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Business
- Current Events
Title: Saving the Corporate Soul Author: David Batstone Rating:  Must Read!
Publisher: Jossey-Bass Reviewed by: Moses B. Altsech, Ph.D. | View Bio |
 
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At long last, a book that every present and future business executive should devour! If you're wondering why, look at my review of Loren Fox's "Enron: The Rise and Fall"--which fully describes the outrage of corruption, deceipt, and indecency in only one U.S. corporate giant. However, in spite of the prominence of the recent scandals, the image of corporate America as a cesspool of unethical, ruthless behavior is nothing new: Surveys have long shown than the majority of the public believes that business executives do very poorly when it comes to ethics, and--worse yet--that their lack of integrity contributes to a deterioration of the moral fabric of society in general. We're too familiar with the problems and their consequences, but what are the solutions? That's exactly where David Batstone's "Saving the Corporate Soul" comes in. It's a book about values--it's a book about making decisions in a way that demonstrates integrity, appreciation for employees and customers alike, transparency, and even a sense of community. It's a book that tears down the myth that doing business in a way that's considerate and proactively responsible means sacrificing profitability. This is compelling reading precisely because David Batstone's tone far from resembles that of a raving moralizing televangelist: Instead he takes a sober, well-documented look at the benefits of doing business in a socially responsible way. This terrific book is full of very current and very convincing examples of how being a good corporate citizen can lead to very tangible benefits, as was the case for IKEA in Palo Alto in the spring of 2002, but not for Home Depot, just a few miles away. Batstone's book is not just pointing out problems and urging companies to "play nice"--Saving the Corporate Soul is full of specific, executable suggestions for how to accomplish that. From empowering employees to assure customer satisfaction to "building transparency into your corporate DNA" to doing business in a way that treats discrimination liability as something controllable rather than a natural disaster, this is one book that really covers it all.
Implementing the principles that will ultimately create and
preserve both integrity and profitability may be as easy as
making decisions that allow one to still be able to sleep at
night. It really comes down to applying one's conscience to
the way one lives and treats others both as an individual
and as a business executive. Being both a Business
Professor and an Executive Trainer, I can definitely say
that "Saving the Corporate Soul" should be required reading
in every business ethics course and corporate seminar. It's
simply too good--and too important--to miss.
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