Critique of corporations, critiqued by a corporation
355568
In this highly esteemed People's History, Howard Zinn analyzes (among other trends) the continuing growth of corporate power, showing the ruthless suppression of ordinary US citizens by the arrogant, intemperate corporations that own the US government.  In light of this, I find it rather interesting that one of the two Editorial Reviews on Amazon's webpage for this book is contributed by . . .  guess what? . . . a corporation: the firm called Reed Business Information.  So we turn to a corporation for critique of a book revealing the shameful role in our history of . . . corporations.  The review -- oddly enough -- turns out to be rather negative.  I wonder why.
458404
My link to this book is from a book review by William Baue which can be found at [...]

"What is now needed is a strategy that is a 'systems' approach that coordinates all the stakeholder strategies at one time to overload the corporate system," Mr. Harrington. "Shareholder advocates will play a role, as will activists in the streets, NGOs in the community, labor in the workplace, and peasants, farmers, and workers in the fields of developing countries."

"Corporations will not be able to deal with campaigns coordinated at the local, state, national, and international levels," he adds. "We need to act now as investors, as voters, as philanthropists, as executives, as consumers, as activists, and most important of all, as human beings concerned about the survival of our planet, our economy, and our struggling democracy."

Let's all do this!
1896972
While the social, economic, and environmental issues that plague the world increase unabated, funding for and from governments, community organizations, and foundations continues to dwindle. Does that make it less likely to "make a dent in the universe," as notably described by the late Steve Jobs? In The Barnabas Effect: Starting a Benefit Corporation to Renew Your Community, author Lisa Fournier provides a step-by-step action plan for developing a benefit corporation, a relatively new hybrid enterprise model that allows companies to more clearly express personal and corporate values.

The Barnabas Effect, named for the early Christian who translated his faith into worldly help for his neighbors, shows that making profits and caring for the community are not mutually exclusive.  A benefit corporation contains legal elements of a for-profit business and a non-profit business. It is expected (and must transparently demonstrate) that it earns a profit for investors and also distributes funding to appropriate community groups. Twelve states (with more on the way) currently encourage the development of benefit corporations. State governments are delighted to welcome new companies that provide jobs while intentionally eroding local social, economic, and environmental problems.

The Barnabas Effect is no dry academic treatise, but is instead an engaging fieldbook that shows how to make money while doing good. Helpful interviews with the leaders of benefit corporations (e.g. Patagonia, King Arthur Flour, The Big Bad Woof, etc.) tell why they chose the benefit corporation structure. Key chapters include benefit corporation leadership, governance, networks, strategy, methods for funding, reporting requirements, and how to integrate commerce with the needs of community stakeholders. The appendices (alone worth the price of the book) review the Benefit Corporation Business Planning Model, questions to ask prior to forming a benefit corporation, important information regarding benefit corporation laws in each state, and valuable references for further learning.

If you desire to leave a legacy more enduring than your company's balance sheet, consider developing a benefit corporation. The Barnabas Effect: Starting a Benefit Corporation to Renew Your Community shows you how!

Dr. Gary Oster
Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Regent University School of Business & Leadership
3246380
If calling any business rule-of-thumb a "law" is a recipe for disaster, claiming it is "immutable" is the proverbial fuse.  In "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing", authors Al Ries and Jack Trout liken successful marketing to a set of "How To's" or "Tips & Tricks".  Adding to the somewhat sketchy structure, the authors (wrongly) predict the demise of many organizations - now successful - that have disregarded their advice.  And too often, laws are created as exceptions to those already established, exculpating the authors from any contrary opinion.  This is a law, except when... or, unless you... is unacceptable.
Consider the claim that there exists "ominous signs of softness in Microsoft's strategy" for pursuing market share in major software applications categories external to the operating system.  At the time of their writing, Ries and Trout point to Microsoft's failure to wrestle the spreadsheet and word processing markets from leaders Lotus and WordPerfect (an example of the Law of Line Extension).  Or, consider that "USA Today is the first national newspaper, but it is unlikely to succeed".  Time has indeed been cruel to the prophecies of Ries and Trout.
Criticism aside, many good ideas are presented throughout the text, however, at an average of only 6 pages per chapter, few get the recognition they deserve.  The Law of Focus (read: positioning) is good advice whereby a firm should own a particular word or phrase in the mind of a customer.  But, it would follow that extending a product line to include different items not captured under the firm's "buzz word" could be detrimental to either the new product or the whole firm.  Yet, we see Microsoft as a modern-day example to the contrary (and, of course, Microsoft has no catchy buzz word anyway).  Perhaps the authors would consider Microsoft a candidate for the Law of the Category - an example of a firm competing in a market they have solely created.  At this point, however, applying immutable laws to the problem seems as difficult as correctly guessing the perfect conclusion to a "Choose Your Own Adventure" novel.
For a laugh, the keen reader will notice the four pages of praise that preface the actual content.  On five occasions, different individuals make the exact same generic statement, "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing is the best book on marketing I've ever read".  If there was a Law of Repetition, this book would nail it down (but, there isn't).  Whether an amazing coincidence or publisher error, this sets the tone for the rest of the book.  If you can't nail the details or correctly predict the application of your laws in practice, don't expect your readers to buy into the theory.
Although two of the greatest modern marketing minds, Ries and Trout have written a tale destined only for the lowest-common denominator.  Many of their other works, most notably, "Positioning", are far more comprehensive in their attention to detail and ability to effectively persuade.  Too many unfulfilled (or simply wrong) prophecies make this book an "immutable" candidate for the half-off shelf at your local bookstore.
Joshua A. Gerlick
3671944
There are really three things I think I would've wanted to know about this book before reading it.

1. Reich's book treats us to a great many (quite persuasive) counterintuitve explanations. I'm a sucker for (good) explanations about phenomena that cut against intuition. For instance, when you learn in basic training that a bullet drops at the same rate as a paperclip, it's obviously true, but counter to your intuition.

2. The book isn't perfect, but it is without any _serious_ flaws of reasoning. His least cogent argument is his claim that corporations cannot be responsible, unless being so happens to be good for the stakeholders of the company. First, I'm not sure that's true for privately held companies. Think of Caribou Coffee, for instance. Nevertheless, his point that the raison d'etre of a modern publicly-traded company is to make stockholders richer is hardly controversial. My view of this section is that he makes too much of some aspects of his case, without considering other non-governmental companies or the actual deeply held values and motivations of corporate executives. Furthermore, his argument would've been made stronger by some knowledge of attribution and dissonance studies.

3.  Reich changed my mind on some significant matters of practical import. For instance, if you think, as I did, that many large corporations seem to be failing in their civic responsibilities, this book will challenge that. (This may simply be an instance of 1 above.)

All in all, I expect this book to leave a mark on future debates on the proper role of business in civic matters and government in business matters.
1296022
Now badly out-of-date in terms of legal doctrine, CORPORATIONS IN PERSPECTIVE is still well worth reading for its idiosyncratic perspective on corporate law by one of the major scholars of the mid-20th century.  Detailed references make it particularly useful as a tool for legal  historians.
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THE CORPORATION is an ambitious and demolishing film, that necessarily must be seen under several levels, its dramatic texture is incisive, mordacious and profoundly realist.

Since the first shot until the first word elapse four minutes and twenty six seconds, and the first lines are: "This is a confession." Because given these rules of the game, he is just a soldier who defends his trench.

A successful executive is suddenly removed from his job, after fifteen years of devoted service to the enterprise, the high management adduces reduction of costs and that set of commonplaces frequently said in this sort of action.

So, his well deserved status and professional achievements remain into a "zero atmosphere" . As you may suppose, after two years of unfruitful efforts, our central character decides to publish a postal code simulating an employment agency, in order to make a zealous analysis around the number of his potential rivals .

Since this decision, he gets his C.V, and decides into his gradually neurotic compulsiveness, to murder them to return his job in absence of competence.

The secondary personages play besides a sinister vision around the surrounding world: his son is a teenager who simply is out of control without INTERNET , his wife is a courageous human being who doesn't care to take two jobs to keep their social position.

Particularly remarkable is the employment of the semiotic language, there is a veiled tribute to Charlot (Monsieur Vedoux) in that smart sequence in which we see an ambulant misemployed imitating to Chaplin, on the other hand the clever allusion to important issues concerning to marketing, but above all is the gradual fragmentation as individuals, of people who simply does not know what to do in such undesirables position in which your social prestige, economical relations and self stem seem to vanish under their feet.

A struggling portrait of a contemporary and beating actuality. How to deal with this transition state?

Powerful, incisive, brilliant and demolishing approach around an issue that frequently tend to overlook, ignoring it or simply making new friends.
3727885
Every year, most employees go through a stressful ritual where they are subjected to anonymous criticism as a justification for their raise.  This is the performance review.  Culbert paints a picture of the performance review at its worst.  According to him, the system is irredeemably flawed.  Everyone on the receiving end (and a lot of the reviewers, too) hates the process, and it actually produces results counter to those intended.
As evidence, Culbert points out that employees who switch bosses (or who have reporting relationships to multiple bosses) often receive completely contradictory reviews.  The review process induces fear.  Some managers know this and use it to control rather than lead employees.  The book provides a bit of history about the rise of the performance review, and a catalog of its deficiencies.  It is written in a very plainspoken, easy to read style.  Culbert is a bit bombastic, but he generally backs his points up with clear reasoning.  It would have been nice if he had provided footnotes or endnotes for the empirical data he references to support his points.
The author is well aware that his position may come across as one which fails to recognize the necessity of hierarchy in the workplace.  He repeatedly counters this by saying that a hierarchical structure is necessary, but hierarchical relationships are not.  He proposes replacing the performance review with regular performance previews - open conversations between employees and supervisors where folks mutually work on the issues that are impacting the employee's ability to achieve rather than infrequent, pseudo-objective justifications for compensation adjustments.
I doubt that many folks will be convinced by Culbert's book.  Indeed, those most likely to be convinced are probably the least well positioned to drive the radical change he suggests.  However, anyone who leads people can take his advice about the performance preview and incorporate it into their workplace communication, even if the performance review has to stay around for awhile.
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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 [...] ),  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.
1126914
The thesis of the book, as I see it, is "Social media, QR codes, and Twitter don't make a bad product good.  Don't buy into these trends just because you can."  Stratten & Kramer support their point with dozens of examples of poorly thought-out or poorly executed marketing campaigns that make the company look like a buffoon or an insensitive jerk.

"QR Codes" reads like a blog in book form; similar to the Cakewrecks or Cheezburger books.  Most pages are simply a picture and a short caption, making this a very quick read.  If I were a follower of Stratten's, I'd probably want to skim the book quickly to see whether there's enough new material to justify a purchase.

If I were reading this for business purposes, I might complain that the book meanders a bit.  Even though the title and chapter intros discuss QR codes, we bounce around from bad tweeting habits to spam to employees behaving badly.  While the book is fine for browsing, it doesn't really make a strong case for anything.
4847770
a book for skeptics of large organizations and their conflicts of interest, may appear to be extreme in its positions, but worthy of consideration. my own judgment will wait until I can read some of the referenced jour. articles.
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Thomas T. Stallkamp is best known as former Vice Chairman of DaimlerChrysler. He is the Founder/Principal of private consultancy Collaboration Management, Industrial Partner at private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, and serves on several corporate boards and advisory board of Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, and on the faculty at Babson College's Graduate Entrepreneurship Center.

This book was first published in March 2005 and consists of 11 chapters. The author explains in the Introduction that "this book is built on the premise that companies - and, more important, their managers - can adopt more collaborative and strategic partnerships with related firms, to help the economy maximize its growth into the future."

The first 5 chapters define the problems with the current, prevalent adversarial systems in our economy. The author explains that under adversarial commerce, the dominant party applies economic leverage in a dictatorial, arbitrary manner. However, "adversarial commerce forces the two parties into a defensive posture that is counterproductive to building longer-term goals." He discusses in detail the four major business attributes that drive the trend toward adversarial commerce: distrust, poor communication, limited planning, and a constant quest for complete control. So what is needed? "The answer is in expanded use of collaboration to break out of the cycle we find ourselves in presently."

The remainder of the book introduces the optimistic alternative. "The alternative approach to the adversarial tactics common in today's economy is for firms to encourage closer collaboration between them... For our purposes, collaboration is any management practice that features close and organized or managed cooperation between independent firms." The primary unique elements which feature in successful collaboration projects are discussed: sense of partnership and shared interests, shared goals and rewards, open and unfiltered lines of communication, clear definition of the roles and responsibilities, and freedom to make necessary decisions within the scope of responsibility. Stallkamp discusses his experience with Chrysler's supply base, whereby he used a detailed proprietary goal and measurement system labeled SCORE (Supplier Cost Reduction Effort) to streamline the business or eliminate redundant efforts and costs. "The [Extended Enterprise] concept was to treat suppliers and dealers as independent extensions of the firm." However, it is important to highlight that collaboration is a soft tactic or result. "It actually requires more planning, forethought, and monitoring than the adversarial system..." The author introduces 6 implementation steps, which are quite similar to those used in change management programs. The key is planning and constant monitoring.

Yes, I do like the latter part of this book. The first 5 chapters form a very long introduction to the problem of adversarial commerce; the remaining 6 chapters provide the solution to the problem. There is a good framework for the solution and the fundamental elements are highlighted in detail. The examples focus primarily on the author's extensive experience within the automotive industry (Chrysler, Ford and General Motors). However, the principles should be the same for all industries and this book can be used to provide a checklist to monitor, measure, and track progress in the new collaboration approach.
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I really have little use for the socialists who insist they have property rights to influence, control, and even run the daily operations of private (or even publicly traded) companies.  This is not only a bad idea, it is bad for society.  However, this book stops short of this "social responsibility" claptrap.  The idea these authors present is that society is so complex that there is no such thing as a stand alone corporation.  Companies require the infrastructure that society provides, they certainly need customers, and most have vendors.  Those who pay the taxes, run the companies that supply other firms, and who live in the communities where these companies work, and who work in these companies, all have an interest in how these corporations influence their lives.  If a firm bulls ahead without regard to the interest of these stakeholders, they will actually create more problems for themselves.

The idea in the book is that a firm that works WITH its stakeholders actively rather than waiting until problems arise, is going to be more competitive, and contribute more net good to its shareholders and all who are affected by its work.

When anyone claims the stakeholders are equal or greater than the shareholders, you lose me.  I don't think these authors are claiming that.  They are just claiming that prudence dictates that the corporation has more considerations than just the net income that can be provided to the shareholders.  It makes some sense.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
515045
A superb critique on the growth of the transnational corporations and the influence and power they wield in the world today. The use they make of modern marketing techniques and in particular branding are examined to show how they have been able to grow and become so powerful to the point where they are a real and present threat to human rights, freedom of speach and even to becoming more powerful then actual governments themselves. Thus given they are not answerable to the general public nor do they have the best interests of the general public as their focus their power and influence have become a real issue around the world.
1322268
We have all known the "employee from hell" in all of his or her guises: the complainer, the egomaniac, the troublemaker, the passive-aggressive type, the clever con artist, and many more.

In this plain-spoken book, management consultant Gini Graham Scott categorizes bad employees into some three dozen pigeonholes (like the "impossible intern," the "negative Nelly," and the out-and-out liar) and assigns each a brief chapter that opens with a succinct case study. In each setting, Scott asks the same question: Did the boss handle the situation well? Should she have fired the employee on the spot, put him on probation, called a staff meeting, had a one-on-one conversation with the troublesome employee, let the whole thing go, or done something else entirely?

Scott's advice springs largely from common sense. She acknowledges that there isn't just one way to handle a difficult worker. A good deal depends on the office atmosphere, the employee's and boss's personalities, and other intangibles. In discussing a saleswoman who gives so much attention to the first customer of the day that she neglects her duties to other customers, Scott suggests a variety of steps: giving the worker one more chance, explaining that she will be fired if she doesn't change, clarifying where she has gone wrong, asking another employee to monitor her behavior, and rewarding her with small bonuses if her performance improves.

Of course, some problematic behavior - drug use on the job, stealing from the employer, a pattern of lying -- can't be tolerated, and Scott urges that supervisors should fire people who do those things, even if the employee is a friend, or the friend of a friend. Still, there are a number of ways to dismiss someone, and Scott insists that even a fireable employee should be shown the door graciously.
1817732
This book is far more one of corporate anthropology and psychology than it is a novel. The author examines in elaborate detail the behavior and appearance of execs and their subordinates. Details of dress, grooming, posture, gestures, voice, words chosen though often coded, order of speaking, props, protocols, etc are all carefully examined. In the corporate world detailed by the author, it is absolutely essential that image and persona be in step with position; missteps will immediately alert both superiors and others that one is not worthy to be part of the club.

The setting for the story is TriTech, a manufacturer of computer related items, which is struggling to maintain market share. The narrator is Ward Wittman, the head of a division at TriTech, who uses every bit of his understanding of corporate behavior to maintain his position. Those requirements of managing his image extend to his broader social life involving his family with a social-climbing wife and two prep-school teenagers.

The book consists of a series of loosely connected scenes seen through the eyes of Ward ranging from the CEO's office, Ward's office, a well-heeled customer's suite of offices, a socialite's party, his daughter's tennis and soccer matches, to even a hotel room where Ward has several trysts with his secretary. In all of these, the need to read the other person and adjust suitable responses predominates.

The book certainly does not have the story line and depth of a great novel, or even a good one for that matter. Character development is minimal beyond descriptions of self-serving behavior. The constant interpretation and descriptions of behavior does get tedious in spots. How many times does the crossing of one leg over another accompanied by a count of foot shakes have to be repeated? However, the book is interesting in its clinical look at corporate culture. It is probably not far off the mark in its depictions of the personal mechanizations required in the corporate world.
2002480
Today's media outlets are feeding transparency to the consumer at ever-faster speeds and I can't think of a week that went by when I didn't open the Wall Street Journal and stumble upon a reputation-tarnishing headline of a well known company.

This book serves as a great reminder that management interests often times depart from the expectations of consumers, employees and shareholders. Adhering to minimal law requirements is no longer enough to keep a company's reputation intact. Management's fiduciary duty is, and should always be, to maximize long-term economic value for the company's shareholders while adhering to the highest standards of ethical behavior.

The book does a fantastic job describing how management is faced with tremendous pressures to meet project expectations, many of the ethical dilemmas they are presented with on a daily basis, and decision-making models to prevent this deviant behavior. I highly recommend the read.