I rented The Corporation DVD last night. When the movie first came out I gave it a pass thinking it was another tirade against globalization. However, after seeing it, I am ready to take on the challenges it presents. I do not agree with the Director's conclusion that people power must overthrow and dismantle corporate hegemony. However, I do agree that business and corporations in particular need to be held accountable. This movie is trying to do that and I applaud that effort no matter how one sided and biased it is against corporations.

It is not really a movie but rather a documentary about Corporations. It is based on Joel Bakan's book "The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power." The main thesis of the movie is that if corporations are considered under law to be legal persons, what kinds of persons would they be?  The answer according to the makers of the movie is that they would be clinically diagnosed as "psychopaths" - persons who operate without a conscience. For more information you can visit the movie's website.

If you are pro business and a capitalist, this movie is going to be difficult for you to watch. However, if you are a person of faith, who wants to live that faith at work and you are open to being challenged by the evident misdeeds of business, this is a MUST watch movie for you.

Ray Anderson, of Interface, the world's largest manufacture of commercial carpets, gives a passionate plea for corporations to "do no harm." He stands out as a CEO who is trying to live what he believes. He was inspired by Paul Hawken's book, The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability. He has directed his company to produce carpets without using non renewable resources. His goal is that 2020 his company will operate "without an environmental footprint"

Ray Anderson's talk (see Disc 2: The Invisible Hand is Blind) about the real cost of production NOT being reflected in the price of a product is an excellent introduction to the problem of externalities.

As Bakan describes an "Externality is any cost that the corporation can unload onto somebody else… Reducing its cost by imposing it on others." For example, an externality is the social cost of a company laying off a workforce in a North American town so it can produce product cheaper in a Latin American town. The cost savings for the corporation is a social cost paid by the former workforce. This is an externality because the social cost is borne by the old workforce and the community and not by the corporation. The goal of corporations is to maximize profits by creating efficiencies. Offloading these externalities onto communities is a means by which they can create these efficiencies.

Is this just?  That is the question the movie asks and it is a question that faith at work people must start asking of themselves and of the companies they work for.  

There are a number of websites that counter the evident anti business bias of Bakan such as The Ethical Corporation (http://www.ethicalcorp.com) and articles, such as Chris Marsden's "Dealing with Joel Bakan's Pathological Corporation. (He is a former BP Community Affairs director); and, Mark Goyder, the Director of Centre for Tomorrow's company, entitled Balking at Bakan's view of big Bad business. Another web is Business for Social Responsibility.

Is there an opportunity here for Faith at Work people to take on the challenge of reforming business so that business serves the common good by addressing things like externalities and not just the good of shareholders? For us to be able to recommend the gospel with integrity we cannot shirk this responsibility. This is why I heartily recommend it as a MUST SEE for the Faith at Work community.

By the way, Peter Drucker comments on the changing role of corporations (Disc 2: The Corporation is in Decline). He predicts Corporations will go from being the be all and end all for economic production to playing a strategic coordinating function as their business is outsourced to many private contractors. This is a very insightful comment by Drucker on what the future holds for Corporations. I think he has in mind Dee Hock's story of Visa Corporation and his concept of the Birth of the Chaordic Age. For you strategic thinkers I highly recommend reading this book to get an idea of what the future looks like for international business. Also, for the strategic thinkers in the Faith at Work movement you need to be familiar with these authors and these concepts.

Here is a fellow faith Blogger who is commenting on this and mentioning Christian Social Justice activist Ron Sider.

There was a debate on Globalization and Corporate ethics sponsored by The Centre for Applied Ethics between Ron Sider and Michal Novak. Click here for the article detailing the results of the debate.

This post is tagged a Technocrati as the FIRST Faith at Work Tag. Please tag your blogs to this tag.

UPDATE:

I have come across two good books that take up the challenge of reforming the corporation so that it does good.

Faith and Fortune by Mark Gunther who is senior is a senior writer at Fortune Magazine. "faith provides the fuel that energizes these people as they strive to do business better. Some have faith in God, while others do not. But all of them have faith in the goodness of people and faith in the possibility of change. Most of all, they have faith that corporations, guided by strong values, can become a powerful force for good in the world..."

Joy at Work by Dennis Bakke who is a former CEO of the AES enger. "Joy at Work is about two of my passions: To create the most fun workplace in human history and to teach the world the real purpose of large organizations, including businesses. It is the story of my journey, warts and all, to create a workplace where people can use their ability to reason, make important decisions and hold themselves responsible for the results in an effort to help their organizations serve the world in an economically sustainable manner."

For a critical review of the Bakke book go here"