She goes on to say: “Can companies do well by doing good? That question is asked frequently – but beware of false choices when considering it. In business, there is not a strict dichotomy between doing well and doing good; it is not an either-or proposition. Instead, social good and profitability are among the criteria by which companies make choices. In reality, any company is better off creating both bottom-line and societal benefits – and creating synergies between them.”

I think I am more supportive of Professor Kanter’s approach, but what do I know – I am more an idealist than a realist.

There is a third article from this Sloan collection I would offer you for your consideration.  I see it as a cousin to the two articles mentioned above. 

The article is “Promises Aren’t Enough” by Rodrigo Canales, B. Cade Massey and Amy Wrzesniewski.  They argue that business schools need to do a better job teaching students values (this article refers to the previously reviewed  “The MBA Oath”). 

What is astounding to me is the authors refer to a number of what they call “pundits” and schools who are opposed to teaching ethics in graduate schools.  What??? Only teach corporate greed?

Catch you later.
[tags]corporate responsibility, ethics, values, social ills, leadership, financial leadership, visionary leadership, envisia, envisia learning, bill bradley, william bradley, bradley[/tags]

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.