Values-Based Multinational Management

Achieving Enterprise Sustainability through a Human Rights Strategy

Lee A. Tavis and Timothy M. Tavis

In this timely book, Lee Tavis and Timothy Tavis contend that the values dimension of the actions of multinational firms is becoming increasingly important, given the worldwide integration of economies and peoples. The digital revolution has broadened the reach of globalization and created an informed society that demands higher standards of behavior from the business enterprise; at the same time, multinational corporations have gained power often comparable to that of the nation state, and global society is in need of widely accepted, enduring social and ethical standards. Tavis and Tavis argue that multinational firms must embrace an ethically pro-active stance in their own long-term interests. A strategy of supporting universal human rights, often in partnership with NGOs, offers the greatest potential for success.

Values-Based Multinational Management provides an agenda for practical action, with special reference to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Global Compact. It informs and addresses the values concerns of multinational business managers. It presents its examples and analyses in a clear and concise manner and will be of use both to practitioners in the business community and students and scholars of business ethics.

LEE A. TAVIS is C. R. Smith Professor of Finance, emeritus, at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Power and Responsibility , also published by the University of Notre Dame Press.

TIMOTHY M. TAVIS holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Texas, Austin, and is a private practitioner in West Palm Beach, Florida.

ADVANCE PRAISE: “More and more business executives understand that society increasingly judges corporate performance through a broad social lens that includes ideas of corporate social responsibility and business ethics. They are now ready to position their firms to meet these requirements. This volume is a thoughtful discussion of the ways in which the United Nations Global Compact can serve this purpose through a long-term human rights strategy and, importantly, how that strategy can be implemented within the firm.” — Georg Kell, UN Global Compact

“Values-Based Multinational Management has a novel approach and some differentiating perspectives that make it a valuable addition to the literature. The book provides a helpful integration of Catholic Social Thought and human rights as applied to business.” — Timothy L. Fort, George Washington University

“This book underlines the fact that—despite the importance of institutional and social ethics—individual ethics, if not virtue ethics, of corporate leaders remain central. The emphasis that no responsible individual—in whatever professional or personal role—can escape the fact that he or she is responsible for the outcome of their actions is of highest importance. It is to be hoped that this book revitalizes a facet of the business ethics and corporate responsibility debate that has been neglected for too long.” — Klaus M. Leisinger, Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development