Research Catalog

Title

Tyranny of the bottom line : why corporations make good people do bad things / Ralph Estes.

Author

Estes, Ralph W.

Publication

San Francisco, CA : Berrett-Koehler Publishers, [1996], ©1996.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xiv, 296 pages; 24 cm

Summary

• Tyranny of the Bottom Line tells the story of corporate power gone awry: permanent layoffs affecting millions of Americans while CEO salaries go through the roof; toxic waste poisoning the land, water, and air; unhealthy and dangerous products on the market; injury and death on the job; white-collar hustles in the S&Ls and on Wall Street that ultimately cost us all.
• Ralph Estes shows how the corporate system has gone astray. Employees, at all levels of the organization, are held hostage to the tyranny of the bottom line. Massive layoffs can shatter careers and devastate lives, while those still employed live in constant fear. Managers, so often maligned, are also victims of a system that seems to require them to subordinate personal morality to an impersonal corporate culture.
• Packed with countless examples that dramatically support his case, Estes traces the history of the corporation and shows how the original purpose has been systematically perverted through an unbalanced focus on profit-and-loss. He then presents, in a simple and accessible style, proposals to bring about full and fair accountability to stakeholders.

Subjects

• Corporations > Moral and ethical aspects
• Business ethics
• Social responsibility of business

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-284) and index.

Contents

1. The Manager Held Hostage: Why Corporations Make Good People Do Bad Things -- 2. The Perversion of Corporate Purpose -- 3. Power Without Accountability: Who Controls the Corporation? -- 4. The Dominion of the Corpocracy -- 5. The Harm to Our Communities and Our Nation -- 6. Expendable Employees, Disposable Suppliers -- 7. Customers Pay Twice -- 8. The Public Cost of Private Corporations -- 9. The Solution: A Better Scorecard -- 10. What the Scorecard Should Contain -- 11. How Do We Get There? -- Appendix 1: The Corporate Accountability Act -- Appendix 2: Customer Information Needs -- Appendix 3: Worker Information Needs -- Appendix 4: Community Information Needs -- Appendix 5: Society's Information Needs.

ISBN

1881052753 (alk. paper)

LCCN

95025473

OCLC

• 33164359
• ocm33164359

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries