In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Sustainable Development: The UN Millennium Development Goals, the UN Global Compact, and the Common Good ed. by Oliver F. Williams
  • Joanne Bauer
Oliver F. Williams, ed. Sustainable Development: The UN Millennium Development Goals, the UN Global Compact, and the Common Good. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2014. ix + 421 pp. ISBN-10:0-268-04429-5, $47.00 (paper).

This volume is a collection of papers from a 2011 conference organized by the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business, the UN Global Compact, and the Principles for Responsible Management Education. Its purpose, as defined by editor Oliver Williams, is to “help people understand that business serves the common good” (p. 6) by producing good products and services and providing a “hand up” to those who lack the resources and skills to participate in the market. Filling this void, Williams says, can “greatly impact a company’s ability to operate, compete and thrive” (p.7).

That explanation is resonant with what is known as the “business case” for corporate social responsibility: the argument that tending to the interests of one’s stakeholders improves brand reputation; prevents protests and litigation; enhances the recruitment, retainment, and productivity of the best and brightest employees; and, ultimately, yields higher profits. The business case, however, is precisely what the editor and some of the volume’s other contributors lament: It is insufficient for the task of ensuring corporate responsibility. For example, companies that are not “consumer facing” brands need not be as sensitive to reputational risk, and cost–benefit analyses do not always favor the interests of a company’s stakeholders over those of their shareholders. If business is going to play a major role in addressing the world’s most pressing problems, including poverty, climate change, and inequality, these authors argue, there needs to be a moral foundation for action and a repositioning of the role of business in society to create what contributor and Boston College professor Sandra Waddock refers to as “a ‘common good’ conception of business” (pp. 382–385).

Although Waddock and several other contributors criticize the business case as inadequate and instead call for a rethinking of the role of business in society, other contributors—including Mark Kennedy, a former senior executive of Macy’s and U.S. congressman; business school professor James O’Rourke; and contributors from the private sector—promote it. This divide among the contributors over the meaning of corporate responsibility could have been developed as a very useful debate had the editor identified it as such by demonstrating more deliberation in framing and compiling the contributions. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Overall, the volume suffers from a lack of coherence, which is evident in other ways, starting with the title. Some chapters address the [End Page 202] role of business in society, whereas others, which are interspersed with these chapters in no particular order, assess the effectiveness of the UN Global Compact (UNGC) or the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, if the purpose of the volume is, as its editor states, to demonstrate that “business serves the common good,” a justification for focusing on these two initiatives is lacking.

Also missing is a clear articulation of how these initiatives are linked to each other and to “sustainable development,” which is left undefined. Williams’ statement in the introduction that the MDGs gave the UNGC “added force” (p. 6) muddles the historical fact that the UNGCwas created in 2000 by then Secretary General Kofi Annan as a vehicle to get business involved in the projects of the UN—peace building, respecting rights, eradicating poverty, and catalyzing business support for the newly created MDGs. To do this, the UNGC tasks signatory companies with aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. A retrospective examination of how well the UNGC has done in achieving that vision is an important project, which would have been better served by a stronger editorial hand.

The book is divided into three parts. Each of the chapters in Part I, “Business and the Millennium Development Goals,” authored by a senior corporate manager, provides an...

pdf

Share