Customer Reviews

Saving the Corporate Soul--and (Who Knows?) Maybe Your Own

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This book is written very well and is pretty straightforward. So straight forward you can get most of the concepts of the book by reading the table of contents. There can't be much to argue with in the book because virtually every corporate hack who raked in the money during the obscene years is now preaching the same messages of corporate redemption. Expense stock options, treat employees fairly, create an environmental scorecard.... wake me up when it is over. In short, there is nothing new in these pages but the way it is recapped is very sweet primer on the subject. But my question is why did Batstone stop where he did? Where are the chapters relating to the ethics of afdvertising and PR? The ethics of obscene campaign contributions and political lobbying efforts? Where are the chapters about companies holding communities hostage by leveraging the threat of relocation for sweet tax deals? The chapters about what truly sustainable business practices mean about the globalization of companies?
Batstone does a nice job on the content he handles but fails miserably in addressing the core problems at the heart and soul of corporations today.

David Batstone's excellent book on corporate integrity is a must-read for executives and managers who want ideas on how to create profitable but soulful businesses that show heart as well as logic. This is not a text that preaches from the pulpit or revels in moral condemnation of Enron's misdeeds. For those of us who are sick to the teeth of reading Enron/Anderson post-mortems, Batstone's book will come as a refreshing change.

Reputation building has always been a profitable way to grow a business. `Reputation is not the same thing as a brand' Batstone says. Instead he says, `Reputation is the perceived character a company holds to public eye', which is probably the best definition this reviewer has read. Using the eight principles outlined in the book, managers are guided through examples that have helped or hindered individual companies. IKEA vs Home Depot for example is cited in the Community section of the book - the underlying principle being `A company will think of itself as part of a community as well as a market'. Which one would you rather have open a store in your community, and why? For the record, the residents of Mountain View, CA (a pretty town near to Silicon Valley) said they'd prefer an IKEA, and not because they like modular Swedish furniture.

The eight principles outlined in the book are:

Principle One: The directors and executives of a company will align their personal interests with the fate of stakeholders and act in a responsible way to ensure the vitality of the enterprise.

Principle Two: A company's business operations will be transparent to shareholder, employees and the public and its executives will stand by the integrity of their decisions.

Principle Three: A company will think of itself as part of a community as well as a market.

Principle Four: A company will represent its products honestly to customers and honor their dignity up to and beyond a transaction.

Principle Five: The worker will be treated as a valuable team member, not just a hired hand.

Principle Six: The environment will be treated as a silent stakeholder, a party to which the company is wholly accountable.

Principle Seven: A company will strive for balance, diversity and equality in its relationships with workers, customers and suppliers.

Principle Eight: A company will pursue international trade and production based on respect for the rights of workers and citizens of trade partner nations.

If you are looking for one book to share with others in your organization to start a discussion on integrity and reputation, Saving the Corporate Soul should be it.

I say this book is worth reading, after watching The Corporation (the documentary).

You can read many books on "corporate responsability", ethics, and caring for the environment. But, when pressed for profits, in real life, when your job is on the line, would anyone "do the right thing"?.

Don't get me wrong... I praise the author for writing books like this one. And more like it are needed. But the question should be: aren't corporations, often almost-run by stockholders (with CEOs always on the line and on the brink of getting a kick by angry shareholders) and also the executives heavily influenced by wall street gurus, are all of them capable of "corporate responsability" and a long-term strategy?. I'd say no.

I think that companies that "sell out" to the stock market lose their soul, and become tools for a few speculators to "make a quick buck". A stable, responsible company then starts sailing at the mercy of a few stock market gurus and the volatility of the international stock markets. But of course, that is my personal opinion.

The Canadian documentary titled "The Corporation" (can't wait to see it on DVD - for the moment check out www.thecorporation.tv ), argues that Corporations as we know them today, and specially mutinational ones, are flawed by design.

The movie surprisingly got a great review on financial publication The Economist, which praised it:. It begins with a potted history of the company's legal form in America, noting the key 19th-century legal innovation that led to treating companies as persons under law. By bestowing on them the rights and protections that people enjoy, this legal innovation gave the company the freedom to flourish. So if the corporation is a person, ask the film's three Canadian co-creators, what sort of person is it?"

"The answer, elicited over two-and-a-half hours of interviews with right-wing captains of industry, economists, psychologists and philosophers, and left-wing intellectuals, is that the corporation is a psychopath. Like all psychopaths, the firm is singularly self-interested: its purpose is to create wealth for its shareholders. And, like all psychopaths, the firm is irresponsible, because it puts others at risk to satisfy its profit-maximising goal, harming employees and customers, and damaging the environment".

I repeat: try to read this book, and then watch The Corporation (the documentary), which shows the opinion of real execs, in real life. Both essays will make you think, probably getting in the way of your good night's sleep.

Enough with exposês of the latest corporate scandal. It's refreshing to read a book that features companies that are doing the Right Thing. Better yet, the author gives me a road map for making changes in my own company as well. Saving the Corporate Soul is obviously written by a journalist who knows how to tell stories. He adds in events that have taken place in his own business experience, and those are some of the best parts of the book. I've already told everyone at my company that this is a "must book" to read.

I loved this book because it was so hopeful about what CAN be done to work towards integrity in the workplace. It is full of great stories and some real "ahas" -- and I have read a lot of stuff on corp responsibility. I recently saw the author speak and was really excited that someone is making a push towards this direction when times are so bleak. Worth reading.

In a time when corporations, and the leaders who run them have lost the public trust, this wonderfully written, engaging book shows that it is possible to run successful companies ethically. A must-read for leaders who want to change the way their company is run, and anyone who wants to believe that people--and corporations can succeed ethically--without selling out!

This is a wonderful book, eloquently written by the author, David Batstone, which apparently went unheeded by Corporate America six years ago, when it was first published.

It needs to be read again, this time as if the lives of every CEO in Corporate America depend on it; because in essence, Corporate America is in serious danger of becoming extinct, and the current economic crisis is no accident; no freak of nature.

Using the dinosaur analogy seems appropriate, only the way big business is heading nowadays has nothing to do with outside forces, such as meteors, coming into play. Rather, it has to do with misguided corporations leading its employees astray, with confusing mission statements, while forsaking the core values that got them to whatever degree of success they've managed to achieve.

Apparently, many companies have simply gotten too big for their own good, mistakenly believing they were quite invincible, when in fact they were quite vulnerable; and have made bad decisions, which no one within the bureaucratic organizations had the courage to point out.

To get back on track, Batstone's "eight principles" need to be incorporated into any number of struggling corporations, as a way of saving Corporate America from itself; its own worst enemy.

Finally, a book that outlines what CAN BE RIGHT with the corporate world. I've been a fan of David Batstone's journalism for years. In Saving the Corporate Soul, he outlines what all of us--leaders, managers, office workers--need to do to fix what's wrong with business in America. His eight principles are right on--and readily implementable. I've bought a copy for everyone on my management team. Read it now.

The clock is striking for American corporate reform, and business leaders would greatly benfit from a timely application of Batstone's 8 principles. No finger pointing here, but rather a clear outline of what isn't working and why, and the steps to take to correct it. What a refreshing dose of positivity he brings to the table. Definitely one of the most accessable works on the topic.

This is an excellent book for those who envision a corporate society that is ethical and environmentally responsible.