"The Civil Corporation is top drawer reading for business professionals, management students and academics, activists and public servants. It goes to the heart of the issue of business in society, cutting through the rhetoric of campaigners and business-speak by framing the tough questions in balanced and yet provocative terms. Crucially, it connects an insightful vista of the broader landscape with a set of practical 'do's' that have stood the test of time."--BOOK JACKET. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Zadek (Harvard Univ., Kennedy School) wants to provide "a 'beta version' of the organization of business" in a society in which corporations' size and global reach makes them players in the public policy arena. With influence comes responsibility for the social and environmental impacts of corporate activities. Zadek takes a "skeptically optimistic view" of the possibilities for companies to be economically successful while building social and environmental objectives into their businesses. The book's numerous models for measurement and standardization and its abundant graphs, bullet points, and clever nomenclature (e.g., the Oasis, Desert, and Mecca pathways to ethical trading) will appeal to practitioners, but the dense prose and overabundant examples may put them off. Zadek's focus on the future does not excuse the historical inaccuracy of calling the 1990s "the first generation" of corporate social responsibility. Howard Bowen's Social Responsibilities of the Businessman (1953) has been acknowledged as the first major statement on the role of business in society, and Lee Preston and James Post's 1975 book, Private Management and Public Policy, talked about "interpenetrating" systems of business and government. Beyond a new introduction, it is not clear how much this revised edition differs from the 2001 original. Summing Up: Recommended. Comprehensive business collections, especially those serving MBA programs. Graduate Students; Professionals/Practitioners. Reviewed by M. S. Myers. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

List of Figures and Boxes	viii
Preface	x
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations	xiii
Introduction: Beyond the Mainstream	1
Part 1 The New Economy of Corporate Citizenship
1 Can Corporations Be Civil?	29
2 Opening Minds	42
3 Ethical Futures	51
4 Breaking the Trust Barrier	63
5 Civil Regulation	76
6 Framing the Business Case	90
7 The Future of the Civil Regulators	102
8 The New Civil Governance	115
Part 2 The Civil Corporation
9 Foundations of Sustainability	131
10 Sustainability as the Art of the Possible	148
11 Civil Learning	162
Part 3 Building the Civil Corporation
12 Building Civil Corporations	179
13 How Much is Enough?	184
14 Useful Measures	196
15 Conversational Corporations	219
16 Professionalizing Credibility	232
Part 4 Conclusions
17 How Civil Can Corporations Be?	245
Notes	252
Bibliography	269
Index	280

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.