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Among the 15 Financial Times semi-finalists for business book of the year are two on corporate responsibility. In principle this might seem normal, after all we are at the beginning of emerging from a deep crisis that many attribute to a lack of responsibility and it would be very normal if many books had been published on the subject of responsibility. But books are not written overnight, although more and more quickly (three days after Michael Jackson's death, a book was published in China, mostly based on information available on the Internet). But serious books take a little longer. Hopefully next year we will see more books on responsibility. Many of the books considered deal with the financial crisis, in part because the prize is sponsored by Goldman Sachs and the Financial Times. As the same newspaper says, the nearly 200 books considered could be classified into three categories: “What happened, how it can be prevented from happening again, and how it had already happened (and no one remembered).” However, among the 15 finalists there are 7 that could be classified as general management books. Among these there are two in particular that deal with the topic of corporate responsibility management and that from their tenor appear to have been in process for several years, although the crisis may have hastened their publication.
The first is SuperCorp by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a prolific Phone Number List Harvard professor, who publishes a book every couple of years on popular business topics, generally haranguing managers to improve their management. They are books written for the mass market. In this case, the book analyzes the actions of several companies over the last three years and describes cases that have put doing good on the same level, or sometimes above, doing business, and how it has turned out to be a successful strategy. Of course, these are just examples that can be chosen to communicate the desired message, but they can be very effective for promoters of responsible practices when it comes to stimulating imitations and overcoming resistance from some managers. Especially when it comes to companies like IBM, Banco Real, CEMEX, (if there are cases from Latin America!) and Procter and Gamble, among others. The book aims to demonstrate the synergies between doing good and financial returns, the competitive advantages of taking advantage of the values of new generations of professionals and the opportunities to make alliances and integrate acquisitions based on values and not on circumstantial egos. The second book is Good Value by Stephen Green. The author is especially qualified to write on the subject, since he is an Anglican pastor in addition to being the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the HSBC Group, which has one of the best capitalized banks in the world and a world leader in sustainability issues, which largely It is due to his personal leadership.
Green is a professional executive who writes one or two books in his life, probably with the aim of writing down his legacy and values and offering some advice to others (this book is written with the support of a former editor of the Financial Times). The book analyzes the negative and positive aspects (not only material but also spiritual and cultural) of globalization, from a historical context, arguing that the issue is more than economic, commercial and political and that it also includes the spiritual development of the human being. It also covers the trade-offs between individual responsibilities and market demands. In a recent interview Green expressed that “the value provided to the shareholder cannot and should not be elevated above all the rest. It is a byproduct of the provision of goods and services. When the by-product becomes the end, the entire market is distorted. The market is necessary but not sufficient. NO to market fundamentalism.” This said by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of one of the largest, most profitable and most responsible banks in the world. As much or more illustrative than the examples in the previous book The subtitles are also very indicative. Moss Kanter's is "How cutting-edge companies create innovation, profits, growth and social well-being" and Green's is "Reflections on money, morality and an uncertain world."
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