Saving the Corporate Soul–and (Who Knows?) Maybe Your Own: David Batstone
Even those who think the idea of a “corporate soul” is an oxymoron will be persuaded by journalist David Batstone’s whip-smart suggestions for how values can reinvent an organization’s bad behavior. Saving the Corporate Soul alternates examples of principled companies like Clif Bar and Timberland with those of innovative leaders such as Denny’s CEO Jim Adams, who recovered from a $54 million racial discrimination lawsuit to create a company hailed for its recruitment of minorities. Batstone demonstrates his core belief that “companies thrive once they align the ethics of the company with the values that drive its workers and customers.” Readers worried about psychobabble can relax. The topics are nuanced and substantive; they include reputation as the guardian of a company’s brand, restoring sanity to CEO compensation, operating with transparency, moving the company into the community, viewing the environment as a silent stakeholder, and defining core values for a global economy. Everyone in your organization should read this provocative and practical guide to the post-Enron era. –Barbara Mackoff
From Publishers Weekly
“At this moment, the corporation sorely needs leaders… to live with soul,” declares Business 2.0 founding editor Batstone in this timely overview contrasting integrity-challenged companies with those that are both principled and profitable. Batstone concisely organizes his principles, laying out a variety of predicaments companies face and proposing alternatives that promise to win supporters rather than generate enemies and mass resignations by valued employees. Among his principles: connection with the community, customer care, valuing workers and respecting the environment. Batstone brings up financial reasons for companies to change their ethical tunes; he cites studies showing that people who are choosing an employer rank corporate reputation second and admits that consumers regard very few companies as excellent corporate citizens. Aware of potential resistance, Batstone explains how to adopt each principle in stages and provides practical guidelines for moving forward. In considering a company’s environmental accountability, for example, he develops a 10-step plan to defuse environmental conflict among parties and replace screaming matches with mutually respectful discussions. Similarly fresh and useful are his thoughts on the challenges of globalization and deepening involvement with the community, two areas that many companies, including Nike and Home Depot, have found more perilous than they expected.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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