Corporate Corruption - The Abuse of Power (Hardcover, New)

Sociologist Clinard (coauthor of Corporate Crime, 1980) is back at the same old stand, whaling away at the presumptive venality of big business, American style. Relying mainly on secondary sources, Clinard targets the automotive, energy, drug, and defense industries as leading violators of ethical canons. By the Naderite author's jaundiced account, neither customers nor employees, host communities, and stockholders are safe from the misconduct of top US enterprises. Offering largely anecdotal evidence in support of this stand, Clinard cites twice-told tales of fraudulent cost overruns at Pentagon suppliers, illegal contributions to political campaigns, price-fixing, defiance of health/safety regulations, dumping of toxic wastes, bribery, and allied abuses of the public trust. Not too surprisingly, he has a little list of reform recommendations, which include tougher enforcement of extant laws, protection for socalled whistleblowers, federal chartering of consequential corporations, controls on the size of large companies, and means to the end of curbing cutthroat competition. Clinard's charges make an impression by virtue of appearing in one place - but, unfortunately, the author is given to unsubstantiated pronouncements and innuendo. Cases in point: the allegation that pharmaceuticals houses have used their marketing muscle to hook American consumers on prescription drugs and the arguable contention that military contracts afford higher margins than commercial work. In the context of a prospering domestic economy, moreover, Clinard's polemic raises an unintended issue, i.e., not whether multinationals are guilty of wrongdoing (as many obviously are), but what standards of proof may legitimately be used to impeach their collective as well as individual records. A hatchet job with a blunt instrument. (Kirkus Reviews)

In recent years, the media have been full of stories about ethical decline. Illegal dealings have been uncovered in the banking and savings and loan industries as well as the highest levels of Congress and government administration. Even television evangelism has been seriously tarnished by scandal. "Corporate Corruption" is the first wide ranging book to turn the spotlight on the unethical and illegal behavior of America's giant corporations and their executives: the prestigious Fortune 500. While avoiding the undignified zealotry of tabloid muck-raking, this well-researched volume explores corporate abuse and examines the disparity between the facts of corporate misconduct and the glowing image that advertising and other media portray of these corporations.

Marshall Clinard identifies the auto, oil, pharmaceutical, and defense industries as the major offenders. He devotes a chapter to each of these areas in addition to chapters on corporate violence, corporate bribery, and a final discussion of how to correct these widespread abuses. Although their massive productive capacities and innovative powers have contributed immeasurably to the high standard of living that many Americans enjoy, far too often corporations have abused the public trust, the people who use their products, their own employees and stockholders, the environment, and even the Third World that they profess to help. From illegally disposing of hazardous waste to defiance of health and safety standards to price-fixing, corporate violations cost hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of lives. The magnitude of their offenses becomes clear when one considers that a single corporate offense may run into millions of dollars in losses, while the average cost of a burglary is $600 and the average larceny $400. In some cases, the cost of a single case of corporate misconduct may exceed a billion dollars. Having published three earlier books on corporate misbehavior and having received two grants from the U.S. Department of Justice to make specific corporate studies, Clinard is well-qualified to bring insight, experience, and unblinking scrutiny to what he describes as a story that must be told. Corporate Corruption is a must for anyone concerned about the widespread breakdown of ethics in contemporary society and the role played by large corporations when they abuse their power. It is also of interest to persons involved in business management, complex organizations, criminology, general ethics, and, in fact, to any responsible customer.

General

Imprint:	Praeger Publishers Inc
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	March 1990
First published:	March 1990
Authors:	Marshall Clinard
Dimensions:	229 x 152 x 19mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	224
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-0-275-93485-9
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > General Books > Business & Economics > General
LSN:	0-275-93485-3
Barcode:	9780275934859

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