William C. Frederick’s new book, CORPORATION, BE GOOD! THE STORY OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing, Inc., 2006), has just been published. Told in an eyewitness, I-was-there style by a pioneer of the study of CSR, it takes the reader through a half century of corporate scandals and fierce struggles over corporate ethics—from the early beginnings in the 1950s to the current scandals at Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco. The author’s professional career paralleled these developments, and he has been a major contributor to CSR thinking, research, and teaching. This retrospective view captures the essence of CSR and what it requires of today’s business leaders and their companies.

CSR’s development through the years is chronicled in five major parts:

The author revisits some of his earlier landmark papers and concepts, placing them in an updated context with new chapters on Enron-like scandals, globalization, and the behavioral impacts on corporate culture revealed by evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and genetics. He includes a critique of MBA education and its failings, an allegorical dialogue between a fictional Pope John Paul II and scientist Bill Joy of SunMicrosystems, and a behind-the-scenes look at how ethics was once done at HBS. Frederick’s been-there/done-that outlook about CSR’s future is generally upbeat.

The book can be ordered on-line:

www.amazon.com
www.barnesandnoble.com
www.borders.com
www.dogearpublishing.net

Bill Frederick is Professor Emeritus of Business Administration, Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, and can be contacted at billfred@katz.pitt.edu