Abstract
An ongoing debate in the private sector, stimulated in part by major financial scandals such as collapse of the Enron Corporation in the USA or the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) crisis in the UK, is whether the fundamental purpose of a firm is to maximise shareholder value. Those who oppose this perspective argue that managers have a wider responsibility, which should include a sense of social and moral obligation that meets the needs of all key stakeholder groups. Those who reject the stakeholder perspective usually argue that managers are agents of the shareholders and, in many countries, there is a fiduciary responsibility for organisations to ensure shareholders are rewarded by implementing actions which maximise the value of their investment. As noted by Smithee and Lee (2004), the prevailing view that the only goal of the firm should be to maximise its profits for the benefit of the shareholders denies the legitimacy of claims of customers, suppliers, intermediaries and employees, without whom the firm would not be able to exist.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Anderson, C. (1997) ‘Values-based management’, Academy of Management Executive, 11 (4), 25–46.
Baum, I.R., Locke, E.A. and Kirkpatrick, S.A. (1998) ‘A longitudinal study of the relation of vision and vision communication to venture growth in entrepreneurial firms’, Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 43–54.
Casali, G.L. and Day, G.E. (2010) ‘Treating an unhealthy organisational culture: the implications of the Bundaberg Hospital Inquiry for managerial ethical decision making’, Australian Health Review, 34 (1), 73–9.
Chaffee, E.E. (1985) ‘Three models of strategy’, Academy of Management Review, 10, 89–102.
Chaston, I. (2011) Public Sector Management: Mission Impossible? (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).
Collins, J.C. and Porras, J.I. (1997) Built To Last; Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (New York: Harper Collins).
Dean, J.W., Brandes, P. and Dharwadkar, R. (1998) ‘Organizational cynicism’, Academy of Management Review, 23 (2), 341–52.
Freeman, R.E. (1984) Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach (Boston: Pitman Publishing).
Gardner, M. and Palmer, G. (1992) Employment Relations: Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management in Australia (Sydney: Macmillan).
Gore, A. (1993) Creating a Government that Works Better and Costs Less: Status Report (Washington, D.C.: The Government Printing Office).
Handy, C. (1993) Understanding Organizations (Middlesex: Penguin).
Hosmer, T. and Hosmer, L.R. (1994) ‘Strategic planning as if ethics mattered’, Strategic, Management Journal, 15, 17–34.
Kirkpatrick, S.A. and Locke, E.A. (1996) ‘Direct and indirect effects of three core charismatic leadership components on performance and attitudes’, Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 36–51.
Kotter, J. and Heskett, J. (1992) Corporate Culture and Performance (New York: Free Press).
Levin, V. (2000) ‘Vision revisited’, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 36 (1), 91–107.
Mangham, I.L. and M. Overington (1987) Organizations as Theatre—A Social Psychology of Dramatic Appearances (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons).
Martin, S. (2000) ‘Implementing best value: local public services in transition’, Public Administration, 78 (1), 209–27.
Mason, D. (1996) Leading and Managing the Expressive Dimension: Harnessing the Hidden Power Source of the Non-Profit Sector (San Francisco: Jossey Bass).
McAdam, R.A., Hazlett, S. and Casey, C. (2005) ‘Performance management in the UK public sector: addressing multiple stakeholder complexity’, International Journal of Public Sector Management, 18 (3), 356–73.
Meyerson, D. and Martin, J. (1987) ‘Cultural change: an integration of three different views’, Journal of Management Studies, 24 (6), 623–47.
Mills, G.T., Austin, S.A., Thomson, D.S and Devine-Wright, H. (2009) ‘Applying a universal content and structure of values in construction management’, Journal of Business Ethics, 90, 473–501.
Mitchell, R.K., Agie, B.R. and Wood, D.J. (1997) ‘Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: defining the principle of who and what really counts’, Academy of Management Review, 22 (4), 853–86.
Morin, W.J. (1995) ‘Silent sabotage: mending the crisis in corporate values’, Management Review, 84, 10–15.
Moullin, M. (2002) Delivering Excellence in Health and Social Care (Open University Press: Buckinghamshire).
Murphy, M.G. and MacKenzie Davey, K. (2002) ‘Ambiguity, ambivalence and indifference in organisational values’, Human Resource Management Journal, 12 (1), 17–32.
Muris, T.J. (2006) ‘Principles for a successful competition agency’, The University of Chicago Law Review, 72 (1), 165–87.
Ogbonna, E. and Wilkinson, B. (1990) ‘Corporate strategy and corporate culture: the view from the checkout’, Personnel Review, Vol. 19 (4), 9–15.
Payne, A., Ballantyne, D. and Christopher, M. (2005) ‘A stakeholder approach to relationship marketing strategy: the development and use of the six markets model’, European Journal of Marketing, 39 (7/8), 855–71.
Polonsky, M.J. and Scott, D. (2005) ‘An empirical examination of the stakeholder strategy matrix’, European Journal of Marketing, 39 (9/10), 1199–215.
Posner, B. Z. and Schmidt, W.H. (1993) ‘Values congruence and differences between the interplay of personal and organizational value systems’, Journal of Business Ethics, 12 (5), 341–8.
Rokeach, M. (1973) The Nature of Human Values (New York: Free Press).
Roniger, L. (1994) ‘Civil service, patronage and democracy’, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 35 (3/4), 207–20.
Sagiv, L. and Schwartz, S.H. (2007) ‘Cultural values in organisations: insights from Europe’, European Journal of International Management, 1 (3), 176–90.
Schein, E.H. (1983) ‘The role of the founder in creating organizational cultures’, Organizational Dynamics, Summer, 13–29.
Schwartz, S. H. (1994) ‘Are there universal aspects in the structure and content of human values?’, The Journal of Social Issues, 50, 19–45.
Smithee, A.B. and Lee, T. (2004) ‘Future directions in marketing knowledge’, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 19 (2), 149–54.
Steane, P.D. (1999) ‘Cross-sectoral comparisons of values influencing strategy’, Public Management, 1 (2), 195–212.
Turnbull, S. (2001) ‘Corporate ideology—meanings and contradictions for middle managers’, British Journal of Management, 12, 231–42.
Weller, P. and Lewis, C. (1989) Corporate Management in Australian Government (Melbourne: Macmillan).
Willmott, H. (1993) ‘Strength is ignorance; slavery is freedom: managing culture in modern organizations’, Journal of Management Studies, 30 (4), 515–52.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2012 Ian Chaston
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chaston, I. (2012). Organisational Values. In: Public Sector Reformation. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230379350_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230379350_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-35097-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-37935-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)