Managing Responsibly : Alternative Approaches to Corporate Management and Governance

Bringing together the thoughts of scholars looking for alternatives to the self-interest maximization so characteristic of existing corporate governance, Managing Responsibly explores the limitations of the thinking that dominates Western corporate and business culture. Contributors draw on non-Western traditions and experience to suggest workable inter-cultural models that can enhance organizational effectiveness and help to avoid damage to and exploitation of communities and the environment. Chapters written by specialists in economics, management, ethics, health sciences and history ensure a truly interdisciplinary approach. The book highlights the acute need for less self-interested approaches to management. In drawing on values from Indian and Maori traditions it proposes alternatives to Western models of business ethics and suggests ways to develop sustained ethical leadership in the contemporary globalised economy.

In the wake of financial meltdown and environmental disaster, employers increasingly demand that managers have an understanding of ethical decision making, corporate social responsibility and values-based management. Business ethics is therefore increasingly being taught in business schools and is a rapidly developing research topic. Managing Responsibly explores the limitations of the thinking that dominates Western corporate and business culture. Contributors then draw on non-Western traditions and experience to suggest workable inter-cultural models to enhance organizational effectiveness in an increasingly globalised environment. With chapters written by specialists in economics, management, ethics, health sciences and history, the editors - one a historian and one a management specialist - ensure a truly interdisciplinary overall approach. Part One highlights the acute need for less self-interested approaches to management if local and global communities and the environment are to escape on-going damage and exploitation. Part Two draws on values from Indian and Maori traditions to propose alternatives to Western models of business ethics. Part Three suggests ways of approaching the challenges of developing sustained ethical leadership in the contemporary globalised economy. This original addition to Gower''s Corporate Social Responsibility Series will appeal to a wide range of teachers, researchers and higher level students of management, as well as practitioners participating in executive development programmes. It will also serve the needs of those with a more specialist interest in business ethics and in sustainable and responsible management.