Corporate Greed and Irresponsibility in America
1. What should be done to curb corporate greed and irresponsibility in the upper echelons of corporate America? Corporate abuse and irresponsibility can often lead to harm to individuals, communities, the environment, national and international relations, and other aspects of the world. The causes of these issues are difficult to determine, but can fall under two categories, those of the intentional abuse and irresponsibility of corporations, and the unintentional misuse of power1. Since these behaviors can include anything from the commissioning of an act by a third party, the omission of specific information to the public, or an action by a member of a corporation or the corporation as a whole, these behaviors can be difficult to curb, since the issue is not straightforward2. Additionally, since much of corporate irresponsibility and greed goes undiscovered, curbing such behaviors is even more difficult.There are, however, generic rules of thumb for curbing corporate greed and irresponsibility, at least on a grand scale. For intentional misuse of power, some form of punishment is considered appropriate3. In punishing those who knowingly act irresponsibly, a message is sent to other transgressors of social responsibilit
To specifically combat corporate greed at an executive level, some point to the use of equity fines9. On the other hand, Hank McKinnel has been paid $65 million since he accepted the CEO position, as well as an $83 million pension plan, and his company has lost 46 percent of the market value since his appointment27. Still another study, that of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities study, reported similar findings. However, the question of how to do so is not as simple as this recognition. For unintentional misuse of power, greed, and irresponsibility, education to raise awareness may be a more appropriate choice, either for the individual transgressor, or for the company as a whole4. Unions, now many of which are multi-national, have begun to find methods of using workers capital, or workers pension funds, to improve the behaviors of larger companies. "32 In Millstein's view, government and judicial boards are simply listening to the historically accurate view that corporations are irresponsible, and are now catching more of what has been occurring on a grand scale for decades. By admitting the need to use these billions of dollars to enhance corporate governance, these Unions are suggesting there is a lack of such governance currently. Another suggestion for additional sanctions includes a forced probationary period in which a company works through a board of public directors who assist the company in establishing corporate policy that changes the culture of the corporation, encourages whistle-blowing within the company, and suggests changes to improve the overall structure of the company7. For example, the government may state that a company cannot charge consumers more than ten percent higher than the cost of production. While there is no question there are some executives who earn their pay, there are others whose earnings are far higher than their position demands. These cases bring to the forefront the corruption existing within corporate America, and present the question of whether these cases are the exceptions to an otherwise honest industry, or whether these cases represent the reality of corporate America. The judicial system has also recently begun to take steps to reduce the salary gap between the executive and working class. On average, the top one percent of income earners make over $500,000 annually, with compensation packages of an average $10. If such skewed verdicts exist, then public opinion of corporate America cannot be used as an indicator of actual levels of irresponsibility.
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