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a case study to the contrary

Page history last edited by PBworks 4 years, 11 months ago

First, allow me to outline the main weakness of the corporation:

 

Corporations are often unhealthy because,

A)their legally obligatory mission is simply to create wealth for shareholders.

B)they are legally defined as an entity.

 

Scientific study has proven that human beings tend to project responsibility for their negative actions onto other people (forgive my lack of reference, but feel free to research this for yourself). For example, a famous psychological study took participants into a room with a control panel and a one way mirror. In the next room over a man sat tied in a chair with wires attached to his body. The participants were instructed that the dial on the control panel would send various degrees of electric shock to the man in the next room. While most people refused to turn the dial, when a man in a lab coat with a clipboard was sent in to tell them to do so, they complied. This is a rough retelling, but the point is that people will behave in ways they otherwise would not if told to do so by an authority figure. In this way, employees behave unethically to please a boss. A boss behaves unethically to please the CEO. The CEO behaves unethically to please the board of directors. The board of directors behaves unethically to please the stockholders. The stockholders are so numerous and detached from the actual behavior of the business, that they feel no responsibility by investing in the company (usually it's a short term relationship anyway). The same is true for customers. Their investment is so small that they feel no responsibility for supporting an unethical firm.

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