corporate responsibility

Human Nature Needs to Be Back in Business

When two bombs exploded this spring near the Boston Marathon finish line, many rushed to help those who were hurt.  We read about their actions with approval and admiration, but not with surprise.  On some level people understand that it is human nature to try to help, even if doing so involves risk or sacrifice.

This part of human nature is largely absent in business, a world that believes almost entirely in motivation through self-interest and even in the social good of self-interest

Corporation Nation

Most Americans know corporations run the nation and long ago ceased to be good citizens. U.S. Corporations have endorsed a sociopathic stance of short term profits as their objective exclusive to all others. Profits above people is now the norm. Dr. Ralph Gomory, who contributes to this site and Dr. Richard Sylla have dismantled the U.S. corporation and even put it back together again in an essay published by American Academy of Arts & Sciences. The essay gives a historical narrative of the U.S. corporation, touching upon major historical events which shaped these business entities into the conglomerates we know today. The authors also propose solutions and describe options to channel business behavior to be more in concert with America. We need to structurally redefine and realign the U.S. Corporation.

Excerpted below is the abstract of their paper, Stewarding America: The Corporation.

Hey Corporate Execs, You Got a Bailout, Now Give It Back

Even when times are good, it's hard to believe that corporate CEOs can look you in the eye and tell you that they've truly earned their outrageous $10 million, $50 million, $100 million or more pay packages.

And right now, times aren't good.

But this week I saw another round of stories on corporate CEOs getting multi-million dollar "bonuses" even as their companies lose millions of dollars.