Managing Responsibly Alternative Approaches to Corporate Management and Governance

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.

Contents: Preface; Introduction: globalizing corporate social responsibility - challenging Western neo-liberal management theory, Jane Buckingham and Venkataraman Nilakant; Part I Making Managers Responsible: Selfish managers: can we eliminate perverse incentives, Amal Sanyal; Corporate environmental responsibility: whose business, whose health?, Arindam Basu. Part II Traditional Values and Ethical Management: The duty of corporate management: from the perspective of Dharma, Venkatamaran Nilakant and Marjolein Lips-Wiersma; Guilds and governance in ancient India: historical practices of corporate social responsibility, Jane Buckingham; Tribal economies?, Te Maire Tau. Part III Creating Ethical Leadership: Navigating the tension between global and local: a communication perspective, Colleen Mills; Vocational calling and the search for a new approach to business leadership, Peter Cammock; Cultivating character: the challenge of business ethics education, John Alexander; Conclusion: new directions in corporate social responsibility, Jane Buckingham and Venkataraman Nilakant; Index.

Dr Jane Buckingham is a senior lecturer in History at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and Director of the New Zealand South Asia Centre. Her BA and PhD were gained at the University of Sydney. Dr Buckingham is also Project Leader for 'Success and the Selfless Manager', a project, which reflects her current research interests in non-Western business ethics. She is the author of one book and has published articles and book chapters on legal, medical and disability history. Dr Venkataraman Nilakant is an associate professor in Management at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He has bachelors and masters degrees in chemistry, is an MBA (IIM Kolkatta) and his PhD is in organizational behaviour from the Case Western Reserve University. Dr Nilakant teaches and researches human resource management, change management and management development. He has co-authored three books on managing change and written numerous chapters and articles.