Good Corporation, Bad Corporation: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Economy

Reviewed by Pavlina McGrady, Assistant Professor, Southern Oregon University on 6/30/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The book covers a comprehensive list of topics related to CSR. Common topics such as climate change, social entrepreneurship, fair trade, marketing ethics, and issues with sweatshops are included. I think that it is important that topics such as corruption and the relationship between corporations and politics are also part of the book. Although corruption is sometimes added to frameworks for sustainability (e.g., the UN Global Compact), the topic of politics is often omitted, perhaps due to the “inconvenience” of the political discussions, particularly in the classroom. Yet, the role of corporations in politics is so major that it should certainly be added to the CSR discussion.
On the other hand, although the topic of GMOs is also important, I think that it perhaps does not deserve a complete chapter.
Lastly, I think that social aspects of CSR should be added – topics of diversity, equity =, and inclusion are certainly part of CSR but perhaps were not as prominent at the time of writing this book. Another topic that has become more critical in the last few years is regeneration, which is also omitted. To sum up, I do think that the topics covered are all relevant, but some new critical topics are missing.
On the positive side, I truly enjoyed the variety of cases from different sectors and from around the world. The definitions provided at the beginning of the chapters are very valuable from a student's perspective. That is one challenge I struggle with in my corporate sustainability classes – there are students for whom that is the first sustainability-related course and others who know a lot about the topic. Thus, it is important to lay the foundation to ensure that everyone is on the same page before getting into specifics.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I found the content accurate and very unbiased. Each chapter offered the two sides of the idea – e.g., the views of republicans and democrats, climate change – pro and skeptics, pro and con GMOs, pro and con organic, pro and con fair trade, etc. Additionally, a few topics were addressed from the perceptions of the various stakeholders – e.g., health food perspective, the hospitals perspective, etc.
I did not detect any errors, but a lot of data is very outdated - references from the early 2000s were abundant, and the most “current” references were from 2013-2014).

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

This is perhaps the biggest weakness of the book. Although the topics of climate change, GMOs, fair trade, sweatshops, etc., are still very relevant in 2022, there were quite a few references from the early 2000s throughout the book, which is over twenty years ago! The most “current” references were from 2013-2014, and thus, they are still very outdated. That is particularly important for statistics, tables, graphs, etc., but some outdated comments were noted in the text. For example, there was a discussion about how renewable energy is still very expensive and not widely available, which is not the case in 2022.
Updates will not be very easily implemented.

Clarity rating: 5

The text uses accessible language, and technical terms are explained - the key terms and ideas are first explained at the beginning of most chapters (e.g., CSR, climate change, IPCC, GMO, fair trade, etc.). As pointed out earlier, it is important to lay the foundation to ensure that everyone is on the same page before getting into specifics.
The text is very clear and adequate in terms of language and organization.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent as all chapters and case studies are directly linked to the idea of CSR, exploring both sides of the story – pros and cons, adding perceptions from the various stakeholders’ perspectives.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is very well-organized and easily divisible into smaller reading sections. I think that the core topics are covered well at the beginning of the chapter as n overview, followed by some case studies (sometimes integrated into the overview). I appreciated the discussions and the variety of readings and summaries. Once again, a lot of the readings were outdated, but the debate topics were very interesting.
I liked the comment that productive discussions are “those that open our eyes to different perspectives and different types of facts.” The affirmative and negative sides of the cases were great, and I really liked the synthesis questions.
Each chapter is split up into smaller, manageable subsections, with opportunities for reorganization if needed; subheadings are clear.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Yes, everything is organized clearly with subheadings, great case studies, discussions, and synthesis questions. My only comment is that “real” page numbers are missing – the numbers are 1.2.4, for example, indicating that it is the fourth page of the second chapter, but I would like to see the 1-150 page numbers so that I can easily find a specific page 😊

Interface rating: 5

The text is well-organized, and no interface issues were noted. Charts, images, etc., are not distorted.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammar errors were noted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

No culturally-offensive examples were noted. I found the text inclusive in terms of examples and case studies. Perhaps more companies from underdeveloped countries could be referenced, but overall, no major issues in terms of cultural aspects.

Reviewed by Dorothy Nelson, Assistant Professor, Virginia State University on 8/28/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This book covers many topics from climate change to GMOs to fair trade to animal rights. There may be a few other topics that could be covered more thoroughly and extensively in an updated text.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book seems to be accurate, error-free and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

This book was published in 2016 and I believe there is room for updating and adding relevant case studies and examples for incidents that have occurred in the past 6 years. One thing that could be addressed is the COVID-19 pandemic and how that has changed the corporate landscape.

Clarity rating: 4

This book would be most appropriate for a higher-level or graduate-level class. Undergraduate students may find it to be a bit challenging.

Consistency rating: 5

The book seems to be internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

Modularity rating: 5

The way the book is broken down allows for this book to be used in application to different course topics.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The topics seem to be organized in a logical, clear fashion.

Interface rating: 5

The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The book seems to be free of grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I did not see any specific culturally insensitive or offensive content.

Comments

This is an interesting text and I can see it being used in a class focusing on corporation ethics, etc. To be used in my own personal courses I would like to see it focus even more on the textiles industries and discuss more on pollution, emissions, sustainability, etc. in addition to the topics of fair trade, sweatshops, and animal rights--though those particular chapters could be used to supplement course material. There is discussion of organic food, but not organic textiles, etc. The discussion on animal rights and fashion is interesting, though it would be helpful to mention and discuss (more in detail) the companies that work very hard to be animal cruelty-free. They mentioned Patagonia, for example, but only once and did not go into detail on many of the things they have done for CSR.

Reviewed by Keith Tierney, Faculty, Linn-Benton Community College on 3/3/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The book is not extensive but is a good secondary text.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The book is accurate but not extensive.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

Text is relevant as a introduction to topic but not current.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is clear, concise and well written.

Consistency rating: 4

The text is consistent in the application of Corporate Social Responsibility.

Modularity rating: 4

The text is easily divisible into subtopics and will be a good secondary text.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text is easy to follow and topical issues are easy to follow and apply to the major theme of the book.

Interface rating: 4

The text is a good secondary text to major topic of business ethics and has no distortion in charts and figures.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammar mistakes were noted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The topic of ethics and corporation social responsibility has no cultural issues.

Comments

Book Review
Good Corporation, Bad Corporation- Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Economy, Guillermo C. Jimenez, Elizabeth Pulos, Open SUNY Textbooks 2016
This book is well written and researched with good references. It is a good secondary text. It has 12 chapters in 175 pages with four appendices. In the first 2 chapters it introduces and explains the differences between Corporation Social Responsibility (CRS) and ethics. The remaining 10 chapters are examples of CRS. It does not provide an extensive study of ethical theory. Some current areas of CRS not covered include banking fraud, financial abuse and product liability. Chapter topics include Climate change, Genetically Modified Organisms, Marketing Ethics, Organic Food, Fair Trade, Sweat Shops, Corporate corruption in International Business, Citizens United and Corporations first Amendment rights in Politics and Animal Rights. Each Chapter provides a discussing of the topic followed by Affirmative and Negative positions, List of Readings, Synthesis Questions and Endnotes.

Reviewed by Karen Meyers, Assistant Visiting Professor, Miami Unversity Oxford, Ohio on 8/2/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The book is comprehensive in the topics it covers with three exceptions which are Corporate Fraud and Disclosure Challenges Based on Accounting Practices and The Impact of Sales Goal and Performance Reviews on Unethical Behavior and Related Cover Up and Retaliation Practices, as well as The consequence of Cultural, Race and Gender Bias. Related to and embedded in those three topics are stakeholder analysis and impact with associated monetary and reputation loss. It would also benefit from an update of occurrences since 2012-13 in all the denoted topics and current chapters.

Its Chapter Format and Divisions are exceptionally well done from a teaching and learning perspective.

A Glossary of terms would also be helpful. Chapters 1 and 2 lay out a superb frame for critical thinking. They could be enhanced with a Stakeholder Identification and Impact Methodology.

The Index Could be expanded to include Sub Topic and Company references.

All in all this is a good text from many perspectives. With improvement in topical coverage and some of the above noted items it will become an excellent text.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The content is accurate. No blatant errors were identified.

Bias is a difficult issue in the covered topics When reading I kept coming back to How is Corporate Social Responsibility Measured?. There is no such thing as absolute consensus on this topic. That said Chapter 1 does a very good job of defining the term and related topics. The case of the Undecided Voter gives both the democratic and republican potential arguments, however the arguments seemed a bit titled away from financial impact and free market in a corporate social environment climate. Expanded arguments might well solve this issue. Also the first reading about the Corporation as a "Psychopathic" Creature is definitely biased. Possibly it should not be the first reading and more balanced readings would be helpful from a financial consideration viewpoint.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

The arrangement of the chapters is excellent. The two additional topics noted above need to be included for relevance. Adding new updated material should be an acceptable process. The book has the potential for a long life as long as updates and emerging topics are included.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is absolutely terrific as to clarity. It affords the opportunity to facilitate critical thinking on the topics it discusses. A glossary would help as noted above. The chapter subdivisions are impressive.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is absolutely terrific as to consistency. It affords the opportunity to facilitate critical thinking on the topics it discusses. A glossary and expanded topics would help as noted above. The chapter subdivisions are impressive. Readings after every chapter would also enhance the text if available. Maybe labeling endnotes as also potential readings would be something to consider.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is able to be "modularized" and used at various times in a course. I would suggest that concept be supported in Review's Notes and encouraged integration into Courses be emphasized based on the premise of reading Chapter 1 and 2 first although not required will make the learning experience more valuable . Possibly those two chapters could be summarized for modular use by to the reader.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The covered topics are presented in a logical clear fashion which can be easily modularized . Moving Chapter 10 to Chapter 12 would create a global discussion at the end of the study of the entire text. While not necessary I feel that would be a better placement.

Interface rating: 5

The text is absolutely free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader. The subdivision of the chapters is impressive and facilitates learning. The topics covered are salient and important.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Grammar is excellent on the included topics. No further comments are needed.

Cultural Relevance rating: 2

Cultural relevance could be expanded in topics which involve Title Seven violations or the 'ME Too Movement' regarding Sexual Harassment. Discussing these issues, bias, and financial impact to corporations including insurance coverage is critical to understanding corporate social responsibility.

Comments

Possibly include suggested review checklists to facilitate critical thinking even further.

A good text for included topics can become a great text with expanded topics and additional learning tools as deemed appropriate.

Reviewed by Richard Peters, Associate Professor, Xavier Uinversity of Louisiana on 6/20/17

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This book definitely tackles many of the contemporary ethical, social and environmental problems and debates facing modern corporations. From GMOs to Climate Change, the authors try to cover a broad range of topical and controversial issues, providing readers with ample literature to better appreciate the complexity and dynamism of the subject matter.
While no text can cover every relevant area of CSRS, this book tries to educate the reader holistically and achieves this breadth in my opinion, very effectively

Content Accuracy rating: 4

I would argue that the book is relatively unbiased, and tries to provide fact and objective sources to discuss the points raised. However, Chapter 2 seemed suspicious and relatively out of place, especially the section that deal with 'winning an argument for CSRS'. I treat CSRS, like any other management or academic pursuit, as one that requires scientific scrutiny and objectivity. This chapter seemingly suggests to students that their role is as CSRS disciples. In my opinion, this undermines the rest of the text that keep subject matter open for debate

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

Here is where perhaps my biggest concern lies. The book seems centered around important contemporary topics. Whether or not these topics will continue to be relevant or prioritized is highly debatable. I would liked to see the authors perhaps use topics to illustrate theory and principles rather than make than the focus of chapters.

Clarity rating: 4

The book is generally well written. But there are instances where I feel the authors could have been more succinct. Undergraduate students may find this a long, if not difficult read

Consistency rating: 3

There is a great consistency. However, ironically, the beginning of the book, in my opinion doesn't lay an effective framework for the overall layout.?

Modularity rating: 5

I definitely agree that it is modular. This I think is one of its key strengths. It would be very easy to assign specific chapters to students

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

As I stated here, there was consistency, but I wasn't always convinced about the flow.

Interface rating: 5

The book seemed very clear and easy navigate. The illustrations were effectively reproduced

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

I found no real grammatical issues

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Like in most instances, there was a western or North American bias. But this is to be expected due to the nature of the material. Where possible, 'global' examples were used

Reviewed by Deanna Lewis, Instructor, The University of Arizona on 2/8/17

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The book covers important topics in CSR, and given the current climate areas such as social media's role in CSR, Millennial's role in CSR would have added much value to the text.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The information provided is accurate and provided strong examples.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

Addressing social media's role in CSR and Millennials would have contributed significantly to the books relevancy.

Clarity rating: 5

The context of each chapter is clear and appropriate language is used throughout.

Consistency rating: 5

The framework and layout of the book makes it an easy to use reference. The terminology is appropriate for both community college and undergraduate use.

Modularity rating: 5

The sections of the book are divided into accessible components and are easy to access.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The organization of the book is good and presents a logicval flow to the content.

Interface rating: 5

The interface is excellent.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not note any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book provides a number of examples that are free of bias and cultural insensitivity.