Corporate reform should include requirements to satisfy stakeholder needs
the wapo weighs in on corporate reform...
the op-ed goes on to flesh out the current situations in both organized labor and executive compensation and to make recommendations for both... while i am in complete agreement with the wapo on this, i believe there is at least one other major area of corporate reform that needs to be addressed, and the op-ed neatly skips over it with this blithe statement...
i fundamentally disagree... incorporation is a privilege, not a given, and corporations accrue certain duties and obligations as a result of being granted that privilege... unfortunately, the only constituency to which corporations are accountable BY LAW are its shareholders, and this is precisely where most corporations leave the tracks...
a corporation has many constituencies, and ethical and moral corporate leadership not only recognizes them all, but holds itself ACCOUNTABLE to all... the corporate family of constituencies (commonly called "stakeholders") usually consists of shareholders, of course, but also employees, communities, customers, and suppliers... the BEST organizations, be they publicly or privately held, attempt to both identify and satisfy the needs of their stakeholders, and to also put accountability mechanisms in place to insure that the things the organizations have committed to doing are indeed done...
while most organizations pay lip service to satisfying the needs of their stakeholders, without strong societal and/or legal sanctions, such efforts are often tossed to the winds at the first sign of a downturn... this should not be the case... operating a business, regardless of the type of ownership, should require a certain level of commitment to the stakeholders... in a country like the united states, founded on the principle of the common good, EVERYONE should have an obligation to contribute to that common good... Submit To Propeller
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[T]wo sorts of corporate reform are warranted. It should be easier for labor unions to organize. And it should be harder for top executives to pay themselves outlandish sums.
the op-ed goes on to flesh out the current situations in both organized labor and executive compensation and to make recommendations for both... while i am in complete agreement with the wapo on this, i believe there is at least one other major area of corporate reform that needs to be addressed, and the op-ed neatly skips over it with this blithe statement...
Companies are not instruments of social policy; their first duty is to make money by serving customers, and they can provide for their workers only so long as they do that.
i fundamentally disagree... incorporation is a privilege, not a given, and corporations accrue certain duties and obligations as a result of being granted that privilege... unfortunately, the only constituency to which corporations are accountable BY LAW are its shareholders, and this is precisely where most corporations leave the tracks...
a corporation has many constituencies, and ethical and moral corporate leadership not only recognizes them all, but holds itself ACCOUNTABLE to all... the corporate family of constituencies (commonly called "stakeholders") usually consists of shareholders, of course, but also employees, communities, customers, and suppliers... the BEST organizations, be they publicly or privately held, attempt to both identify and satisfy the needs of their stakeholders, and to also put accountability mechanisms in place to insure that the things the organizations have committed to doing are indeed done...
while most organizations pay lip service to satisfying the needs of their stakeholders, without strong societal and/or legal sanctions, such efforts are often tossed to the winds at the first sign of a downturn... this should not be the case... operating a business, regardless of the type of ownership, should require a certain level of commitment to the stakeholders... in a country like the united states, founded on the principle of the common good, EVERYONE should have an obligation to contribute to that common good... Submit To Propeller
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posted by profmarcus at
12/22/2006
