Corporate Responsibility The American Experience

This thought-provoking history of corporate responsibility in the USA is a landmark publication documenting the story of corporate power and business behavior from the mid-eighteenth century to the modern day. It shows how the idea of corporate responsibility has evolved over time, with the roles, responsibilities and performance of corporations coming increasingly under the spotlight as new norms of transparency and accountability emerge. Today, it is expected that a corporation will be transparent in its operations; that it will reflect ethical values that are broadly shared by others in society; and that companies will enable society to achieve environmental sustainability as well as a high standard of living. As we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century, the social, political and economic landscape is once again shifting: the need for an informed public conversation about what is expected of the modern corporation has never been greater.

About the authors; Foreword; Preface; Introduction: the corporation in the public square; Part I. The Seeds of Corporate Responsibility: 1. Foundations of capitalism and the birth of the corporation (1776–1880); 2. The turbulent rise of the corporation (1880–1900); 3. The Progressive Era and a new business–government relationship (1900–18); 4. The corporation's case for social responsibility (1918–29); 5. The corporation and national crisis (1929–45); Part II. Corporate Responsibility Comes of Age: 6. Corporate legitimacy affirmed (1945–63); 7. A revolution of rising expectations (1963–73); 8. Managing corporate responsibility (1973–81); Part III. Taking Account of Corporate Responsibility: 9. Stakeholders and stockholders (1981–9); 10. Corporate responsibility institutionalizes and globalizes (1989–2001); 11. A new social contract for the twenty-first century (2001–11); Conclusion: patterns and prospects; Endnotes; References; List of plates; Index.

This landmark history of corporate responsibility documents corporate power and business behaviour from the mid-eighteenth century to the modern day. It shows how corporate responsibility has evolved, with the roles, responsibilities and performance of corporations coming increasingly under the spotlight as new norms of transparency and accountability emerge.

Kenneth E. Goodpaster holds the David and Barbara Koch Endowed Chair in Business Ethics in the Opus College of Business at the University of St Thomas, Minnesota.
Archie B. Carroll is Robert W. Scherer Professor of Management Emeritus and Director, Nonprofit Management and Community Service Program at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.
Kenneth J. Lipartito is Professor of History and Department Chair at Florida International University.
James E. Post is the John F. Smith, Jr Professor of Management at Boston University where he teaches strategic management, corporate governance, ethics and nonprofit management.
Patricia H. Werhane holds the Wicklander Chair of Business Ethics and is Director, Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at DePaul University. She is also Professor Emeritus at the Darden School, University of Virginia.