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Is there anyone left in any large American corporation with any virtue? The endless stream of news about corporations behaving badly lends credence to the idea

Is there anyone left in any large American corporation with any virtue? The endless stream of news about corporations behaving badly lends credence to the idea that the US is purely a dog eat dog society. But surely it can't really be true? Could we have some kind of counter-news that celebrates the corporations that do things right, that encourage their employees to behave as upstanding members of society?

ruthmarx 2y ago
> But surely it can't really be true? Sure it is. Any company that isn't evil if they get big enough will become evil, just like Google who removed 'don't be evil ' as a slogan when they got large enough. You can thank Reagan and gutting company regulation for this.
p_l 2y ago
Friedman's Doctrine had been taught in Business Ethics classes for so long that people will honestly tell you it's part of the law. That's not an environment that makes for a good behaviour to general society
- justinclift 2y ago
  For reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine
atoav 2y ago
Well I am pretty sure there are those news. They are just more and more limited to small companies.
archagon 2y ago
I think the virtue has to be part of a corporation’s founding principles. See benefit corporations (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_benefit_corporations https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_benefit_corporations) and B Corps (https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/top-10-b-corps https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/top-10-b-corps).
dredmorbius 2y ago
There was a quip from Admiral Hopper's video posted here last week[1] which caught my ear: You manage things. You lead people. Leadership is a forgotten and/or underappreciated concept. And Hopper was speaking in 1982. I can of course think of some counterarguments, and Hopper makes a few of them herself, consciously or not, in distinguishing rote, gut, and/or traditional modes of management from those based on measurement and outcomes. But she also clearly describes what she means, and practiced, by "leadership" as well. Especially as regards principles. ________________________________ Notes: 1. <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41356528 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41356528> The referenced comments occur late in the 2nd video of the set.

ruthmarx 2y ago

> But surely it can't really be true? Sure it is. Any company that isn't evil if they get big enough will become evil, just like Google who removed 'don't be evil ' as a slogan when they got large enough. You can thank Reagan and gutting company regulation for this.

p_l 2y ago

Friedman's Doctrine had been taught in Business Ethics classes for so long that people will honestly tell you it's part of the law. That's not an environment that makes for a good behaviour to general society

justinclift 2y ago
For reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine

atoav 2y ago

Well I am pretty sure there are those news. They are just more and more limited to small companies.

archagon 2y ago

I think the virtue has to be part of a corporation’s founding principles. See benefit corporations (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_benefit_corporations https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_benefit_corporations) and B Corps (https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/top-10-b-corps https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/top-10-b-corps).

dredmorbius 2y ago

There was a quip from Admiral Hopper's video posted here last week[1] which caught my ear: You manage things. You lead people. Leadership is a forgotten and/or underappreciated concept. And Hopper was speaking in 1982. I can of course think of some counterarguments, and Hopper makes a few of them herself, consciously or not, in distinguishing rote, gut, and/or traditional modes of management from those based on measurement and outcomes. But she also clearly describes what she means, and practiced, by "leadership" as well. Especially as regards principles. ________________________________ Notes: 1. <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41356528 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41356528> The referenced comments occur late in the 2nd video of the set.