In this timely book, Lee Tavis and Timothy Tavis contend that the values dimension of the actions of multinational firms is becoming increasingly important, given the worldwide integration of economies and peoples. The digital revolution has broadened the reach of globalization and created an informed society that demands higher standards of behavior from the business enterprise; at the same time, multinational corporations have gained power often comparable to that of the nation state, and global society is in need of widely accepted, enduring social and ethical standards. Tavis and Tavis argue that multinational firms must embrace an ethically pro-active stance in their own long-term interests. A strategy of supporting universal human rights, often in partnership with NGOs, offers the greatest potential for success.
Values-Based Multinational Management provides an agenda for practical action, with special reference to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Global Compact. It informs and addresses the values concerns of multinational business managers. It presents its examples and analyses in a clear and concise manner and will be of use both to practitioners in the business community and students and scholars of business ethics.
About the Author :
Timothy M. Tavis holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Texas, Austin, and is a private practitioner in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Lee A. Tavis is C. R. Smith Professor of Finance, emeritus, at the University of Notre Dame.
Review :
"This book presents a provocative, controversial and optimistic thesis. [The author's] argument is, in my view, worthy of consideration and debate if only as a counterweight to more pessimistic examples and views of the human possibilities embedded in global economies." —Journal of Markets and Morality
"This study claims that the values dimensions of the actions of multinational firms are becoming increasingly important, given the worldwide integration of economies and peoples. The authors argue that it is in their own long-term interests for multinational firms to embrace an active ethical stance. A strategy of supporting universal human rights, often in partnership with NGOs, offers the greatest potential for success." —Abstracts of Public Administration, Development, and Environment
"This book underlines the fact that—despite the importance of institutional and social ethics—the individual ethics, if not virtue ethics, of corporate leaders remain central. Of highest importance is the authors' emphasis that no individuals—in whatever professional or personal role—can escape the fact that they are responsible for the outcome of their actions. It is to be hoped that this book revitalizes a facet of the debate on business ethics and corporate responsibility that has been neglected for too long." —Klaus M. Leisinger, Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development
"More and more business executives understand that society increasingly judges corporate performance through a broad social lens that includes ideas of corporate social responsibility and business ethics. They are now ready to position their firms to meet these requirements. This volume is a thoughtful discussion of the ways in which the United Nations Global Compact can serve this purpose through a long-term human rights strategy and, importantly, how that strategy can be implemented within the firm." —Georg Kell, UN Global Compact
"Values-Based Multinational Management employs a novel approach and a variety of perspectives that make it a very valuable addition to business ethics literature. This is excellent, helpful material that discusses an important way in which human rights may fit with globalization." —Timothy L. Fort, George Washington University
