34 years is a very long time. It surprises me to think that I’ve been an academic for that long. What else might one do with a PhD, or so I’d thought after I’d finished studying – in India and in the US. First at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and then at the University of Oxford, I’d taught at the business school and researched a variety of topics under the general rubric of Marketing. Publishing papers in academic journals, chairing scholarly conferences, guiding doctoral students and advising companies had taken me around the world and shed insights on the way people and organizations think and work. In later years, my interest had migrated from the mechanics of business to its impact on society. This stream holds the most importance to me when I look back at 34 years.
Beyond Selfishness
A syndrome of selfishness, built on a series of half-truths, has taken hold of our corporations and our societies, as well as our minds.This calculus of glorified self-interest and the fabrications upon which it is based must be challenged.
The Ethical Backlash of Corporate Branding
Past decades have witnessed the growing success of branding as a corporate activity as well as a rise in anti-brand activism. While appearing to be contradictory, both trends have emerged from common sources – the transition from industrial to post-industrial society,and the advent of globalization – the examination of which might lead to a socially grounded understanding of why brand success in the future is likely to demand more than superior product performance, placing increasing demand on corporations with regard to a broader envelop of socially responsible behavior. Directions for strategic and managerial options are suggested.
Corporate social responsibility
Although businesses have started to ac-knowledge the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and a wide variety of initiatives have come to light (Nelson, 2004), the recent spate of corporate scandals, accounting frauds, allegations of executive greed, and dubious business practices has given ammunition to critics who have leveled a variety of charges,ranging from deception (Lantos, 1999) and manipulating perceptions (Wicks, 2001) to piece-meal adhocism (Porter & Kramer, 2002).
“Has academics helped your fiction? I am asked sometimes. It has, but indirectly – is my cautious answer. Besides offering wide ranging exposure to our world, it has taught me to be precise, and the craft of revision in order to bring to paper the voice that I hear in my ears.”
