Managing with Integrity: Insights from America's CEOs [Hardcover]

Charles E. Watson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0275938654 | ISBN-13: 978-0275938659

This compelling work draws on the experiences of America's most successful business leaders to examine the issue of character in business. Based on interviews with 125 CEOs of major U.S. corporations, Managing with Integrity shows how it is possible for the businessperson to do what is right and run a profitable company at the same time. A wealth of practical examples and anecdotes demonstrates that even today, corporate America's most powerful figures tend to place what is ethical over what is expedient and adhere to a higher standard than is generally assumed by the public. By revealing the strategies these leaders employ in the face of the myriad challenges to character encountered in the day-to-day business world, the author provides invaluable insights for executives, managers, supervisors, professionals, and entrepreneurs confronted with their own ethical dilemmas. Readers will find Managing with Integrity both an unusually candid look at the dimensions of executive decision making and an eminently practical guide to the development of a workable moral philosophy for business. Is it possible for a decent human being to succeed in business? How does one find meaning in the business life? These are some of the questions asked by the author as he explores the difficulties associated with ethical thinking within the context of business. Finding that those persons and organizations that aspire to serve worthwhile purposes are ultimately the most profitable, he shows how businesses can and do prosper when high ethical and moral standards underlie executive decision making. Finally, the author examines the concept of success in business and describes the various dimensions of success which are most mentioned most often by the senior executives interviewed for the book. Written in an engaging and nontechnical style and filled with hundreds of real-world examples, Managing with Integrity offers an important counterweight to the cynicism that so often pervades popular thinking about corporate America.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

While there have been many books pub lished recently on business ethics--perhaps as a reaction to the moral shoddiness of the 1980s--this is the first one to base a large part of its conclusions on interviews with chief executive officers (125 in all) of major U.S. corporations. One clear conclusion emerges from Watson's investigations: it is possible to succeed and be ethical at the same time. There is much in the book to think about--perhaps too much. It could have been shorter, but this defect is of a minor order. It remains essentially a skillful study and at its best is full of luminous comment and incisive epigrams. For a briefer introduction to the topic, see O.C. Ferrell and Gareth Gardiner's In Pursuit of Ethics ( LJ 5/1/91). See also Ethics, Leadership and the Bottom Line: An Executive Reader, reviewed in this issue, p. 157.--Ed.
- A.J. Anderson, Graduate Sch. of Library & Information Science, Simmons Coll., Boston
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Watson explores the relationship between ethics and profits in American businesses. From interviews with 125 CEOs, the author develops the thesis that profitability and "doing what is right" form the nucleus of the contemporary business model. The work is filled with quotations, anecdotes, and examples of the daily conflicts that business executives face in trying to make business decisions that are ethical. Watson's study suggests that American business leaders do act with integrity. The volume is both enticing and refreshing, so much so that its organization and style tend to make the reader forget the less favorable (ethical) decisions made by these same businesses and their leaders. If, as the foreword suggests, the purpose of the volume is to inspire readers, then the presentation is a success, serving as much to proselytize as to report. Despite this limitation, this book belongs in every library as a model of the practices of the majority of today's businesses, and as a positive balance to much current literature critical of US business management. A subject index, name and company index, list of business leaders interviewed, bibliography, and notes. College and public library collections.”–Choice

“While there have been many books published recently on business ethics--perhaps as a reaction to the moral shoddiness of the 1980s--this is the first one to base a large part of its conclusions on interviews with chief executive officers (125 in all) of major U.S. corporations. One clear conclusion emerges from Watson's investigations: it is possible to succeed and be ethical at the same time. There is much in this book to think about--perhaps too much. It could have been shorter, but this defect is of a minor order. It remains essentially a skillful study and at its best is full of luminous comment and incisive epigrams.”–Library Journal

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (May 30, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275938654
• ISBN-13: 978-0275938659
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,748,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Return to Basics, December 24, 2001

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Kim R. Fowler (Windsor Mill, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Managing with Integrity: Insights from America's CEOs (Hardcover)

Watson's book is needed for much of what ails business today. It returns to the basic premise that good character is important to long-term success in business, which was lost during the shift to behaviorism in the 40's through the 70's.

"Managing With Integrity, Insights from America's CEOs" is not fluff reading. It is well written and interesting, but it does not simplify to seven easy steps. Watson has researched it well and backed up each principle with good, basic scholarship. Moreover, the material applies to everyone: employee, manager, or business owner. It does not fall into the potential trap of being written for just CEOs and sold to the popular market for dreamers.

As an engineer and entrepreneur, I have been in all aspects of business. This book shows what works. You should enjoy reading this book, but you will not necessarily finish it in two or three sittings.