The Socially Conscious Leader
The Socially Conscious Leader
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Hawken, P. (2007). We interrupt this empire. Blessed unrest: How the largest social movement in history is restoring grace, justice and beauty to the world. New York, NY: Penguin.
Paul Hawken describes how more than one hundred thousand grassroots companies have evolved to tackle challenges including abuses of free market fundamentalism, destruction of the environment, the loss of indigenous cultures, as well as, social injustice. These groups include neighborhood organizations, citizen committees, parent groups, and formal and informal committees of scientists, farmers, artists, and students. These organizations are responsible for planting trees, welcoming new members, running food banks, and in general strive to attain a more environmentally and socially just world. Hawken notes that the groups do not share a charismatic leader or a unifying ideology and are largely unacknowledged by the media and politicians. The occupy movement stands as the first tentative step phase of the groups in joining together. The author likens the coalescence to the human body’s immune response system. A community of cell elements or components that are separate, joining together through the communication process for the good of all.
The force that has brought the groups together is perhaps the interrelated nature of issues that these groups have. Human beings live in an environment or rather a world of interconnectivity and systems. However, they do not see this. As species, human beings evolve their perspective from a linear view and a simplistic mechanistic world to a world that is interconnected, complex, and system based. This complex, interconnected, and system based world is built by community rather than created and controlled by privilege. This is what Hawken refers to as the point of coalescence. He notes that just like the droplets of water are drawn together on a windowpane, the new society continue growing.
Hawken’s work is a crucial element of the new sustainability era. His methodology is what brings the success of this work in the modern world of business. He outlines the past attempts of the Western World to control and dominate development in the other parts of the world by the techniques of naval and military power, slavery, and the flow of capital and resources.
Hawken, P. (2007). Restoration. Blessed unrest: How the largest social movement in history is restoring grace, justice and beauty to the world. New York, NY: Penguin.
At the core of this crucial book is illuminating, persuasive metaphor of illness and healing. The influential book referred to as ‘Ecology of Commerce’ brought out the discussion between the rights of business and the rights of the environment. This has been travelling and meeting social justice and environmental groups globally for more than fifteen years now. Hawken identifies what looks like the largest social movement in the humankind history (may be because of more grassroots organizations working to rebuild the world. The sickness that Hawken attempts to describe does not only lie in the destruction of the environment. This is because there are other stories such as the 1852 painful story that took place in California. Therefore, the sickness also relates to the loss of cultures around the globe that have led to brutality and greed of the less civilized communities especially because of resource extraction.
The opposition of the modern multinationals that lawfully or unlawfully impose their will on indigenous cultures makes Hawken uncompromising. However, Hawken gives hope in stating that there are a total of 38 organizations that safeguard the Amazon area, which are all networked and helped by Amazon Watch, located in San Francisco. Hawken traces the roots of the global phenomenon by taking his audience through Emerson and Thoreau to the building of the Unite State’s conservation movement. In this case, he reveals how the Silent Spring of Rachel Carsons warned on the threats of DDT created the fundamental force between industry and environmentalists, and this aggravated a misogynistic and furious backlash from chemical firms that referred to Carson as more poisonous than even the ‘pesticides’ that she attempted to condemn. Her influence still lives in many ways.
More than once in this work, Hawken describes a story that many people would think they know and brings it in a true light. The first civil rights speech by Martin Luther King during the first night of the boycott is astonishing, given by Hawken. A major theme in his works is that the concepts of environmental justice and social justice cannot be isolated. This is because what causes harm to the environment also harms human beings as also showed by Carson. The society is losing biodiversity in natural environments and human cultures. This implies an enormous loss of resilience. For instance, if devastating the ecological integrity of seas, forests, or watersheds is simply biological suicide, then it is not a major step in thinking that devastating indigenous cultures is also destructive. There is a need for individuals to begin viewing indigenous cultures with their intrinsic understanding of how to live well in a reflection of a future where individuals can escape the present. People needs to re-civilize themselves with the comprehension that within the earth’s constraints of biology, there may be the most civilized action that an individual can undertake.
The quality of connectedness is what brings the healing, hope, and restoration. This connectivity is what lets organizations to be role-specific and utilize resources frugally and precisely. Hawken presents the most accomplished list of concerns that require intervention or being addressed in order to attain a sustainable and just world. Restoration chapter represents Hawken’s more positive approach of both the present and future trends directed towards effectual cooperative partnerships that are well financed. The partnerships are between social and environmental justice groups and corporate bodies. The partnerships already are involved in the process of sponsoring restorative and beneficial modification that may simply lead to the survival of the human being species. Hawken’s approach is that the lack of structure of the environmental movement, the ever changing network, and its diversity of big numbers of small groups that have a loose is actually the strength that gives people flexibility, freedom, and constant renewal from the held beliefs. This makes his work outstanding.
Freeman, R. E., Wicks, A. C., &Parmar, B. (2004). Stakeholder theory and “The corporate objective revisited.” Organization Science, 15(3), 364–369.
Stakeholder theory starts with the presupposition that values are explicitly and necessarily a component of undertaking business. This is because the paradigm questions business managers to articulate the common sense of the value that businesses create, as well as, what brings its central stakeholders together. Stakeholder theory pushes business managers and leaders to clear on how they want to carry out business, particularly what types of relations they want and the necessity to build with their stakeholders in order to deliver on their aims. The theory is managerial because it directs and reflects how business managers operate instead of basically addressing management economists and theorists. This can be helpful in allowing companies to generate outstanding performance leading to overall corporate success. Freeman, Wicks, and Parmar hold that governing the corporation necessitates purposeful activity that, in turn, requires goals. This is the reason why the shareholder maximization goal is the only proper goal for managers in the modern corporation. This is because it creates the proper incentives for managers to presuppose risks of entrepreneurship. The authors conclude that freedom and truth are best served by seeing that ethics are business are connected. Business leaders and managers should establish relations, motivate their stakeholders, and build communities in which every person attempts to give their best in order to deliver the goals of the value of the firm. Indeed, shareholders are a vital constituent and profits are an important feature. However, the concern for profits is the result instead of the driving factor in the value creation process.
Schwab, K. (2008). Global corporate citizenship: Working with governments and civil society. Foreign Affairs. Retrieved from https://members.weforum.org/pdf/CGC/Schwab_Article.pdf.
It is evident that it is now common for a majority of business people to talk about the social responsibility concept, as well as, the significance of being good corporate citizens as compared to a decade ago. Business leaders see it a necessity to engage communities and shareholders in their operations through the corporate social responsibility concept. The author suggests that the concept of corporate social responsibility should be further divided to include corporate governance, philanthropy, responsibility, and entrepreneurship. If the elements are analyzed separately then there will be a broader understanding of what really entails and what is required in corporate social responsibility. In addition, the author believes that businesses must also recognize global corporate citizenship and that global leaders must entirely dedicate to sustainable development and address international challenges include energy conservation, climate change, the provision of public health, and the management of resources such as water. This is especially important because of the globalization that is taking place in the modern world. In fact, good corporate governance implies that a firm’s conducts exceeds what is needed. As research methodology, the author examines a number of companies that have signed into the UN Global Compact in order to guide business behavior in such areas as the environment, human rights, corruption, and labor practices. This has become a strong force in enhancing good corporate governance. According to the findings of the study, as firms rely on international development, it is in their interest to assist in improving the state of the globe. Schwab believes that global corporate citizenship as a concept is a reasonable extension of a company’s pursuit for a sustainable and consistent framework of international involvement. This is evident for companies that have adopted corporate social responsibility and global corporate citizenship.
Sundaram, A. K., & Inkpen, A. C. (2004). The corporate objective revisited. Organization Science, 15(3), 350–363.
The stock market corporate scandals and convulsions that took place in 2001 and 2002 have fuelled debates on the purposes of corporations. Specifically, the scandals have raised debates on the goal of value maximization of shareholder. Sundaram and Inkmen revisit the traditional rationales, and attempt to create a set of new arguments for why the desired goal or objective function for the company should unambiguously uphold the shareholder value maximization. There have always been debates since the 19th century and these have implications for accepted practice and law of corporate governance in America. The authors offer their reflection in shareholder and views of shareholders in organizational studies. The authors address in detail the potential shareholder value maximization critiques. The authors hold that constraints and critiques on the topics are not distinct to the shareholder value maximization view, but still exist even when an organization is controlled or managed on behalf of stakeholders who do not own shares of the organization.
The stakeholder views have dominated the discourse and managerial practice, public policy, and law towards corporations over the past 150 years. The authors conclude that there is no need of ignoring the goal of shareholder value maximization. They hold that this is the most preferred goal among other goals pursued by organizations. The failures that are associated with shareholder value maximization approach have no much to do with shareholders. Managing on shareholders’ behalf does not result in fewer contracting issues. In fact, it might lead to more issues including the ones from lack of incentives to increase the firm’s value from creating contradicting objectives and distorting risk-taking incentives. As they conclude, the authors reject the argument that managers will in the long run become ignorant if they vigorously and actively undertake a fiduciary role to shareholders.
References
Hawken, P. (2007). We interrupt this empire. Blessed unrest: How the largest social movement in history is restoring grace, justice and beauty to the world. New York, NY: Penguin.
Hawken, P. (2007). Restoration. Blessed unrest: How the largest social movement in history is restoring grace, justice and beauty to the world. New York, NY: Penguin.
Freeman, R. E., Wicks, A. C., &Parmar, B. (2004). Stakeholder theory and “The corporate objective revisited.” Organization Science, 15(3), 364–369.
Schwab, K. (2008). Global corporate citizenship: Working with governments and civil society. Foreign Affairs. Retrieved from https://members.weforum.org/pdf/CGC/Schwab_Article.pdf.
Sundaram, A. K., &Inkpen, A. C. (2004). The corporate objective revisited. Organization Science, 15(3), 350–363.
