Globalization and the Good Corporation

Abstract

alization and the Good Corporation." It followed our first conference that took place in 2004 and examined new modes of corporate responses to social issues through voluntary codes of conduct and other initiatives. In the conference, our attempt was to engage in a dialogue that would lead to a better understanding of societal expectations of the corporation and especially the large multinational corporation in its impact on various factors of production, sociopolitical institutions, and people in rich and poor countries around the world. Equally important were the questions of the power or discretion available to private sector institutions in determining the distribution of wealth and income among various factors of production in a manner that is efficient, feasible, and above all, equitable. Recent trends in globalization have conclusively demonstrated that economic and socio-political problems of the 21st century would need to be confronted in the context of the inter-dependent nature of the world and its inhabitants. The emerging global economic order has once again brought capitalism and its principal actor, the large multinational corporation, to the apex of social institutions. Unlike the 1960s, when the multinational corporation was seen as a threat to national sovereignty and political freedom, the new world views the multinational corporation in a more positive role, i.e., as an agent of economic growth and social-political changes across nations. The nature of heightened societal expectations of the role of the modern corporation, however, remains unclear and unsettled. And yet, it must be addressed so as to bring about a sense of social equilibrium between business and other institutions of society. It is no longer possible or even instructive to view the world through the simple prism of right and wrong, good and bad, guilt or innocence. Instead, we are faced with the dilemma that pits one type of inequality over another, and giving more to one group while taking from the other. In such a world, the distinctions between the guilty and innocent have become ambiguous. We are faced with the realization that we are living in an increasingly interdependent society where individual good is not possible without thought for the common good. It makes no sense to separate moral principles from institutional behavior, political power from economic influence, and environmental values from material rewards. To do so is to divorce the social