Corporate Integrity: Rethinking Organizational Ethics and Leadership

284 Pages·2005·2.29 MB·English

by  Marvin T. Brown

Corporate Integrity
Whatdocorporationslooklikewhentheyhaveintegrity,andhowcan
wemovemorecompaniesinthatdirection?CorporateIntegrityoffers
atimely,comprehensiveframework–andpracticalbusinesslessons–
bringingtogetherquestionsoforganizationaldesign,communication
practices,workingrelationships,andleadershipstylestoanswerthis
question.Dr.MarvinT.Brownexploresthefivekeychallengesfacing
modernbusinessesastheytrytorespondethicallytocultural,inter-
personal,organizational,civic,andenvironmentalrequirements.He
demonstratesthatifcorporationsaretomeettheneedsofcivilsociety,
theymustfacilitateinclusivecommunicationpatternsbasedonmutual
recognitionandciviccooperation.CorporateIntegrityisessential
readingforprofessionalsinorganizationalethics,businessleaders,and
graduatestudentslookingforpracticalandreflectiveinsightsinto
doingbusinesswithintegrityandpurpose.
MARVIN T. BROWN teachesattheUniversityofSanFranciscoandat
SaybrookGraduateSchool,andhasbeenworkinginthefieldof
organizationalethicsandcommunicationformorethantwentyyears
asaneducator,writer,andconsultant.HeistheauthorofTheEthical
Process:AnApproachtoDisagreementandControversialIssues
(2002)andWorkingEthics:StrategiesforDecisionMakingand
OrganizationalResponsibility(1990).

Corporate Integrity
Rethinking
Organizational
Ethics and Leadership
MARVIN T. BROWN
cambridge university press
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521844819
© Marvin T. Brown 2005
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2005
isbn-13 978-0-511-11351-2 eBook (NetLibrary)
isbn-10 0-511-11351-x eBook (NetLibrary)
isbn-13 978-0-521-84481-9 hardback
isbn-10 0-521-84481-9 hardback
isbn-13 978-0-521-60657-8 paperback
isbn-10 0-521-60657-8 paperback
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Contents
Preface pageix
1 Thecontextforcorporateintegrity 1
Themeaningsofintegrity 4
Thefivedimensionsofcorporateintegrity 9
Theoriesofcorporateresponsibility 13
Corporateresponsibilityandcorporatedominance 22
Aristotle’scivicethic 28
Corporationsasongoingcommunicationpatterns 32
Fromtheorytopractice 36
2 Culturalintegrityasopenness 38
Pearce’stypologyofdifferentcultures 40
Fourcommunicativeculturetypes 44
Acorporateresourcesconference 50
Culturalresponsestodifferencesanddisagreements 52
Strategiesformovingtowardcosmopolitan
communication 54
Characteristicsofthedialogicalprocess 58
Theworldofworkandcommunicativecultures 63
Theworldoftechnologyandculturalpluralism 65
Designingculturalintegritythroughdialogue 68
Fromtheorytopractice 69
3 Interpersonalintegrityasrelationalwholeness 71
Imagesofrelationships 73
Officialimagesofworkrelationships 76
v
vi Contents
Idealimagesoffamilyrelationships 84
Idealimagesofcivicrelationships 89
Theconditionsforpublicdeliberation 92
Theneedforsecurityandtherighttoparticipate 96
Relationshipsofsecurecivicreciprocity 101
Fromtheorytopractice 103
4 Organizationalintegrityaspursuingaworthwhile
purpose 105
Theeconomicperspectiveofcorporatepurpose 107
Themanagementperspectiveofcorporatepurpose 112
Thecivicperspectiveoncorporatepurpose 119
Thecomparisonoffor-profitsandnonprofits 121
Businesscorporationsasself-governing
organizations 123
Businesscorporationsandpublicpurpose 126
Privateandpubliccorporationsandtheroadandhighway
transportationsystem 132
Fromtheorytopractice 135
5 Socialintegrityasciviccooperation 136
Characteristicsofmoderncities 138
Corporationsandcivilsociety 142
Corporationsandcitygovernment 150
Theinterdependenceofcorporationsandcities 158
Corporationsandacity’smission 159
Civiccooperationandthefundingofpubliceducation 162
Fromtheorytopractice 166
6 Environmentalintegrityasnaturalprosperity 168
TheUnitedStates’conversationsonenvironmental
protection 170
TheUnitedNations’conversationsonsustainability 174
Conversationsaboutworldtradeandfinance 181
Contents vii
Conversationsabouttheintegrityofnature 190
Fourthemesofnaturalintegrity 198
Fromtheorytopractice 203
7 Corporateintegrityandorganizationalleadership 205
Theconnectionsamongthefivedimensionsofintegrity 206
Comparingbusinessandpoliticalleaders 211
Theleader-and-followerrelationship 215
Acivicviewofauthorityintheworkplace 218
Designingthecontextforcorporateintegrity 222
Showingsignsofcorporateintegrity 226
Fromtheorytopractice 233
Appendix:Assessmentworksheets 235
Bibliography 253
Index 263

Preface
Whatwouldcorporations looklikeifthey were tohaveintegrityand
how can we move them in that direction? In an effort to answer this
question, Corporate Integrity takes a different path than most books
that have distinguished themselves either in business ethics or corpo-
rate social responsibility. For one thing, this book overrides that dis-
tinction and provides a model of organizational ethics that is truly
integrative. With a strong sense of integrity as wholeness, the book
exploresfivedimensionsof corporate life: thecultural,interpersonal,
organizational,civic,andenvironmental.Thisexplorationmovesfrom
ananalysisoftheintegritychallengeoneachofthefivedimensionstoa
leadershipstrategyformeetingthem.
Thebookisunusualinsomeotherwaysaswell.Itoffersaparticular
perspective, a somewhat singular focus, and a special method. It
exploresthechallengesofcorporateintegrityfromacivicperspective.
This perspective views corporations as members of civil society and
corporatemembersascitizens.Insteadofrelyingonthepersuasiveness
ofthe‘‘businesscase,’’whichneedstoshowthatdoingwellwillresult
fromdoinggood,theciviccasereliesonsharedcivicvaluesofmeeting
humanneedsandrespectinghumanrights.Thisallowsanexamination
ofhowthesevaluesarerealizednotonlyininterpersonalrelationships,
butalsoincorporaterelationshipswithothergroupsincivicsocietyas
theystruggletoworktogethertodesignasustainableworld.
To bring these and other values into the analysis, the book focuses
onrelationships.Itfollowstheimplicationsofunderstandingintegrity
as wholeness, which requires us to see individuals as part of the rela-
tionalwholetowhichtheybelongandcorporationsaspartofthelarger
wholetowhichtheybelong.Ineachofthefivedimensionofcorporate
life, the integrity challenge is to develop appropriate relationships
forindividuals,forcorporations,andforcorporationsandothercivic
organizations. Improving the quality of these relationships will
improveintegrity.
ix