The Global P.I.E.
| A revolution in management values is in the making. Recent events show that consumers -- the
ultimate masters of commerce -- are demanding accountability. The customer is, once again, despite the "empty" slogans of the past, king(queen). Look at the evidence. Newt Gingrich recently resigned, accepting responsibility (finally) for presiding over a Republican electoral campaign, characterized by brazen character attacks against the President of the U.S.A. The symbol of democratic stewardship, Gingrich was ruled "out of touch and out of step" with rank and file Republicans, who perceived leadership (the management of policies and resources) to be less an exercise of power, than an exercise in principle. Bill Clinton's personal principle was to ultimately accept full accountability for his actions and atone for them to the American public. Ethics ultimately prevailed. There is obvious profit to that stance since Clinton is "in", and Gingrich is "out". Now, one could argue that political leadership runs on its own tracks; and, does not parallel corporate leadership. That's a convenient, but incompetent rationale. The corporate stakeholder is the ultimate beneficiary of who's at the policy helm, and is in a position to raise Cain at annual general meetings; launch civil actions for mismanagement; and use accounting principles to demand "accountability". The two domains -- political and business --, therefore, very much run on the same tracks. |
CEO's and the Boards of Directors of various corporations have discovered to their chagrin that
"Old Boy" networks no longer have the muscle they once did, to run rough shod over shareholders
or over the public. In fact, they have been shown that new campaigns -- contemporary campaigns --
require totally different battle strategies (sensitive strategies), if they are to enjoy public approval. What strategies are those? New management, Profit in Ethics (PIE) strategies, are characterized by three principles (1) true accountability, (2) real accessibility, and (3) genuine humanity. The Multilateral Agreement on Investment PRINCIPLE 1 -- True Accountability. By putting its objectives and intent "above the law of sovereign nations" the MAI movement clearly demonstrated an unwitting arrogance that has led to its doom. Not only did MAI's proponents demonstrate tactless tactics, but porous judgement. The holes in the fabric of the MAI thinking might well have been patched by ethical displays of concern for its critics and a reasoned response to those concerns. PRINCIPLE 2 -- Real accessibility by CEO's has been spurned by a number of world-wide corporations. The chemical spill in Kyrgyzstan immediately comes to mind. When the spill -- accidental though it was -- contaminated (even minutely) the national waters of Kyrgyzstan, two things happened. Firstly, corporate spokespeople (not the C.E.O.) disputed and contested the severity of the alleged contamination. Secondly, they downplayed their involvement in this incident. |
Both approaches were unnecessary and, in fact, countervailing. Both approaches implied a lack
of concern for public reaction given the current world-wide preoccupation with the environment.
What the C.E.O. might have done is threefold; (1) as CEO, become the immediate spokesperson (accessibility) for the Company position; (2) express genuine concern for whatever damage the inadvertent truck spill created (humanity); and (3) make a commitment to participate fully to remedy whatever portion of the damage the corporation caused (accountability). This global awareness, Profit In Ethics (PIE), management approach would have earned significant currency for the future. PRINCIPLE 3 -- Genuine humanity must be the hallmark of the next millennium's corporate leader. Central America and the Caribbean are two recent member areas of our Global Community to suffer massive damage to their infrastructure. Hurricane havoc has caused death, deprivation and diminution of that area's potential. While the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) immediately declared support for area victims, corporations did not. The public, would applaud any and all corporate citizens who assisted. Being a Good Corporate Neighbour through PIE management in a global economy is extremely good business today. Getting a bigger piece of the global pie is very much the result of the new global awareness strategies. Norman K. Rebin |
