Tyranny of the Bottom Line: Why Corporation Make Good People Do Bad Things

by Ralph W. Estes

In a thought-provoking proposal which maintains that corporations be held responsible to their customers, employees, and society, as well as to their financial investors, Estes lays out a plan to reform the corporate system which could result in a savings to society of up to $2.5 trillion.

Genres: Economics

312 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 1995

Reviews

[Darcie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book beats any Business Ethics course you could ever take. Very interesting read about the Ford Pintos bursting into flames, companies choosing to pay settlements than correcting the problem because its more cost effective, etc.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though this book won't exactly suck you in as compelling, the material is foundational to understanding the fundamental flaws in the the corporate capitalist system.

Estes' arguments are convincing, specific, and well conceived. This should be a requirement for all business students.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having rrreead the work of David Korten, I was not as impressed as I otherwise might have been. The message of both authors is very similar, with Korten's work being a bit more in-depth. However, I do not regret reading this, as Estes' focus is slightly different, and provided a few new insights. His prescription is less radical than Korten's, focusing on disclosure to all stakeholders. Seems like a good intermediary step, if nothing else, something more realistic in the near term. Sadly, it's been twenty years since this book was published, and I've never heard of any action on this idea. I wonder if a radical change in campaign finance reform, to reduce the infliuence of corporations on the legislative process, would be necessary before even this rather simple and moderate reform is possible?

In any case, this is a good book for introducing people to the problems inherent in our corporate dominated economy, and some steps we can take to mitigate them.

[mharipin · Rating 4 out of 5]

ck ck ck ck...
what can i say, mr. ester has wrote a great book about corporations abuse in the USA.

i really recommended this book to everyone who want to know about the brutality of exploitative-production-chain inside the corporations, for example bayer.


regards,
mh.