The Benefit Corporation: Corporate Governance and the For‐profit Social Entrepreneur

The adoption by 19 states and the District of Columbia of a new variant of the business corporation form—known as the benefit corporation—presents several issues for legislatures, for entrepreneurs electing to organize as benefit corporations, for existing corporations that are converting to the new form, and for the stakeholders (other than shareholders) who are intended to be considered in benefit corporation governance. The article presents the history and structure of the new business form and a discussion of what has become its predecessor—the constituency statute. The model benefit corporation statute provisions are reviewed, which many states have adopted in toto. The authors address the obstacles that should be overcome by legislatures, businesses, and stakeholders before further legislative adoptions occur, as well as considerations for effective implementation by government, corporations, and stakeholders under existing and proposed variations of the statute.     

Extending the pursuit of flow (lean) management to encompass sales,general and administrative functions

Abstract

Operations management tends to be treated independent of other business functions—the silo syndrome. In this article, we call for operations management (OM) to broaden its perspective by strengthening linkages with other functions of the business, thereby to realize competitive advantages and strategic integration, as well as to avoid resource misallocation. The issues involved are presented and tested by examining the effects of intermeshing sales, general and administrative (SG&A) expenditures with customer-centred flow manufacturing, the latter being measured by system inventory as surrogate for customer lead time. In doing so, we designate trends in total inventory as the independent variable—representative of a dominant target of flow/lean management—and trends in SG&A expenditures as the output variable. The research tasks are enabled by inventory and SG&A data being widely available in companies’ audited financial statements. Such hard data offers methodological and validation advantages over, say, opinion-based survey research. The research adds bulk to existing flow/lean management theory and can be helpful in inducing primary business functions (e.g. OM, finance, sales and marketing) and sub-functions (such as SG&A and management accounting) to engage in cross-functional efforts in the cause of flow-oriented process improvement and company competitiveness.     

The role of business in society

This is one of a series of articles dealing with social and political issues relevant to business. It is intended to present some of the dilemmas which face top management in setting objectives and policies for the business. A number of key issues are isolated, matching economic objectives and social responsibilities, defining the rôle of the huge multi-national company, reconciling the different aims of owners, managers, and employees, etc. Finally the authors pose the problem: how should the modern corporation be controlled to ensure that it operates in the interests of the community at large, as well as the shareholders?     

Calling in a Debt: Government's Role in Creating the Capacity for Explicit Corporate Social Responsibility

Before the field of business and society can adequately analyze the relationship between governmental policies and corporate social responsibility (CSR), either as a reality or an ideal, it is first necessary to understand exactly how governments nurtured the development of the autonomous corporation. The roles assigned to government by the economics and management literatures—regulator, standard setter, protector, and adjudicator—ignore the crucial part played by state violence and government expenditures in the rise and sustained success of the corporate economy. An examination of the history of the American case, crucial for the development of the modern corporation as well as the “explicit” form of CSR that eventually followed it, highlights these roles: the willingness of the state to intervene with force in labor conflicts bolstered the managerial autonomy that defined the large corporation, and the way government expenditures promoted innovation and firm success. Acknowledging how corporations depended on government assistance in their development is a necessary step for both assessing the responsibilities owed stakeholders and for advancing the theoretical development of the field.     

An empirical evaluation of the management resourcing strategy of a Western multinational within a post-socialist Polish subsidiary

The continued globalization process and internationalization of business is increasingly raising issues concerning human resource strategy and practice in those organizations operating across international boundaries. This paper presents an empirical evaluation of the management resourcing strategy of a Western multinational corporation (MNC) within a post-socialist Polish subsidiary. Findings suggest a high level of pragmatism in relation to management staffing decisions. Whilst normative resourcing models emphasize the importance of environment, organization and job analysis in selecting and preparing managers for expatriate appointments, these processes are contingency constrained. Difficulties of adaptation and integration of the Polish subsidiary serve to increase reliance on expatriate managers.     

The challenges of sustainable development: Lessons from Ontario Hydro

Ontario Hydro, the provincial electric power corporation of Ontario, Canada, positioned itself to become a leader in sustainable energy development and use (SED) in 1993. Despite its original strategic vision on sustainable development and commitment to developing renewable energy technologies, the corporation ultimately failed to achieve its goal and failed even more prominently in its attempt to become an industry leader.This article tracks the formulation and implementation of SED at Ontario Hydro from 1993 to 1997, outlining how this experience has improved the corporationís understanding of sustainable development and the management of the process of organizational and social change. It delineates the chain of events that led to Ontario Hydro's failure to implement SED, emphasizing the importance of developing and maintaining a corporate-wide definition of sustainable development that is fully integrated with all other business processes and activities.     

Ist Ethik ein Erfolgsfaktor? Unternehmensethik im Spannungsfeld von Oxymoron Case,Business Case und Integrity Case

For a number of years now, public awareness of the social and ecological consequences of the drive to make profit in business—a goal pursued in some cases by radical means—has become increasingly acute. Accordingly, business endeavors nowadays face a full-blown legitimization crisis. This development is accompanied by a flourishing debate on business ethics, or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the main objective of which is to evolve perspectives for a business management culture that is ethically legitimate,—or from a social viewpoint quite simply better. A prominent place in the debate on business ethics is currently occupied by what is referred to as the business case for CSR, whose credo is: Ethics is a success factor! At first sight this approach appears persuasive—after all, it promises more profit for profit-oriented businesses along with more ethics for an ethically sensitized society. But a more careful look lays it open to criticism. On the one hand, this is because—in pragmatic terms—it presupposes a business-specific sanction mechanism that in today’s real world works rudimentarily at best; on the other hand, it is because—in programmatic terms—it demands only a moralization of the markets, but not a moralization of management. In other words, the way in which the business case goes about solving the problems of business ethics relies on the very same exclusive (radical) profit orientation on the part of management that can be regarded as the root cause of the problems in the first place. In contrast to this position, we argue that an ethically better management culture presupposes a moralization of management, which in turn implies a legitimization of profit.     

基于业务流程技术的企业过程性知识获取方法

企业的知识管理正在成为人们关注的热点,本文针对如何获取企业中过程性知识的问题进行了研究。在讨论了知识分类及业务流程技术的基础之上,给出了利用业务流程技术获取企业过程性知识的方法。     

The theory of the corporate life cycle

There appears to be a widespread management belief that the corporation is endowed with an inbuilt elixir for survival and growth, despite recent corporate declines.In this article, the author outlines and illustrates the operation of one of the newest theories on corporate activity—the corporate life cycle— and its use as a planning aid in determining where the company is and where it is going and as a relationary tool in predicting corporate trends for comparison with corporate objectives and the future operating environment.     

The theory of the corporate life cycle

There appears to be a widespread management belief that the corporation is endowed with an inbuilt elixir for survival and growth, despite recent major corporate declines.In this article, the author outlines and illustrates the operation of one of the newest theories on corporate activity—the corporate life cycle—and its use as a planning aid in determining where the company is and where it is going and as a relationary tool in predicting corporate trends for comparison with corporate objectives and the future operating environment.     

Transnational Corporations and Human Rights: Silencing the Ontological Controversy

“Engines of development” or “tools of exploitation”? Both expressions have been used to describe the transnational corporation’s (TNC) activity in the developing world. In this paper, it will be argued that these extreme characterizations—each armed with their preferred method and unit of analysis—are merely assessing different aspects of the relationship in question. Moreover, theoretical issues can help shed some light on the Janus-faced nature of TNCs’ human rights’ effects. These issues suggest that FDI (Foreign Direct Investments) benefits are conditional and can help determine whether or not the presence of TNCs will be benign.

     

Interdisciplinary and Interorganizational Research: Establishing the Science of Enterprise Networks

We review and discuss the evolution of interdisciplinary and interorganizational research in operations management and suggest directions for future investigations. The proposed operations management research focus is one that embraces a more holistic view of an “extended enterprise” which involves working with a new business model—the organization as a network. This methodology starts by treating the organization as a system that is enabled by information technology and is characterized by ubiquitous information sharing across traditional enterprise. Proper integration of technology, business processes and people factors needs to be developed to create higher value from networked enterprises. Operations management research future lies in establishing this science from an interdisciplinary perspective. We analyze this perspective in the context of papers published in the first 50 issues of Production and Operations Management and the related literature.     

Beyond Corporate Responsibility: Implications for Management Development

Since the mid‐1990s we have witnessed the rise of numerous constructive and positive activities aimed at developing or enhancing corporate responsibility and corporate citizenship as well as anti‐globalization and anticorporate activism. And, of course, in 2008, we witnessed the meltdown of financial markets and numerous financial institutions as well as some major companies teetering on the brink of collapse. What is actually needed to create the world that many people want to live in may in fact be a new relationship between business and society, that is, new ways of looking at the corporation and its role in society, both in practice and in management education? We will argue that some initiatives, such as Corporation 2020, have already begun to explore these issues by taking a more holistic perspective on different purposes and roles of the corporation in the future. Management education, which has been severely criticized in the aftermath of the economic crisis, has an important role to play, but in a changed form. Implications for leadership and management education include the need to shift cognitive, moral, and emotional levels of development, renewed emphasis on balance both individually and socially, a less is more sensibility, a holistic systems perspective, and shifting the purpose of the firm to encompass not just shareholder needs, but also societal, stakeholder, and ecological needs and interests. In this article we explore some of the ways in which these attributes might be engendered in future leaders, at least in those management development and education programs interested in fostering a new wave of progressive leadership in management for the future.     

Breaking down the “Green Wall” (part one): Early efforts at integrating business and environment at SC Johnson

Integrating environmental management initiatives with business functions, such as manufacturing and purchasing, is now a major goal in many firms. Most environmental professionals agree that success in this pursuit is a product of their greater involvement with traditional business management areas as well as their ability to avoid the “green wall”—the separation between environmental and business functions that companies often experience.In this article, the first of a two-part series, Mark Haveman and Mark Dorfman examine how some firms deliberately break down these barriers. The case study of SC Johnson specifically illustrates how elements such as gaining senior management commitment, explicitly aligning environmental issues with key business goals, and designing consistency into the overriding management system can all lead to breaking down that integration. In the next issue, authors from SC Johnson and the Alliance for Environmental Innovation will discuss a recent project to further the efforts of business-environment integration.     

Critical Business Ethics: From Corporate Self‐interest to the Glorification of the Sovereign Pater

Research in critical business ethics has demonstrated how economic self‐interest is the primary reason that businesses adopt nominally ethical practices. After reviewing this body of research, the authors propose that it can be further developed by questioning its conception of self‐interest, by exploring its non‐economic dimensions and by reconsidering the meaning of the ‘self’ that is said to have such interests. Drawing insights from feminist theory and political theology, the paper interrogates corporate business ethics as a public glorification of corporate power based on a patriarchal conception of the corporation. Genealogically rooted in early Christian ceremonial practices used to glorify God the Father, this is a glorification for the sake of glory rather than just for the sake of commercial ends. The authors further argue that corporate business ethics is rendered as the feminized servant of the sovereign corporate patriarch, always at hand to glorify the master. The meaning of corporate business ethics is hence one where the feminine is not absent, but rather is servile to a masculinity conceived in relation to domination, greatness and sovereignty. Collectively, this shows how the power wielded and desired by corporate business ethics far exceeds the pursuit of financial self‐interest; it is also related to modelling the corporation on a male God. The paper concludes by considering how research in critical business ethics can be extended through forms of inquiry that destabilize the ethical glorification of the corporation, and displace its masculinist privilege.     

Giving as Good as They Get? Organization and Employee Expectations of Ethical Business Practice

Corporate malpractice and malfeasance on an unprecedented scale have brought ethical issues to the fore and accentuated demands from activists, governments, and the public for greater corporate social responsibility (CSR). The predominant response of researchers and policymakers has been to focus on the external impact of business operations and the merits of regulation or persuasion in achieving more responsible practice in these areas. In this article, we focus on a less well explored aspect of CSR, namely the evaluation of an organization's CSR activities by its internal stakeholders (i.e., employees). Salient CSR literature is reviewed to differentiate between CSR and ethical business practice (EBP), conceptualizing the latter as the internal manifestation of CSR as represented by an organization's values and vision, strategy and policy, systems and procedures, and people management practices. This article assesses organizational espousal of EBP in three ways: how successfully it is communicated to employees, how closely espousal aligns with employee expectation, and how this evaluation impacts on employee commitment. Our research approach aligns with and extends previous work in this area that identifies the likelihood of a “false consensus bias” by managers in assuming congruence between organization espousal of EBP and employee expectation. A conceptual model is offered to explain possible employee responses to an organization's EBP. This relates organization espousal of EBP to employee assessment of its salience to identify three positions on commitment that employees can adopt—abrogated, continuance, and affective commitment—together with their likely behavioral implications. The analysis generates a series of research questions and related areas of exploration to empirically test the conceptual model.     

Institutional Predictors of and Complements to Industry Self‐regulation with Regard to Labor Practices

In recent years, there has been increasing managerial and academic attention given to a variety of mechanisms for companies to respond to stakeholder concerns about global business ethics. One area that merits further analysis is the role of industry‐level cooperation regarding issues in global business ethics such as labor practices. There are two main issues that we will address in this article: institutional pressures that predict when an industry will create a code of conduct and institutional complements for an industry‐level code of conduct to be “successful” with regard to responding to stakeholder concerns about international business operations. We offer a number of propositions—bringing together work from both the corporate social responsibility and (neo)institutional theory literatures—with regard to both predictors and complements of industry self‐regulation in reference to labor practices.     

Effective measures for reducing environmental insurance costs

Can pollution prevention (P²) management practices result in lower premiums paid for business insurance? In theory, P² activities on the part of the insured can reduce the risk of pollution-related claims—but this depends on a competetive insurance market. What follows is an examination of two forms of business insurance—environmental insurance and worker's compensation insurance— and some cases where lower costs were realized.     

Is there potential in assessing for high-potential? Evaluating the relationships between performance ratings,leadership assessment data,designated high-potential status and promotion outcomes in a global organization

While leadership is a critical component of organizational success, organizations need to be more effective at classifying talent based on future potential vs current performance. This need raises the question as to whether the assessment of leadership potential is truly adding value or enhancing the talent review and classification process. Data from 9,784 participants in PepsiCo’s Leadership Assessment and Development (LeAD) program—a multi-trait, multi-method (MTMM) assessment and development process—are used to examine relationships between individual performance, assessed potential, organizationally designated potential, and promotion rates post assessment. Results from the analyses indicate that assessed potential provides unique variance above performance alone in determining process outcomes (i.e., designated potential and promotions), and therefore can be useful for making more informed talent management decisions. The applications of these measures within the current organization as well as limitations of the study and areas for future research are discussed.     

两部企业宪法蕴含的中国本土管理元素探析——基于鞍钢宪法和华为基本法的研究

鞍山钢铁公司和华为公司的发展和成功模式凝练而成的2部企业宪法分别成为计划经济时代和市场经济时代的经典企业管理纲领,它们根植于中国经济的土壤和中国的管理情境,其成功经验和管理模式具有可参照性、可移植性。结合2个公司的成长轨迹,深入分析企业宪法内容,可以发现其蕴含的3个主要的中国本土管理元素:整体平衡的管理哲学、"集体主义"的组织行为和英雄领袖的魅力型领导,每个本土管理元素又包含着更多具体的中国式管理理念和方法。