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Recent scandals in corporate America can
provide the incentive -- and momentum -- to develop a new
ethic of stewardship in business. This wise and optimistic
book examines the rampant scandals that plague American
corporations today and shows how companies can reverse the
resulting climate of mistrust. By seizing the opportunity
to address some of the nation's -- and the world's -- most
serious problems, business can strengthen its reputation
for integrity and service and advance to a new stage of
ethical legitimacy. Daniel Yankelovich, a social scientist
and an experienced member of the corporate boardroom, describes
the toxic convergence of cultural and business trends that
has led inexorably to corporate scandals. Yet he offers
reassurance that opportunity exists for positive change.
Creative business leaders can advance market capitalism
to its next stage of evolution, building upon business norms,
that emphasize simultaneously the legitimacy of profit making
and the importance of the care that companies give to employees,
customers, and the larger society.
Yankeovich asserts that American culture
has abandoned its old tradition of enlightened self-interest,
of "doing well by doing good." A narrow legalism
has taken over: "I didn't break the law; therefore
I didn't do anything wrong." Yankelovich argues that
attempts to deal with such flawed ethical norms by means
of more laws and regulations cannot succeed. He offers a
series of case histories to show how and why stewardship
ethics can strengthen individuals, corporations, the nation,
and the world economy.
Daniel Yankelovich is chairman of Viewpoint
Learning, of Public Agenda, and of DYG, Inc. He is best
known for his work in the field of social values and public
opinion, and has served on the boards of numerous corporations,
including CBS, Educational Testing Service, Diversified
Energies, Loral Space & Communications, and US West.
He is the coeditor, with Norton Garfinkle, of Uniting
America: Restoring the Vital Center to American Democracy,
also published by Yale University Press.
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